Getting To Know You: Art Meets Science Scientists think like scientists. And artists - well, they think like artists. For scientists looking to think about their work from a different perspective, artists might be a great resource. So take some artists and let them play with the machines of science and see what they come up with. That's the premise behind a year-long project in Los Angeles. "Artists see things with different eyes and allow us to take a step back and reflect on what we do. Scientific research is supposed to be about everything, but even at universities we are pushed to be quite narrow. We lose sight of the big picture, so this is a good thing for us." Los Angeles Times 02/16/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 12:10 pm
Staff Cuts Coming At Detroit Museum "The Detroit Institute of Arts could announce staff layoffs as early as Thursday as the economic shock waves rippling through Michigan arrive at the doorstep of the state's premier cultural museum... Though the museum - with an annual $40-million budget - reported no deficit for last year and projected none for the ongoing fiscal period, some employees were reminded of the dire cuts in 1991.That was the year state arts funds were eliminated, resulting in 84 layoffs and a reduction of hours." Detroit Free Press 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 5:26 am
Paris Museums Moving Art Paris museums have begun moving about 100,000 works of art from underground storage rooms. "The decision to move this art to an undisclosed location north of Paris followed the floods that swept Central Europe last summer, damaging museums and other cultural institutions, notably in Dresden, Germany, and in Prague. Although French art collections were not seriously affected by the 1910 floods, the French government concluded that Paris museums were more vulnerable today." The New York Times 02/19/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 9:25 pm
Art Auctions - Waiting For The Law Of Diminishing Returns This season's art auction sales held up. But there are ominous signs. "The law of diminishing returns suggests we are coming to the end of the back-toback, buy-to-sell cycle. The best of the "turning" and profit-taking has gone, and the contemporary collectors have stocked up on the prizes they missed first time round. This does not produce the growth the market needs. Not only are we looking for a new generation of artists, we're desperate for a new wave of collectors." London Evening Standard 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 9:17 pm
Using Satellites To Catch Graffiti Taggers A company in Southern California has developed a system of satellites and high-tech sensors to catch graffiti taggers. "TaggerTrap, a graffiti eradication system being tested in several California cities, uses global positioning system technology, cell phones and sensors that recognize the ultrasonic pitch of spray cans to alert police when vandals begin their work." Village Voice (Reuters) 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:27 pm
Houston Musicians Get Some Support As the Houston Symphony Society continues to battle with its musicians over a plan to make up deficits by cutting orchestra personnel, slashing salaries, and cutting weeks from the season, the musicians have picked up some unexpected support from the executive director of the orchestra's summer facility. In an editorial, David Gottlieb describes the orchestra's board as being far too enamored of its own role in the organization, and writes that "the musicians have done all that has been asked of them, and they've asked for the opportunity to do more... To suggest that the musicians have been intransigent or uncooperative is absurd, insulting and not supported by the facts." Houston Chronicle 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 5:49 am
Come Hear The Propaganda! Just over a decade ago, no one in America would have dared mount a festival of music by Soviet composers who were compelled to write inane Socialist Realist glorifications of Josef Stalin and the Party. The backlash would have been tremendous. Now, with the Soviet Union more than ten years dead, its history is more easily examined without the bluster of American righteousness, and Vladimir Ashkenazy is seizing the moment. Ashkenazy is at Carnegie Hall this week, mounting a festival of music dedicated to works composed under duress by Soviet composers. Andante 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 5:04 am
One Way To Lower CD Costs A new study of the European music market indicates that a significant reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT), which EU countries append to the price of goods for sale, would go a long way towards reducing the price of CDs and could dramatically expand how much music European consumers purchase. The VAT is unlike the American sales tax in that the rate of the tax varies with the type of item being sold. "VAT on sound recordings is set between 16% and 25% while other cultural products, including magazines and entrance to zoos, starts from 5%." BBC 02/18/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 4:55 am
Recording Companies Want Access To Student Computers Big recording companies have petitioned the Australian federal court to "allow their computer experts to scan all computers at the University of Melbourne for sound files and email accounts, so they can gather evidence of claimed widespread breaches of copyright." Sydney Morning Herald 02/19/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 9:38 pm
Unfunding Scottish Music The Scottish Arts Council has come under fire for its funding intentions. But not much noticed was a decision to remove funding for two organizations that have been essential to the cause of new music in Scotland. How does this serve the cause of Scottish culture? Glasgow Herald 02/19/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 9:01 pm
Chorus Strikes Troubled English National Opera Chorus members of the English National Opera have voted to strike next week, forcing the company to cancel performances of Berlioz's "Les Troyens." Cancellation of the epic choral-opera will cost the company more than £50,000 in box office income, plus thousands more in wages for front-of-house and production staff. The chorus voted unanimously for five strike actions throughout the season in protest at plans to make one third of them redundant when the Coliseum closes for refurbishment in June." The Guardian (UK) 02/19/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 8:53 pm
Rethinking Opera In San Francisco A few weeks ago San Francisco Opera made some big cuts in its budget and schedule. SFO director Pamela Rosenberg says the cuts are an indication of the company's deire to rethink how it does opera. "The road to long-term vitality is not an easy one, but it provides a necessary opportunity to re-examine many aspects of how we do business, including how we might proceed more effectively and more efficiently." San Francisco Chronicle 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 12:51 pm
Cynical Critics vs. Thin-Skinned Artists One of the most frequent complaints artists make about critics is that they always get the last word, and rarely have to face the people they tear down in print. Critic Russell Smith recently had a chance to buck that trend, facing off against nearly a hundred angry Toronto artists whom he has offended in some way or other. In Smith's view, the problem is that too many artists simply believe they ought to be immune to all outside assessment. "It was interesting that none of my interlocutors wanted to attack any other newspapers for their art coverage - because most newspapers don't cover visual art at all. I honestly think that some of my critics prefer that." The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 5:40 am
Looking For Money In Unusual Places "Product placement has long been a tradition in movies, but as performing arts organizations scramble for funding in a tight economy, will Hamlet be next to hold a Coke can onstage?" That's just one idea being looked at by arts groups facing severe cuts from the budget knives of cash-strapped states. It seems to be a fact that public arts funding is going away, at least temporarily, for many smaller organizations, and administrators are looking at everything from product placement to individual sponsorship of productions to make up the difference. Boston Herald 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 5:18 am
Struggle For The Soul (Pocketbook?) Of Bertelsmann Media giant Bertelsmann is locked in a power struggle among owners and management. "The new generation took Bertelsmann into television and the internet and promised that before long the privately owned and secretive organisation would be transformed into a transparent, publicly traded multinational with stock market listings in the US and Europe by 2005. Yet the modernisation process has been an uneasy one, compounded by the deepest advertising recession in 30 years and a number of questionable acquisitions." The Guardian (UK) 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:53 pm
The Inevitability Of Arts Education Cuts California is facing big budget cuts, and San Francisco alongside it. So state and city governments are making cuts wherever they can. And what's likely to get cut? In the schools - arts education. Why? because it's easier than cutting general teachers. "The cuts will come with apologies and heart-wrenching statements from City officials, SFUSD leaders, and school site decision makers. They will give the arts their verbal support and let us all know how much they love the arts and how important arts are to the education of our youth, but then will say, 'What choice do we have'?" San Francisco Classical Voice 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:03 pm
Lou Harrison: "The Take-Home Pay Is A Melody" Kyle Gann remembers Lou Harrison, who died recently at 85. "The 'greatest living composer' label some pasted on him in recent years was an uneasy fit. He was too one-of-a-kind personally, too multifaceted musically. His works contain passages of aimless wandering that are hard to defend to skeptics, yet emblematic of what we love about him: that he relished life and didn't believe in hurrying." Village Voice 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:35 pm
Daniel Gioia: Poet/Businessman Who is Daniel Gioia? He's just taken over as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts after a career as a poet and businessman. "Gioia has successfully straddled the worlds of art and business. He has published poetry and criticism in top literary journals while rising to the position of vice president of marketing for General Foods, where he was responsible for determining how best to market Jell-O." San Francisco Chronicle 02/16/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 11:58 am
Hitting 'Em Where It Hurts Broadway producers are trying an unusual tactic in their battle with musicians over the set minimum number of musicians required to be included in every show. Ordinarily, in these disputes, the front office talks about fiscal responsibility, and the musicians counter with talk of artistic integrity. But in this case, the producers claim that the musicians' position is artistically indefensible, and that minimums, as they are known, are unfair to the composer of a show's score, and to the entire creative team. It's an innovative approach, but unfortunately, some rather high-profile Broadway composers are already refuting the claims. New York Post 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 6:05 am
- Previously: Broadway Musicians Dispute - Who's Really Deciding? Broadway producers say that the number of musicians emplyed for a show "should be left to the composer, lyricist, and musical director of a Broadway musical." The head of the musicians union agrees: "We agree completely, absolutely 100%. The problem is they're not the people who make the decision. How do we know? Those people are members of our union. And they say, unless we protect the minimums, they can't work in the same parameters as they do now on Broadway, because the numbers are dictated to the musical creative team by producers." Musicians and producers are locked in contract talks. Backstage 02/17/03
Another High-Tech Mag Goes Belly-Up "Citing economic woes in the technology sector, Multi-Vision Publishing Inc. announced yesterday that Shift magazine, the Canadian journal of digital culture, would cease publication. Just over two years ago, MVP was the proverbial white knight that saved Shift when it acquired the magazine out of bankruptcy... The decade-old publication had ceased production once before and, on another occasion, was saved by employees who agreed to buy it." National Post (Canada) 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 6:02 am
What's Up With These Poets? Poets have been much in the news of late. Poets are suddenly controversial (again). "Why poetry, why now? The answers might not be particularly mysterious. We are now into the second year of a period when words are being policed with particular vigor, hemmed in by off-the-record advisories as much as by Patriot Acts and Total Information Awareness. But such measures can't help but suggest that words themselves matter, now more than ever. Poets have been saying that all along." Village Voice 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:19 pm
Blockbuster 'Ratings' Policy Under Fire Blockbuster Video has a policy of not carrying any movie rated NC-17, or any unrated film which violates the chain's vaguely defined decency standards. But when an edited copy of the critically lauded film Y Tu Mamá También appeared on Blockbuster shelves recently, missing a key scene in which two gay men share a passionate kiss, critics of the Blockbuster policy, and of the MPAA's ratings standards, were furious. "Regardless of who made the decision and why, the kiss that dare not show itself reflects another Hollywood trend: Lesbian sex scenes between buxom beauties... are acceptable, even fashionable, while a smooch between male buddies is forced to hit the road." City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 02/19/03
Posted: 02/19/2003 6:22 am
The Distance Between Speaking And Singing For some time now, theatre has bridged the gap between speaking and singing. But "as the recent reviews of 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Chicago' have made clear, it has become commonplace wisdom that today's film musicals cannot work if songs arise naturally and directly out of dialogue. Critic after critic deems film too naturalistic a medium for such an inherently unreal device; characters singing on screen, they insist, must acknowledge the artifice in some way in order for audiences to accept it." Backstage 02/18/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 1:42 pm
The Ballet Workout "Few people think of ballet, a highly structured dance form developed in Europe, as a viable exercise alternative, probably because it has evolved as a performance art that required dedication and early training to achieve mastery. There are a lot of people out there who want to dance. They don't realize you can have all of the aerobics, abdominal work, stretching and strengthening and get it all in ballet." San Francisco Chronicle 02/16/03
Posted: 02/18/2003 2:10 pm
