A River Runs Through It The Los Angeles River is something of a civic joke. Polluted, abused, ignored, and bound into a concrete channel, the river that once provided all of the city's water has become a symbol of downtown L.A.'s shortsighted urban strategies. But a movement to remake the city's core has been gaining steam in recent years, and a loose coalition of artists and local activists want to free the river from its concrete bonds and make it the centerpiece of a grand... well, a grand something. Neighborhoods want parks, activists want an environmentally protected area, and some people just want the river cleaned, by any means necessary. What everyone agrees upon is that the river must play a part in the long-overdue revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. The Next American City 07/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 8:15 pm
Finishing What They Started The UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has been mostly finished for a decade. When the building opened in 1990, a design for a theater was incorporated and roughed out, but never fully built. The Hammer Museum has now received a $5 million gift from the widow of director Billy Wilder, with the money to be used to complete the theater project. "The Wilder donation gives a much-needed boost to the museum's fund-raising campaign for its planned $26.5-million renovation." Los Angeles Times 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 6:23 am
Money Talks, Diversity Walks The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is absurdly dedicated to a tiny circle of seven specific artists, thanks to its stubborn founder, and yet it still receives an inordinate amount of backing from the provincial government of Ontario, says Sarah Milroy. "Attempts to gracefully loosen the grand vizier's grip of steel have come to naught, with the province appointing successive waves of like-minded souls to the board to defend the rough-hewn ramparts from the encroachments of contemporaneity. No sticky incursions of race will be welcomed in this Mighty Whitey chapel of Canadiana, thank you very much." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 6:18 am
Stash Of Paintings Unearthed In Minneapolis "In 2001, during the renovation of the council chamber at Minneapolis City Hall, staff members found five large oil paintings in a vault, amid a jumble of antique furniture. The paintings were not well-preserved; two of them were damaged, and all five were covered in grime accumulated over many years." Moreover, it is still unclear who some of the subjects and painters are, or how the paintings came to be stashed in a basement. Four of the works appear to be portraits of Minneapolis city officials, but the fifth is a classical painting of a pastoral scene by Italian painter Domenico Pennachini. Minneapolis Star Tribune 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:37 am
Maybe It's Time To Switch To Photographs? Pity the poor British royals. In an era when humans featured on canvas are prone to being portrayed as twisted, ugly shadows of themselves, royalty is still expected to go out and find an artist of considerable reputation to paint their portraits. It was Prince Philip's turn this year, and he chose portrait specialist Stuart Pearson Wright to commit his royal image to canvas. Royal spokespersons insist that Prince Philip had seen Pearson Wright's work before selecting him, but the prince was apparently horrified at the artist's first effort. No one is yet showing off that rough draft, but Pearson Wright's signature is to stretch his subjects vertically to distort their features. BBC 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:28 am
Centuries Of Abuse Take Their Toll On St. Basil's "It is one of Moscow's most enduring landmarks. St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square survived Napoleon, the Nazis, and the rise and fall of the Soviet empire. But decades of military parades, and in more recent years, rock concerts, have all taken their toll on the 450-year-old cathedral." Adding to the problem is the government's plans to develop the area around St. Basil's, erecting a hotel and casino nearby. A new study warns that if something isn't done soon to reinforce the cathedral's foundation, the entire structure could collapse within the next century. The Guardian (UK) 07/24/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 9:31 pm
Record Art Auction Anticipated "The largest and most valuable collection of Australian indigenous art assembled for auction is expected to bring a record result when it goes under the hammer in Sydney next week." Among the most anticipated works is a huge collaborative painting entitled Ngurrara Canvas 1, which is expected to sell for as much as AUS$500,000 (US$300,000). "Also up for auction are artefacts including rainforest shields and bi-cornial baskets, a rare Port Essington spear thrower, a Tiwi ceremonial dance wand and shields, boomerangs and pearl shells. Sotheby's expects an auction result of between $6.5 million and $9.7 million." Adelaide Advertiser 07/25/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 8:48 pm
Anyone Want To Protest This One? "The noble Rodin sculpture The Burghers of Calais made an ignominious exit yesterday from its home of almost a century, hauled out of the gardens beside the Palace of Westminster by a crane, and shipped off to a conservation workshop. The sculpture is being restored to celebrate the centenary of the National Art Collections Fund, which bought it from Rodin as a gift to the nation in 1911." The Guardian (UK) 07/24/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 8:16 pm
- Previously: David To Get A Controversial Shower Despite international protests from art experts and preservationists, Italian authorities have announced that the cleaning of Michelangelo's David will go ahead using distilled water. Critics are concerned that water could remove some of the statue's distinctive coloration, and one restorer has already resigned from the project over the controversy. BBC 07/24/03
Playing The Parent Card The new generation of teens and pre-teens are, naturally, more computer-savvy than any previous bunch of kids. And that means that they do a tremendous amount of file-sharing, and they know exactly where to find the free (and illegal) music. Furthermore, they do not appear to be terribly responsive to begging or threats. So the recording industry is trying to get to them in the only way they think might have an effect: they're calling the little pirates' parents. Wired 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:52 am
- Universities Seek A Middle Ground On File-Sharing "University officials are working with the music and movie industry to find a peaceful solution to the piracy problem, even as they're fighting a firestorm of subpoenas seeking information on their file-swapping students. The universities are exploring technologies that would control illegal peer-to-peer file sharing. In addition, they are working with digital music and movie companies to offer downloading services tailored to universities." Wired 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:51 am
Met Opera Defends Itself The Metropolitan Opera has responded publicly to a lawsuit by the estate of a Texas oil heiress which claims that the company has been misusing funds donated for specific purposes. Met Opera president Joseph Volpe issued the standard boilerplate denials, and assured the press that the Met would be fighting the suit in court. Harrington had her run-ins with Volpe and the Met in life, as well, and was reportedly a donor who expected to be granted a considerable role in the creative decision-making process in exchange for her generosity. The New York Times 07/25/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 10:09 pm
In Time Of Trouble, Do We Still Sing? Some people respond to horror and tragedy by turning to music. To others, pain is best dealt with in silence. This spring, as the US and the UK marched off to a war opposed by a large percentage of the public, John Woolrich asked several prominent composers to do what composers so rarely do these days: write a piece in direct response to current events. "What should we sing in the dark times? There are as many musical reactions to public events as there are composers... ranging through music of anger, defiance, loss, remembrance, near silence, transcendence, nostalgia and mourning." The Guardian (UK) 07/25/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 9:51 pm
Downloading's Legal And Profitable Future Not everyone in the record industry views downloading as the apocolyptic end of an era. Peter Jamieson, executive chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, looks at the success of pay-per-song download services and sees, among other things, the potential for the revival of the "singles" chart. Jamieson also believes that, if current trends continue, downloading (the legal kind) could become more popular than CD-buying within five years. BBC 07/24/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 8:27 pm
Wouldn't It Be Better To Force Them To Give More? This week, the du Maurier Arts Council, a division of the du Maurier tobacco company, handed out its annual arts grants for the last time. A new Canadian federal regulation prohibits tobacco companies from being directly involved in arts funding, as part of a larger bill which restricted tobacco advertising. With money for the arts hard to come by in any case, many arts advocates are furious at the new regulation, with one theater executive saying, "The federal government telling anyone they can't give money to the arts is a load of s---." Calgary Herald 07/24/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 6:08 am
When A Concert Hall Isn't Just A Concert Hall "With world-class acoustics and a dramatic, curved steel exterior that looks more like sculpture than architecture, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is more than just a new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. When the $274-million, Frank Gehry-designed building opens this fall, government officials and business leaders are counting on it to become the signature of the downtown skyline and an impetus for revitalizing the area." Washington Post (AP) 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:42 am
The Pianist Who Lives In Gershwin's Head Kevin Cole has carved out a niche for himself as America's leading interpreter as Gershwin's piano music, and has solidified his reputation as a crowd-pleaser with performances from coast to coast. But Howard Reich sees potential in Cole that goes far beyond simple performance. American orchestras all seem to struggle when called upon to plan a concert of classic American music (Copland and Bernstein aside,) and Reich thinks that Cole "ripe for an artistic directorship that doesn't yet exist, but ought to." Chicago Tribune 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 6:03 am
Schlesinger Taken Off Life Support Director John Schlesinger, whose credits include Midnight Cowboy, which "received seven Oscar nominations and won three, for best picture, best direction and best adapted screenplay," and the critically acclaimed Sunday Bloody Sunday, has been taken off life support at the age of 77. Schlesinger had quadruple bypass surgery in 1998, and suffered a stroke in late 2000. BBC 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:22 am
Frank Gehry, Set Designer? Frank Gehry does not generally work on a small scale. His buildings swoop and sway and generally defy you to ignore their presence. But the legendary architect is taking his vision into the background this month in upstate New York, where he will make his debut as a set designer for the theatre. Gehry's set for the Janacek opera Osud will be on display, albeit in a decidedly supporting role, at the SummerScape festival at Bard College. Washington Post (AP) 07/24/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 8:36 pm
Turgeon's Bilingual House Hit With A Lawsuit Stephen Williams, the Canadian author who has sold 37,000 copies of his book Karla: A Pact With The Devil since it was released five months ago, is suing publisher Pierre Turgeon and his bilingual publishing house, Cantos, claiming that Williams has been paid only a fraction of what he is due from the book's proceeds. The book in question, which examines the case of a notorious Canadian serial killer, has been exceedingly controversial, and was at one point thought to be in violation of a gag order issued in the case. Turgeon claims that the controversy has hurt sales, and denies that the book has turned a profit. Toronto Star 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 6:35 am
The Bible Of Editing Is Back Let's say you're writing down a quotation of a sentence fragment, and you want to continue your sentence after the quoted material. On which side of the closing quotation mark do you place your comma? Who cares, right? Thousands upon thousands of writers, editors, and other word geeks care, as it turns out, and with the new 15th edition of the legendary Chicago Manual of Style set to hit shelves soon, we can all nitpick to our hearts' content. The Chronicle of Higher Education 07/25/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 10:20 pm
Interactive TV Ready To Roll, But Will Anyone Care? Producers and critics have been talking about it for years, but now, it appears that interactive television may finally be ready for a trial run. "And this time around, enhanced TV isn't limited to television screens. Microsoft is teaming up with developers to create new forms of interactive content for the Xbox platform, and they're targeting wider audiences than gamers alone." But one industry exec is a bit doubtful that Americans actually want to interact with what they watch: "Audiences are lazy and TV still caters to the lowest common denominator... ETV has to be so simple that they can do it half-baked and horizontal on the couch." Wired 07/25/03
Posted: 07/25/2003 5:46 am
A New Rite Springs Up In Manhattan A startling new approach to a most familiar ballet seems to have catapulted Chinese-born choreographer Shen Wei to the top of the New York dance scene's list of up-and-comers. Shen's interpretation of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring strips away much of the imagery and symbolism which have been imposed on it ever since it first premiered in Paris. The dance takes place on a geometric floor, and the only colors visible are black, white, and gray. It's difficult to associate the new visuals with such a familiar work of music, but Anna Kisselgoff calls Shen's reimagining of the Rite "a stunning and objectivist approach to a score that has been overworked as a Modernist symbol." The New York Times 07/25/03
Posted: 07/24/2003 10:02 pm
