Ideas The Web - How Audiences Work? "There are hundreds of millions - perhaps more than a billion - websites out there. If the normal distribution applied, then we would expect that most of them would cluster around an average in terms of size and link density. But this is not what is observed: although the web has a huge number of very small sites, the probability of encountering a big site is nevertheless quite high. up to now we have argued that the concentrations of media power and audience share that exist in the real world are the product of capitalist accumulation or inadequate regulatory regimes. But the web and the blogging culture are completely open. Yet, even in those ideal conditions, we see concentrations of power and audience emerging. Deep waters, eh? And is that curious noise the sound of Rupert Murdoch laughing up his sleeve?" The Observer (UK) 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 10:46 am Visual Arts Hadid's New American Masterpiece Herbert Muschamp is unequivocal about Zaha Hadid's first American building, the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati: "It is an amazing building, a work of international stature that confidently meets the high expectations aroused by this prodigiously gifted architect for nearly two decades. Might as well blurt it out: the Rosenthal Center is the most important American building to be completed since the end of the cold war." The New York Times 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 11:09 am Previously: Hadid's Latest Is A Coup For Cincinnati Cincinnati's new arts center is not the type of outsized, over-the-top structure generally associated with today's high-profile architecture. In fact, Zaha Hadid's design is in many ways the antithesis of the Blockbuster Building, which may be part of the reason that critics have been falling all over themselves to praise it. Benjamin Forgey is impressed with the building, if not with the hype, and says that the museum will reflect well on its hometown. "For the city itself, which contributed money along with the state and private donors, the architecture is a coup. The building will become an "early Hadid," a period piece folks will fight to save from the wrecking ball in a half-century or so." Washington Post 06/01/03 British Museum The Greatness Of 250 Years In its more recent history, the British Museum has been beset with problems, not the least of which being a lack of money to keep the place running as it ought to be. But the weekend, the BMA turned 250 years old, and a party was held to celebrate one of the world's great museums. The Guardian (UK) 06/06/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 9:00 pm Should The Guggenehim Get To Choose US' Vennice Artist? There's always much interest in which artist gets to represent the US at the Vinnice Biennale. The Guggenheim owns the US pavilion, and it appears Guggenheim director Thomas Krnes tried to steer this choice to Matthew Barney (who wasn't chosen). "The Art Newspaper has discovered recently that the entrepreneurial director proposed a deal to the State Department, suggesting that his museum have periodic control of the US participation in the Biennale." The Art Newspaper 06/06/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 8:50 pm Why Maxwell Anderson Is Leaving The Whitney “ 'It has become clear in recent months that the Board and I have a different sense of the Whitney’s future, in both the scale of its ambitions and the balance of its programming.' In March the board had cancelled a long-planned expansion by architect Rem Koolhaas, which a disappointed Mr Anderson says, 'Signals a pace of growth that is different from what I envisioned'.” The Art Newspaper 06/06/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 8:47 pm Music How To Make Sense Of The NY Phil Move To Carnegie? Anthony Tommasini wonders what's in it for Carnegie Hall in bringing over the New York Philharmonic from Lincoln Center. "To make sense, this move must be seized by the Philharmonic as a chance not just to enhance its aural impact but to jolt its artistic metabolism. For Lincoln Center, meanwhile, this decision is more than a disruption. It's a disastrous setback, no matter how much administrators try to spin it as an opportunity for new ventures." The New York Times 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 12:13 pm Early Music - Not Just For The Sound Over the past 20 years the Early Music movement has revolutionized the way we perform and listen to early music. But renovating sound is not its main accomplishment. "It's not really a matter of philosophical debates as to whether and exactly how we follow composers' own conceptions of their works, or recover the precise aesthetic or sound of a long lost age. Far more important has been the recovery of lost repertoire and the reinvigoration of the familiar." The Guardian (UK) 06/07/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 10:53 am A Trio Of Pianos At 150 Three of the world's great piano companies - Blüthner, Bechstein and Steinway - turn 150 this year. "Since 1853, artists have praised their instruments. Claude Debussy remarked that piano music should only be written for Bechsteins. For Wilhelm Furtwängler, Blüthner was best. 'Blüthner pianos can really sing, which is the most wonderful thing you can say about a piano.' Martha Argerich, an Argentinian-born artist, believes a Steinway sometimes plays better than the pianist — 'a marvellous surprise'. In business terms, the three fared very differently..." The Economist 06/05/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 6:09 pm Met Removes Vilar's Name From Building The Metropolitan Opera has taken down patron Alberto Vilar's name from the opera house after Vilar failed to make good on a number of promised donations. "The Vilar name had been affixed to the Grand Tier since 1998, when Mr. Vilar pledged $20 million over five years toward a $400 million endowment goal, as well as $5 million to match grants by others. The opera did not say how much he was in arrears or in what form, cash or stocks, but the statement suggested that the amount was substantial. The un-naming at the Met — a stinging rebuke in the genteel world of big-time philanthropy — was the latest sign that arts groups were losing patience with Mr. Vilar's missed commitments and were willing to speak out, even at the risk of losing any future largesse." The New York Times 06/07/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 5:53 pm Arts Issues Colorado Arts Commission Fires Director Completing its gutting of the Colorado Coucil on the Arts, the CCA's director was fired Friday. "The action effectively completes the elimination of the current CCA staff, a move that could also cost the state an additional $614,000 in federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts because it only distributes its grants through viably functioning state arts councils. On Wednesday, Owens ordered that no more than $40,000 of the council's 2003-04 budget of $814,000 could be spent on payroll, utilities and all other operational costs. A year ago, the office had seven staff members, each making more than $40,000, Holden said. Since then, the CCA's state funding has been cut from $1.9 million to $200,000, and the staff had been cut to three even before Friday." Denver Post 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 10:14 am Previously: Colorado Governor Slashes At Arts Staff First Colorado Governor Bill Owens is instrumental is slashing the state's arts budget from $1.9 million to $200,000. Now Owens is telling the arts council that it mustn't spend the money on itself. "Currently, he said, 82 percent - $165,000 - is allotted to infrastructure. Owens asked that only $40,000 be used." Rocky Mountain News 06/05/03 People The Buddy System Seventy-five-year-old Buddy Zamoiski officially steps down as chairman of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, after 15 years at that organization's helm. Zamoiski has a spectacular talent for talking money out of people for his various causes. "Except for Joseph Meyerhoff (who built the symphony a fancy new hall), Zamoiski probably is more responsible for the orchestra's relative financial stability than anyone in its 86-year-history." Baltimore Sun 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 9:33 am Margaret Atwood, Chanteuse As part of a fundraiser for the literary magazine Brick, Margaret Atwood (known for her pen) is planning to sing (something she's not known for). Until late this week, it remained unclear just what Atwood would be singing and with whom (if anyone) when she appears at The Berkeley Church in east-end T.O. There had been talk of her interpreting Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, accompanied by fellow novelist André Alexis on banjo. Alas, this won't come to pass. There also was a rumour that she'd be fronting a band featuring yet another novelist (and media maven) Evan Solomon on electric guitar. But this was denied as well. Now it seems Atwood will be singing a cappella, doing two original works." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/07/03 Posted: 06/07/2003 8:56 pm Theatre The HipHop Musical - Reinventing Musical Theatre? So far, hip-hop theater's most distinctive, exciting quality is 'how' — the way in which its stories are told. In the brightest moments of 'Flow,' Will Power shows that hip-hop's fusion of verse and song could make it a potent update of the traditional 'Oklahoma!'-style musical, one better suited to the stage than rock music. Like Rodgers and Hammerstein, who proved that even a carnival barker can sing a musical soliloquy, his work suggests that hip-hop's narrative tools will function well beyond one generation's concerns." Maybe hiphop musicals operate more like opera, "with one critical exception. 'Right now there are no conventions, the way opera is full of well-understood, time-honored conventions. It's evolving now." The New York Times 0/6/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 12:19 pm Getting To The "Authentic" Shakespeare What exactly is authenticity in Shakespeare? There are so many ways of interpreting, remaking, and reimagining the plays, stretching them in unaccustomed directions. So what exactly is authenticity in Shakespeare? The Guardian (UK) 06/07/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 11:02 am Through The Lookingglass (Theatre) Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre has become one of the city's most respected theatre companies. But in its 15 years, the company has camped out in a variety of spaces. Now it's moving into "a newly renovated performance space in the Water Tower Water Works. The site, in the heart of the Magnificient Mile, where thousands of people, locals and tourists alike, will pass by daily, gives the company perhaps the highest visibility of any theater in town..." Chicago Sun-Times 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 9:47 am Running Shakespeare A production of Shakespeare's "As You Line It" in New York's Central Park involves a workout for the audience. "When you enter in at 97th Street and Central Park West and you will be led into Central Park where the play will begin. As you watch the show, the next scene that is about to happen, happens about 50 ft away, and then they are off. The whole audience runs to where the scene is taking place! Every 5-7 minutes. The play moves between 97th St & 100th Street using trees, rocks, benches and even the audience as scenery." NewYorkLed 06/06/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 9:11 am Publishing Poetry-Pushers All Can poetry be hip? Cool? There sure are a lot of people who want to convince that it can be. "We've had Poems on the Underground and the Buses, Poetry in Schools, National Poetry Day, Young Poet competitions and indeed Murray Lachlan Young (remember him, with his Byronic smouldering and his million-pound EMI deal? Ubi sunt...) - all much-needed endeavours, because poetry ought to be seen as lively and relevant. Yet for many people the idea of it remains trapped in shudder-inducing schoolday memories of interminable recitation or forced deconstruction." The Observer (UK) 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 10:24 am Media Movies: Pining For The 70s The movie business is so big, so powerful, so slick, it seems as though it's never been in better shape. Consider that "30 years ago the summer blockbuster hadn't been invented, films weren't equated with franchises, 'multiplex' wasn't a word, and the people calling the creative shots were the artists, not the bean counters. This situation didn't last long, but it spawned a group of films so satisfying and challenging that many consider the late-'60s-to-late-'70s to be cinema's best era." Chicago Tribune 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 9:57 am Is Free TV Worth Saving? "Since the 1950s, the free American broadcast system has served as the great galvanizer and equalizer, accessible to anyone in the nation owning a rooftop antenna and a TV. Even today, most Americans get their news from broadcast TV. Yet some critics say the system is irreparably broken and growing more irrelevant in the face of competition from cable and satellite services, even as the federal government has moved to prop up the broadcast industry." Chicago Tribune (LAT) 06/08/03 Posted: 06/08/2003 9:54 am