Who Gets to Be “Best” — And Who Gets Saved?
A roundup of recent arts stories frames Tom Service’s Guardian question about calling the Berlin Philharmonic “the best orchestra in the world” alongside cases where attention — not age or quality — determined survival, from Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences to Boston Ballet and Edinburgh’s visitor levy.
Super Nature unspools a global chorus on Super 8, from 25 countries and five continents
Ed Sayers’s Super Nature brings together 40 collaborators in 25 countries across five continents to create a collective ode to the planet, shot entirely on Super 8. Released by BFI Distribution, the film screens in the U.K. and Ireland this month and features voices in 11 languages stitched from scenes at home, underwater, in air, and on land.
Crowded Calm: Erin Milez explores urban closeness and detachment at Monya Rowe Gallery
Erin Milezs expressive, densely composed paintings explore crowded urban spaces and quiet detachment in Everything the Light Touches at Monya Rowe Gallery, running September 10 to October 24 in New York. Referencing George Tooker, Jacob Lawrence, and WPA mural language, works like A Giving Tree, Pick Your Plot, and Subway press figures close while keeping them inwardly absorbed.