AJ Logo Get ArtsJournal in your inbox
for FREE every morning!
HOME > Yesterdays


Friday, March 28




Ideas

When Ideas Exceed Needs Building in a sustainable way is a cultural problem. For example: "The idea of a tall building has existed since architecture s beginnings and came to fruition in the Gothic era with the race towards the tallest nave and spire, and again in the United States during the early 20th century. Developing countries like Malaysia and China have now entered the global competition for the tallest building, indifferent to the building type s ecological footprint and vying for the longest time holding the height record. The cultural footprint of a building of this kind then by far exceeds its ecological footprint. It is unlikely that rational argument will ever deter clients and architects from pursuing goals like the tallest buildings, goals that are deeply lodged in mental landscapes and reinforced by various media over decades or centuries. Similar forms of competition exist in other areas of architectural discourse." Harvard Design Magazine 03/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 7:30 pm

Visual Arts

Trading Up - Boston's MFA Sells Art To Buy Art Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is selling a Renoir and two Degas pastels, hoping to raise $12-17 million so the museum can buy an [unnamed] 19th Century painting it wants to acquire. "It will be by far the most money raised through a sale in the MFA's history. It will also mark the museum's highest profile deaccession since 1984. That's when the MFA traded two Renoir pastels and a Monet painting - plus $600,000 - to a New York dealer for a Jackson Pollock painting. It was a controversial move, and an assistant curator resigned in protest. But this week, MFA officials stressed that support for the deaccession was unanimous from the five curators in the art of Europe department, the 27-person collections committee, and the 70-member board of trustees." Boston Globe 03/28/03

Crowds Change The Art Experience Epic lines at New York's major museum shows make going to see some art a confusing and difficult experience. "You either have to get in the very front, in which case you get pushed, or in the very back, in which case you can't see. It's not like you can stand in front of a painting and wait. You'll get trampled." The New York Times 03/28/03

Wales, Scotland, Striking Out On Their Own At Biennale Scotland and Wales are jumping ship at the Vennice Biennale this year - both countries are pulling out of the British pavilion to set up their own shows. "As if to underline their secessionist tendencies, the Welsh have bagged a bigger venue - the Ex-Birreria brewery on Giudecca - and they are throwing a party for the art glitterati while sobriety will be observed in the British pavilion. The Welsh deny that they harbour historical resentments, but do point out that the British council has not honoured a Welsh artist at the biennale for 40 years." The Guardian (UK) 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 7:09 pm

Collapse Of Art Investment Co. Hurts Artists, Investors The collapse of art investment company Taylor Jardine has left a lot of artists and investors owed money. "Investors were told that once they had bought the paintings, Taylor Jardine would arrange for them to be leased to companies in London. They were assured this would generate an annual income of about 15 per cent on top of any increase in the value of the paintings. But, by the time the company folded, just 300 of the 2,000 paintings had been leased. This was a company that banked at Harrods and stored its art at Christie's. Its brochures were glossy, its website was slick and its salesmen had public school accents. But despite the swanky exterior, investors have lost 6.4m and struggling artists have been told they may have lost the works they offered for sale." The Telegraph (UK) 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 6:49 pm

The New Saatchi Museum...Er, Gallery So is Charles Saatchi's new gallery in competition with the big London museums? "The press has made so much of the supposed rivalry. I'm looking forward to working with the two Tates and the Hayward. Where we differ is that we will always be able to remain at the cutting edge of new art because we can buy and sell, and we're not answerable to taxpayers or to the idea of a national collection. We're about contemporary art - that's to say of the past 20 or so years - not modern art. Our job is to showcase new British art, and to act as a springboard between art colleges and major museums. We'll always be changing the collection, sometimes gradually, at others quickly. And we don't plan ahead. Only once a show is up will we think about what the next one might be." London Evening Standard 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 5:58 pm

UK - Finding All The Public Art Britain is initiating a national campaign to catalogue all the oil paintings in all the public collections in England, "down to the last dusty alderman hanging in a council waiting room." The Guardian (UK) 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 4:13 pm

Russian Prosecutor Threatens Culture Minister Over Plan To Return Art The Russian Prosecutor's office has informed the Russian Culture Minister that he will face criminal charges if he goes ahead with a plan to return an art collection stolen from Germany after World War II. "The prosecutor's office, which has been investigating the matter over the past few weeks, said the Culture Ministry does not have the authority to decide to hand over the 362 drawings and two paintings that once belonged to the Bremen Kunsthalle." Moscow Times 03/26/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 3:06 pm

Music

A New House For Jazz America's best jazz clubs present great artists, but to small audiences. Lincoln Center's new jazz complex - a collaboration between architect Rafael Vinoly and acoustician Russell Johnson - now being built at Columbus Circle, will be a versatile institution meant to promote jazz in many forms. Chicago Tribune 03/28/03

Money Woes? Who Ya Gonna Call? Opera Australia has turned to a money expert to be its new chairman. "Dr Gordon Fell, 38, has strong links to the money networks of Sydney, including his business partnership with David Coe, chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art. These are vital connections for Opera Australia, whose operating deficit was $2 million last financial year. It expects a loss of $1 million this year." Sydne7y Morning Herald 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 6:21 pm

Chung To Leave Rome Orchestra Conductor Myung-Whun Chung has decided to leave as principal conductor of Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. "News reports said Chung had a tense relationship with chairman Luciano Berio. The orchestra said in a statement that Chung's decision not to renew his contract had been made 'in complete harmony' with the orchestra, adding that Berio was 'deeply grateful to Maestro Chung for the excellent work he is carrying out'." Yahoo! (Reuters) 03/26/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 5:54 pm

How SF Opera Found Itself In Money Trouble So how did San Francisco Opera, one of the biggest in America, work itself into a $7 million debt? "In 1999, with 93 performances and $24 million ticket income, we had an optimal year. Last year it was $22.4, the previous two years, $21.2 and $23.7 and for the current year we are projecting $21.5. There is Iraq, and the tourists are not coming. We re trying to cut costs as responsibly and as carefully as possible. Every dollar. It would be phenomenal to end with zero deficit." San Francisco Classical Voice 03/25/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 2:58 pm

  • Union Files Complaint Against SF Opera The American Guild of Musical Artists has filed an unfair-labor-practice complaint against the San Francisco Opera. In February the companay, which is having big money problems, announced it was cutting its annual Western Opera Theater tour because "the costs, scope and purpose of the Western Opera Theater tour were no longer in line with the Opera Center's need for fiscal responsibility." The union says that the company violated the National Labor Relations Act "by taking such action without prior notice to or bargaining with the union." Backstage 03/27/03
    Posted: 03/27/2003 2:48 pm

Arts Issues

Ontario Flatlines Arts Budget Hopes had been high that Ontario's government would increase the province's $25 million arts budget this year. But when the budget was announced, there was nothing new for the arts. Arts leaders are disappointed - the amount has stayed the same for the past five years. "We had made some very strong arguments for the value of the arts and the contribution they make to life in Ontario. There appears to be nothing in it for the arts. The community is going to be very disappointed." Toronto Star 03/28/03

Banking On Building A Good Board One of the biggest challenges for arts organizations is finding good sound board leadership. "Tony Scotford, a Sydney lawyer and outspoken arts advocate, has an innovative solution - a board 'bank' where the best talent can be matched with the neediest companies - on the cards as part of the Australian Business and Arts Foundation's future projects. If it works like the health industry's sperm and blood banks, why not? So many of our boards are the result of mateship, or favours, or a reward for sponsorship." Sydney Morning Herald 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 6:24 pm

Trying Harder As Money Gets Tighter As money gets tighter, American arts organizations are rethinking their operations. "To survive, cultural establishments nationwide are pooling resources, taking artistic risks, and stepping up outreach - rethinking everything from fundraising tactics to show times to get people back to the box office. In a time of financial famine, the arts are getting creative. 'These organizations are like farm animals in the 1930s dust belt. They have less and less to sustain them'." Christian Science Monitor 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 3:21 pm

Theatre

Theatre - Going One-On-One "On stage, there may be no more daunting task than the solo performance. The show is you - and you're the show. But actors continue to brave this special kind of high-wire act. Some of the reasons are economic: It makes for a short line at the pay window. But the more profound lure is artistic: the chance to have the audience all to yourself, to shape an intimate show that's entirely personal." Christian Science Monitor 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 3:29 pm

Publishing

Driven To Read "There is a natural symbiosis between long-distance truckers and the audio book business. Just about anyone who has taken a road trip knows the boredom of the long empty stretches. For truckers who have the interstate system memorized, a story well told can make miles go by faster. Truck drivers have a critical underground that passes judgment mercilessly on recorded books. They swap tapes and book advice at freight terminals and at truck stops, where taped books are often available to rent. Reviews of audio books are a feature of trucking magazines and Web sites. Drivers tend to disdain abridged versions." The New York Times 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 7:51 pm

War Pushes book Promotion Out Of Spotlight Publishers rushing to promote war-relevant books, are abandoning other books as TV promotion concentrates on the war on Iraq. "Books, perhaps even more than movies or music, depend on the news media for publicity. And for now, TV news is all war, all the time. That means some authors are being unceremoniously bumped, while others who had trouble attracting publishers a few years ago suddenly are welcomed as experts." USAToday 03/27/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 4:00 pm

Poetry Jury Fails To Field Shortlist - Poetry Fans Protest Poetry fans are protesting that the jury for the new $10,000 Trillium Prize for poetry in Canada were unable to come up with a shortlist for the prize. "There were very few titles published in 2002 that met the criteria of a first book of poetry by a poet resident in Ontario for three of the last five years." Only ten books were submitted, but protesters want a new jury to be chosen and the deadline to be extended. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/27/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 3:51 pm

Library Workers File Complaint About Porn Access Some employees at the Minneapolis Public Library have filed a complaint against the library for allowing free access to porn sites on public computers. The say that "the library's policies have attracted hard-core pornography users who monopolize the library's computers and 'would react angrily and at times violently if any effort was made to interfere (with) or halt their access to pornographic materials'," in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. St. Paul Pioneer-Press 03/27/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 3:47 pm

Media

The Best Case Against Media Consolidation When the CEO of the second largest chain of radio stations in America decided to ban the Dixie Chicks from his airwaves because of political remarks one of the group's mambers made, the Chicks' airplay vanished. "The downside of media consolidation is that we now allow a few people's overreaction to become policy. It opens up a very dangerous can of worms. In this case, one of the CEOs decided he wanted to make a statement. . . . But consolidation means that group ownership can do anything it wants . . . ."
Boston Herald 03/28/03

The Hermitage In 90 Minutes Filmmaker Alexander Sokurov's film tribute to the Hermitage is unexpected and amazing. "Russian Ark was made in a single hour-and-a-half-long shot, unedited. It took that hour and a half to film (after two years of preparation) and takes the same time to watch. It is the first film to be made in this way, exploiting digital technology not to bend reality but to do justice to it - no film on celluloid could continue unbroken for this amount of time." The Guardian (UK) 03/28/03
Posted: 03/27/2003 7:06 pm


Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Copyright ©
2002 ArtsJournal. All Rights Reserved