The Objective Image - Is There Such A Thing? When it comes top journalism, facts are not just facts. A case in point - Americans are fascinated by pictures of the war, yet, "difficult" images of the war - dead bodies, for example - aren't being shown, as they are elsewhere. "At issue are several questions central to reporting and consuming news in the era of 24-hour television coverage and the burgeoning independent news media on the World Wide Web: Are images facts or illustrations? If a fact is ugly, should it be kept at a distance from readers and viewers? And what do news organizations do with the simple fact that there is both an eager appetite for, and a sincere disgust with, graphic images?" Washington Post 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 7:22 am
What Happens When The Definition Of "Classic" Changes Classic movies aren't what they used to be. That's not a judgment - more of an observation. "The canon has been changing over the last decade, and what makes a classic of cinema is now drastically different to discerning young moviegoers than it has been to their teachers or to the critics or to Leonard Maltin. The implications of the new canon are vast, much bigger than the specific films themselves, and they speak to the ways in which a new generation perceives history, reality, and even perception itself." Boston Globe 03/23/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 5:01 pm
Art Sales Scandals - Broken Trust Recent tax scandals with art sales, and the auction houses' price fixing trials damage all of the art world, writes ex-dealer Andre Emmerich. "Art dealing is a business based on trust. People who buy and sell art - whether or not they consider themselves collectors - must have confidence in the person they are doing business with. When one dealer is seen to be dishonest, the public is likely to conclude that most dealers are shady, just as the recent scandals surrounding Enron, Tyco and a few other corporations have affected investor confidence across the board." OpinionJournal.com 03/25/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 9:42 pm
Breaking Up Andre Breton's Treasure "Why are some scholars aghast at the idea of breaking up Andre Breton's art collection? "The surrealist wizard was an outstanding art critic as well as a classic prose writer, a major poet, and a perceptive commentator on more general intellectual history. Because of his commitment to the work of leading painters and sculptors, Breton's art collection ranged from André Derain to Man Ray and Joan Miró, from Giacometti to James Rosenquist, a Pop artist he admired. But he was also a connoisseur of the indigenous arts of the Pacific, especially New Guinea and its neighboring islands, as well as of the Hopi and other Pueblo Indians and the pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico. What's more, his personal friendships extended from the outstanding Parisian poets and artists of his time to such figures as Sigmund Freud and Leon Trotsky--all of whom presented him with signed books and manuscripts." Weekly Standard 03/31/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 9:26 pm
Destroying The Cradle Of Civilization? Archaeologists fear that George Bush's war on Iraq and its aftermath could "obliterate much of humanity's earliest heritage. Heavily looted in the last 10 years, Iraq's archaeological treasure remains as precarious as the rest of the country's post-war future. 'What's really at stake here is our past. What happened here was the establishment of civilization as we know it - codified religion, bureaucracy, cities, writing. What developed there was modern life - urban existence." Philadelphia Inquirer 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 7:28 pm
Preservation Hall - Those 60s Buildings As Art London's Royal College of Art needs to expand in the worst way. The college held a design competition, and everything seemed set to go, until preservationists got wind of the plan to demolish some of the RCA's current 60s-vintage building. "Hold on a sec, says the Twentieth Century Society. Isn’t the RCA listed? You can’t just knock it about willy-nilly..." The Times (UK) 03/245/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 7:08 pm
America's Asia Connection Asian art is everywhere in the US these days. "This week 10 or more sizable exhibitions devoted to Asian art are under way or about to open in American museums. The Puritans, who saw the devil’s hand in almost anything foreign, would have run for their torches. But if they saw the U.S. museum calendar these days, they would not have known where to run next. Immigration has produced larger Asian-American communities all over the U.S., which have not only heightened the demand for their cultural patrimony but also produced the prosperous donors and collectors who slap the money down for the shows." Time Canada 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 3:45 pm
Looking at What Matters In Art Art magazines are full of stories about how communication between artists, the art establishment and the public have broken down. That leads to lots of bristling opinions, often without much thought. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel invited a group of "artists, curators, critics, a museum director and his visiting farmer friend, art students and art teachers - one Saturday morning to tackle some tough but fundamental questions about contemporary art. Why does art even matter? What's 'good' or 'relevant' anyway? Who gets to say so? Should art be beautiful, expressive, dense with ideas, easily understood, a perfect match for the sofa?" Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 3:36 pm
Bringing Jazz To Rock Trying to win fans, jazz tried hard to incorporate pop music into its bones. "But as each new attempt to bring jazz to rock failed loudly, a new generation of jazz musicians has quietly been bringing rock to jazz. In this reverse fusion, instead of applying rock's rhythms and amplified dynamics to jazz forms, they've brought jazz sophistication and swing to rock tunes. The range of material being drawn from is as broad as pop itself." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 7:06 am
Is Salsa Dying? "To put it mildly, salsa music is in a slump. The once-vibrant genre that has captivated audiences around the world for decades has suddenly become a backwater business, with a declining market share and extremely uncertain prospects." Los Angeles Times 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 7:00 am
Reality Music - In Search Of The Blues Congress has declared 2003 as the Year of the Blues, commemorating the 100th anniversary of an encounter that may have produced the first written account of blues music. And the blues is enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity. But some worry that the authenticity of the music is being compromised... The New York Times 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:47 am
The Hermit Who Wrote A Hit Opera Not for years has a new opera wowed the critics and enthralled the public as Danish composer Poul Ruders’s opera of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid’s Tale" has done. "Premiered three years ago in Copenhagen in a staging by Phyllida Lloyd, the Dane’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1986 bestseller was acclaimed as a modern masterpiece: savage, satirical, yet lyrical, evoking both a brutal totalitarianism and private tragedy. 'The Handmaid’s Tale' looks like it may be one of the most popular operas of our time. Productions are planned in Washington, Minneapolis and Toronto. And next week it gets its British premiere when Lloyd’s staging comes to English National Opera." The Times (UK) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 6:36 pm
- Previously: Margaret Atwood Sees Her Word Turned Into Music Writer Margaret Atwood was suprised when she was approached with the idea of turning her book "The Handmaiden's Tale" into an opera. "I was aware of the problems the creators of the opera must have faced. The novel has much internal monologue: how would they handle that? How to convey the back-story to the plot? Would the costumes look not strange and ominous, but merely silly?" The Guardian (UK) 03/23/03
The Man Who Saved The Kirov "In 1988, conductor Valery Gergiev emerged as a "poster-boy for Gorbachev's perestroika, an intense young man chosen at the tender age of 34 to lead Leningrad's Kirov Opera. Today, everything has changed: Leningrad is once again St. Petersburg, and the Kirov Theatre has reverted to its czarist name, the Mariinsky (although its ensembles - the opera, the ballet, the orchestra and chorus -- still tour under the name Kirov). The one factor that has remained constant is Gergiev. He's no longer quite so young - his shaggy hairstyle disguises a combed-over bald spot - yet he has lost none of his intensity." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 6:20 pm
Houston Mayor To Get Involved In Symphony Strike It worked in New York with the Broadway musicians strike. Now Houston mayor Lee Brown has decided to get involved in the Houston Symphony musicians strike. He's appointed a special representative to work with the two sides and "said his action is aimed at helping the parties come to an agreement and return the Symphony to the Jones Hall stage, since a prolonged dispute is not only detrimental to the orchestra, but also to the entire city of Houston." Houston Mayor's Office 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 4:56 pm
Why Do Artists Lean Left? Patrick Goldstein wonders: "Why have most artists, be they poets, playwrights, painters, writers, musicians, actors or filmmakers, historically been far more involved with causes on the left than the right? The simplest explanation for this tradition of left-wing politics is that artists identify with the underdog. They tend to be disaffected outsiders and mavericks, skeptical of institutions, often uncomfortable with mainstream values. They find inspiration in change; their affection is with the dispossessed, not the ruling order." Los Angeles Times 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:57 am
Art, Not Gangs "While research has found that arts education can improve overall academic performance, the studies are preliminary on whether the arts can contribute to peace among youth. But encouraging evidence can be gleaned from personal observations. In cities around the country, corrections staff, nonprofit organizations, and individuals are putting together arts education programs for at-risk youth, with city and state arts commissions. In Boston, a nonprofit group called Artists for Humanity has apprenticeships for economically disadvantaged urban teenagers." Boston Globe 03/23/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 5:47 pm
Shaw Festival Announces Expansion Ontario's Shaw Festival is "launching a major expansion and renovation of its main theatre, the company announced yesterday as it introduced a $50-million fundraising campaign." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 7:15 am
Mid-Size Squeeze It is a truism that in tough economic times large theatres cut back and small theatres continue doing what they do because their expenses are low. But mid-size theatres - they're the ones that really get hurt. "With little in the way of economic cushions and small staffs that already have employees doing two and three jobs apiece, these theaters are struggling to economize without having to cannibalize." St. Paul Pioneer Press 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:22 am
Publishers Scramble For Sales With War Backdrop "The weak economy and the growing availability of books at discounted prices have made this an especially difficult retail climate for publishers." In addition, war coverage is pushing everything else off the usual publicity circuit. But publishers have high hopes for two books about Iraq due to come out this week... Yahoo! (WSJ) 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:39 am
What Our Kids Are Reading Which children's books sold in 2002? A list of the top titles shows Lemony Snicket on top. But clocking in at No. 3 is former NEH chairman and present vice-presidential wife Lynne Cheney with "America: A Patriotic Primer." Publishers Weekly 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 9:33 pm
Are Your Passports In Order? Why is it that some books travel well and others can't at all? There seems to be no pattern, no formula that predicts books with an international appeal. Indeed, some books seem to do better abroad than they do at home... The Observer (UK) 03/23/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 5:49 pm
Plagiarism Charges Haunt Stegner's Legacy Did Wallace Stegner, the "dean" of American Western writers, get "more credit than he deserved for a book he wrote based on the life of fellow Western writer Mary Hallock Foote? Stegner had lifted large amounts of Foote's writing nearly verbatim from her lifetime of correspondence for his most famous novel, 'Angle of Repose.' Stegner's biographers and others long ago conceded his heavy reliance on the Foote material, but for the most part they dismissed the concerns as misplaced. Recently, though, the issue has again begun seeping into public debate. Many new voices are not so forgiving." Los Angeles Times Magazine 03/23/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 5:44 pm
War As Entertainment/Reality TV We watch war movies as entertainment in peacetime. But "with the new engagement in Iraq, however, the Pentagon and television news coverage are blurring the lines between movies and real life as never before, turning viewers into 24-hour couch voyeurs. The start of the war caused business at movie theaters to drop by 25 percent on Wednesday as people stayed home to watch the war, and snack-food sales and restaurant deliveries thrived. The opening salvos of the war had taken the place of prime-time entertainment, and television stations did their best to serve up gaudily produced coverage: the war in Iraq as the ultimate in reality television." The New York Times 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:50 am
More Musicals Than Stars Many are predicting the return of the big movie musical. But there's a hitch, writes Renee Graham. Where's the talent to star in them? "Just a thought here, but isn't the true magic of all that singing and dancing on film derived from having people who actually know how to sing and dance? Still, with the success of 'Chicago,' the first musical to win a best-picture Oscar since 'Oliver!' in 1968, just about every major studio is planning one, including possible remakes of 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' 'Bye Bye Birdie,' and 'The Pajama Game.' Unfortunately, there are way more musicals than viable musical stars these days." Boston Globe 03/25/03
Posted: 03/25/2003 6:30 am
Weekend Movie Box Office Dives Movie box office tanked this weekend with the war and the Oscars on. "The weekend's top 12 films sold an estimated $84 million worth of tickets, the lowest total since Super Bowl weekend and down 29% from the same weekend last year." New York Daily News 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 7:22 pm
Lowest Oscar Ratings Ever TV ratings for Sunday night's Oscar telecast were down 20 percent from last year's all-time low. "The subdued 75th anniversary edition of the Academy Awards entered the record books on Monday as the least watched Oscar telecast ever." Yahoo! (Reuters) 03/24/03
Posted: 03/24/2003 5:56 pm
