Seeking The Synaptic Structure Of Art Scientists know that art has a profound impact on the activity of the human brain. Exactly what that activity signifies, and what it says about art or about humans, is an open question, however, and an entire field of study has developed to seek such answers. "Neuroaestheticians... imagine that, over time, these kinds of studies will become more and more precise: They hope to get ever-finer detail about what happens in the brain in an ever-growing range of aesthetic situations." Washington Post 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 12:29 pm
Is Culture Doomed, Or Are We Just Snobs? "That deafening seismic discord at the end of 2003 - a low moan followed by a ripping noise and then a heavy crash - was the sound of Western civilization falling apart, its alabaster pillars splitting like Popsicle sticks, its flagstone terraces shredding like saltines in water. Then again, maybe not. If you believe that culture - music, literature, film, the visual and performing arts - is a rarefied realm to which only the work of an exalted few should be admitted, then doom is imminent. If, however, you believe that culture is a wide-open arena that can accommodate a variety of approaches and levels of complexity, then you're probably wondering what all the fuss is about." Chicago Tribune 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 11:18 am
Cities And The Not-So-Public Interest The controversy surrounding the WTC memorial in New York is indicative of a larger disconnect, writes Edward Rothstein. There was a time when American cities were viewed as great models of social engineering, vast islands of humanity where hard work and a general devotion to the public interest could overcome all sorts of human failings. No more: "The [modern] city's greatest achievement, it often seems, is the protection of the private realm and competing private interests; about the public realm there is no clear understanding... New forms of urban life have to develop. But in the meantime, the public seems to exist only in the midst of cataclysm." The New York Times 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:39 am
Defining El Greco "In 16th-century Italy, art was an instrument of faith and Michelangelo its divine master, unassailable until El Greco appeared on the scene. But was he a puritan on a mission to clean up wicked Rome, or simply an arrogant young artist?" Where Michelangelo had begun to stray into vaguely secular realms, (exemplified by his masterpiece, The Last Judgment, based on the themes of Dante,) El Greco represented a calculated and forceful return to faith-based art which strove to keep the public servile to its Christian masters, rather than to encourage independent thought on Christian themes. Today, few would doubt that "El Greco is a great artist - but what kind of a great artist?" The Guardian (UK) 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 12:05 pm
The Museum As Art: Have We Forgotten About the Art Inside? As more and more architects gain celebrity status, the buildings they design are becoming decidedly larger than life, and the design of the exterior shell is beginning to overshadow whatever is supposed to be going on inside the walls. In Bellevue, Washington, a museum hailed as an architectural breakthrough closed its doors this past fall, and part of the reason was said to be that the interior was simply ill-suited to house art collections. The disconnect between form and function in Bellevue is being viewed with alarm throughout the industry, and many observers are rethinking the role of the architect in such projects. The New York Times 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:42 am
- Gehry and the Tyranny Of Form When Frank Gehry unveils his plans for the new Art Gallery of Ontario building later this week, the usual debate of form vs. function will surely ensue. "What has the success of the Guggenheim Bilbao done to the discipline of museum design, detractors ask? Has the need for the spectacular rendered the discipline of architecture more superficial, when every urban centre must boast its own curving titanium mothership to feel world class? One can't help but notice that Gehry has become the architect of someplace wanting to be someplace better." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:40 am
Stolen Goods? Maybe. But You're Not Allowed To Ask "An El Greco painting displayed recently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was returned Thursday to the Greek museum that owns it after a state judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming it had been stolen by Nazis at the end of World War II... The suit sought to keep the painting in the United States pending further investigation of its provenance. It was rejected under a federal statute that says a lawsuit cannot be used to seize or control a cultural object brought into this country by a nonprofit institution like a museum for temporary exhibition." The New York Times 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:46 am
Hard Work and Lofty Goals: The Vänskä Vision When the Minnesota Orchestra appointed Osmo Vänskä as its new music director, there were approving nods from orchestras around the world, and many murmurs to the effect that the famously stoic and hard-working Finn might just nudge the Minneapolis-based ensemble closer to the top of the American orchestral heap. But no one in Minnesota seems to be interested in nudging. In fact, in only Vänskä's first season, the orchestra is recording a complete Beethoven cycle, paying a visit to New York's famously skeptical critics, and embarking on an ambitious 20-day tour of European musical capitals. Andrew Clark sees a distinct strategy in play: "a concerted push for promotion to the orchestral super league." Financial Times 01/23/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:02 am
Making Sense Of Jazz Jazz is perhaps the ultimate "melting pot" style of music. It is a serious and difficult genre, steeped in intellectual tradition, and yet it often seems to absorb the best (and, some would say, worst) of popular culture in order to stay fresh and evolve. This mixed bag of musical ideas makes for a great many divisions in the jazz community, and the annual conference of the International Association of Jazz Education functions simultaneously as a way for gripes to be aired, and for the past, present, and future of the genre to be documented and discussed. The New York Times 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:19 am
Boston's Controversial Arts Commissioner Quits "Boston cultural affairs commissioner Esther Kaplan has abruptly resigned after five years as Mayor Thomas M. Menino's liaison to the city's arts and cultural community. Neither Kaplan nor Menino would discuss what led to the resignation... News of Kaplan's departure surprised many in Boston's tight-knit cultural community, but only a handful expressed disappointment... Over the years, the heads of midsize and large arts groups privately complained that Kaplan functioned more as an advocate than a leader, focusing her energy on grass-roots and neighborhood efforts, sometimes at the expense of those with far bigger audiences." Boston Globe 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:09 am
Shades of Gray In his intensely personal monologues, Spalding Gray talked incessantly about death, and his lifelong obsession with it. With a tone alternately fatalistic and defiant, he spoke of suicide, of incurable illness, and of the various ways in which a human being can slip away from life. Gray always seemed decidedly unbalanced, but his monologues were cathartic in a way which always made one hope that he was exorcising his demons as he laid them before an audience. Now, two weeks after vanishing without a trace from his New York home, the horrible ironies of Gray's life and work are on display, his uncertain absence a tragically appropriate denouement to a career built on pain. Chicago Tribune 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 11:22 am
Captain Kangaroo & The Power Of Calm Captain Kangaroo (a.k.a. Bob Keeshan) died this weekend at age 76. "Keeshan had many talents, and he had no edge. Having no edge is an admirable quality, but one that almost never flies today. It allowed men (and a few women) like Captain Kangaroo to simply exude an almost suspicious amount of niceness. Yet there was nothing to suspect... In a world designed to be noisy, he built a show around calm. (Except when Ping-Pong balls fell from the ceiling. And when Mr. Green Jeans's contraptions fell apart.)" Washington Post 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:25 am
Helmut Newton, 83 "The photographer Helmut Newton transformed fashion into a form of erotica. With his long-legged models shot from below and lit like goddesses carved out of stone, Newton's vision of women was both threatening and compelling. Through his lens, sexuality was transformed into power. Newton, 83, died yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles." Washington Post 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:24 am
Redgrave's Other Career When most actors begin to talk about politics, most people roll their eyes. But Vanessa Redgrave is a different matter entirely: "On stage and on screen, she has worked on the edge, never shying away from a tough or controversial role... Through the years, her often-groundbreaking performances in Shakespeare, Chekhov, Noel Coward and Tennessee Williams have left an indelible mark on theatre history... She has always been a passionate, tireless activist who has never spared herself to advance causes such as the Palestinians, the people of Kosovo, the atrocities in Chechnya and threats to democracy at home and abroad. One of her current preoccupations is the situation at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where the Americans are holding more than 600 'enemy combatants' without charge or trial." Toronto Star 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:11 am
We're Sure Those Cleveland Winters Have Nothing To Do With This The curator of drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Art is leaving town to take up a similar position at tghe Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Carter Foster's resume reads like a listing of the top American art museums, and he was celebrated in Cleveland for his success in acquiring new works for an already impressive collection, and for curating several important shows in his eight years in Ohio. The move from Cleveland to LACMA means that Foster will have a much larger staff and more exhibition space, but LA's collection is nowhere near as complete as the one he is leaving behind. The CMA has not yet decided whether Foster will be replaced. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:55 am
Following Plimpton Many assumed that George Plimpton's death would see his beloved Paris Review come to a quiet end, or at least that the small, influential literary journal would be transformed into something unrecognizable to the New York literati who are so devoted to it. But new editor Brigid Hughes has no plans to change the magazine, and insists that Plimpton's rather complicated legacy was actually quite simple, as far as the Review was concerned: "I don't think it needs to change. The goal is to publish good writing. I intend to do that." The New York Times 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:27 am
Disney's New Empire The Walt Disney Company is apparently serious about becoming a theatrical juggernaut, as evidenced not only by recent successful Broadway adaptations of its animated films, but also by extensive plans for a nationwide blitz of big-budget stage shows. "Ten years after Beauty and the Beast arrived on Broadway, to critical brickbats and audience acclaim, the company feared by rival producers for its cavernous pockets and brand-name product has become a dominant long-term player onstage. In recently published figures not disputed by the company, Disney has earned more than $1.2 billion in worldwide gross theatrical receipts from Beauty, $1 billion from Lion King and $270 million from Aida." San Francisco Chronicle 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 12:23 pm
The Next Harry Potter? The series is called His Dark Materials, and many observers have it pegged as the next global phenomenon of children's fantasy literature. But there is a more adult side to Philip Pullman's tales of fantastic adventure, and it's bound to make many adults uncomfortable: "The books make a breathtakingly subversive attack on organized religion and on the notion of an all-powerful god. The trilogy has already been criticized by church organizations alarmed at its preference for humanism and for its depiction of a cruel fictional church that is obsessed with what it regards as the sexual purity of children but blinded by its own lust for power." The New York Times 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:32 am
Henry James: The Beta Test Version Floyd Horowitz believes that he has located more than twenty examples of early writings by novelist Henry James, penned under various pseudonyms and previously unidentified as particularly Jamesian. But not everyone is convinced of the validity of Horowitz's research, especially since much of it was based on computer models which scan the word selection and literary style of unidentified works, searching for subtle connections which could link the works to a particular author. Toronto Star 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:17 am
Sci-Fi, Rock 'n Roll, and Big Macs Rule the Sundance Roost Primer, a decidedly low-budget sci-fi thriller, has won the top dramatic prize at the Sundance Festival. The film, directed by Shane Carruth with a miniscule budget of $7000, is about two men who invent a time machine. The award for best documentary went to Dig!, which follows the frontmen of two cult bands embroiled in a bitter rivalry. "Morgan Spurlock, who spent 30 days eating only food from McDonald's and then chronicled its impact on his body in Super Size Me, earned the directing award for his efforts." BBC 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 11:04 am
- The Semantics of Indie Film In the last fifteen years, independent film has become big business, thanks in large part to Robert Redford's Sundance Festival, and to Harvey Weinstein's Miramax Studios. Still, current conventional wisdom holds that, far from elevating indie film to new heights, Sundance and Miramax have in fact dragged much of the indie scene down to Hollywood's shallow level. But has "independent film" really changed as a genre, or is it merely that we have broadened our definition of the term to such an absurd degree as to encompass directors and films which are in no way independent of Hollywood's movie machine? New York Times Magazine 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:58 am
Why The Golden Globes Are A Bad Joke The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is hardly what one would call a collection of great film reviewers. In fact, "the association has repeatedly rejected applications from prominent foreign publications while accepting freelancers for small publications in Bangladesh and South Korea. Members need write only four articles a year to maintain active membership." Nonetheless, HFPA members are lavished with attention and gifts by the Hollywood elite throughout the year, and are treated as if they were movie stars themselves, despite repeated reports of boorish and bizarre behavior. And all this because the Golden Globes, presented by the HFPA, get good television ratings. Chicago Tribune (NYTNS) 01/24/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 9:12 am
How To Run A Dance Company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a decided anomaly in an age when dance companies nationwide are struggling for survival. Financially secure, well-managed, and respected worldwide, Ailey is preparing to move into a new, 77,000-square-foot home in midtown Manhattan, a testament to the company's ability to succeed in the hyper-competitive world of New York culture. No one element is responsible for the Ailey's phenomenal success, but a combination of sound management ideas, diverse artistic goals, and a constant and unwavering eye on the newest trends of the dance world has made the company a dominant force in the industry. Washington Post 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 12:33 pm
Growing Your Own America's ballet scene has never exactly been bursting at the seams with homegrown talent. Indeed, compared with European countries, as well as with the former Soviet Union, the U.S. simply has no serious tradition of intensive dance training for talented young students. Ballet schools abound in the U.S. but few approach the level of the state-sponsored academies overseas. Now, the American Ballet Theater, which has traditionally filled its company with the best talent it can poach from other countries, is starting what it hopes will become America's definitive school of classical dance. The New York Times 01/25/04
Posted: 01/25/2004 10:38 am
