Week
of March 18-24, 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT
ARE THE ARTS WORTH? "Liberal-minded arts lovers have been
wringing their hands and flinty-eyed fiscal conservatives warming
their souls over a new study that suggests the economic impact of
cultural facilities and sports stadiums is exaggerated... But
reading the whole study reveals that things are, of course, a bit
more complicated... Rather than dampening cultural activists,
[the] report should really serve as a renewed call to artists to
justify their existence on more lofty grounds than those that
economists can provide." The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 03/21/02
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2. DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#dance
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THE
ROYAL'S INJURY LIST: Dancers of London's Royal Ballet are
getting injured. Is it coincidence or is there something wrong?
"There has been some speculation that dancers are being
forced to pay a high price for suddenly learning a large range of
ballets imported by Ross Stretton - six months into the job,
Stretton is already facing criticism of his taste, let alone his
personnel management." The
Telegraph (UK) 03/22/02
ANYWHERE
YOU WANT TO FLY: The Australian Ballet is celebrating its 40th
anniversary. To celebrate, Qantas, the national airline, has
agreed to fly the company anywhere it performs in Australia. The
company has planned more than 200 performances around Australia. The
Age (Melbourne) 03/22/02
DANCING
ON AIR: "A growing group of choreographers in the Bay
Area are liberating dance from the ground. In recent years, these
artists have been dancing on window ledges, rooftops, clock
towers, grain elevators and mountain peaks, not to mention
suspending themselves over stages. They have achieved these
dramatic feats by exploiting rock-climbing gear, by creating new
hanging devices to dance on and by pioneering new ways of
moving." San
Jose Mercury News 03/17/02
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3. MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#media
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SEX
AND VIOLENCE DOWN: A new study says that sex and violence on
TV has declined between 1998 and 2000. "There is evidence
that television has started to clean up its act," says the
study. "As for movies, the study found, the amount of sex and
violence in the most popular theatrical releases during the same
time periods remained unchanged." Nando
Times (AP) 03/21/02
- THINGS
YOU CAN'T SAY ON THE RADIO (UNLESS YOU WANT TO):
"Accusing broadcasters of trolling 'the depths of
decadence,' Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps
challenged radio and television executives in early February
to better police themselves regarding indecency and vulgarity
on the airwaves and create a voluntary code of conduct, all by
Easter Sunday. Normally, broadcasters abhor dead air. But with
a week to go before Copps' suggested deadline, their silence
has been deafening." Los
Angeles Times 03/22/02
DIRTY
TRICKS: This has been the ugliest Oscar campaign ever.
"That new breed of film executive, the 'Oscar consultant', has
introduced the sort of dirty tricks and whispering campaigns once
restricted to the sleazy world of politics. This is nothing to do
with art; this is business. The Oscar consultant is more than a
spinner, he is a strategist who works out how to maximise the
chances of a film and direct a campaign of flattery, propaganda and
vilification to that end." The
Times (UK) 03/21/02
FORCED
TO PROTECT? US Senator Fritz Hollings has introduced his
long-anticipated (dreaded?) bill to mandate copy protection on new
digital media players. "The bill, called the Consumer Broadband
and Digital Television Promotion Act, prohibits the sale or
distribution of nearly any kind of electronic device - unless that
device includes copy-protection standards to be set by the federal
government. Translation: Future MP3 players, PCs and handheld
computers will no longer let you make all the copies you want."
Wired 03/21/02
RATINGS
THAT DON'T MEAN ANYTHING: Australian TV networks scrutinize
every bit of minutiae of the ratings reports trying to find even the
slightest advantage over rivals. But statistically... well, if you
apply a standard statistical margin of error, the ratings are
useless. "Applying the error margin to the last full week
of ratings available for Sydney (week 10), every show in the top 10
could be potentially moved to a different position, although they
couldn't be simply jumbled at will. Unless the two networks are
split by at least 5 per cent, which they almost never are, the
figures are statistically irrelevant. They're just shadow
boxing." Sydney Morning Herald
03/21/02
ELDER-HOSTILE:
Older British TV viewers believe they're ignored by programmers.
"Around 70% of those questioned thought that the views of the
over-65s were ignored by programme-makers. The figure was even
higher for the over-75s, while half of those over 55s thought
their age group was not portrayed realistically in news and
factual programmes." BBC
03/18/02
MUCKING
UP VENICE: Five months before it starts, the Venice Film
Festival is in disarray. "By tradition the Venice
Biennale is an extravaganza where up-and-coming artists carve
international reputations, but the Italian prime minister hoped
this one would also give his government an opportunity to showcase
administrative skills and political savvy. Instead the government
finds itself accused of incompetence, hypocrisy and a heavy-handed
attempt to promote a rightwing agenda." The
Guardian (UK) 03/18/02
TRYING
TO TAKE DOWN PUBLIC BROADCASTING: Is Canada's CBC-TV
"irrelevant, unwatched and unloved? Do Canadians really not
watch CBC-TV? Would they not miss it if it were sold? Is it a
bureaucratic fat cat unanswerable to anybody?" That's what
Canada's largest commercial media conglomerate believes. And -
here's a surprise - the company believes CBC ought to be
privatized and relieved of its public funding. But their case
looks to be based on a series of unsupported myths.
Toronto
Star 03/17/02
ENTERTAINMENT
BOOM: "Revenues in India's entertainment industry rose
30% in 2001, seven times faster than the economy as a whole, and
are expected to double over the next five years."
BBC
03/18/02
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4.
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#music
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GET
READY FOR MAHLER, SOTTO VOCE: "A directive being
debated in the European Parliament and getting a lot of support
around Europe would reduce noise in the workplace, concert halls
and opera houses included... The bill calls for a workplace decibel
limit of 85 without earplugs, 87 with them. Some members of the
parliament, Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark among them, think
the directive doesn't go far enough. He is looking for an amendment
to lower the level to 83. European musicians are not happy. They
say that noise in a factory and the noise of a Bruckner finale
are not the same thing... One toot on a trumpet can reach 130
decibels instantaneously." The
New York Times 03/24/02
A
PRECEDENT-SETTING AGREEMENT? "The agreement that ended the
strike at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on Thursday is part of a
national trend that music-lovers hope will help end the slow
diminuendo of Canadian orchestras. Across the country, directors are
inviting musicians into the boardroom, finally giving them a chance
to wave the baton on the future of their ensemble." Canada.com
(CP) 03/21/02
SO
WHY ARE THEY PAID SO WELL? When the Vienna Philharmonic visited
New York recently, the musicians performed an entire concert without
the aid (some would say hindrance) of a conductor. The success of
the effort, and countless other similar examples, beg the question
of what exactly it is that a conductor adds to a performance that
the musicians could not, given the right circumstances, accomplish
on their own. And how did the one person on stage not making a sound
somehow become the focus of our attention? The
New York Times 03/24/02
BOOING
FROM THE WINGS: Valery Gergiev is one of those omnipresent
conductors who seems always to be in demand and on top of the
charts. But the usual backstage grumblings that plague many
conductors have hit a fever pitch with Gergiev. Musicians hate him
for his indecisive baton, critics complain that he knows too small a
slice of the repertory, and administrators despise his chronic
lateness and frequent cancellations. So why is he still so famous?
The truth may be that competence often has little to do with
conducting success, but it is equally true that musical insiders are
often disdainful of artists who are popular with the public. The
New York Times 03/24/02
ALL-CLASSICAL
IN ARGENTINA: While more US radio stations drop classical music
in favor of more profitable formats, in Argentina, pop music fans
are protesting the government national radio network's decision to
drop rock music in favor of classical. "Founded in the 1940s,
during Juan Perón's first term in office, the government-run
network has frequently been used as a propaganda tool. During the
1990s, the Nacional stations reduced classical music to a minimum in
keeping with then-president Carlos Menem's populist policies." Andante
03/21/02
EMI
LAYS OFF 1800: Recording company EMI is laying off 1800
employees, about 19 percent of its total workers. The struggling
music label has been losing money and shedding projects. "EMI
has 70 labels and 1,500 artists, including The Beatles, Paul
McCartney, Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson, Garth Brooks and Pink
Floyd." Nando Times (AP) 03/20/02
PIANO
COMPETITION "IN THE OLD WAY": The new Rachmaninoff
International Piano Competition begins in Los Angeles. Though
scaled down from ambitious plans announced two years ago,
organizers are bringing competitors from around the world, as well
as the Moscow Radio Symphony to accompany performers. And the head
of the festival assures fair judging: He "thinks the world of
piano competitions is due for an ethical overhaul, comparing the
scene with ice skating events at this year's Winter Olympic Games.
There are numerous examples of judging controversies in piano
competition, including a scene in the 1980 Chopin Competition in
Warsaw, Poland, when pianist Martha Argerich stormed off the jury
to protest the early elimination of young pianist Ivo Pogorelich."
Los Angeles Times 03/20/02
THE
WOEFUL STATE OF MOVIE MUSIC: This year's Oscar-nominated film
scores are an uninspired lot. "The Academy's choices of
warhorse composers over fresh and innovative ones reflect the
general deflation affecting the movie score. It's not just that
interesting scores aren't receiving the acclaim they
deserve—they're simply not being written much anymore. When a
director looks for a composer these days, it's usually to write
incidental music to be played between the pre-released pop hits
that form the real soundtrack of the film." Slate
03/20/02
LEAVING
TOWN: Musicians of the Phoenix Symphony are leaving the
orchestra or auditioning elsewhere after a contract signed last
month reduced the orchestra's pay because of financial
difficulties. "After the salary reductions, musicians who
last season made a base salary of $33,300 (more for principal
musicians) will earn $30,030 this season and still less next year,
the first full season under the new contract." The salary
ranks the PSO last among the top 40 professional American
orchestras. Arizona Republic 03/18/02
DIFFICULT
RELATIONSHIP: "For many years, radio has been, and to a
degree remains an important ally for contemporary art music. And
while an important conduit for the dissemination of music, it has
been problematic at best. The musical arts are among the most
conservative, or at least the audience is. The art world embraces
the contemporary. Modern art museums are a source of civic pride,
galleries specialize not only in modern art, but even in specific
styles, genres, and niches. On the other hand, modern music
remains esoteric and for the most part, underground, tucked away
so as not to upset or annoy anyone within earshot. As a result, it
is virtually unheard on television and only begrudgingly allotted
a few moments on the radio airwaves, often when few listeners are
likely to tune in." NewMusicBox
03/02
TECH
IS NOTHING NEW... Let's not get all carried away thinking that
the digital revolution will be the end of music as we know it. Of
course music is changing because of technology - it always has -
from the invention of the piano to the phonograph... Still...the
availability of free music is a compelling change. New
York Times Magazine 03/17/02
FAILURE
TO STUDY: Why have scholars and universities been so slow to
study rock/pop music in the way they've examined jazz and
classical music? "It seems like it's only with a great deal
of age that anything gets picked up on. Rock 'n' roll, or as I
call it, modern music, reflects all sorts of sophisticated
cross-cultural reference points, all of which lends itself to
serious artistic consideration. But very few people will tangle
with that world. I think it's a mixture of ignorance and
fear." Los
Angeles Times 03/18/02
THE
OLD SIDE OF NEW: Contemporary music seems to be performed more
and more. But why does so much of it not sound "modern"?
Such pieces may be pleasant to hear, but they "don't advance
our art; they don't bring it closer to the world outside. They
feel, as I've said, like the classical music of the past, and for
that reason they don't thrive, or at least their thriving might
not do us much good, unless they prepare the way for some new
style that feels less like classical music, and more like
life." NewMusicBox
03/02
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5. PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BARENBOIM'S
PEACE CALL: Conductor Daniel Barenboim, who last month wanted
to perform a peace concert in a Palestinian town, and last year
surprised his audience in Israel by performing Wagner, has
published a call for Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to resign. "Sharon promised
his voters peace and security, but delivered the opposite, and
Arafat must go, he said, because many Palestinians were upset
about a lack of democracy and widespread corruption in their own
leadership ranks." Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 03/21/02
OUT
OF THE FAMILY: Laughlin Phillips has stepped down as chairman
of Washington DC's Phillips Collection. He's held the position
since 1972, and is the last of the Phillips family to have direct
control over the museum. "Phillips made sweeping changes to
the institution. Like many similar art museums across the country,
the Phillips went from being the expression of a founder's vision
to being a major public amenity with a broader, if less personal,
mandate and character." Washington
Post 03/19/02
TIMID
AIRLINE BANS RUSHDIE: Air Canada has banned author Salman
Rushdie from its planes because of the extra security he travels
with. "The company said in an internal e-mail the checks
would cause too much disruption and inconvenience to other
passengers and Mr Rushdie should not be allowed to book flights
with the airline." BBC 03/19/02
WRITER
OF SLIGHT: Thomas Kinkade sells schlocky landscape paintings,
"sold in thousands of mall-based franchise galleries
nationwide," and earning "$130 million in sales
last year." "According to Media Arts Group, the publicly
traded company that sells Kinkade reproductions and other
manifestations of 'the Thomas Kinkade lifestyle brand,' including
furniture and other examples of what the company's chairman
memorably called 'art-based products,' his work hangs in one out
of every 20 American homes." Now Kinkade's
"written" a novel, a "shamelessly
money-grubbing little bait-and-switch" aesthetically in line
with the rest of the Kinkade empire. Salon
03/17/02
- PAINTER
OF LIFESTYLE: Kinkade has his name on a housing
development north of San Francisco that promises the idyllic
kind of life depicted in his paintings. "What is
surprising, though, is just how far short of the mark it
falls. I arrived at Kinkade's Village expecting to be appalled
by a horror show of treacly Cotswold kitsch; I was even more
horrified by its absence." Salon
03/17/02
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6.
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#publishing
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THREE
CRITICAL FLAVORS: Literary criticism is an attractive profession
- the traits to be a good one are a fuzzy alchemy of skills that
are difficult to quantify. Why do Germany's literary critics currently
seem to come in one of three flavors - charlatans, fools or groupies.
None is particularly enlightening. Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 03/21/02
WAITING
FOR DIVERSITY: "Maybe the most important thing that ever
happened in this country for Hispanics wanting to read relevant
books was the 2000 census. It said, hey, publishers, there are
35.3 million Latinos out there. So book publishers started to
awaken from the somnolence that often embraces them when it comes
to the new and started to take notice. Awakened might be too
strong a word, but things are slowly changing for Hispanic writers
and their audience." The New York
Times 03/21/02
PROMISE
NO PRICE-FIXING: Last summer, the European
Commission began investigating several German publishers and book
traders, among them the Bertelsmann subsidiary Random House, of
price fixing. Now the Commission says if the publishers promise to
stop price fixing, they won't be fined. Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 03/18/02
AUTHORS
HATE TO BE USED: In the past year online booksellers have been
selling used books right next to their new copies. Within days of
a new book being sold online, used copies also start turning up.
Authors and publishers - who don't reap any money from such sales
- are feeling abused. Wired 03/19/02
$$$
AS ATTENTION-GETTER: Canada is justifiably proud of its literary
tradition, and has the big-money prizes to prove it. Buckets of 'em,
in fact, which begs the question: what good does it do the literary
world in general, and struggling but talented young writers in
particular, when these large cash awards consistently go to writers
who don't need the money? The truth may be that the only reason the
prize money is as big as it is is to get the media to pay attention.
Toronto Star 03/23/02
DOMAIN
GRAB THAT DOESN'T RHYME: The UK's Poetry Society has been
running a successful website. But the organization forgot to renew
the registration of its domain name www.poetrysoc.com, and
"last Thursday, visitors to the society's website found not
poetry but a directory of online service providers offering
everything from Viagra pills to hair-loss treatments." Now the
organization "faces a potentially expensive legal fight to get
the name back." BBC 03/21/02
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7. THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#theatre
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RSC
SLAPS 'MODERN' GAG ORDERS ON STAFF: Times are not good at
the Royal Shakespeare Company. A slew of controversies has erupted
in the last year, most of them focused around artistic director
Adrian Noble. Now, the RSC seems to have imposed a gag order on
its staff, to the outrage of many. "A spokeswoman described
the introduction of a confidentiality clause in the contracts
of all permanent and contract employees... as 'simply a matter
of modernising our antiquated contracts into line with all other
commercial organisations.'" The
Guardian (UK) 03/22/02
- JUST
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON IN THERE? "Writing about
the Royal Shakespeare Company is like trying to make a nice,
clear shape out of a vast pool of mercury. Where is the
company going? What strange new initiative will its embattled
director, Adrian Noble, dream up next? Aren’t artistic
standards seriously slipping? Yet every time I have girded my
pen for the attack, the RSC has foiled me with a production
I’ve found genuinely exciting." The
Times of London 03/22/02
OKAY,
BUT NO MORE PINBALL WIZARD, GOT IT? The intersection of
rock music with the stage musical has never been a clean one, and no
one has ever been quite sure what to make of it. From Stephen
Schwarz's Godspell to Elton John's Aida, the music of
youthful rebellion has often stumbled when combined with the
ultimate cornball theatre form. But increasingly, it looks as if the
crossover is here to stay, and the question becomes not 'will it
work,' but 'how can we make it work?' Boston
Globe 03/24/02
ONE-TRACK
MINDS: Few American theatres would attempt even once what
Chicago's Eclipse Theatre does every year. Eclipse performs the
works of a single playwright exclusively for an entire season, with
the intention of gaining deeper understanding through immersion. But
this is no "greatest hits" troupe: the playwrights, and
the plays themselves, tend toward the lesser-known, and audiences
seem to be up to the challenge. Chicago
Sun-Times 03/22/02
WHERE
ARE THE WOMEN? A new report by the New York State Council on the
Arts chronicles the limited role of women in the theatre.
"Progress with regard to women’s participation in the theatre
has been both inconsistent and slow. Latest figures indicate that
advancement has stalled or even deteriorated. 23% of the productions
were directed by women and 20% had a woman on the writing team.
Women get paid on average only between 70-74 percent of what men
earn. New
York State Council on the Arts 03/02
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8.
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#visualarts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRITISH
MUSEUM CLOSURES: The British Museum has closed a number of its
galleries in a cost-cutting move. "The museum recently
projected a budget deficit of $7 million for 2004-2005, its
largest ever, unless it cuts expenses by 15 percent. As a result,
it imposed a hiring freeze and suspended plans to build a study
center. It also cut the opening hours of 23 of its 94 permanent
exhibition galleries to as little as 3 hours a day." Nando
Times (AP) 03/21/02
OLDEST
PHOTO SOLD: The earliest known photographic image was sold for
$443,000 at a French auction this week. "The 1825 print by
French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce, which shows a man leading
a horse, was bought by the Musees de France, which runs the
country's museums, for France's National Library, officials at
Sotheby's said." Nando Times (AP)
03/21/02
CHANGING
FORTUNES: The Maastricht Art Fair is billed as the world's
leading art and antiques gathering. This year a report on the
world's art sales was released in conjunction with the fair.
"From 1998 to 2001, the average price of a work of fine art
sold at auction in the EU declined 39% to $7,662. The average
price of a painting sold in the United Kingdom advanced 54% to
$24,968; in the United States, the average price advanced 75% to
$79,003. The EU as a whole has lost 7.2% global share of market
since 1998. The Continental EU has lost 9%. The US, the principal
competitor of the EU, increased its market share by 7%."
New York Observer 03/20/02
A
NEW GENERATION OF PUBLIC ART: Funded by proceeds from a large
$6 billion construction project, "Melbourne is about to be
decorated by the largest public art program since the cavalcade of
bronze statues that was funded by the 1850s gold rush." But
many in the city have ambivalent feelings about what kind of art
might be chosen. The Age (Melbourne)
03/21/02
ABANDONING
MUSEUM ISLAND: The Berlin government - trying to deal with a
budget crisis - has announced it will no longer fund restoration of
the five museums collectively known as "Museum Island."
That leaves the federal government as the sole funder. "The
Museum Island was added to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization's list of world cultural
heritage sites in 1999." Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 03/19/02
NAZI
LOOT TO STAY IN PRAGUE: "In a disheartening setback for a
Chicago-area man who has claimed a multimillion-dollar art
collection looted by the Nazis, the Czech government has declared
the most valuable of the paintings "national treasures,"
thereby blocking their return. The move by the Czech Culture
Ministry reflects the erratic record of the government when dealing
with restitution claims from Holocaust survivors and their heirs.
Though the Czech Republic has passed liberal laws guaranteeing the
return of looted works 'free of charge,' it has invoked a variety of
arcane legal codes to prevent the most valuable works from leaving
the country." Chicago Tribune
03/22/02
BYGONES
IN SYDNEY: The architect behind the revolutionary Sydney Opera
House has never seen his creation in person. Back in 1966, with
the hall only partially completed and facing stiff criticism for
huge cost overruns, Joern Utzon walked off the project and vowed
never to return. Decades later, he's back on the job, agreeing to
oversee the AUS$24 milion opera house's renovation.
BBC 03/20/02
FRESCO
FRACAS: "The official unveiling Monday of Giotto's
restored frescoes in Padua's Scrovegni Chapel, commissioned 700
years ago for a banker's private place of worship, included VIP
guests, fanfare and entertainment. It also revived criticism that
restorations -- especially those that aren't crucial -- can harm
the original art." National Post
(AP) 03/20/02
TAXING
ART: The US Congress' repeal of the estate tax last year
appears as though it will have an impact on sales of inherited
art. Owners of inherited art will have to keep track of values and
pay new taxes on capital gains. The
Art Newspaper 03/15/02
NEW
DIRECTOR FOR NATIONAL GALLERY: Charles Saumarez Smith,
currently director of the National Portrait Gallery, is expected
to be named the next director of London's National
Gallery. "He has pushed the frontiers of what was seen as
possible in a gallery of portraits, including a conceptual piece
by Marc Quinn, unveiled last year, which contains real DNA." The
Guardian (UK) 03/18/02
FITTING
RIGHT IN: "The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which
officially opened Saturday, has its aspirations, but they are as
much civic as architectural. The $22.5 million building plugs a
gaping hole in a 1930s municipal square in the heart of downtown,
using the same limestone and massing as its neighbors while also
preserving the shell of an art moderne movie theater. Such quietly
dignified ensembles, once common in American cities, are becoming
extinct." Dallas
Morning News 03/18/02
OUT
OF THE GALLERIES: "The echoey white cubes of contemporary
galleries still display art, but is that the best place for it to
be seen? Of all the places where today’s artists experiment,
they are perhaps least comfortable with domestic space." A
new project in Scotland has artists making work for people's
houses. The
Scotsman 03/18/02
AUCTION
FALL-OFF: So
in the year after the auction house scandals, how did their business
fare? "For what it's worth - which is not a great deal -
Christie's won the annual turnover contest for the second year
running, outselling Sotheby's by $1.8 billion to $1.6 billion. But
Christie's turnover was down by 23 per cent, the biggest drop since
the dark days of the art market collapse in 1991. At Sotheby's, the
decline in turnover was 16 per cent, with American sales dropping by
22 per cent to $809 million and European auctions suffering an eight
per cent decline to $723 million." The
Telegraph (UK) 03/18/02
THE
NEXT BIG THING?
He's famous for championing art of the fillet 'o shark, elephant
dung and unmade bed variety. But we haven't heard from
collector/dealer Charles Saatchi for awhile. So what's his latest
predilection? Landscapes. Landscapes? You bet, but as you might
expect, not the traditional variety... The
Telegraph (UK) 03/18/02
WHAT'S
THE POINT?
Architect Renzo Piano's proposed 1000-foot tall London Bridge
Tower would be England's tallest building. "But the big
question is not whether or not the building is good architecture,
or even to do with its prodigious height, but rather what real
purpose does it serve? It may be a catwalk model of a building,
lithe and eye-catching, but is it little more than a naked machine
for making money beneath its sleek and glassy dress? Or will it
make a real contribution to the culture and economy of the
capital?" The
Guardian (UK) 03/18/02
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9.
ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#issues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADELAIDE'S
BIG SUCCESS: The Adelaide Festival might have dragged itself
through the headlines, firing director Peter Sellars, and appearing
to not know which end was up. But the festival sold 180,000 tickets,
a 60 percent increase over the last festival. Fringe artists
earned $3.85 million at the box office, compared to $2.08 million
in 2000. Sydney Morning Herald 03/22/02
- ADELAIDE
POST-MORTEM: So was this year's Adelaide Festival as bad
as fired-director Peter Sellars' detractors maintain? Did
Adelaide's city newspaper poison Sellars' agenda with its
early criticism? Or was the festival so good that it will make
the next edition difficult to pull off? Lots of questions, but
then, aren't there always? The Age
(Melbourne) 03/22/02
FIGHTING
CRIME WITH ART: The British government says it will use more
arts and culture programs to try to turn young people off crime.
"The arts and sport can encourage young offenders to make
choices, decisions and personal statements, to have enthusiasm, to
take risks and take responsibility." BBC
03/22/02
WELCOME
TO THE VERIZON/ENRON/WELLS FARGO SMITHSONIAN! Smithsonian
chief Lawrence Small testified at a congressional hearing
yesterday on funding possibilities for the national museum's
latest modernization campaign. But the mood turned ugly when a New
York congressman accused small of selling the nation's cultural
heritage to the highest bidder, and decried the growing trend of
selling naming rights. "Frankly, just speaking as an
individual citizen, I deeply resent it. You didn't start this but
you seem to me to be the biggest cheerleader. What we are
experiencing is crass commercialization," Maurice Hinchey
(D-NY) said. Washington Post 03/21/02
BERLIN'S
BUDGET AX: Berlin's new city council made about $2 billion
worth of spending cuts, in an effort to work its way out of a
financial crisis. The city's arts and culture programs will take
big hits. "The council said there would be no more free
theatre and that it would contribute nothing more to investment by
the heritage foundation that runs many museums and galleries.
About 15,000 jobs are expected to go in the city, where 17% are
unemployed." The
Guardian (UK) 03/20/02
ITALY'S
CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP: Italy's big cultural institutions are in
political turmoil. Critics charge that the "centre-right
Government of Silvio Berlusconi, which took office nine months
ago, seems unable to find the right people to run Italy’s art
centres, cultural institutes overseas, or even — and most
damagingly — the Venice Film Festival in September." The
Times (UK) 03/20/01
THE
AMOUNT'S FINE - JUST HOW TO SPEND IT? After months of
wrangling, the province of Ontario and the Canadian government are
anxious to make a deal on a $200 million investment in the arts.
Problem is, the two governments can't agree on how the money
should be split up. And arts groups are getting impatient.
Toronto Star 03/19/02
- THE
AGITATOR: Ontario Premier Mike Harris has never been a
subtle politician, and his all-too-public battles with the
national government in Ottawa are legendary. So when Harris
announced that he was unilaterally implementing over $90
million of funding for provincial arts groups without waiting
for matching funds from the capitol, a firestorm of criticism
ensued. From artists to MPs, it seems no one is happy, and
nearly everyone is blaming Mike Harris. The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 03/20/02
TAKING
THE FIGHT OUTSIDE: Two prominent members of the Orange County
Performing Arts Center board have resigned from the organization.
Four other top board members are part of a lawsuit against the
pair, charging them with securities fraud in their business.
"The lawsuit seeks damages of more than $50 million for the
plaintiffs' losses on the stock market." In leaving the
board, the pair said that sitting on a board with people who
accuse them of fraud "was just something we could not
stomach." "The resignation of the Broadcom founders -
billionaire philanthropists and leaders in the high-tech-driven
'new economy' - represents a blow to a board that has been
assiduously courting the next generation of business leaders and
arts patrons." Orange
County Register 03/17/02
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. FOR FUN
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#forfun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUERRILLA
CINEMA: At the appointed hour, a car pulls up, the driver gets
out, sets up his equipment, and "guerrilla drive-in" is up
and running. In Los Angeles, a filmmaker projects his movies on the
sides of buildings, broadcasting the sound on a local pirate radio
frequency. "The director began projecting a two-hour cut of his
three-hour movie onto the sides of buildings from Santa Monica to
the Valley last summer. Sometimes he gets the owner's permission;
sometimes he doesn't, a dicey prospect given tonight's locale:
behind the parking lot of the LAPD's Hollywood station."
LA Weekly 03/14/02
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