The Marketing of Homeland Security "Nearly all politicians care about branding -- just as Procter & Gamble fixates on creating positive 'brand awareness' about Crest, Cheer, Pampers and Pepto-Bismol. But [Secretary of Homeland Security Tom] Ridge is the rare public official who uses the term. He is attuned to small details of his department's 'visual brand.' These include the creation of DHS logos, patches and signs." The fact is, Homeland Security's mission is as much about selling itself to the public as it is about preventing terrorist attacks. The idea is to find new and innovative ways to convince an increasingly cynical public to take the department's pronouncements seriously. Washington Post 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:45 am
The Evolution of "Talent" With genetic research opening up new worlds of medical intervention at a stunning rate, there is still much virulent opposition to even the smallest suggestion of genetic manipulation in humans, especially when it comes to notions of changing not just who we are, but what we can do. But, says Slavoj Zizek, too many objections are based on our own outdated notions of humanity and what constitutes it. "The point is that both hard work and natural talent are considered 'part of me', while using a drug is 'artificial' enhancement because it is a form of external manipulation. Which brings us back to the... problem: once we know that my 'natural talent' depends on the levels of certain chemicals in my brain, does it matter, morally, whether I acquired it from outside or have possessed it from birth?" London Review of Books 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 5:25 am
'Ten Chimneys' Finally Opened To The Public For whatever reason, rural Wisconsin is jam-packed with architecturally significant houses built by unbalanced geniuses and wealthy stars looking for an escape from the masses. One of the most remote and interesting structures of the bunch is known as "Ten Chimneys," the sprawling hideaway of Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne, once known as America's premier acting couple. From humble beginnings, "the compound grew to include a small hunting lodge moved piece by piece from Sweden, a chicken coop converted to a charming house, a swimming pool and fanciful changing house topped by a weathervane that was a gift from fashion photographer Cecil Beaton, an 18-room great house and other structures." The house opened to the public for the first time this week.
Chicago Tribune 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 5:39 am
The Online Museum - One-Stop Shopping An online archive of 100,000 images of artworks is the self-sufficient collaborative project that allows visitors to compare images side-by side. The digital archive offers "the opportunity to compare far-flung works while staying in one place and would be valuable to art teachers, students and scholars. As much as you want somebody to study your collection, those works get their meaning from context, and context is provided by other works in other collections." The New York Times 05/22/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 10:48 pm
Court: No Acropolis Museum Greece's high court has ruled that the Greek government cannot build a new museum at the Acropolis to house the Parthenon Marbles. Sources "are quoted as saying the decision was influenced by fears that the construction work on the slopes of the Parthenon - the proposed site for the new museum - could damage nearby antiquities. Correspondents say such a ruling is a serious setback for the Greek Government's efforts for the return of the Parthenon frieze known in Britain as the Elgin Marbles, which once adorned the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis, from the British Museum in London." BBC 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 9:17 pm
Should The Barnes Audit Be Made Public? Lincoln University, which has a major role in the oversight of the Barnes Foundation, has petitioned a judge to make public an audit of the Barnes that has been depicted in the media and in a book as being very critical of the Foundation's management. "Keeping the audit confidential does a disservice to the public because the information contained therein in numerous instances reveals diligent and persistent efforts to improve the administration of the foundation." The Barnes is seeking to lessen Lincoln's influence and make a move to Philadelphia. Philadelphia Inquirer 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 5:18 pm
Blockbuster Breaker - Too Many People It's good to know that there's an audience for art, but what about those exhibitions where so many people press in that you can't see anything? "Big, high-profile loan shows are now so crowded it's almost impossible to see what you've come to see - the art. Which raises a question: Has the blockbuster become a victim of its success? Is it now defeating the very purpose for which it was invented?" OpinionJournal.com 05/22/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 4:55 pm
Whither Met Opera's Broadcasts? It is difficult to overstate the impact that the national broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera have had over the years on musicians, opera fans, and the general public. But with ChevronTexaco having pulled its sponsorship of the series, the Met is left with the unappetizing task of trying to find someone else willing to shell out $7 million or so every year for the privilege of having its name set before a few million opera lovers. The devastating blow comes as the Met is at the absolute top of its artistic game, says David Patrick Stearns, and the prospect of depriving the nation's airwaves of the series is unthinkable. Philadelphia Inquirer 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:30 am
Solicited Advice Finding a source of reliable constructive criticism can be difficult when you're a musician waiting for your big break. After all, what friend or relation would dare to crush the dream of a lousy wannabe rock star who truly believes they'll be on MTV someday? Enter garageband.com, burster of delusional bubbles: "Once an Internet darling bent on shaking the foundations of the crusty old music industry, Garageband is home to over 325,000 musicians and new-music hunters who review original songs in an ongoing round-robin tournament." The New York Times 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:14 am
Musicians Decry FCC Consolidation Move Members of two prominent American rock bands have joined consumer groups and media watchdogs in blasting the FCC's plan to further relax rules on media ownership in the U.S. Mike Mills of R.E.M. and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam described the effect that media consolidation has already had on the American music scene as catastrophic, and said that the continuing domination of radio, advertising, and ticket distribution by mega-companies like Clear Channel "makes it very threatening for any band that wants to make statements contrary to the proper American way of doing things." Denver Post 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 5:47 am
Beethoven's 9th Fetches a Joyful Sum It has been suggested that Beethoven's 9th Symphony is the most significant work of Western music ever composed, and even today, most people on the street could hum you a bar or two of the 'Ode to Joy' if you asked. But the 9th is a huge score which represents something far more significant than a single pretty melody - it was one of those pieces that broke through old taboos, advanced composition into a new phase, and inspired (and intimidated) a generation of younger composers. Still, when the only known working manuscript of the 9th hit the block at Sotheby's this week, bidding went slowly, with the score eventually selling for £2.133 million to an anonymous phone bidder. Sotheby's had hoped for more, but the sum was one of the highest ever paid for such a work. BBC 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 5:12 am
Classical Music - Chronicle Of The End "Welcome to the death of music, or that genre of it we define as classical. For more than a century it has captured the hearts and minds of millions, inspired the building of great concert halls in hundreds of cities, sustained thousands of musicians and created a discography that seemed timeless and enduring in its appeal. Well, timeless and enduring until now. For, despite private patronage and lashings of public funds, concert performance and ticket sales are in free fall. Little wonder the latest attempts by Sir Brian McMaster, director of the Edinburgh Festival, to halt and reverse the decline in concert going are being anxiously watched round the world. For there is a growing fear that the decline in classical concert attendance now looks unstoppable." The Scotsman 05/17/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 10:58 pm
Pavarotti Says He'll Return To The Met When fans thought that Pavarotti was singing his last performance at the Metropolitan Opera last year (before he canceled) they gladly paid as much as $1,875 per ticket to be there. Now the tenor says he'll return to the Met next March. "My great friend, Joe Volpe, and I have been talking for some time now to try to reschedule the performances I unfortunately had to cancel last year. I'm so delighted to be returning to this great, great opera house to sing in 'Tosca'." Nando Times (AP) 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 9:41 pm
Swing Back To The Future Take a big band sound, add banks of electronics, blend in sampled sound and a little rave culture, and you get an experiment in the old time. "By taking a dated musical style - big-band jazz - and marrying it with the kind of electronic processes usually reserved for cutting-edge dance music, Matthew Herbert has made the world's first experimental yet traditional album. If the Institute of Contemporary Arts held a pensioners' tea-and-modems morning, this would be its soundtrack." The Telegraph (UK) 05/22/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 6:20 pm
Death March - Getting To Know You Why the fascination with the final moments of great composers? Do these accounts illuminate the music in some way? Not really. "The root, I suspect, is social rather than art-critical. It has something to do with the function that classical music fulfils for many listeners in a secular age, its surrogacy for a forsaken Christian faith. The mortal agonies of a great composer have come to represent the sufferings of a saviour figure, a ritual of veneration. We observe in awe, anticipating redemption." London Evening Standard 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 6:06 pm
Might Regulators Approve Giant Recording Company Merger? Recording execs are convinced that courts might approve a merger between recording giants AOL Time Warner and Bertelsman, even though the idea was rejected two years ago. "A combination of the labels would shrink the number of global record distributors from the current five, providing new muscle and cost-saving opportunity for some players in an ailing music industry — while potentially threatening others. But the executives believe that recent legal rulings and the industry's weak condition would bolster their cause in persuading regulators, particularly in Europe, to greenlight a deal." Los Angeles Times 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 5:24 pm
Silicon Valley Braces For More Cuts The severe cuts to state arts funding being pushed by California governor Gray Davis are hitting Silicon Valley particularly hard, and arts organizers in the San Jose area are bracing for yet another hit in what has already been a dismal year. Some area organizations may lose nearly all of their funding next year, and survival seems to be dependant on the generosity of private donors. San Jose Mercury News 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:40 am
The Female Roma Was Rome named after a woman? "A fragment of writing by Stesichorus, a Graeco-Sicilian poet who wrote not long after Rome's founding, suggests Rome was named after a Trojan woman called Roma." Discovery 05/20/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 10:38 pm
Arts Funding Cuts Hurt Economy Americans for the Arts president Robert Lynch wonders why governments are cutting arts funding just when it's been shown that investment in the arts helps the economy. "When governments reduce their support for the arts, they are not cutting frills. They are undercutting a nonprofit industry that is a cornerstone of tourism, economic development and the revitalization of many downtowns. When governments increase their support for the arts, they are generating tax revenues, jobs and the creative energies that underlie much of what makes America so extraordinary. Every time our governments, at any level, talk about reducing support for the arts, Americans should demand to know: Who will make up for the lost economic activity? Who will provide the 8-to-1 return on investment that the arts provide in the form of federal, state and local tax revenues? Who will replace the jobs that the arts support?" Detroit Free Press 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 5:11 pm
Who Is Sean Doran? When Sean Doran was hired to run the English National Opera, everyone was asking who he is. "Indeed, the circumstances surrounding his hiring could hardly have been less auspicious. The selection process looked like a dog's dinner, with well-qualified potential candidates refusing to apply for the position. All this amid chorus strikes, the apparent near-bankruptcy of the company and a bid for a large-scale injection of cash from Arts Council England. Into this smouldering car crash of a company Doran has now ventured. Fresh from the job of director of Perth festival in Western Australia, the 42-year-old has been at his desk for six weeks, during which time the acting executive director, Caroline Felton, has prematurely exited stage left. You can't help feeling sorry for Doran." The Guardian (UK) 05/22/00
Posted: 05/21/2003 10:11 pm
The Plays That Never See New York There are many good plays that get produced in America that never get to New York. "Why would a great work go unproduced? The answer is multifaceted, but much conversation swirls around non-profit business models, the economic climate, and changes in funding bases. Simply put, many theaters? particularly those invested in new and challenging work?don't proffer as many plays as they used to." Village Voice 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 8:54 pm
Political Action "What has happened to political theatre in the US? Engulfed as we are by the coverage of the chaos in Iraq and the ongoing threat of terrorism, it's hard not to wonder what kind of rarefied world our playwrights are living in. Suffice it to say that the great wealth of work seems strangely removed from anything approaching the urgent reality of our daily headlines. But critics should be clear on how they'd like the theater to respond. Are we merely looking to theatricalize the same journalistic images that CNN and its rivals have transformed into Nielsen rating packages? Or is it a bit of didacticism that we're after, a cup of moral advice sweetened by a dose of drama?" The Village Voice 05/21/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 7:22 pm
How Big Can Harry Get? When the fifth Harry Potter book is released in June, it will, of course, be the biggest literary event of the year in the English-speaking world. But how big, exactly, have Harry and his Hogwarts buddies become? "Worldwide, Amazon.com has received more than 875,000 orders for the book... The U.S. publisher of the Potter books, Scholastic, is planning a press run of 8.5 million." The cross-promotion is rampant, as well. The two big-budget movies "are both now out on video. Harry Potter clothing, backpacks, lunchboxes and video games crowd store shelves. There's a line of Harry Potter Lego that lets kids build their own Hogwarts Castle. Harry Potter is never out of the public eye." Ottawa Citizen 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:25 am
The Literacy Decade "According to UNESCO, there are currently about 861 million illiterate adults in the world. In response to this staggering number, the UN has declared the next 10 years the UN Literacy Decade. During this period UNESCO will initiate its 'International Plan of Action,' designed to mobilize national governments, public and private organizations, universities, and local communities to create literacy programs, research who will most benefit from such programs, and find ways to monitor their success so that they can be improved upon and replicated elsewhere." Poets & Writers 05/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 10:32 pm
The Decidedly Commercial Side of Cannes Everyone seems to agree that, for one reason or another, this is not Cannes's best year. In fact, things are so slow that many critics are finding themselves writing not about the movies on display, but on the 'system' of Cannes, and why it is the way it is. Elvis Mitchell seems to be a bit sick of the commercial side of the fest, which is seldom reported on, but dominates the scene: "Many of those pictures won't even see the light of day on the lowest rung of cable TV. Scanning the ads here in the trade papers like Variety and Film Français, several things are immediately evident. The saddest is that American violence is still one of our most exportable products." The New York Times 05/22/03
Posted: 05/22/2003 6:10 am
Great Artists On Film - Disappearing Fast Among the most interesting records of artists of the 20th Century are films of them at work and in conversation. "In this country alone [UK], there's probably six or seven hundreds of hours of film of artists working and talking, a wonderful learning tool for children, artists and scholars, a window on a new world for the rest of us. The tragedy is that few can see it." And much of it is in danger of disappearing forever. The Telegraph (UK) 05/22/03
Posted: 05/21/2003 8:50 pm
