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July 23, 2003
Posts from the host
Here are a couple of stories that caught my eye when I saw them linked on my host site, artsjournal.com (which you can visit by clicking on the logo at the top of this page).(1) The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is inviting its readers to send in any questions they may have about the arts, no matter how seemingly naïve. (Some sample questions offered by the paper: How do those actors fight on stage without getting hurt? Who writes the supertitles for the opera? Does a dancer ever drop his partner?) This is a perfectly wonderful idea. As far as I'm concerned, there are no dumb questions about the arts. Everybody has to start somewhere. Short of mass murder, I can't think of many things I loathe more than the hyper-aggressive snobbery whose effect--perhaps even its purpose--is to frighten away well-meaning people who want to dip their toe into the pool of beauty for the first time.
(2) Blake Gopnik wrote an interesting piece for the Washington Post about "Gyroscope," currently on display at Washington's Hirshhorn Museum. It's a blockbuster-style show, only drawn from the museum's permanent collection, and Gopnik suggests--I think rightly--that other museums ought to pay similar attention to finding interesting and provocative ways to display the art they already own.
Posted July 23, 2003 12:03 PM
