
A Tale from the Mythic Days of Magazine Expense Accounts - secondary
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/11/robert-hughes-the-spectacle-of-skill
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hackaflocka
Today I learned, that Time magazine, once the most powerful media organ in the
world, had the same person as its only art critic, for 31 years.

That's right, one of the most important gatekeeper positions (in the world)
for something as elusive as "art" remained with the same person for 31 years.

Thank god for the internet, where interesting, arty things organically bubble
up to my attention (reddit, hacker news, stack exchange), without this guy
deciding whether they're important enough to warrant my attention.

~~~
nstj
Interesting he was kept on for so long. Not sure if you could say Time is much
of a "gatekeeper" in the art world though. The guy himself comments on how it
wasn't a super important role at Time.

~~~
gozur88
It may have been a super important role in the art world without being a super
important role at _Time_ , though.

~~~
nstj
Without wanting to be like "I know more than everyone about art", I have
"moderate" insight into the contemporary side of the art world (a couple of
friends are dealers in NY, I take a passing interest in goings on and auctions
etc) and from what I've seen Time isn't taken as seriously as publications
like Art+Auction. It's entirely possible that I've missed something though but
I wouldn't call this guy an Ebert of art.

~~~
TheLogothete
Are you seriously debating the importance of Time magazine? It's not about
your art friends, it's about the hoards of people who look at Time and model
their lives after it.

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cafard
Do hordes of people look at Time and model their lives after it? I haven't
seen it in a while, but surely most of the art it discusses is out of the
price range of most of us.

~~~
gozur88
_Time_ is a pale, sickly shadow of its former self. At one time not only would
most of the people you know have a subscription, but it was unavoidable
anyplace you had to wait.

And yeah, people absorb culture from what they read, even if they can't afford
what they see.

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PhasmaFelis
Wait, that was it? I was waiting for the legendary tale of expense account
derring-do, and then the article was over. All that fuss for "my date spent
way too much on dinner but I spotted my boss across the restaurant with his
mistress and he picked up the tab out of embarrassment"?

~~~
pjc50
In his defence, the bill would have been _really large_.

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dreamfactory2
I once worked at a magazine where they bought a large luxury house somewhere
in Europe on the basis that they might use it for the odd photoshoot

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crystalmeph
This web page is annoying to use on Safari on my iPad. Every time I scrolled
down, it would bounce up and down for several seconds, as though something
above the visible part of the page reloaded every time I scrolled.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
I wish people wouldn't downvote legitimate site-design complaints. A lot of
the readers here are web devs, and it's not that uncommon for creators to read
the HN comments on their articles. Everyone needs to be reminded that good,
sturdy design is important, and that clever tricks are more likely to break
your site than provide any real value.

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santoshalper
Fun read. Not much of a way to run a business though.

