Week
of June 10-16, 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
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MAJOR
INDUSTRY: A new study reports that nonprofit American arts
groups generate $134 billion in economic activity each year.
"The new survey covered 3,000 local arts organizations in 91
cities, as well as 40,000 of their patrons, and drew a statistical
picture of a booming business. These groups account for 4.85
million full-time-equivalent jobs, a larger percentage of the
workforce than lawyers or computer programmers." Washington
Post 06/11/02
BURSTING
THE BUBBLE: Why is the recording industry in danger of
collapse? "It is hard to think of a more profound business
crisis. You've lost control of the means of distribution,
promotion, and manufacturing. You've lost quality control - in
some sense, there's been a quality-control coup. You've lost your
basic business model - what you sell has become as free as oxygen.
It's a philosophical as well as a business crisis - which
compounds the problem, because the people who run the music
business are not exactly philosophers." New
York Magazine 06/10/02
FREE
ME: When the LA County Museum of Art began charging admission
in 1978, attendance slid by 44 percent. Now, nearly 25 years
later, despite 3 million more people in LA, the number of people
visiting LACMA is roughly the same as it was in pre-admission
1978. As the museum goes out to raise $300 million to makeover its
campus, Christopher Knight writes that one of LACMA's top
priorities ought to be eliminating the admission fee. "No one
should underestimate the barrier erected by general admission
fees. Yet the issue isn't just a matter of affordability. It also
concerns a more fundamental relationship with art." Los
Angeles Times 06/09/02
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2. DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#dance
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DONALD
BYRD COMPANY CLOSING: After 24 years, Donald Byrd/The Group is
closing because of money problems. "A lot of it has to do
with debt issues that have been ongoing since Harlem Nutcracker.
The $1.2 million production, which had its premiere in 1996, was
artistically successful and toured extensively throughout the
United States. But Mr. Byrd said he had struggled for six years to
pay off the debt arising from it, now about $400,000. His
10-member company, which has an annual budget of just under $1
million, also has an accumulated deficit of another $400,000.
Byrd, 52, has been among the most innovative and busy of
choreographers in recent years, tackling unusual themes in an
unusually eclectic style." The
New York Times 06/15/02
TOO
LONG AND ELECTRONIC: Generalizations are sometimes dangerous,
but it is possible to hold a few obvious truths about this year's
Canada Dance Festival. Choreographers from Toronto and Montreal
dominated, the pieces were too long (most were hour-long
full-lengths designed to satisfy presenters), and original
electronic music seems to be the accompaniment of choice
"which seems to be developing a universal template that is
best described as cinematic-cum-atmospheric soundscape." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/13/02
DANCE
OLYMPICS: One hundred and eighteen dancers from 25 countries
are converging on Jackson Mississippi this week for the USA
International Ballet Competition. It's held every four years, and
"the competition is an expensive, stressful, and
time-consuming proposition. But for dancers ages 15 to 26, it
offers a chance to network and showcase their skills for
representatives of some of the world's most noted dance companies.
Outstanding performers are often rewarded not only with prizes,
but with job offers and guest opportunities- a real boon for
emerging talents." Boston
Globe 06/12/02
IRELAND
LEARNS TO DANCE: Contemporary dance has struggled in Ireland
for decades. But last month an international festival of dance
played to full houses. Is dance finally finding a place in
Ireland? "The question is, can a country of fewer than four
million with a capital city of about one million support a
thriving contemporary dance scene? Fewer than 30 people in
Ireland, mostly choreographers and administrators, rely on dance
for full-time employment. If the calculation included all members
of Irish dance companies, who mostly work part-time as actors or
teachers, the total might reach 60." The
New York Times 06/12/02
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3. MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#media
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PROTESTING
CONSOLIDATION: A TV group representing creative workers in the
industry are warning that consolidation of American media is
dangerous for the country. They're asking the FCC to investigate.
"The harm comes about as a direct result of the growing
concentration of ownership. The consequences of this new factor in
our industry are - and this is no exaggeration - potentially
catastrophic." Nando
Times (AP) 06/11/02
BRIT
TV GOES TO THE US: Sales of British TV shows to the US
increased 20 percent last year, helped by the success of a couple
of hit exports, including The Weakest Link. "Sales to
the US account for nearly a third of all exports from the UK and
the market is worth £136 million, according to the British
Television Distributors Association (BTDA)." BBC
06/13/02
DOES
UK HAVE WORLD'S BEST TV? Britain has won the most awards at
the Banff International Television Festival, winning nine awards.
The US came second with 7 awards. "The U.K. has traditionally
dominated the awards, held for the past 23 years in this Rocky
Mountain resort town." National
Post (Canada) 06/11/02
FEST
ME: There are now 1,600 film festivals around the world and
650 in the United States. And oddly, Los Angeles, the home of
movies, doesn't have a top-tier film fest. Why? Shouldn't it? Los
Angeles Times 06/16/02
PBS'
RECORD LOW RATINGS: America's PBS racked up record low ratings
this past season. The network is trying to reinvent itself,
working to attract viewers who aren't kids and old people. But can
PBS reinvent before its audience completely goes away? "The
PBS audience has wandered off to niche cable channels that have
cherry-picked one coverage area after another that PBS once had
exclusively: The Food Network and Animal Planet in specific areas,
for instance, and even Discovery and A&E more directly
competing with PBS' broader vision." Chicago
Tribune 06/13/02
PUBLIC
BROADCASTER MAKES MASSIVE CUTS: "Dallas public
broadcaster KERA cut nearly a quarter of its staff Thursday,
citing lower-than-expected corporate and individual donations
since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks... Public TV stations in
Chicago, Philadelphia and Oregon also laid off workers in the last
month." Dallas Morning News
06/14/02
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4.
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#music
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THEFT
ON A GRAND SCALE: Sales of pirated music cds doubled in 2001
to 950 million, says a new report. But overall the number of
"pirated recordings, including CDs and cassettes, totaled
nearly 2 billion in 2001, up just slightly from a year earlier.
The figure means that two out of every five recordings sold
worldwide in 2001 was an illegal copy. Illegal music sales
outnumber legal sales in 25 countries, compared with 21 countries
a year earlier." Boston
Globe (AP) 06/11/02
- THE
DOWNLOAD EFFECT? A prominent economics professor studying
the effect of music downloading wonders why there isn't more
of an impact on CD sales. Sure, sales were down a bit last
year, and it could be explained by the recession. Estimates of
downloads are five times greater than CD sales. Yet CD sales
are only down 5 percent. Perhaps digital trading isn't hurting
legit sales? Salon 06/13/02
- BURN
BABY BURN: Music fans are being offered an easy new way to
burn CDs in Sydney - vending machines. "There are about
20 Copy Cat machines installed in convenience stores and
photocopying shops around Sydney where burning a CD costs $5,
plus $2 for a blank. The machines are ostensibly legitimate
because they come with a notice warning users about copyright
infringements." Sydney
Morning Herald 06/14/02
- THE
DIGITAL CATCH-22: The debate over CD-copying technology
and music piracy is more complex than either side usually
cares to admit. On the one hand, the industry is quite aware
of studies that show that copying technology has led to a
wider and more voracious market for purchased CDs. On the
other, the professional music pirates who are glutting the
world market with discs are a major threat to profit margins.
What's a giant corporate media industry to do? Wired
06/14/02
STICKING
WITH CONVENTIONAL: The Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs is about music rather than
careers. But music critic Scott Cantrell is disappointed that
judges chose conventional performances to win rather than the
performer with a more idiosyncratic approach. Dallas
Morning News 06/16/02
- FOR
THE LOVE OF IT: The Amateur competition reminds listeners
that making music is a personal experience. "There was
the sometime librarian who co-owned a café and a shoe repair
shop and designed circus tents, the financial manager with a
Harvard MBA and a black belt in karate, the television news
anchor who took master classes with Sir Georg Solti and became
third runner-up in the 1985 Miss America Pageant." Toronto
Star 06/16/02
E-JUDGING:
A new international piano features an e-judge - pianist Yefim
Bronfman, who will tune in to performances sitting in Japan, while
the competition plays out in Minnesota. "Mr. Bronfman, whom
the contest's Web site (www.piano-e-competition.com)
calls an "e-judge," is to sit in a 200-seat recital hall
in the international headquarters of the Yamaha Corporation
listening to the performances of the young pianists in St. Paul as
reproduced onstage through a Yamaha Disklavier Pro piano,
essentially a 21st-century player piano. The contest does raise
questions about the uniqueness of live performance and the
appropriate uses of ever-advancing technology in music." The
New York Times 06/13/02
MORE
INTRIGUE IN EDMONTON: Last winter's bitter battle between the
management and musicians of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
centered around the orchestra's deposed music director, Grzegorz
Nowak, and developed into a heated discussion over whether
musicians have a right to some control of their orchestra's
direction. In the thick of the fight, Nowak threatened to take the
ESO musicians (who by and large supported him) and start his own
orchestra. Plans have been scaled back a bit, but Nowak is making
good on his threat. Edmonton Journal
06/13/02
AN
ORCHESTRA TRAVELS ON ITS STOMACHS: What makes a great
orchestra? “Someone should write a doctorate some day on why
certain middle-sized cities (Birmingham, Dresden and Cleveland)
manage to generate and sustain world-class orchestras, while
others (Glasgow, Frankfurt or Seattle) fail to do so.” Outgoing
Cleveland Orchestra music director says success comes down to
parking spaces. And lockers. And food. "My gimmick is I pay
them a lot of money. Think about it. Our musicians don't have
problems with traffic. They can get to work in 10 minutes. They
all have parking spaces. They all have lockers. There's a good
canteen. Compared with a London musician's living, it's
heaven." The Guardian (UK)
06/13/02
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5. PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#people
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PAUL
GOTTLIEB, 67: "In his 20 years as publisher and editor in
chief of the country's most notable publisher of art books he
exercised vast influence, not merely on how such books are
published but also on how art is presented and promoted at museums
around the world. Gottlieb knew just about everybody connected in
one way or another to publishing and art." Washington
Post 06/10/02
DEALER
SENTENCED FOR ART SALES: New York art dealer Frederick Schultz
has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for trying to sell
stolen Egyptian artifacts. "The stiff sentence, coming after
Mr. Schultz's conviction on Feb. 12, is seen as a sign of the
federal government's determination to crack down on the trade in
ancient objects that have been illegally taken out of their
countries of origin." The
New York Times 06/12/02
HARVARD
MUSEUM CHIEF TO COURTAULD: James Cuno, the director of the
Harvard University Art Museums since 1991, has been named director
of the University of London's Courtauld Institute of Art. The
appointment is seen as a sideways move for the highly-regarded
Cuno, who is also president of the Association of Art Museum
Directors in the US. His departure from Harvard is "the
latest in a number of high-profile departures from the university
since the arrival last year of president Lawrence H.
Summers." Boston Globe 06/11/02
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6.
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#publishing
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FICTIONABLE:
The Australian fiction market is a respectable size, but “sales
figures for fiction are down and fewer first novelists are being
published. In 1999-2000 Australians bought 1.1 million new
hardback novels worth $17.8 million, 1.2 million trade paperback
novels for $13.9 million, and also spent $42.6 million on 8.5
million mass-market novels. In that period, 36 new hardback, 155
new trade paperback, and 1089 new mass-market novels were
published. The Age (Melbourne)
06/13/02
WHO
BUYS BOOKS: In Australia "the $126-million book industry
relies on women for the bulk of its sales. Women not only buy for
themselves but for men and children. And it is 35 to 50-year-olds
who buy the most. "The closer they get to 50, the more books
they buy," Drum says. A national survey of reading, book
buying and borrowing, completed last year for the Australia
Council, found that women browsed more in bookshops, read more
widely, and were happier relaxing with a book than men were."
The Age (Melbourne) 06/12/02
IS
THE BOOK REAL? Rachel Simmons' Odd Girl Out: The Hidden
Culture of Aggression in Girls has had much play, climbing the
bestseller lists and "helping ignite a national debate about
'mean girls'." But to one columnist, the quotes seemed not
quite right, a little too sophisticated to be real. Contacting the
author, she arranged to sample some of the interview tapes to
check them. But when the time came, Simmons changed her mind and
declined to reveal the tapes. "It must be said that Simmons
and her publisher are well within their legal rights to refuse my
request." But "when readers raise legitimate questions
about a work's accuracy, the authors owe it to themselves, their
subjects, their works and the world of letters to verify their
claims." The
News & Observer (Raleigh) 06/10/02
HEY
HAY HEH: "Stratford has Shakespeare, Glyndebourne has
opera, Hay-on-Wye has books - and its very own literary festival.
Perched at the foot of the Black Mountains, the tiny market town
of Hay boasts 39 bookshops, two million books and a population of
just 1,200. And for ten days each year, the town hosts its very
own 'Woodstock of the mind', as Bill Clinton dubbed it last year.
It regularly attracts some 50,000 book-lovers from across the UK,
Europe and the US. Well, that at least is the official
blurb." But has Hay, with its squabbles and feuds and
outsized operations, become too big for itself?
New Statesman 06/10/02
BEMUSEMENT
AT BOOKER BRUHAHA: American critics continue to be amused at
British angst over opening up the Booker Prize to American
writers. Would the Americans dominate the competition? "Given
the last two decades of ambitious experimentation by British
writers, why do intimations of literary inferiority persist? In
part, it's a reflection of the European view of the United States
as a bullying superpower, acting unilaterally, be it in the
political and military sphere or in the world of cultural
commerce. In part, it has to do with what the British critic and
novelist Malcolm Bradbury once called 'trans-Atlantic mythologies'
— deep-seated attitudes that writers on either side of the ocean
have long held about one another." The
New York Times 06/10/02
DREAMING
WHAT YOU READ: A new study says what you read is linked to
what you dream. Researchers found that "adults choosing
fiction had stranger dreams - but were more likely to remember
them. While fantasy novel fans had more nightmares and 'lucid'
dreams, in which they are aware they are dreaming. The dreams of
those who preferred romantic novels were more emotionally
intense." BBC
06/10/02
HOW
TO WRITE A BESTSELLER: More than a few people get it into
their heads that they can make a fortune writing a bestseller. How
hard can it be? "Of course it can't be done. You might as
well stand in a field during a thunderstorm and hope to be struck
by lightning. Bestsellers defy analysis. But if you did want to
prospect for this fool's gold, here are four guidelines." The
Observer (UK) 06/09/02
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7. THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#theatre
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DENVER
KILLS NEW PLAY FEST: Since 1984-85, the Denver Center Theatre
Company has staged the annual TheatreFest to showcase new plays
and playwrights. In 18 years the festival considered 27,000
scripts and chose more than 200 for full or partial staged
readings. "Of those, 45 eventually became fully produced,
making up a large chunk of the 96 world premieres the DCTC has
presented in the past 23 years. But the company's budget, which
comes from interest generated by Bonfils Foundation assets, was
ordered cut after last year's downward market turn." So the
company is suspending the $160,000 event. Denver
Post 06/11/02
PROVING
GROUNDS: Gone are the days when big expensive shows had their
world premieres on Broadway. More often now, they debut in other
cities before moving on. "Mounting a new musical in New York
has become so expensive that producers are loath to take the risk
of failure. They prefer to wait until shows are proven at places
like Theater Under the Stars in Houston, which has just moved into
a dazzling $100-million home designed especially to stage lavish
musicals." The
New York Times 06/11/02
THE
CASE FOR A NATIONAL THEATRE: "If the American play is
ever to survive on Broadway, something must replace the function
of the independent producer. To flourish, plays must have
sustenance, a place to grow and a means to do so. What better
environment than a national theater, right in the middle of
Broadway?" The New York Times
06/16/02
ANCIENT
OUTDOOR THEATRE: London’s ancient amphitheatre is open
again, after being buried for 1600 years. “Modern visitors will
be able to follow the route taken for almost 300 years by excited
Roman citizens, by gladiators who might survive to become wealthy
sporting superstars, and by condemned criminals, who would
certainly be torn apart by wild animals or weapons.” The
Guardian (UK) 06/13/02
LOOKING
FOR SHAKESPEAREVILLE: A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
in Odessa Texas isn't exactly authentic (plush seats and a
climate-controlled theatre with a roof are two of the
improvements), but after falling into decline after its 1960s
opening, the theatre is rebuilding its fortunes. It aims to be a
Texasified Shakespeare village in the tradition of Ashland Oregon,
America's largest Shakespeare festival. The
Independent (UK) 06/10/02
YOUNG
PEOPLE - SHAKESPEARE'S HIP: A new poll of young people in
Britain reports that a third of young people say Shakespeare's
works are "relevant to their lives and have made an important
contribution to the English language. Only 3 per cent of those
polled said they would feel intimidated by going to see a
Shakespeare production. The survey of 15 to 35-year-olds,
conducted for the Royal Shakespeare Company, also found that more
of them have visited a theatre in the past year than have been to
a pop concert." The
Scotsman 06/11/02
PLAYBILL
BUYS STAGEBILL: Stagebill, one of America's leading program
publishers is being acquired by Playbill, its chief competitor.
"New York-based Playbill confirmed it has acquired the rights
to publish under the Stagebill name, effective Sept. 1, but
offered no other details on the deal, in a prepared statement
Friday." Chicago
Tribune 06/10/02
SHAKESPEARE
IN CHINA: The Royal Shakespeare Company travels to China,
where the audiences are small (it’s far too expensive for
ordinary Chinese) but enthusiastic. "Chinese drama is in a
critical state. The audience for theatre is very small compared to
film and television. But it has a few supporters, mainly among
students and better-paid clerks, and it still attracts the leading
thinkers and opinion formers. Very few foreign performances are
seen in Beijing, so the visit of the Royal Shakespeare Company
gives us a chance to communicate with different cultures and
different thoughts." The Guardian
(UK) 06/13/02
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8.
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#visualarts
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DOCUMENTING
CONTEMPORARY ART: The 11th Documenta opens in Kassel.
"Despite contemporary techniques - video, installation,
photography - this Documenta 11 fails to match the work of much of
the 1990s in loudness, velocity or the frequency of its shock
effects. There are fewer illustrations of political theses than
feared, and instead more truly classical art than many might have
anticipated. In order to avoid making a loss, Documenta 11 must
attract 630,000 visitors to Kassel and earn over euro 6.9 million
($6.5 million) by Sept. 15." Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 06/09/02
A
PLAN TO SAVE VENICE: Venice has decided to build a
controversial "Thames barrier-type structure with 79 gates,
each weighing 300 tonnes" to help control flooding of the
city's lagoon. "But there are fears about how this might
affect the Venice lagoon, particularly the possibility that it
could further restrict the flushing of the city's waterways by the
tide, making the famous stinking canals more stagnant." So
British scientists have been brought in to "suggest ways to
prevent the city becoming the first high-profile victim of global
warming and a rise in sea levels." The
Guardian (UK) 06/10/02
DESIGN-CHALLENGED:
Wonder why people don't grow up with an appreciation for good
architecture? Start with school buildings. The province of Ontario
is building new schools, but the amount spent on design is
pitiful. "On their own and strapped for money, some of the
region's school boards are replicating school designs over two or
three different sites. Sadly, the new schools in Toronto can't
achieve the robust detailing of the public schools that emerged in
the city in the early 20th century." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/12/02
A
CONSERVATION SCANDAL: How was the ancient Villa of the Papyri
- one of the richest and largest of the ancient Roman villas ever
discovered, "allowed to degenerate into a massive dumping
site for rubbish while weeds ravaged the ancient mosaic floor,
holes in the plastic roof left it exposed to rain, and rising
water levels blocked access to the site?" It's a sad case of
bungled bureaucracy... The
Art Newspaper 06/07/02
FOOD
FIGHT: A show of Italian Masters sponsored by the Italian
government and sent to Australia has provoked a fierce review that
has insulted the Italians. "Attacks on the show feed fears
that Australia is regarded by the rest of the world as the back of
beyond, a place where nobody would care to send too many
masterpieces, and also that Australians are taken for bumpkins,
too unsophisticated to realise when they are being fobbed
off." The
Times (UK) 06/12/02
BRITISH
MUSEUM STRIKE: The British Museum won't open next Monday
because of a 24-hour strike by its workers. They are protesting
cuts and management of the museum. "It is believed to be the
first time the museum will have closed because of industrial
action in its 250-year history." The
Guardian (UK) 06/12/02
TEARING
DOWN HISTORY: The 20th Century was a bad one for English
manors. "More than 1,000 country houses, perhaps one in six,
were demolished in the 20th century. The result was an
architectural and cultural tragedy that has no parallel in this
country since the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th
century. Superb collections of art were broken up, some of the
most delightful gardens and landscapes ever created abandoned, and
many of this country's finest buildings razed to the ground. The
causes of that destruction have never been spelt out before,
perhaps because the event was too painful." The
Telegraph (UK) 06/15/02
IS
IT CHEATING? When photography was invented many predicted the
end of painting. Didn't happen, of course. But lately there have
been fresh debates about the "fairness" of painters
using mechanical devices to help in their work. Does it somehow
lessen a work if the artist used visual aids? "I'm guessing
that psychoanalysts would diagnose this as displaced
anxiety." The New York Times
06/16/02
THOROUGHLY
MODERN BIDDING: With Impressionist works too expensive for
most collectors, contemporary art has caught the interest of
investors. Prices for 20th Century work has been setting records
of late. "The stock market is not currently offering many
opportunities for people to get involved so when they find
something that gives them pleasure, like art, they say 'let's do
it.' ". Financial Times 06/14/02
SCOTTISH
GALLERY WORKERS THINK STRIKE: While staff at the National
Galleries of Scotland ponder a strike, the museum director is on a
paid six-month sabbatical in Italy. And the museum is proposing to
increase his salary by almost a quarter. That doesn't sit well
with junior staff. "Here we have a director on a six-month
sabbatical, travelling the world, while the lowest-paid members of
staff can barely afford to get themselves to work." The
Scotsman 06/13/02
FOR
THE SOUL OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY: London's Royal Academy has had
a very successful few years. But now director David Gordon is
leaving, and the RA is at a crossroads. "At issue is whether
artists or administrators should run the public side of the
organisation, now that it has been transformed into a £20
million-a-year business, putting on world-class exhibitions. With
the RA about to embark on a £50 million project to take over 6
Burlington Gardens, the former Museum of Mankind building, the
debate has added urgency." The
Art Newspaper 06/10/02
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9.
ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#issues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LACK
OF DISCIPLINE: American academic culture has changed
dramatically in recent years. "The dissociation of academic
work from traditional departments has become so expected in the
humanities that it is a common topic of both conferences and
jokes. More and more colleges are offering more and more
interdisciplinary classes, and even interdisciplinary majors, but
increased interdisciplinarity is not what is new, and it is not
the cause of today's confusion. What the academy is now
experiencing is postdisciplinarity - not a joining of disciplines,
but an escape from disciplines." Wilson
Quarterly 06/02
CREATIVITY
= ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Richard Florida's new book suggests
that "instead of underwriting big-box retailers, subsidizing
downtown malls, recruiting call centers, and squandering precious
taxpayer dollars on extravagant stadium complexes, the leadership
should instead develop an environment attractive to the creative
class by cultivating the arts, music, night life and quaint
historic districts - in short, develop places that are fun and
interesting rather than corporate and mall-like. It's advice that
city and regional leaders can take or leave, but Florida contends
that his focus groups and indices - reporting the important
factors needed for economic growth in the creative age, from
concentrations of bohemians to patents to a lively gay community -
are more accurately predicting the success and failure of
metropolitan areas." Salon
06/07/02
LOOKING
FOR THE SNOB-FREE ZONE: We are a world of snobs - each of us
trying to define ourselves as superior in some way to those around
us. And yet, writes Joseph Epstein, "one would like to think
that Is there a snob-free zone, a place where one is outside all
snobbish concerns, neither wanting to get in anywhere one isn't,
nor needing to keep anyone else out for fear that one's own
position will somehow seem eroded or otherwise devalued? A very
small island of the favored of the gods, clearly, this snob-free
zone, but how does one get there?" Washington
Monthly 06/02
COLORADO
GOVERNOR CUTS ARTS FUNDING: Colorado Governor Bill Owens used
his line-item veto to cut $766,030, or 40 percent of the Colorado
Arts Council budget. Owens explained that "grants to these
arts programs go to the metro Denver area that already has a
dedicated sales tax for these purposes. Because there is a large
alternate source of revenue, and given the discretionary, one-time
nature of the funds, I am vetoing this line." Denver
Post 06/05/02
MICHIGAN
JOINS ARTS-CUT MOVEMENT: Like many governments across America,
Michigan is facing tough budget times. And like many other
governments, state legislators are proposing major cuts in its
arts budget - a "50 percent cut in arts grants, from $23.5
million to $11.9 million. It's too early to predict whether the
cuts will be adopted, but the fact that a joint committee of the
state Senate and House will meet over the next week to discuss the
cut has arts advocates on the defensive and preparing for a
political fight." Detroit Free
Press 06/12/02
BOUNCING
BACK DOWN UNDER: Australian arts groups were affected by 9/11,
just like American companies. But the effect was mostly mild - the
Sydney Symphony, dependent on single-ticket sales, saw declines,
but the Sydney Theatre Company actually posted increases. Sydney
Morning Herald 06/14/02
MENTORING
WITH SWISS PRECISION: "On the theory that any artist,
regardless of age or experience, can benefit from guidance, Rolex
S.A., the Swiss watchmaker, has created a novel mentoring program
that will link up five up-and-coming artists with five world-class
masters in their fields. The five mentors — the conductor Sir
Colin Davis, the choreographer William Forsythe, the Nobel
laureate Toni Morrison, the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza and
the theater artist Robert Wilson — and their protégés gather
tonight for a reception at the Frick Collection, where they will
begin their yearlong partnership." The
New York Times 06/13/02
WHERE
ARE THE CRITICS? "Unfortunately, critics, and criticism,
are becoming more and more irrelevant. Their authority has been
undermined by chat rooms, bulletin boards and online reviews from
your fellow Amazon.com customer." And the contrarian critics?
They're almost worst of all - b-o-r-i-n-g. They've all got an
agenda, and most are compromised in one way or another. LAWeekly
06/13/02
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10. FOR FUN
http://www.artsjournal.com/Arts%20beat.htm#forfun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REJECTION
AS A REVENUE STREAM: Tired of those form rejection letters for
your Great American Novel? Stymied by your efforts to get your
book in front of an editor? A new venture offers tips on how to
get your book publishable. But the real lure is that a real live
editor from Penguin Putnam will read and critique your effort. It
only costs $119. "The plan makes a certain kind of sense:
After all, there's a whole cottage industry of writers
conferences, magazines and guides preaching the gospel to aspiring
authors. But a publishing company is closest to the ultimate
prize, actual acceptance. It could charge writers extra for a bona
fide book editor to explain to the aspiring writer why she wasn't
buying his manuscript. Rejection as a revenue stream!" Salon
06/12/02
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