Following up on an incisive analysis of what’s really wrong at the company, Dawn Fatale says the Met needs to be more exciting – and makes some intriguing and inventive suggestions for just how to do that.
Archives for March 27, 2014
Can You Really Prosecute Someone For Rap Lyrics? (It’s Being Done)
“The proliferation of cases has alarmed many scholars and defense lawyers, who say that independent of a defendant’s guilt or innocence, the lyrics are being unfairly used to prejudice judges and juries who have little understanding that, for all its glorification of violence, gangsta rappers are often people who have assumed over-the-top and fictional personas.”
Russian Oligarchs? Brazilian Millionaires? What’s The Detroit Institute Of Art To Do?
“OK, let’s clear up any misunderstanding: Russian oligarchs and Brazilian millionaires are not amassed in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts in the hopes of being first in line should the treasures inside go up for sale.”
Color As Sounds, Paintings As Music (Literally)
“In Neil Harbisson’s cybernetic world, every color has a corresponding note: Red is F, orange is F sharp, G is yellow, C is blue, A is green and so on. He listens to Warhols, paints with sounds and writes music based on what he sees around him.”
Rocking Out To Opera (A Whole Different Vibe)
“The company fosters an atmosphere that is the antithesis of intimidating: You can wander in and out without too much worry about losing your place in the story. Shouting during a favorite moment is hardly a breach of etiquette. And if you’re moved (or you pretend to be moved) by a power ballad, the rhythmic waving of a hand clutching a lighter is not out of place.”
The Lonely Man With $1 Billion Of Nazi-Looted Art
“Is he a villain, or a tragic figure, compelled to shuttle secretly, with wads of cash, returning home to spend his life with inanimate works of art?”
Cut The Fulbright Scholarships? What A Bad Idea
“As tensions escalate with countries that were once touchy allies, what we need are more Fulbright grantees in the world, not fewer. Sure, $30 million seems like a lot of money—but it’s actually 0.06 percent of the proposed total State budget.”
Radical Departure: A Gender Difference In Artistic Evolution?
“Radical breaks in style are technically gender neutral, and there are certainly men who have roamed among forms, styles, and even media. I am speaking of a tendency, one that seems to be more noticeable in women working in the twentieth century and beyond, perhaps owing to the fact that more work by women has found its way into the world since 1900.”
The Amazon Books Problem
“There’s a fundamental problem with bookselling as a business: put bluntly, it’s that people aren’t really into buying books. Bezos discovered this via a 1998 survey that found most shoppers didn’t use Amazon.com and probably never would, because—well—Americans buy very few books.”
Our Language Is Being Infested With Jargon!
“If you go on government ministry websites, for instance, the way they write is absolutely impenetrable. It’s all posted online for members of the public, but you can’t understand what they’re saying.”
Osmo Vänskä Is In Talks With Minnesota Orchestra, But –
Would he accept an offer? “Yes, if I can do good music. If I’m going to be able to take care of the orchestra and being their artistic director. And if I’m allowed to make music with them, yes. Otherwise, not.” He also says that the process of “cleaning up things … should happen at every corner of the organization.”
Munich Art Hoarder Will Return Nazi-Looted Works to Heirs
“Cornelius Gurlitt, the octogenarian hoarder of art plundered by the Nazis, will return paintings in the trove his family kept secret for decades to their original Jewish owners or those owners’ descendants, starting with a well-known Matisse, his lawyers said on Wednesday.”
Delaware Art Museum Will Auction Works to Pay Off Debt
“In a rare move, the Delaware Art Museum will sell as many as four works of art, valued at $30 million, to repay [$19.8 million in] debt from a facilities expansion and replenish its endowment, museum leaders announced Wednesday.”
Margaret Mitchell Estate Approves Prequel to ‘Gone With the Wind’
And the backstory the new book (due in October) will give us isn’t Scarlett’s. It’s Mammy’s.
Want to See How Culture and Planning Can Save a City? Look at Medellín
Twenty years ago, the Colombian city was a center of the worldwide cocaine trade, notorious for gun violence; even ten years ago the place was considered unsafe. Now it’s considered a hotbed of innovation.
Russian Parliament Prepares to Limit Foreign Films on Russian Screens to 50 Percent
Ruling party deputy Robert Schlegel, author of the legislation: “We basically show American films that promote the stereotypes, national interests and values of the United States. Many of these are low quality. Russia can produce its own films, which will be interesting to viewers.”
BBC: Arts for Everyone? Who Are They Kidding?
Author Stella Duffy looks at the ambitious “arts for everyone” plans BBC Controller Tony Hall has announced – and finds them too London-centric, too establishment, too mainstream and too old-fogey.
Musicals Move Ever Farther Into Opera Houses’ Repertory
The trend started as a way to increase box office income and get some new people inside the building, but now companies in both the U.S. and Europe are proudly mounting full-scale productions of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim and even Andrew Lloyd Webber. (Don’t worry, they’re not going to do Mamma Mia!.)