A Rant Against Multi-Culturalism "Only two decades ago, the central principle of anti-racism was that all individuals in our society should be treated equally, regardless of ethnic origin or religion. Yet through multiculturalism, the malign ideological spawn of anti-discrimination, we have moved far away from that stance. We are now told that, in the name of ‘celebrating diversity’, we must respect every aspect of every culture in our midst. Not only must we act correctly in word and deed, but, more importantly, we must also be trained to harbour no negative thoughts about the behaviour of any other ethnic group. This outlook is utterly inimical to personal freedom and equality before the law, the very pillars of our civilisation." The Spectator 11/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:04 pm
Who Wants Talent? Really! "My theory is that in all areas of creative human endeavor, the presence of true talent is almost always the kiss of death. It's no accident that three people who were tragically forced into bankruptcy late in their lives were Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain. It's no fluke of fate that Schubert died shortly after giving the world the Unfinished Symphony. You probably wouldn't have finished it either if you had syphilis and twelve cents in your pocket. Or how would you like to have died at age 29 in the back seat of a Cadillac? If you're Hank Williams, that's what talent got you. But what is talent? And why would anyone in his right mind want it? As Albert Einstein often said, 'I don't know'." Texas Monthly 11/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:01 pm
Measuring Up - Is Greatness An Absolute? Terry Teachout ponders Charles Murray's attempts to statistically analyze "greatness." "The question of whether or not it is possible to demonstrate objectively the existence of absolute standards of aesthetic quality will probably always remain open. That such absolute standards do exist, however, seems to me indisputable. No matter how aggressively postmodern thinkers may deny the significance of the consensus of judgment—or the overwhelming dominance of Western culture—the whole of human history and experience is arrayed against them. It cannot be coincidental that, as Clement Greenberg observed, 'the people who try hardest and look hardest end up, over the ages, by agreeing with one another in the main'." Commentary 11/03
Posted: 11/03/2003 10:13 pm
Sculptor's Payday Henry Moore's 15-foot bronze sculpture, Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped, sold at auction for $6.2 million this week, the highest price ever paid for a work by a British sculptor. "The previous best for a work by Moore, regarded as one of the UK's top sculptors, was $4.1m , in 1999. Collectors also paid record prices for works by French painter Fernand Leger Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. Tuesday's auction of impressionist and modern art [at Christie's in New York] sold pieces worth a total of $117m." BBC 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 5:19 am
Critic Vs Corcoran - Gopnik Causes Stir Some at Washington's Cordoran Gallery are buzzing about the scathing criticism Washington Post critic Blake Gopnik has heaped their way. "Gopnik has been most personal about the Corcoran. Gopnik tells Post Watch he wants the Corcoran board 'to know there are repercussions to having shows like that.' His review blamed Corcoran board chair Otto Reusch. Corcoran director David Levy calls Gopnik’s review 'unethical' and says the critic often displays 'immodest immaturity' in his reviews." Washingtonian 11/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 7:02 pm
Architectural Battle In The Shadow Of St. Paul's London's Paternoster Square, in the shadow of St. Paul's, has opened after decades-long battles as to what whould be built there. "To those sickened by the damage inflicted on Britain's cities and towns by modernist planners and architects, Paternoster Square was a battle cry. If the setting of St Paul's was not sacred, then where in Britain was? To modernist architects and their supporters, it was no less emotive. If the classicists could capture such a major site in the heart of the City of London, who knew where the counter-revolution might end? It was, of course around the figure of the Prince of Wales, then at the height of his campaign to roll back the boundaries of modernism, that the battle raged and swirled. Like Verdun, the end result was stalemate." The Telegraph (UK) 11/05/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:35 pm
London, She Is A'Changin' London's art world is changing, writes Jerry Saltz. "The best way to understand the change taking place in London is to think about what's not going on: scandal. Although Jake and Dinos Chapman's realistic sculpture of two bronze blow-up dolls engaged in mutual oral sex, unveiled last week in the Turner Prize exhibition, is sure to raise a ruckus, a new generation of British artists appears to be turning away from the shock tactics of yesteryear." Village Voice 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 4:49 pm
French Police Find 250 Stolen Paintings In Van "More than 250 stolen paintings have been recovered from a parked van in Paris, French police have said. The haul includes one Picasso, two works by French painter Raoul Dufy and one by Dutch artist Kees van Dongen." BBC 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 3:56 pm
Grinding Axes In Minneapolis This summer, the Minnesota Orchestra appointed a new president following a nationwide search, and expressed confidence that Tony Woodcock was just the man to lead the 100-year-old ensemble into its second century. But it seems that not everyone on the orchestra's board was happy with the way things turned out. "In August, Eugene Sit, a 12-year member who was head of the executive-search committee, resigned," claiming that "decisions were made by one or two people that should have been made by the board." The chairman of the orchestra's board has dismissed Sit's allegation, pointing out that "out of nearly 60 votes, he could 'count on one hand' the number against [the appointment.]" The Star Tribune (Minneapolis) 11/02/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:38 am
Tilson Thomas Out Front Again Since Michael Tilson Thomas took up the reins of the San Francisco Symphony nearly a decade ago, the group's national profile has steadily increased, and the partnership between conductor and orchestra has led to several critically acclaimed projects designed to bring symphonic music back to cultural prominence. Next year, the SFS will launch a major new multimedia project designed to increase audience understanding of classical music. In addition to national TV broadcasts, "the project will also include the development of a web site and the creation of DVDs. The Symphony is working with Minnesota Public Radio to develop a radio series designed to air concurrently with the TV series." San Francisco Chronicle 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:29 am
Still Striving For Perfection In today's instant-gratification world, it is difficult to accept that some things still take time. But in Philadelphia, the team behind the Philadelphia Orchestra's 2-year-old Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is still tweaking and adjusting the hall's acoustics, striving to create one of the world's great concert venues. "Almost two years after opening night, hundreds of millions of dollars since the orchestra started dreaming of acoustical perfection, Verizon Hall isn't quite what it should be, Kimmel and orchestra leaders agree... And so the original acousticians for the hall, Artec Consultants, are being brought back for another round of work." Philadelphia Inquirer 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:24 am
Warner Chappell Music Publisher For Sale Time Warner is said to be putting up Warner Chappell, its music publishing business, for sale. The company is said to be worth about $1 billion, and already suitors are lining up... The Guardian (UK) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:27 pm
MIT Shuts Down Student File-Share Scheme MIT has shut down a new file-sharing system set up by students. "The music service had its official start one week ago but within hours, music companies, including the Universal Music Group, complained that they had not granted - or been paid for - the required legal permission to make the copies of their songs used by the system." The New York Times 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 4:18 pm
- Previously: File-Sharing That's Legal? "Two students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a system for sharing music within their campus community that they say can avoid the copyright battles that have pitted the music industry against many customers." The New York Times 10/28/03
How About Flex-Pricing For Recordings? "Doesn't it seem odd that these fully automated online e-commerce systems, with software that ought to be able to track and respond to customer behavior instantly, unimaginatively mandate the same fixed price across the board? One of the Internet's supposed strengths is its ability to let supply and demand drive prices up and down in real time. Couldn't the music companies use the Internet as a way to introduce popularity-based pricing, meaning that the songs with the highest demand would cost the most? Compared to eBay, charging 99 cents for every song is price fixing. And while 99 cents for my favorite song seems fair, what about my not-so-favorite songs?" Slate 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 4:14 pm
A New, More Accurate Arts Formula For years, arts supporters have used a mathematical formula to estimate the economic impact of theaters, orchestras, and art galleries on a given area. Trouble is, the formula's accuracy is arguable at best, and many have stopped taking it seriously. Now, a pair of Canadian researchers is proposing a new way of measuring arts impact, without confusing it with cultural tourism. "What the study suggests is the possibility of actually identifying a predictable pattern of development around arts facilities -- the researchers can already say specialty retailers follow restaurants, which follow the arts -- that would take the guesswork out of government plans to use the arts as a tool of urban regeneration." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:12 am
Company Jumps Into The Arts Mentor Business "In an unusual experiment in sponsorship Rolex has funded an initiative through which five leading artists take a young tyro talent under their wing for a year. As a wealthy foundation with no shareholders to please Rolex has been serious with its cash and time - the cost of the project comfortably topped $1m (£594,000)." Financial Times 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 4:39 pm
And A Finn Shall Lead Them Finland is justifiably proud of its musical tradition, and sometimes, it seems as if the Finns have taken over the conducting profession completely. Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is one of the country's most successful native sons, and lately, he has been captivating America as well. Following the glittering opening night of the Phil's new Disney Hall, Salonen's already-considerable profile has been raised, and many are saying that the conductor appears to have graciously evolved from his early years in LA, when he favored obscure composers and difficult modernist works, into a truly well-rounded leader who skillfully balances the demands of his audience, his musicians, and his own soul. Helsingen Sanomat (Helsinki) 11/04/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 5:41 am
Denby: Movies Suck, But There's Hope New Yorker film critic David Denby began a talk at Yale University this week by flatly declaring that "movies suck." Specifically, according to Denby, the Matrix trilogy sucks, most other film critics suck, and so does the exasperating tendency of the big Hollywood studios to churn out embarrassing pap masquerading as cinema. But Denby isn't all doom and gloom, saying that just because there are fewer profound stories being filmed than in the medium's "golden age," that doesn't indicate that Hollywood is dying out. Yale Daily News 11/04/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 5:12 am
Alfred Barr's Reach Across American Art Alfred Barr was the founder of the Museum of Modern Art. "Even now, thirty-six years after he retired and more than twenty years after he died at seventy-nine (he)remains a figure of fascination and contention. No one had a more profound effect on the direction of American museums over the last three quarters of a century, and no museum director or curator, or anyone else for that matter, except perhaps the artists themselves, did more to shape the national perception and discussion of art in the twentieth century." New York Review of Books 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:52 pm
A Lift For "Producers" - Lane And Broderick Return After months of lagging ticket sales, the Broadway production of The Producers is bringing back the show's original stars - Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. "The show's producers want to make the most of the stars' return. The show's regular tickets cost $30 to $100, and the producers are also expected to sell nearly a hundred $480 tickets in the best rows of the orchestra for each performance through Broadway Inner Circle. With the new $480 tickets, the show is likely to post the highest box office take on Broadway, as much as $1.3 million a week." The New York Times 11/05/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:40 pm
- Previously: The Producers Failing To Produce "The Producers opened as a monster hit on Broadway. It was supposed to stay that way, packing houses for years. But it hasn't turned out that way. "Less than three years after its incomparably auspicious opening, The Producers, in the eyes of many on Broadway, has become an underachiever. Its box office grosses, which set record highs — more than $1.2 million per week — in its first year, have fallen about 20 percent in the last 12 months. It now ranks below newer shows like Hairspray and Mamma Mia! as well as The Lion King." The New York Times 11/02/03
Vassanji Wins The Giller. Again. "M.G. Vassanji, who won the first Giller Prize in 1994, won for the second time — for his novel The In-Between World Of Vikram Lall — as the most celebrated literary prize in the country marked its 10th anniversary last night. Vassanji, a former physicist who grew up in East Africa, is the first two-time winner of the $25,000 fiction prize... The other finalists were John Gould for Kilter: 55 Fictions and John Bemrose for his first novel The Island Walkers." Toronto Star 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:35 am
Book Sales Roar In September Book sales were sharply up in September, the book trade's best month in a long time. "Children's hardcover category continued to show the strongest gains as sales in September increased 62.1%. For the first nine months of the year, children's hardcover sales were up 56%. Adult hardcover, which has had an up-and-down year, posted a sales gain of 31.7% in September, although year-to-date sales were off 5.8%." Publishers Weekly 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 6:47 pm
Season Of Celebrity - With The Fall Comes... "Why determine the season via autumn leaves or diminishing daylight? When the best-seller list is as packed with brand names as it is now, it becomes its own kind of calendar." The New York Times 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:58 pm
Reagan Miniseries Exiled To Pay Cable "Capping an extraordinary furor over a movie virtually no one has seen, CBS scrapped plans Tuesday to televise "The Reagans" and decided to shunt it off to the Showtime cable network instead. Based on snippets of the script that had leaked out in recent weeks, conservatives accused CBS of distorting the legacy of the former president." Chicago Sun-Times 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 6:04 am
FCC Approves Anti-Pirate Flag The Federal Communications Commission has approved a controversial plan to allow broadcasters to insert a digital "flag" into their television programs which would prevent consumers from distributing digital copies of the program over peer-to-peer file trading services. Privacy advocates had argued that the plan infringed on the "fair use" rights of the public, but the FCC determined that U.S. copyright law made it legal for restrictions to be placed on just what consumers can do with the pictures that come across their TV screens. Wired 11/04/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 5:54 am
No More Free Money For Fake Brit Films "Film-makers who abuse the system of tax breaks for British films are facing a crackdown by the UK Government. Films that are British or co-produced by Britain get tax relief in the UK. But the government suspects some co-productions of falsely claiming to spend more in the UK to qualify, while others do not give value for money." BBC 11/05/03
Posted: 11/05/2003 5:25 am
MTV Downloadable? Is MTV threatened by music download sites like iTunes? The music channel plans to launch a service of downloadable MTV. "There's no doubt it's a strong brand, with a strong profile of viewers. But they can't rely solely on their brand come next year ... After iTunes launched in April, MTV should have been like a hawk on a field mouse." Wired 11/04/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 4:07 pm
Dance Or Performance Art, That Is The Question Is London-based "interdisciplinary artist" Maria Maria Ribot, a.k.a. La Ribot a performance artist or a dancer? It's hard to tell, so dance critic Sara Wolf and performance artist Ron Athey battle over choosing a definition. LA Weekly 11/01/03
Posted: 11/04/2003 5:48 pm
