Week
of July 22-29, 2001
1.
Special Interest
2. Dance
3. Media
4. Music
5. People
6. Publishing
7. Theatre
8. Visual Arts
9. Arts Issues
10. For Fun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. SPECIAL INTEREST
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#specialinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TAKING
THE TEMPERATURE OF AMERICA'S PERFORMING ARTS: What is the
state of the performing arts in America at the turn of the
century? A new Rand study takes a look. "After decades of
expansion, how are performing arts organizations faring? Has
demand for live performances been increasing or decreasing? Are
more Americans choosing the performing arts as a profession? And
what is the likely effect of the Internet on the arts?" [The
complete report is online] Rand 07/01
INVESTMENT
UP/ATTENDANCE DOWN: A new study of arts support in the UK says
"the percentage of adults attending arts events was either
static or falling across plays, opera, ballet, contemporary dance,
jazz, classical music and art galleries." This despite
massive public funding of cultural activities. "The report
estimated public funding of the cultural sector in 1998-99 at £5.2
billion, a 10% rise on the last study in 1993-94. The
Guardian (UK) 07/26/01
AUSSIE
ARTS BILL: How much do Australian governments spend on
culture? "Funding for radio and television broadcasting,
film, music, visual arts, museums, art galleries, multi-media,
venues, zoos, civic centres, publishing, archives and other
activities" added up to almost $4 billion in 1999-2000. This
was equivalent to $209 per person. Sydney
Morning Herald 07/27/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#dance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABT
DIRECTOR QUITS: Louis Spisto, the embattled
director of the troubled American Ballet Theatre, has
resigned. His tenure was marked by controversy -
"rising expenses, a management style that was
characterized by a number of employees as autocratic
and allegations of sex and age discrimination." The
New York Times 07/26/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
END
OF ERA: Anthony Dowell's tenure as director of London's
Royal Ballet has been a mixed affair. "What makes
a good director? The question has never been more of a
poser than during Dowell's captaincy of the ballet, in
the most turbulent years of the Royal Opera House's
history. The organisation has struggled with vast
debts, the closure and rebuilding of the theatre, and
a serious loss of public affection." The
Telegraph (UK) 07/29/01
-
OUT
OF GAS: Is Anthony Dowell leaving just in time
as director of London's Royal Ballet? "The
ideal director, if he or she is not a creator,
should be a curator, ensuring that the Royal
Ballet presents the classics in the purest form.
By emphasising design over direction, Dowell has
taken the company out of the premier league of
classical troupes. It still dances well but its
productions have become secondary ones, not the
definitive statements Ninette de Valois required
of the Royal Ballet." The
Observer (UK) 07/29/0
ELEVATOR
ART: "Aerial dance is a new trend catching on in the
dance world, especially in the western United States. 'One of the
most exciting performances we ever did was a vertical adaptation
of Romeo and Juliet out of the 23rd story of a skyscraper in
Houston. We were 350 feet in the air with the Houston Symphony
below us and 40,000 people watching. It was magical, and it had
quite an impact on people'." USAToday
07/25/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#media
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAN'T
TRUST THE REVIEWS: "If I were a critic today, I'd
certainly be a sucker for a film with some flesh on the bone.
Today's reviewers see so much slop that it's almost inevitable
that they overpraise the few movies that exhibit even a whiff of
heft or ambition. A movie critic today must feel like the
restaurant reviewer who has been forced to spend months munching
on french fries and cheeseburgers at McDonald's. When someone
finally takes them to a decent neighborhood cafe, they go
nuts." Chicago
Tribune 07/23/01
MORE
THAN ENTERTAINMENT? Black Entertainment Television (BET) is 20
years old. BET's founder says the network is "a powerhouse
creatively and financially." But critics lament that
"the network had failed to fulfill its potential, focusing
too much attention on music-related programming — particularly
hip-hop videos with scantily clad women." Los
Angeles Times 07/24/01
WHERE'S
THE ART? Animation produced with computers is producing images
that are startlingly close to real life. But "a handful of
critics and thinkers are questioning this new hyperreal aesthetic,
suggesting that it's a limited and uninspired use of the available
technology. After all, if the end result is a photorealist version
of our world, then why use animation at all?" Boston
Globe 07/29/01
THE
NEXT THING IN RADIO: In September, satellite radio debuts in
America. Its high fidelity and constant signal strength
coast-to-coast could make it The Next Big Thing. Or will it?
Listeners must pay $9.99-12.95 a month for the service. You get
100 channels for that, but "there's all that new equipment to
buy – head units, receivers, antennas – which could cost
anywhere from $200 to $600." Dallas
Morning News 07/29/01
SONGWRITERS
GETTING LEFT BEHIND: Lost in the debate over compensation for
musicians whose work is distributed online has been the plight of
the folks who create the songs to begin with. Songwriters, who
have always had a tough time getting proper compensation for their
efforts, are worried that they're being ignored by both performers
and the online music industry. Wired
07/25/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4.
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#music
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE
ROSENBERG GAMBIT: Pamela Rosenberg is taking over as director
of San Francisco Opera, and, if successful, her plans are sure to
shake up the opera world. "Blending the classic with the
contemporary, and adding new vocal blood and a kind of stage
direction seldom seen in America, Ms. Rosenberg is certainly
taking a risk — in the healthiest, most promising sense. If even
a portion of the undertaking succeeds, she may be able to convince
us that opera is a living art form after all." The
New York Times 07/29/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
MTV
AT 20: "The enormously popular channel, which
celebrates its 20th anniversary on Wednesday, is so
big, so powerful, that its reach can hardly be
overstated. As the number-one cable outlet aimed at
consumers aged 12 to 24, it's an essential buy for
advertisers trying to coax dollars from teenage
pockets. Its quick-cut visuals have changed how films
are shot. And its relentless celebration of
disaffected youth has spawned an advertising approach
that might be called selling by slouching."
Philadelphia Inquirer 07/29/01
-
DAMNABLE
MTV: So MTV is 20 years old. "Generally
lost in the self-congratulatory cacophony marking
the cable music station's two-decade anniversary
is the hard-to-dispute dissenting notion that
holds that no other force in the 50-year history
of rock has had such an insidious effect on the
music. Chicago
Sun-Times 07/29/0
BARENBOIM
BAN: An Israeli parliamentary committee has called for a ban
on conductor Daniel Barenboim for his performance of Wagner in
Israel. Barenboim had promised he would not perform the composer's
music there. "The education and culture committee of Israel's
parliament said on Tuesday that Israeli cultural institutions
should shun Barenboim until he apologises." BBC
07/25/01
CBSO
BAILED OUT: "One of Britain’s most important ensembles
– the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) – has been
saved from financial collapse by an Arts Council award of almost
£2.5m. The CBSO – which rose to prominence in the 1980s and
1990s under the dynamic leadership of Sir Simon Rattle – has
been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for three years. The
Arts Council award of £2,465,000 follows an earlier interim award
of £494,000." Gramophone
07/25/01
EVERYONE'S
RICH EXCEPT THE ARTISTS: "The music industry is based on
the strange idea that the artist pays for everything but owns
nothing. As a result most bands spend their career heavily in debt
to their label. Record labels have been able to treat musicians
badly because they were the only way a musician could make records
and find an audience. But the arrival of cheap, quality recording
equipment and the internet has now given the artist a number of
different options." The Guardian
(UK) 07/24/01
ONLINE
MUSIC: Online music sales are expected to soar from $1 billion
this year to $6.2 billion in 2006; 30% of these US online music
sales will come from digital downloads and music subscriptions.
BBC 07/23/01
SOME
REGRETS: One music critic reckons that despite all the music
world's advances of the past 50 years, it was still a lousy time
to be a critic. "I hesitate to tot up how many hundreds of
hours of my life have been wasted in half-empty concert halls
reviewing convoluted nonsense — dry, charmless, bereft of
emotion, drama and buzz — that has mostly never been heard
since. Why did I sit there? Because, like most critics, I felt
duty-bound to 'give new music a fair chance'." The
Times (UK) 07/24/01
THE
REVOLUTION WILL BE BROADCAST: "With the signing of a deal
with the operators of andante.com, all of the Philadelphia
Orchestra's concerts in its new $265 million home next season will
be available - for a fee - with the click of a mouse, the
orchestra and its new Web host are to announce today. . . Also
signing with Andante as 'founding artistic partners' are the
Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, whose concerts
also will be made available via the Internet. Kreisberger said
partnerships with the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Philharmonic,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and La Scala were
expected shortly, and that talks were under way with the
orchestras of New York, Chicago and Cleveland. " Philadelphia
Inquirer 07/25/01
FUTURE
UNCERTAIN FOR JÄRVI AND DSO: Neeme Järvi's recent illness
was in fact a stroke, according to family members. The music
director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was stricken at a music
festival in Estonia; he now is recuperating at a hospital in
Helsinki, Norway. It still is unknown - and perhaps unknowable -
whether he will be able to
return to the DSO and his career. Detroit
News 07/25/01
MY
IN-CREDIBLE LIFE: Tristan Foison listed an amazing resume when
he moved to Atlanta in 1987: "winner of the 1987 Prix de
Rome, first Prize in the Leningrad Conducting Competition, 1989;
First Prize in the Prague Conducting Competition, 1985; First
Prize in the Busoni Piano Competition, 1980..." Trouble is,
none of it was true, and when he plagiarized note for note a piece
he "composed" for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in
May... Atlanta Journal-Constitution
07/29/01
CRASHING
THE SENATE: The U.S. Senate was all set for another of their
famous hearings on the way that popular music and, specifically,
hip-hop are destroying the moral fabric of the nation, staining
the minds of our children, and just generally leading the entire
country down the road to ruin. (And it's not even an election
year!) But the sanctimony took a distinct dive once an actual,
uninvited purveyor of rap music showed up to speak.
Nando Times (AP) 07/25/01
PUT
A METER ON THAT JUKEBOX: "The US is set to compensate
European songwriters and composers for millions of pounds worth of
lost revenue. The musicians have won their fight against a US law
which let bars and grills avoid paying royalties for playing their
music on TV or radio. Music groups have estimated royalty losses
at $27m a year. " BBC 07/26/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EUDORA
WELTY, 92: "She was one of the finest Southern writers of
the 20th century. She could be as obscure as William Faulkner. As
violent as Flannery O'Connor. As incisive as Richard Wright. But
more genteel and straightforward than just about anyone. And at 92
she outlived them all." Washington
Post 07/24/01
DOWNFALL
OF A PATRON: What happened to Shanghai's best-known arts
patron? He's in jail, and it looks like he'll be there a long
time. "Though little is known about the charges against him,
Bonko Chan, 37, is known for spending lavishly on financing
operas, buying oil paintings and offering rides in his corporate
jet, activities that gave him an unusually high profile in a town
where circumspection is the norm." The
New York Times 07/25/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
QUESTIONS
OF GREATNESS: Conductor Riccardo Muti is 60 this year, a
milestone at which great conductors are supposed to be arching to
greatness (if they're ever going to). Is Muti that great
conductor? The mixed evidence suggests... Philadelphia
Inquirer 07/29/01
FUTURE
UNCERTAIN FOR JÄRVI AND DSO: Neeme Järvi's recent illness
was in fact a stroke, according to family members. The music
director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was stricken at a music
festival in Estonia; he now is recuperating at a hospital in
Helsinki, Norway. It still is unknown - and perhaps unknowable -
whether he will be able to
return to the DSO and his career. Detroit
News 07/25/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6.
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#publishing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLACK
NOVELISTS HITTING THE BEST-SELLER LIST:"African-Americans
buy books that are relevant to their experience in greater numbers
than have ever been imagined by most publishers. It also appears
that book consumers are becoming more sophisticated, that they
want a good yarn well told, and that's more important than whether
the characters are black or white. So there's more and more
crossover readership." The
New York Times 07/26/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
IT'S
STORY TIME. BRING YOUR OWN LAWYER: The intellectual rights
arguments have centered lately on e-books and Napster, but the
next arena may be your friendly neighborhood public library.
Libraries see the digital rights revolution as a limitation on
their ability to serve the public; publishers see it as an
intrusion on their copyrighted material. "As the two sides
circle each other warily, each is awaiting guidance from that
long-delayed Copyright Office study." Time
07/24/01
BEST-WHAT?
Does anybody really pay attention to Bestseller lists?
"Nowadays a 'bestseller' is more normally one of three
things: a how–to — usually, either about how to more
efficiently grub for money or how to lose weight while eating
without pause; a memoir by somebody really despicable; or a barely
literate thriller where gruesome things happen to people while
they're having sex just after drinking brand–name
beverages." MobyLives 07/23/01
TYPECASTING:
Why do books have to conform to a genre, to be assigned to a
category? "Surely a piece of writing ought to be allowed to
convey its own generic intentions, and surely readers can be
expected to divine them without help?" Poets
& Writers 07/01
THE
ILIAD FOR REAL? An expert on ancient Greece "combines
archeological evidence with hypotheses from various disciplines
and attempts to prove that Homer's Iliad was not the
product of one man's poetic imagination, inspired in the eighth
century B.C. by a few mysterious ruins from the dim and distant
past." Instead, he claims it is "the first written
record of an unbroken chain of oral tradition passed down in
hexameters, preserving the memory of a historical Trojan war that
occurred during the Bronze Age." Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 07/26/01
BEAUTIFUL
WRITERS WANTED, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY: "Increasingly
often, it would seem, attractive young writers are offered huge
advances for their books. Publishing today seems to be as much
about who you are, as what you write. But where does that leave
older writers?" BBC 07/26/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7.
THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#theatre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONSUMPTIVE
DISORDER: "New York and London have a lot in common: the
same long-running musicals, even a shared pool of actors,
directors and designers." But as for how they consume
theatre - they're different worlds. The
Guardian (UK) 07/28/01
PROTESTING
A LESBIAN ROMEO: Protests have greeted a production of Romeo
and Juliet in Birmingham that features the couple as lesbians.
"People are becoming heartily sick of this sort of thing
being offered up as entertainment. What a pity we have to see this
sort of sensationalism in an attempt to fill seats." The
Age (Melbourne) 07/25/01
SCOTTISH
NATIONAL THEATRE: The Scottish Arts Council is supporting the
establishment of a National Theatre. "Its 'main objective'
would be to commission companies, directors and performers to put
on productions at home and abroad, as well as encouraging a strong
network of regional theatres." BBC
07/25/01
PRODUCING
THE SCALPERS: Tickets for Broadway's The Producers are
so hot, they've created a buzz among scalpers. "Internet
brokers who operate elsewhere are getting between $300 and $425
for mezzanine and balcony seats in August and September. Better
locations are more pricey, passing the $500 mark." Ottawa
Citizen (CP) 07/23/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8.
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#visualarts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROTECTING
THE HOME TEAM: The director of Australia's National Gallery
warns that Australian galleries better invest in Aboriginal art or
it will be bought by foreigners and taken out of the country.
"We'd better wake up. We are seeing before our very eyes one
of the great movements of our time in contemporary art."
Sydney Morning Herald 07/27/01
IF
ONLY SOMEONE COULD SOLVE THE "PIGEON PROBLEM":
"Outdoor sculpture collections serve varied purposes and
constituencies. By definition, more people will see them than will
ever enter a museum. The sheer numbers of visitors mean the
contents of these parks must be carefully thought through; too
many of them end up as surveys starring the usual suspects. And
those in charge must not knuckle under to the temptation to settle
for the middlebrow so as not to offend a general audience." Boston
Globe 07/25/01
AS
HARD TO DEFINE AS ART ITSELF: In New York, as in other cities,
there's creativity everywhere. The question is, which parts of it
are art? "The term 'outdoor sculpture' may have outlived its
usefulness. And 'public art' or 'outdoor art' are only slightly
more commodious, partly because of outside pressure. No matter
what you call it, the category has expanded, but it is often
overshadowed by the rising tide of what might be called accidental
or inadvertent art." The New York
Times 07/27/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
BRITS
FALL BEHIND: British museums are cash-strapped, underfunded by
comparison to American and European institutions. "In
Britain, museums and galleries have been left stranded between
successive cost-cutting governments that no longer see art
purchases as a priority and private sector funding that is well
below that in the United States. "We have slipped from being
in a position in the 19th century like the Getty to being among
the poor men of Europe." The
Telegraph (UK) 07/23/01
THINNING
THE HERD: "Does France have too many monuments? The
situation of many castles and churches is extremely precarious,
and there isn't enough money to keep them all up. Here is a modest
proposal: Tear down 100 of the cathedrals. After all, who needs
that many, and aren't a lot of them awfully ugly? Call it
patrimonial euthanasia. In with the new!" International
Herald Tribune 07/21/01
BACK
TO BASICS: "Perhaps any talk of artistic 'rules' sounds
anachronistic these days. But to go by the majority of artists
featured in the graduate and postgraduate shows of the Royal
College of Art, the Royal Academy Schools, and the Slade, the
rules are being not only learnt, but positively embraced." The
Times (UK) 07/25/01
SURE
BEATS A BOX FULL OF PENNIES: UNICEF will be the beneficiary of
an upcoming auction of modern paintings valued at $40 million from
the collection of the late journalist René Gaffé. The items to
be auctioned include Picasso's 1908 cubist Étude pour Nu dans
une Foret and two large Joan Miró paintings, as well as works
by Renoir, Magritte, and Braque. BBC
07/25/01
ART
IN FASHION: "Can fashion — by nature both ephemeral and
functional — be on a par with fine art? Can an ad campaign be
counted as culture?" London dealer Jay Jopling has recycled
photographs seen in ads in magazines and made a show of them in
his gallery. The Times (UK) 07/25/01
DID
GAUGUIN CUT VAN GOGH? Did Van Gogh really cut off his own ear
in a fit of madness? Maybe not. A German art expert says that
"Gauguin, his fellow artist and a keen swordsman, sliced it
off when an alcohol-fuelled row degenerated into violence."
Sunday Times (UK) 07/22/01
RENTING
FOR DOLLARS: SFMOMA's rental gallery has long been a way to
get art into people's homes at low cost and to give artists a
trickle of income. Over the years, the gallery has earned $10
million in fees for artists. But the museum has big plans for the
gallery and some Bay Area artists are upset. "They want it to
be bigger and produce more income." San
Francisco Chronicle 07/24/01
A
FIBROUS DUFY: The Paris Museum of Modern Art has discovered
that Raoul Dufy's giant 1930s mural La Fee Electricite is
coated on the back with asbestos fibres. "The fibre will be
removed from the back of the 250 wood panels that make up the
6,450 square foot masterpiece." CNN.com
07/26/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9.
ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#issues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MULTICULT
FALLOUT: In many ways, multiculturalism defined American arts
of the 1990s. "Most important, it reversed old patterns of
exclusion and brought voices into the mainstream that had rarely,
if ever, been there before. But limitations became apparent. The
ideal of diversity — of mixing things up, spreading the wealth,
creating a new Us — never quite happened." And, it came
with some unexpected problems. The New
York Times 07/29/01 (one-time
registration required for access)
CRACKING
DOWN ON COPYRIGHT: The US government is taking copyright
infringement more seriously. "The Senate has earmarked $10
million for copyright prosecutions, enough money for 155 agents
and attorneys in the fiscal year starting in October. That's up
from a current $4 million allocated for 75 positions."
Wired 07/29/01
CORPORATE
SPONSORS: FEEL ME, TOUCH ME: One side says, "The company
is taking an active role with children. I don't see any harm in
that." The other side says, "The corporation has an
obligation to give back to the community. Do it, shut up, and
don't expect anything in return." At immediate issue is
McDonald's 20-year, $5 million sponsorship of Philadelphia's
Please Touch Museum for children. Philadelphia
Inquirer 07/26/01
OF
ARTS FUNDING AND MEDICAL RESEARCH: "Dear friends, you
made a deal with the devil. You knew they were narrow-minded and
stupid when you took their money. You made a deal with the devil.
You probably wrote a play about how evil the devil was in Vietnam
or Nicaragua or Waco. Now the devil acts like the devil. There is
a solution: Don't take the money. Alas, the government has made
cash junkies of too many people and institutions, and there's
nothing more hypocritical than the whining of a junkie."
San Francisco Chronicle 07/24/01
THE
VICTORIAN COPYRIGHT SOLUTION: So you think our battles over
copyright are something new? Some 160 years ago Charles Dickens
was crusading over the value of copyright. In the days before
copyright was universal, publishers in America were ripping off
Dickens and other authors with impunity. Industry
Standard 07/23/01
HANDICAPPING
THE NEA: Speculation in the press about who George Bush might
appoint as the next chair of the National Endowment for the Arts
has intensified. Does this mean a decision is near? The Idler
handicaps the field. The Idler
07/23/01
HOW
WE SPEAK: "Language is not living, not growing, and not a
thing; it is a vast system of social habits and conventions,
inherited from our forebears, and showing every sign of being an
artifact rather than an organic growth." Vocabula.com
07/01
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. FOR FUN
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#forfun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE
JUDGE WHO TALKED TOO MUCH: A record company exec paid £200 to
register one of his label's jazz groups for the Mercury Music
Prize. Then the chief judge for the competition said on BBC radio
that major label jazz had "become another sort of easy
listening music. Those records are not the sort that are going to
grab Mercury prize judges' attention." Now the exec wants his
money back. BBC 07/26/01
BODY
SCULPTING: Plastic surgeons have engaged a sculptor to work
with them on their body reconstructions. "One of the surgeons
at the end of the course said you can do plastic surgery quite
easily but sculpting is really hard." BBC
07/23/01
HOME
|