|
Week
of November 4-10, 2002
1.
Special Interest
2. Dance
3. Media
4. Music
5. People
6. Publishing
7. Theatre
8. Visual Arts
9. Arts Issues
10. For
Fun
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1. SPECIAL INTEREST
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#specialinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMMUNICATION
PRESERVATION: "Fifty to ninety percent of the world's languages are
predicted to disappear in the next century, according to the The Rosetta
Project, a collaborative, open-source endeavor by language specialists and
native speakers around the world who are creating a 'near permanent' archive of
the world's languages. Developers of the modern Rosetta disk hope they will help
future generations recover lost languages that are now on the brink of
extinction." Wired 11/04/02
INFLATION
MYTHS: "It is largely accepted on faith that grade inflation - an
upward shift in students' grade-point averages without a similar rise in
achievement - exists, and that it is a bad thing. Meanwhile, the truly
substantive issues surrounding grades and motivation have been obscured or
ignored. The fact is that it is hard to substantiate even the simple claim that
grades have been rising." Chronicle of Higher
Education 11/04/02
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2. DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#dance
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AUSTRALIA
BALLET'S DIFFICULT BALANCE: Australia Ballet is in a big transition. In the
past 18 months it's hired a new artistic director, chairman and general manager,
lost a longtime senior principal dancer, had "a significant reshuffle in
the ranks of the cast and an almost comical case of revolving doors at senior
management level." In addition, some of the company's touring programs have
not sold well. "The need to expose regional audiences to more eclectic and
cutting-edge works has to be tempered by commercial considerations." Sydney
Morning Herald 11/05/02
LONG
DISTANCE PERFORMING: In a demonstration of the superfast Internet2, dancers
and musicians in Los Angeles and Cleveland collaborate in a long distance
performance. "The challenge was to integrate the live performance by three
dancers and two Institute of Music trumpeters who performed in Los Angeles with
two-dimensional images of three other dancers and three brass players whose
performance was streamed from Mather Dance Center in Cleveland." The
Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/05/02
SOME
COMMON-SENSE OBSERVATIONS ON DANCE: Dance watcher Ann Barzel is 97 years
old, and she's got some pointed things to say about the pregress of the artform
in the past century: "Dance is the only art form where the modern
practitioners threw everything out. In music, you can like Stravinsky and not
hate Beethoven. These women in modern troupes today go to college and take dance
instead of physical education. Then, they graduate, get a grant from the
Illinois Arts Council and start a company. A few years later, they get married,
and, poof, there's no more company." Chicago
Tribune 11/10/02 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#media
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MOVIES
AS LOSS-LEADER: "People are going to the movies in droves, but theaters
- from nationwide cineplex empires to mom-and-pop neighborhood operations - are
struggling to stay afloat. Audiences grew, but not as quickly as the number of
theaters competing for their business. The debt load left most participants
financially crippled. A dozen theater chains sought bankruptcy protection over
the past two years, including most of the biggest. Some, like 80-year-old
General Cinema, were cannibalized by competitors. Roughly 600 theaters were
shuttered last year, victims of a business model as twisted as a box of
Twizzlers." The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)
11/10/02
BBC
NOT KILLING FLAGSHIP ARTS SHOW: The BBC has come under attack, accused of
killing its flagship arts TV show. But the Corporation says "Omnibus
is being re-launched - not scrapped - and has hit back at criticism that the
move is a sign of dumbing down. The show, to be called Imagine, will be
overhauled at the start of 2003 and will be presented by former BBC One
controller Alan Yentob." BBC 11/04/02
BET
THE FRANCHISE: Franchise movies are the movies of the future. They have
built-in audiences and enormous marketing campaigns. "Franchise movies are
as depressingly insipid and predictable (or as 'dependable') as Holiday Inn
suites, theme parks, resort vacations, edge of city Big Box stores, or the
generic opinions of political candidates and the toneless mendacity of US media
reporting. They all offer white bread, middle-of-the-road ideas or experiences
entirely lacking in intellectual or emotional nourishment." The
Guardian (UK) 11/08/02
HARRY
AND JAMES EDGE OUT SMALLER FILMS: A prominent British film producer has
called on the government to enact quotas on the number of theatre screens that
blockbuster movies can occupy. This winter new James Bond, Harry Potter and Lord
of the Rings movies are due out, and smaller films have been squeezed out of
theatres. "Her call for quotas comes as the Film Council, charged with
developing and supporting the indigenous industry, announced proposals to ensure
more home-grown films are shown." BBC 11/06/02
THE
ART OF MAKING MOVIES ABOUT ART: Why is it that so many movies with artists
as their central characters portray painters, sculptors, and photographers as
unbalanced, melodramatic nut jobs peddling their genius between nervous
breakdowns? Does Hollywood really think this is how most artists live? Denver
Post 11/07/02
NOT
JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE: Think video games are for kids? "Sony
Australia's sales figures for the PlayStation 2 reveal that males aged between
18 and 40 make up 60 per cent of the lucrative computer game market."
Indeed, kids aren't the target audience anymore; it's men aged between 18 and
35. The Age (Melbourne) 11/4/02
SEEN
IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES: "Product placement is now a recognized
industry, rather than a back corner of the advertising world, and everyone wants
a shot at it. The game is reaching new levels of sophistication and products are
turning up in more and more unexpected places. Never has the relationship
between commerce and creative content been so incestuous. In the
product-placement world, companies don't necessarily pay to have a product
placed in a film or TV show. Sometimes the producer pays, sometimes the marketer
does." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/09/02
THE
DIGITAL TV MESS: Arizona Senator John McCain has quite a brouhaha to look
forward to as he takes over the committee in charge of the transition to digital
TV broadcasts. The government wants the transition to move fast, so it can sell
the analog spectrum to wireless providers. The industry doesn't want to commit
to digital anything until a system is in place to prevent consumers from
making personal copies of copyrighted material. And consumers want their old TVs
to work with the new system, and the right to make personal copies of
copyrighted material. Good luck, Senator! Wired
11/08/02 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#music
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ORCHESTRAS
DYING? LET'S CHECK THE EVIDENCE: There are altogether too many columns
decrying the death of classical music, writes Justin Davidson. But "the
American Symphony Orchestra League's numbers show that U.S. orchestras gave more
concerts and sold more tickets in the 2000-2001 season than ever before. Revenue
from ticket sales - $775 million across the country - had climbed by 37 percent
in five years. A few months later, the World Trade Center tumbled, and so did
ticket sales, but only temporarily. At the New York Philharmonic, which might be
expected to have suffered disproportionately from post-Sept. 11 doldrums, the
box office remains steady." Newsday 11/10/02
THE
STARS COME OUT: So music recording sales are down. Whether you blame
internet downloading or weak product, the industry is in a slump. So it's time
to bring out the big guns. "I've never seen a fourth quarter like
this," says one major-label publicist, struggling to grab a few drops of
attention for his acts in the monsoon of big-time, big-name publicity machines.
"It's like the royalty of every label is putting something out. How do you
compete?" The Star-Tribune (Newsday) 11/06/02
CHANSONS
- OF THEE I SING: "While French artists of today glory in the richest
musical heritage in Europe, they are also frustrated by the insularity of their
traditions. At a time when the music business is becoming increasingly
globalised, it is hard for a Francophone artist to break out of the home market.
Language is a huge barrier; there are very few French songs that become
international hits." The Guardian (UK) 11/04/02
IRAQ
PHILHARMONIC PLAYS ON: Through all of the hardships of the past decade,
Iraq's National Philharmonic plays on - albeit to small audiences. "In all
this period, the Philharmonic Orchestra only stopped playing two months, in
1991. They play part-time, for the pleasure and the prestige of being chosen for
the national orchestra, as they get less than 10 dollars a month, a quarter of
the average salary in this country impoverished by 12 years of UN sanctions. For
the orchestra, this translates into absentees. Of its 45 members, 35 played in
Sunday's concert." Andante (AFP) 11/05/02
FIRST
LADIES: To be a prima donna is as much a state of mind as it is a
designation of your place in the opera world. The term can tag you as a
demanding temperamental bitch. Or it can be a sign of ultimate respect. How do
today's first ladies of opera feel about the term? Opera
News 11/02
TICKET
INFLATION: Why have ticket prices for pop concerts risen so fast? "From
1996 to 2001, concert-ticket prices rose 61 percent. Tickets for sports, movies
and theater events rose 24 percent in the same period, while the Consumer Price
Index rose only 13 percent. It's a confounding jump, less for economists than
for the fans who wonder if it's worth ponying up $151 to relive their hippie
past with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, or $75.50 to plop their kids in
front of Britney Spears." Seattle Times
11/03/02
SALES
OF MUSIC OVER THE INTERNET ARE DOWN: A new study says that internet sales of
prerecorded music, such as CDs and cassette tapes, was down to $545 million in
the third quarter, "well behind last year's total of $730 million for the
same period." Indianapolis Star (AP) 11/04/02
CHANGE
AT THE TOP: "The new millennium seems to be generating a new spirit of
musical adventure; more than a dozen top orchestras are embarking on brave new
eras, most under younger leadership. In a world traditionally resistant to
regime change, nine major batons have just changed hands, six more are in the
process and another half dozen up for grabs. This is a major moment of
transition, with a younger generation taking charge of many of the world's great
orchestras." The Observer (UK) 11/03/02
UNDERSTANDING
TOSCANINI: Arturo Toscanini's "fame belongs to another age, when
classical music was not so remote from popular entertainment. Twice on the cover
of Time magazine—inconceivable for an orchestra conductor today —Toscanini
inspired a veneration in the press that mass-market magazines now lavish only on
television or movie stars and pop musicians. 'The greatest musical interpreter
who ever lived,' a critic wrote in the New York Herald Tribune in the
1930s." Two new books remember. New York Review
of Books 11/07/02
THE
FUTURE OF STREAMING: It's called Internet2, and it is powerful. Forget about
your wussy DSL hookups and T1 lines - this baby can transmit 70Mbps straight to
your computer, and blast the sound (and image) of a live symphony orchestra
through a 12-speaker system with digital quality and no breaks in service. Where
can you sign up? Um, you can't. Sorry. Be patient. Wired
11/08/02
HOW
TO MARKET YOUR OPERA: It is an undeniable fact that the ticket base for
performing arts organizations is shifting from subscription holders to
single-ticket buyers. But what to do about it? The Minnesota Opera has an idea:
a glossy, irreverent opera primer distributed absolutely everywhere in the Twin
Cities and aimed at impulse buyers. The booklet provides an overview of the
season, but also a history of opera in general, suggestions on what to wear and
when to applaud, and personality descriptions of the various voice parts,
including "Tenor: Often kill themselves; almost always gets the girl."
Saint Paul Pioneer Press 11/07/02
FANS
OF THE NEW: We've all heard the rap - challenging contemporary music doesn't
sell. So how to explain the crowds making their way up to Columbia University's
Miller Theatre, where George Steel has put together programs of contemporary
concert music? "Mr. Steel's belief in the drawing power of contemporary
music contradicts what most consultants seem to be telling beleaguered American
orchestras, where executives, long rattled by the graying of classical music
audiences, are now grappling with the dismal economy as well." The
New York Times 11/10/02
MUSIC'S
DECLINING HOLD ON HIGH CULTURE: Why has interest (and funding) for new music
faded away in Britain? "Given the genuinely diversifying society of this
country, it seems improbable that the surviving directors and institutions of
our post-war high culture will ever regain quite the centrality and influence
they once exercised. The support that composers can expect from that quarter,
therefore, will doubtless remain restricted." The
Independent (UK) 11/01/02
RENEWING
ANCIENT MELODIES: "For centuries now the received wisdom among
classicists has been that the actual melodies of ancient Greek music (as opposed
to literary references and iconographic material) vanished, irretrievably, long
ago. Trying to resurrect the surviving pieces—the existence of which is
generally known only to a few specialists—has been viewed as, at best, an
entertaining but frivolous distraction from more-mainstream work." And yet,
a few die-hards persist... The Atlantic 11/02
BY
"AMERICAN" YOU MEAN... What defines an American composer? Is it
someone born there? Some born elsewhere but who works there? Could it be, as
composer Frederic Rzewski, believes, that "the first and foremost
expression of any composer, himself included, is the aspiration of the national
culture into which he or she was born?" NewMusicBox.com
11/02 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I,
CONDUCTOR: Vladimir Askenazy made his reputation as a pianist. These days he
conducts (arthritis has slowed down his pianism). "As a conductor (he is
currently chief conductor for the Czech Philharmonic and conductor laureate of
the Philharmonia Orchestra), Ashkenazy has developed a reputation for
reinvigorating orchestras, not with particularly radical concert programmes, but
with huge enthusiasm and an unpretentiousness that has earned him great respect
among orchestral musicians." The Guardian (UK)
11/08/02
MUSEUM-BUILDER:
Fort Worth, Texas is about to open the second-largest museum devoted to modern
art in America. But not only is the museum little known in the broader artworld,
so is its director. "That's not because she's a wimp. On the contrary,
Marla Price, the soft-spoken, unassuming woman who heads this museum, is one of
the savvier, more effective leaders in the business. People talk about her zeal
and persistence." Dallas Morning News 11/10/02
THE
DISEASE OF FAME: David Gritten has spent 20 years interviewing famous
people. Celebrity is not an easy state, he writes. "Celebrity carries with
it an odd moral neutrality, and the innocence with which people succumb to the
fame virus counts for nothing; once they are famous, their every false move is
ruthlessly scrutinised. This is the ugly underbelly of celebrity, the flipside
of fame that the non-famous rarely pause to consider." The
Telegraph (UK) 11/09/02
POET
TO HEAD GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION: Poet Edward Hirsch is to become president of
the Guggenheim Foundation in January. "We live in a culture where, if we
don't speak up on behalf of the arts, they will be lost. The arts need us. We
need our artists to be citizens. Intellectuals need to participate in
intellectual life. Otherwise it's going to be all television, all advertising
and media, all politics." The Chornicle of
Philanthropy 11/06/02
ART
OVER RESUME: Poet Quincy Troupe lied on his resume about having graduated
from college, and when it was discovered, lost his appointment as poet laureate
of California. Now there is pressure to remove him from his teaching job at the
University of California, San Diego. But lost in the furor is a proper
appreciation of his contribution to San Diego's cultural life, writes the arts
staff of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Since his arrival in San Diego in
1991, Troupe has proved so popular a professor, so prolific an author and so
generous a contributor to the city's quality of life, that no one – including
the UCSD administration that hires in the arts based on performance, not
paperwork – could possibly care whether he ever received an undergraduate
degree. His deception was unnecessary; the cachet of a B.A. played little if any
role in his success. San Diego Union-Tribune
11/01/02
CANADIAN
AUTHOR CANCELS US TOUR BECAUSE OF RACIAL PROFILING: Indian-born Canadian
author Rohinton Mistry has cancelled his book tour midway through its U.S. leg,
"citing the 'unbearable' humiliation of being searched at U.S.
airports." Nando Times (AP) 11/03/02
deLARROCHA
TO RETIRE: Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha has announced her retirement
from the stage at the end of the 2002-03 season. The 79-year-old pianist began
her international career in 1947. San Francisco
Chronicle 11/04/02
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6. PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#publishing
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BOOKER
CONTROVERSY GOES ON: Did Yann Martel steal the intellectual property of
Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar in his Booker-winning novel? Is Scliar really as
upset about it as some press is reporting? And does anyone really have
intellectual property rights over an idea or a concept? The debate rages... BBC
11/08/02
- THE
LEGAL LINGO: "Under Canadian law, only patents cover ideas.
Copyright of a publication is another thing. Once you get a Canadian patent,
you can sue anyone who uses your idea or invention... Thus, the burden of
proof would be on Scliar to prove Martel had read his book - which Martel
has consistently denied doing." Montreal
Gazette 11/08/02
- JARDINE
WEIGHS IN: "Lisa Jardine, chair of the Booker Prize jury in London,
lashed out yesterday at critics who have suggested Canadian author Yann
Martel plagiarized the plot of his award-winning book Life Of Pi from
a book by a Brazilian writer. Jardine called the controversy the work of
some 'very ignorant Brazilian journalists' who noticed the plot parallels
and then made an unfounded allegation without having read both books." Toronto
Star 11/08/02
- THE
REAL IMPACT OF A BOOKER WIN: Yann Martel's Booker Prize win for Life
of Pi has had a big impact on its sales. "Although released in May
to strong reviews, initially strong sales had dwindled to 150 copies a week
by August; respectable but hardly unusual. A place on the Booker shortlist
hoisted that figure to between 600 and 800 copies a week, but the
announcement of his win has triggered sales of almost 10,000 copies a week.
As the busiest period in the book trade are the four weeks prior to
Christmas, sales could climb as high as 25,000 per week." The
Scotsman 11/08/02
- COMPARING
THE BIG CATS: Did Booker Prize winner Yann Martel steal the idea (or
more) for his book Life of Pi from Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar's Max
and the Cats? Scliar is contemplating a lawsuit and controversy swirls.
So Sandra Martin reads both books and concludes... The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/09/02
STUFFY,
STAID, AND SUCCESSFUL: Current conventional publishing wisdom says that in
order to sell copies of your magazine, you need near-naked women on the cover,
piles of ads from hip companies, and for the love of God, no big, long,
thought-provoking articles! Nobody likes those. Well, nobody except the
growing subscriber base of The Atlantic, which may just be America's most
unlikely serious magazine success story. Columbia
Journalism Review 11/02 WAKING
UP THE GILLER: This year's Giller Prize may just usher in a new and exciting
phase for the normally staid and predictable Canadian literary award.
"While there always have been grumbles about both the Giller shortlist and
the Giller winner, most observers generally have "gone along" with the
picks. [This year's winner,] however, came into the contest freighted with
perhaps the most extreme critical assessments of any work of Canadian fiction in
recent memory." The Globe & Mail (Toronto)
11/07/02
REQUIEM
FOR UNIVERSITY PRESSES: "University publishing is in danger. All
presses are suffering financially. Even the large ones are imperiled. They can't
assume things will be eternal. There isn't a single reason why - it's systemic.
It's at a turning point. Scholarly publishing in the United States is in very,
very, very, very serious trouble." Chicago
Tribune 11/06/02
A
CASE AGAINST POETS LAUREATE: Why are poets laureate a bad idea? "When
poetry is forced to do a specific job it usually turns sour and lumpy.
Conversely, our official world, our politics and our state, have become the
antithesis of poetry. But if the role of poetry is to reveal the deep complexity
in something that was ostensibly simple (to 'make familiar objects be as if they
were not familiar,' as Shelley put it), then this is exactly what modern
politics does not do. 'Axis of evil' is the opposite of poetry. 'The people
united will never be defeated' is too." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/02/02
DECONSTRUCTING
THE POSTMODERN: Berkeley professor Frederick Crews is back on the trail
condemning postmodernist literary analysis. His new book Postmodern Pooh
asserts that academic theory has taken a very wrong turn. "The point is,
are intellectuals saying things that the public can genuinely learn from? When
they're only talking the jargon of their own field, the public is learning
nothing. There has to be an effort to take the serious disciplines of knowledge
and communicate them to the public in a way which is not debased." Spiked-online
11/06/02
NOMINEES
FOR NOVELDOM'S RICHEST AWARD: One hundred and twenty-five novels have been
nominated from around the world for the 100,000 euro Impac Award. The books are
voted for by librarians from across the world, who draw up the long-list.
"The longlist includes works translated from Dutch, Spanish, Swedish,
French, Croatian, Chinese, Portuguese, Czech, Norwegian, Japanese, Turkish,
Hebrew and Galician. There are works by authors from 31 different nationalities,
29 of whom are American, 20 English and five Irish." BBC
11/04/02
CANADA'S
FOREIGN WRITING LEGION: Canadian writers are big internationally. But some
of the country's best-known writers weren't born in-country. "Canada is a
great hotel maybe, but not necessarily a comforting home, these writers say. In
a society that takes pride in the mildness of its political debates (with the
exception of periodic dust-ups over Quebec sovereignty), immigrant fiction
writers are among the country's sharpest social critics. 'Canada's immigrant
literature often reflects deep feelings of incredible loneliness'." The
New York Times 11/05/02
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7. THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#theatre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRITAIN'S
"CULTURAL APARTHEID": National Theatre director-designate Nicholas
Hytner warns that a "cultural apartheid" afflicts British state
schools. "A generation of poor and middle-class children are being forced
to study Shakespeare and the classics without ever seeing a play, he warned. Not
only were they being turned off, he said, and left with no real understanding of
the pillars of British culture, but our centuries' old tradition of popular
theatre was in danger of dying as audiences dwindled." The
Guardian 11/04/02
MOSCOW
THEATRES EMPTY: Muscovites are staying away from theatres after last week's
hostage crisis that played out in a theatre. "The theatre has become a
symbol of threat...people aren't going to the theatre because they're worried
about a repeat of what happened." BBC 11/03/02
ATLANTA
- A NEW CENTER FOR THEATRE? "Outside New York and Chicago, the centers
of live performance in the United States, only a handful of American cities have
vibrant theatrical communities. Atlanta is not considered one of them. Now,
however, five midsize Atlanta theater companies are sharing a $1 million
no-strings-attached grant from two local foundations. For the first time, some
of this city's most important power brokers have joined to support more
financing for theaters." The New York Times
11/06/02
ARTHUR
MILLER ON THE ART OF ACTING PRESIDENTIAL: "He believes politics, today
more than ever, is a matter of mastering a relaxed, vaguely threatening
sincerity for the camera. 'The presidency, in acting terms is a heroic role. It
is not one for comedians, sleek lover-types, or second bananas. In a word, to be
credible the man who acts as president must hold in himself an element of
potential dangerousness. Something similar is required in a real star'." Chicago
Tribune 11/10/02
COUNTDOWN
TO OBLIVION: "Last month, Pittsburgh Musical Theater announced that it
needed to raise $500,000 to ensure long-term solvency, including a rapid
infusion of $150,000 to keep the company alive." The deadline is now 12
days away, and PMT is still looking for about $100,000 in donations to avoid an
immediate shutdown. Possible? Sure. But $100K in less than two weeks is a tall
order in this economy... Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
11/07/02 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. VISUAL
ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#visualarts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRITICS
WHO WON'T CRITICIZE: A new study of art criticism in America by the National
Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University reveals that "in the
majority of the (169) surveyed publications, large and small, the visual arts
generally receive less than half the coverage of books or music. (Art coverage
averages 6% of editorial space.) But sheer quantity of articles, which surely
ups the statistical chances, wouldn't seem to explain the qualitative
phenomenon. Here's what does: By and large, journalistic art critics don't write
art criticism," writes Christopher Knight. Los
Angeles Times 11/08/02
SOTHEBY'S
TRUST PROBLEM: How will the public regain trust in auction houses Sotheby's
and Christie's? Fines are not enough. Confidence in the auction houses won't
come until everyone who had any hand in the price-fixing scandal has departed.
One problem. Former Sotheby's chairman Alfred Taubman, currently serving a
prison term in remote Minnesota, is still the company's biggest shareholder. And
he's not likely to sell anytime soon. The Times (UK)
11/06/02
L.A.'S
NEW LOOK: Despite the fact that the sidewalks roll up at sunset, downtown
L.A. has gotten hot. We know this sounds familiar—the neighborhood’s had
more comebacks than Richard Gere. Now developers, spurred by tax incentives, are
busy flipping dilapidated buildings into lofts, and young urban pioneers are
moving in, lured by the affordable rents and the vague notion that urban living
is cool... The once fringy art scene—with struggling artists tucked into
abandoned industrial spaces—is flourishing, and new galleries are turning up
in Chinatown." Newsweek 11/11/02
SCULPTURE
- THINKING BIG IN ARIZONA: An outdoor sculpture show in Sedona, Arizona aims
to reinvent itself into America's "largest, most successful juried
sculpture exhibition." But how to get there? "To the organizers of the
Sedona Sculpture Walk, success is defined not only in quality but in dollars
also. What's the take at the end of the show? Thus, transforming a local
festival into a nationally known event is as much about marketing as about
art." The New York Times 11/06/02
100
YEARS OF ART: "ARTnews is America's oldest and most successful art
magazine. This 100th anniversary issue features countless excerpts from a
century of art coverage, and much of it is delightfully zany. A lot of the
comedy comes from endless variations on a theme that is now as old and tired as
a mother-in-law joke - the eternal battle between outrageous artists and
outraged philistines." Washington Post 11/05/02
THE
SOUND OF ART: "When CDs become a regular feature of museums'
publications, the status of sound as an art medium must be changing. But how and
why? Some recent museum sound events offer clues." San
Francisco Chronicle 11/04/02
MUNICH
MODERNS UP: "Munich, until recently, was never a great city for the
avant-garde. But in September, the city inaugurated the Pinakothek der Moderne,
an extraordinary modern-art museum with works from Beckmann to Bacon to Beuys,
which curators say represents a definitive break with the city's relative apathy
toward 20th-century art." The New York Times
11/10/02
FREE
ART IN CINCINNATI: The Cincinnati Art Museum is dropping its admission
charge, thanks to a multi-million dollar gift from two local benefactors.The
museum had previously charged $5 per visitor, but leaped at the chance to
replace admission with an endowed fund. Admission will still be charged for a
few special exhibits. The Plain Dealer (AP) 11/07/02
NATIONAL
GALLERY MAKEOVER: London's National Gallery has unveiled a £21 million
makeover project to improve access to the museum. "Gallery officials and
architects believe the refurbishments will turn the area into the capital's
cultural focal point." BBC 11/05/02
- AN
EXPENSIVE DOOR: "The east entrance to the National Gallery is about
to become the most expensive front door in Britain: opening the towering
glossy black door to the public, after 170 years, will cost £21
million." The Guardian (UK) 11/06/02
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9. ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#issues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUSTRALIA
COUNCIL ISSUES MIXED REPORT: It's not exactly a glamourous or high-minded
arts issue, but insurance costs are one of the biggest problems facing
Australian galleries, collectors, and artists, according to the annual report
issued yesterday by the Australia Council. "The annual report calculates
the arts and related cultural sector is worth $7billion a year, employing more
than 250,000 people. The AC's total expenditure was $131million with about
$110million of it being directed into artistic production and the development of
artistic practice." The Age (Melbourne)
11/09/02
BRITONS
TOP SPENDING ON HOME CULTURE: A new study reports that "Britons spend
more on DVDs, videos and books than any of their European counterparts. Britons
spend an average of 184 euros (£118; $185) each on these items every year,
compared with 158 euros in Germany and 111 euros in France." BBC
11/08/02
WHEN
A GOOD LIFE STORY OVERWHELMS AN ARTIST'S WORK: "The rise of biography
is one of the great stories of the last century. Our appetite for fictions based
on fact only intensifies. But is it a legitimate hunger? Or is it something we
should try to overcome, like sugary snacks and excess carbs? Is it really just a
sort of glorified nosiness?" Chicago Tribune
11/10/02
ART
FUNDING - IS THE CRISIS TEMPORARY, OR... Arts groups in America are in a
funding crisis. But are the problems temporary, the result of a down economy, or
is it something more ominous? "On one side is the notion that most of the
current problems in the arts are directly related to the economy - coupled with
the cocooning tendency that set in after Sept. 11 - and will, inherently,
improve along with the economy. On the other is the notion that the world has
changed for good and that some arts groups still don't get it. In this way of
thinking, the old institutional ways of doing business are moribund - and the
new climate cannot be dealt with merely by putting more effort into sales and
communications." Chicago Tribune 11/10/02
MELBOURNE'S
ARTS CRISIS: What's happened to the arts in Melbourne? "National arts
companies say Melbourne ticket sales are in crisis, while box-office takings are
booming in Sydney, where prices are higher. Leading Melbourne arts figures are
dismayed at the fall in patronage and challenge the validity of Melbourne's
long-held claim to be the cultural capital." The
Age (Melbourne) 11/04/02
THE
GREATEST BRITON: Who needs some silly contest to name the greatest Briton of
all time? "The title was won four centuries ago and has been retained ever
since by the man who makes Britain in general, and England in particular,
different from the rest of the world. Whatever our other failures and failings,
we remain special and superior because we have William Shakespeare." The
Guardian (UK) 11/04/02
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10.
FOR FUN
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#forfun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CALL
ME BABY, ONE MORE TIME: Songs about phones are being recycled as ring
tones on newer-style phones. "At first glance, there's a weird
circularity in that idea but the truth is, pop music and the phone have a
long-established symbiosis - developments in telephony have been
paralleled in lyrical shifts. Hundreds, if not thousands, of songs have
been built around the imagery of telephones, around calling and waiting to
be called." The Age (Melbourne) 11/08/02
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