Archives for September 28, 2004

Lights are bright,

Pianos making music all the night,

And they pour champagne

Just like it was rain.

It’s a sight to see,

But I wonder what became of me.

Crowds go by,

That merry-making laughter in their eye,

And the laughter’s fine,

But I wonder what became of mine.

Life’s sweet as honey,

And yet it’s funny,

I get a feeling that I can’t analyze.

It’s like, well, maybe

Like when a baby

Sees a bubble burst before its eyes.

Oh, I’ve had my fling,

I’ve been around and seen most ev’rything,

But I can’t be gay

For along the way

Something went astray,

And I can’t explain,

It’s the same champagne,

It’s a sight to see,

But I wonder what became of me.

Johnny Mercer, “I Wonder What Became of Me”

From the New York Daily News, by way of our invaluable host, artsjournal.com:

Mayor Bloomberg had little sympathy yesterday for New Yorkers who find the new $20 admission to the Museum of Modern Art a bit steep.

“Some things people can afford, some things people can’t,” said Bloomberg, whose estimated personal fortune is $4.9 billion.

“MoMA is a private institution. It’s not a city institution. And they have a right to set their own pricing policies.”

Over the past five years, the city funneled $65 million in taxpayer money to help fund MoMA’s expansion.

Despite the taxpayers’ contribution, Bloomberg – who was in last week’s Forbes 400 list of richest Americans – said the city should not be involved in “pressuring” private groups about fees. Besides, he said, there are plenty to choose from. “If you can’t afford [admissions] at any one, you can go to another one,” he said.

Ed Skyler, Bloomberg’s press secretary, later offered a tamer response. “MoMA is a great institution, and it would be incredibly disappointing if this increase prevented people from enjoying it,” he said.

MoMA will reopen Nov. 20. The price of an adult ticket, which was $12, will now be $20. Ruth Kaplan, a spokeswoman for MoMA, noted that admission is free from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays.

MoMA’s price hike, and its potential effects on the culture of museumgoing in America, will be discussed endlessly in the art world in the weeks and months to come, and rightly so. But I think we can all agree on one thing: Mayor Bloomberg just earned himself a swift kick in the crotch for his personal contribution to the ongoing debate. (Not in the head–that wouldn’t hurt him one bit.)

P.S. From the Floor has a thoughtful discussion of what the MoMA price hike might mean over the long haul. It’s definitely worth a look.

I’m still hacking away at those pre-Chicago deadlines (two down, three to go), but I’m also out and about. On Saturday I saw Paula Vogel’s The Oldest Profession, about which I’ll be writing in this Friday’s Wall Street Journal. Last night Supermaud and I finally caught up with Bright Young Things, Stephen Fry’s screen version of Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies, which filled me full of half-formed notions I don’t have time to think through just yet (though I will, I will–be patient). Tonight I’ll be at New York City Opera for the opening of the company’s revival of Mark Morris’ wonderful staging of Rameau’s Plat