Art in the Instagram Era

PARIS - The young couple moved to the front of the crowd to look at the painting. After a few seconds, the woman turned around, smiled into her cellphone and took some selfies. Next, her husband took more formal shots of her in front of the work. The two then posed arm in arm for selfies together, turned to have a last brief look at the painting - and moved away.

“It’s too small, and it’s too crowded to get close to look at the detail,” said the woman, Jeannie Li, 28, a financial analyst in Shanghai, unimpressed by her first sight of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” “I can see it better in a book or on the internet.”

The way the couple interacted with the 500-year-old painting exemplifies how differently the digital generation experiences art. Most of the roughly 150 people crowded around the painting at the Louvre were taking photographs of the piece or of themselves in front of it. In the presence of the “Mona Lisa,” digital photography, more than looking at the actual artwork, is the primary experience.

Ms. Li and her husband, Steven, were in Paris for their honeymoon. Why had she wanted to visit the Louvre and see this particular artwork? “Because it’s famous, because of its mysterious smile, and because I read ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ” Ms. Li said, referring to the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, which opens with the shooting of a curator in the museum’s Grand Gallery.

In 2017, the Louvre attracted 8.1 million visitors, retaining its status as the world’s most visited museum. Leonardo’s enigmatic, infinitely reproduced portrait of a woman thought to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine  merchant, is the star attraction. Made in oil on wood in the early 16th century, the painting is presented in a temperature-controlled capsule behind bulletproof glass and a protective barrier.

In October 2014, the American megastars Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and their daughter Blue Ivy, had the privilege of visiting the Louvre on their own. The resulting smartphone photo session drew huge attention on Instagram, prompting Buzzfeeed to declare: “No Picture Matters More Than Beyoncé And Jay-Z Posing In Front Of The Mona Lisa,” and adding, “It might very well be the best picture of our generation. Or any generation.”

The way the “Mona Lisa” is viewed is representative of the way most art is viewed in today’s digitally-mediated visual culture. In the past a privileged few spent hours with masterpieces but digital reproduction has changed things.

“At least millions of people want to see it,” said Dulce Leite, 63, an Italian who seemed amazed by the crowd in front of the “Mona Lisa.” She had spent the previous 15 minutes contemplating a crowd-free “Virgin of the Rocks” (without taking any photos).

Imprisoned by its reputation as the most famous painting in the world, and by its security capsule, the “Mona Lisa” has ceased to exist as an original work of art. It has become a photo opportunity.

What could be a more contemporary way of seeing?

From The New Yorl Times (edited)

             

Average birth costs

The Duchess of Cambridge’s third baby was born on April 23rd. Reporters waited for updates outside the Lindo Wing, a luxurious private maternity ward in London that has often been used by the royals and which boasts a comprehensive wine list for celebrating parents.

Yet the price of delivering the new prince, who is fifth in line to the British throne, was probably slightly less than that of an average American baby.

In 2015, the Lindo Wing charged £5,670 ($8,900) for 24 hours in a deluxe room and a non-Caesarean delivery.  A survey in the same year by the International Federation of Health Plans found that the average fee for such a delivery in the United States was $10,808. That rises to roughly $30,000 after accounting for care given before and after a pregnancy, according to Truven Health Analytics. Insurers cover most of the cost, but parents are still left with an average bill of about $3,000. 

In many European countries, free maternity care is available.

From The Economist

Against plastic pollution

The United Kingdom will ban the sale of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs as the global war against plastic pollution gains momentum.

Up to 1 million birds and 100,000 sea mammals die every year from ingesting some of the more than 150 million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans, advocates say. According to the British government, 8.5 billion plastic straws are thrown away every year in the U.K.  .

The proposals, part of Britain's 25-year plan to help preserve the environment, are subject to a governmental review, which will begin later in the year, officials said. Britain is asking other Commonwealth countries “to join in the fight” against plastic pollution, a government statement said.

May described plastic waste as “one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world,” and said Britons “have shown passion and energy” in embracing a 7-cent charge for plastic bags and a ban on micro-beads that were introduced in the past few years. 

"The Commonwealth is a unique organization, with a huge diversity of wildlife, environments and coastlines, Together we can effect real change so that future generations can enjoy a healthier natural environment."

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Britain also announced a $90 million research fund to help Commonwealth member nations stop plastic from entering the oceans. The government said will work with industries to find alternatives to plastic for use in Britain.

From USA Today

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A plan to put beds on planes

Airbus last week announced its partnership with Zodiac Aerospace, a French aviation-equipment company, to develop "lower-deck modules with passenger sleeping berths." 

In other words, passengers will be able to go below decks to the cargo hold and sleep in bunk beds. The video released by the companies shows a clean, white, modern, and comfortable-looking space, although without windows.

Starting in 2020, Airbus says, the beds will be available on its widebody A330 planes, and could possibly appear on A350s as well. The airlines will decide whether to use the hold for cargo or for passengers to get some rest. They will  also include areas for the medical treatment of sick passengers, play places for children and meeting spaces.

Few passengers will turn down the chance to sleep in a real bed on a long-haul flight, especially if they are not among the lucky few with partially or fully reclining business- or first-class seats. The question is, how much will this privilege cost? Airbus hasn’t released any details on pricing.

 According to the International Air Transport Association, cargo generates an average 9% of airline revenue on combined passenger-cargo flights, more than twice what airlines get from first-class flyers.

 Given that only a fraction of flyers will probably be able to use these beds, it is not hard to imagine something close to a doubling of ticket prices to use them—or, if airlines want to make the beds more attractive, spreading-out those costs among other passengers.

For flyers at the top and bottom of the price hierarchy, the beds won’t make sense. First-class passengers on Korean Air A330s, for example, already enjoy the comfort of a flat bed. And most economy passengers won’t be willing to pay the price of a hotel room for a few hours on a bunk bed. But for some business travellers, a better night’s sleep might be well worth the extra cost to them or their employers.

From The Economist (edited)

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