Is This The Best Of Times For Classical Music? (Or The Worst?) Our panel: Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer; Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Janelle Gefland, Cincinnati Enquirer; Klaus Heyman, Naxos; Barbara Jepson, Wall Street Journal; Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle; Allan Kozinn, The New York Times; Frank J. Oteri, NewMusicBox; take on the topic...
ArtsJournal.com Posted: 1:48 pm
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A 24-Hour Arts Gabfest (But Why) Curator Ulich Obrist is about to have a long day. "On Friday evening he will sit down with his friend and soul-mate, the Dutch architect (and designer of this year’s temporary pavilion at the Serpentine) Rem Koolhaas, and interview more than 60 artists, writers, academics and commentators for 24 hours, non-stop. Between them they will chew the ears off Brian Eno (the warm-up, at 6pm), Damien Hirst (vampiric, at 4am), and the likes of Doris Lessing, Richard Rogers, Ken Loach, Richard Hamilton and Gilbert & George (fresh as daisies at 7am)." The Times (UK) 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 6:10 pm
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Chicago Art Institute Protests NYT Story The Chicago Art Institute is protesting a caption and characterization of one of the museum's artworks in the New York Times. The museum says that contrary to a Times caption, there is no evidence that "a landscape painting by Gustave Courbet long owned by the Art Institute of Chicago was never found to have been confiscated by the Nazi regime in Germany during World War II." Chicago Sun-Times 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 9:16 am
Chicago's Ugliest Buildings What are they? The Chicago Tribune has made a list... Chicago Tribune 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 9:13 am
- Art Institute Disputes NYT Characterization "Nowhere in the article is the Art Institute of Chicago even mentioned as one of the museums that responded in a timely manner to the survey sent by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; that the museum follows the guidelines of the American Association of Museums on Nazi-era provenance research; and that the Art Institute has been committed to provenance research since before the guidelines were issued." Modern Art Notes (AJBlogs) 07/25
Posted: 07/26/2006 9:01 am
- Previously: Survey: Many American Museums Haven't Checked Provenance Of Nazi Era Art "Of the 332 museums that were sent questionnaires by the conference in February, 214 responded before a deadline of July 10. Of those, approximately 114, or slightly more than half, said that they were actively conducting provenance work. The remaining 100 museums either said they were not doing such work or did not provide enough information for the Claims Conference to be able to make a determination." The New York Times 07/24/06
Are American Museums Serious About Ownership Of Their Art? Not according to a new report. "The survey found 140,000 objects that 'need provenance research,' far more than the 18,000 objects posted on the Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal maintained by the museum association. Most of the museums actively conducting provenance research have completed work on less than half the relevant items in their collections, only about 33% of the museums have a separate budget for the purpose and only about 10% have employed a full-time researcher, the survey says." Los Angeles Times 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 7:14 am
- Previously: Survey: Many American Museums Haven't Checked Provenance Of Nazi Era Art "Of the 332 museums that were sent questionnaires by the conference in February, 214 responded before a deadline of July 10. Of those, approximately 114, or slightly more than half, said that they were actively conducting provenance work. The remaining 100 museums either said they were not doing such work or did not provide enough information for the Claims Conference to be able to make a determination." The New York Times 07/24/06
A Look At Tate Modern's Expansion Plans "The addition will make the museum comparable in size to the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The annex, which resembles glass boxes stacked up arbitrarily to form a 220-foot pyramid, has been designed by the Swiss firm Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the same architects who in the late 1990’s turned an abandoned power station on the south bank of the Thames, across from St. Paul’s Cathedral, into Tate Modern." The New York Times 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 7:08 am
Why Tate Modern Needs To Be Bigger Tate Modern is proposing a £165 million extension. Why? "Tate Modern has been a victim of its own extraordinary success. On all too many weekends, it can feel like a surreal cross between some brutalist shopping mall, Piranesian airport lounge and the Seven Circles of Hell. Deadly queues form for its hard-pressed cafes and lavatories. The bookshop can resemble a jumble sale. The galleries are often little more, for all their lofty grandeur, than corridors for crowds to tramp through in search of novelty, rarely stopping to look at the art on display." The Guardian (UK) 07/26/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:56 pm
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Marketing Classical Music - A Crass And Cynnical Ploy? "Music itself is not a product. A thing of beauty, a universal language, an outpouring essential to life and expression, yes - but not a product. Yet, unfortunately, classical music seems to be slipping down the image-conscious slope that degrades so many other art forms. More and more it attempts to package itself as a consumer item, with all the fatuous and artfully deceptive gloss to match; it sacrifices ideas of integrity and transmitting the benefits of artistic endeavour for the ideologies of market competitiveness and maximised returns." The Guardian (UK) 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:38 pm
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Canadian Performing Arts Audiences Increase And what are they going to? "Theatre, the predominant industry, accounted for 28 per cent of total revenue, followed by musical groups (everything from orchestras to rock bands), which accounted for 25 per cent. The remaining 47 per cent was split among opera, dance and a miscellaneous category including circuses and skating shows." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 7:18 am
Lincoln Center's New Face Despite considerable skepticism, redevelopment of Lincoln Center is underway. But that's not the only thing happening. Lincoln Center is loosening up, becoming more populist. "We’re all very focused on exploiting the potential of 21st-century technology to extend what happens in our halls outside of our halls." The New York Times 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 7:05 am
Why The Long Tail Doesn't Explain Everything "The Long Tail isn't useful as a theory of everything. It is best and strongest when it helps us understand what's happening to our culture. It shows, graphically, the difference between the mass culture we've had, and the folk culture we're bringing back. That's an achievement worth celebrating, and it's why the Long Tail can leave us feeling like cavemen looking at a map of the world for the first time. But the book should come with a warning: There's more to this economy than chasing tail." Slate 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:34 pm
In Canada: Performing Arts See Surge In Audience Canada's audience for performing arts has increased strongly, says the government's statistics service. In 2004 "the performing arts industries reported before-tax profit of $49.2 million for the year, almost double the income reported three years earlier in 2001, the report said. Revenue in the sector hit $1.2 billion, up 4.2 per cent from the previous year, reflecting strong public support for the performing arts, the report said." CBC 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:20 pm
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Standing Up To The MPAA The Motion Picture Association of America has sued thousands of people for piracy. But a 30-year-old software engineer is challenging the suit brought against him. "Though he expects to incur more than $100,000 in legal fees, he thinks it’s a small price to pay to challenge the MPAA’s tactics. 'They’re completely abusing the system. I would spend well into the millions on this'." Wired 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:26 pm
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London Fringe Theatre Evicted For Casino One of West End London's few fringe theatres is being evicted to make room for a casino. "During its brief tenure, Sound has acquired a reputation as the capital's only theatre dedicated to gay-themed work, despite having no formal artistic direction. It was launched in June 2005." The Guardian (UK) 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:46 pm
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Fewer Canadians Buying Magazines "Canadian periodicals continue to occupy only about 15 per cent of the rack space in any decent Canadian newsstand, with U.S. titles taking up most of the remaining 85 per cent. But in the past quarter-century, the total number of these titles purchased by Canadians has dropped by 30 per cent, while the average circulation per American title has been slashed in half, to 13,243 in 2005 from 26,303 in 1983." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/26/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 7:20 am
US Judge To Miami-Dade Library: Cuban Book Stays "A federal judge Monday temporarily barred the Miami-Dade County School District from removing a children's book on Cuba from school libraries. Last month, the Miami-Dade school board voted to remove the book from its elementary schools after a parent complained that its depiction of life in the communist nation was overly rosy." Yahoo! (AP) 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:31 pm
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Will HD Reinvigorate Radio? "Most stations have yet to modify their transmitters to support the technology, and the tuners, which can run from $300 to $3,000, exist almost exclusively for car stereos. But as traditional radio competes fiercely for listeners' attention with CDs, MP3s and satellite radio, the industry is betting on HD to keep it relevant." Denver Post 07/25/06
Posted: 07/26/2006 9:10 am
Fox Prez: New Indecency Rules "Vague" The president of Fox TV entertainment is complaining about new "indecendy" rules for broadcasters, calling them vague and "difficult to manage." "Last month, US President George Bush signed a law increasing the maximum fine for airing unsuitable material tenfold to $325,000 (£175,000). 'None of our business plans are designed to take on such huge fines'."
BBC 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 5:16 pm
No Food, But Maybe A Movie Will Get You To Fly With Us? American airlines have discovered that the quality of inflight entertainment figures in how passengers choose their airline. "After the price, the overall quality of in-flight service and a comfortable seat, then the in-flight entertainment is next in importance in a long-haul premium flight." The New York Times 07/25/06
Posted: 07/25/2006 4:27 pm
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