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Monday, August 18




IDEAS
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas
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Is Technology Progress Threatened? "The defining political conflict of the 21st century is shaping up to be the battle over the future of technology. Fortunately, technological progress doesn't just have opponents; it also has boosters. The rise of neo-Luddism is calling forth self-conscious defenders of technological progress. Growing numbers of extropians, transhumanists, futurists and others are entering the intellectual fray to do battle against the neo-Luddite activists who oppose biotechnology, nanotechnology, and new intelligence technologies." Reason 08/13/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20030816-27919.html

The Forgotten Everyday Details "Biography of the long-lost past poses special problems. The most basic knowledge proves elusive, often never recorded in the first place. It's one thing never fully to know your subject's thoughts and dreams. It's another to visit a room, intact after 350 years, where a beam of sunlight shining through a prism produced the most famous optical experiment in the history of science, and still fail to find out whether there had been glass in the windows." The New York Times 08/16/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20030816-27911.html


ARTS ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues
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Iraq's New Burst Of Creativity "Out of the ashes of war and dictatorship, a new spirit of creativity and intellectual exchange is tentatively coming to life in scattered corners of the Iraqi capital, from the newly revived academy to the downtown alley that hosts a weekly book fair and informal literary gathering every Friday morning. The venues may be shabby and damaged, but the buzz of ideas is infectious and freewheeling, so much so that it's easy to forget how recently any form of artistic or literary dissent in this country was grounds for instant imprisonment or worse." Washington Post 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20030817-27940.html

Kicking California's Arts Council While It's Down The recent California state budget cut the California Arts Council budget to $1 million. But legislators aren't done yet - they're now looking at axing all state general funding for the arts. "In recent days, the Democrats' budget plan was altered to cut off all state general funds to the Arts Council, leaving a small staff to handle $1.5 million in federal funds and fees from the sale of special Arts Council license plates." Sacramento Bee 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20030817-27932.html

Readers Ask: What Is Art? The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel asked readers to ask questions about the arts - among the queries - do orchestra musicians count? Do dancers get tired of performing "Nutcracker" over and over again? And that classic: What, exactly is art? Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20030817-27930.html

Culture By Refugee "With every new crisis in Cuba, Miami gains another layer of contributors to the cultural scene. 'We were victims of a macabre totalitarian experiment in Cuba, but we have arrived with a lot of energy, with the will to create and to contribute here.' The vision of the new exiles, colored by the freshness of their experience in Cuba, their rigorous cultural training on the island, and their travels to perform abroad, adds more layers to the Cuban arts community, which has been diversifying since the Mariel boatlift brought in 1980 an impressive cast of writers and painters." Miami Herald 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20030817-27928.html


DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/dance
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MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/media
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The Virtual Movie Score As a listener, you probably don't realize it (and that's the way it's supposed to be) but a good deal of the music you hear in films these days is composed and performed electronically - with barely a live violinist or horn player in sight... San Francisco Chronicle 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20030817-27939.html

DVD Movie Piracy Sharply Up DVD piracy is a growing problem in the UK. "The sale of bootleg videos and DVDs is a growing problem, up 80% in the last year, according to the Federation Against Copyright Theft. That means piracy has cost the UK film industry £400m in the last 12 months, the research said." BBC 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20030817-27938.html

Movies - Where Is All The Fun? Once upon a time mindless summer blockbusters could be fun. No more, writes Brian Miller. "After the opening weekend to each successive studio tent pole, nobody's lining up around the block to catch the must-see movie two, three, or a dozen times more. That's because there's another new tent pole arriving each weekend that we grimly drag ourselves to see, like hamsters on a wheel. Why is that? Where has the fun gone? Into the machine, that's where, the same self-perpetuating machine of which we all—moviegoers, critics, studio executives, directors, and stars—are a part." Seattle Weekly 08/13/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20030817-27933.html

CBS' Diversity Plan US broadcast TV networks have been repeatedly dirticized for their lack of diversity. Now CBS says it has a plan. "The CBS Diversity Institute, announced Wednesday, combines mentoring programs for new writers and directors with existing talent showcases for minority performers." Baltimore Sun (LADN) 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20030817-27922.html


MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/music
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Could NY Phil's Lincoln Center Obligations Derail Carnegie Merger? The Carnegie Hall/New York Philharmonic merger deal is encountering some expensive resistance from Lincoln Center. "The Philharmonic's lease at Avery Fisher Hall runs through 2011 and provides Lincoln Center with $2.5 million to $3 million a year. To cover potential losses from the orchestra's planned departure in 2006, Lincoln Center is seeking damages on several fronts. Most controversially perhaps, said the official involved in the discussions, Lincoln Center now maintains that the Philharmonic must help cover the expense of creating a new orchestra, which could cost more than $100 million. Lincoln Center executives deny this, however." The New York Times 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27935.html

The Fantasy Musician Circuit There are fantasy baseball camps, fantasy auto-racing camps, even fantasy Broadway camps. Now there's fantasy rock star camp. "Through Weekend Warriors, retailers around the country seek out and connect wannabe rock musicians in their area, provide them with gear and rehearsal space, and eventually help them put on a live performance at a local venue. The five-week program costs $95 per person and attracts as many as a hundred musicians a year. 'What we give them is the equivalent of a catered experience of being in a band'." Ventura County Star (AP) 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27931.html

Album Sales Hit Record Level In UK Deflating the recording industry's claims that downloading is killing their business, recording sales in the UK have scored a record high. "After a dip in the first quarter of the year, sales hit a new peak of 228.3m at the end of June, almost 3% up on last year. The figure published yesterday by the British Phonographic Industry marks the fifth consecutive year that album sales have topped 200m." The Guardian (UK) 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27924.html

Lower Prices And They Will Buy "For years record buyers have complained that CDs are overpriced and the music industry has responded by saying, as politely as possible, put up or shut up. Now, panicked by the pirates, they've finally been compelled to slash prices to a reasonable level and sales have reached an all-time high. Profits are down but that's what happens when you stop charging £16.99 for an item that costs 50p to manufacture." The Guardian (UK) 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27925.html

Chopin As Jazz A Chopin festival in Warsaw experiments with connections between the great Polish composer and jazz. "Because Polish musicians live and breathe Chopin's music practically from the moment they first place their fingers on a piano or a fiddle, jazz artists such as violinist Maciej Strzelczyk and pianist Filip Wojciechowski were well equipped to radically reconceive themes from Chopin's preludes, waltzes and etudes. To these artists, reworking a motif from a classic Chopin piano piece is akin to an American player riffing on the chord changes of George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" -- this indigenous music courses through their veins." Chicago Tribune 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27923.html

Novice Creates Brass Fest Geoff Collinson is a French Horn player in Melbourne who had an idea to stage an international brass festival. With no experience running an organization, a tiny budget, and an artistic director who lives across the world in Switzerland, he managed to pull it all together. The Age (Melbourne) 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20030817-27920.html


PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/people
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Life After The Almeida It's been a year since Jonathan Kent left the Almeida Theatre, after a 12 year run leading the place. "The Almeida has become his international calling card. "It's astonishing, he says - Kent's favourite word is 'astonishing', closely followed by "extraordinary", both adding to the animated panache of his conversation - 'I've only discovered, on leaving it, that the Almeida is as well known abroad as the RSC or the National. 'I don't miss it. I can't imagine a more golden period and it was absolutely the making of me, but you have to move on. I felt I'd done everything I wanted to do there." The Telegraph (UK) 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/people/redir/20030817-27927.html


PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing
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Booker: A Short List Getting Longer What's the big deal about a longlist for the Booker Prize? Isn't it the shortlist that really matters? "Once upon a time, it was the announcement of the short list that could be relied upon to encourage literary commentators to break cover. Not any more. Faced with stiff competition, and some serious headline-hogging, from Orange and Whitbread, Britain's premier literary prize now resorts to the black arts of spin, announcing its long list a full two months before the ultimate showdown in the Guildhall. Betting on such a list is as much of a mug's game as taking a punt on a National Hunt steeplechase." The Observer (UK) 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20030817-27926.html

Librarian To The Rescue An "action figure" company has come out with its latest doll - an action figure librarian based on Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl. "The company, which has produced a successful series of historical action figures that include Jesus, Moses and Benjamin Franklin, jumped at the idea. Nancy Pearl became the second installment in their newest line of action figures based on everyday people in everyday jobs." Baltimore Sun 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20030817-27921.html


THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre
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Why Are Our Best Plays About Losers? In a country known by the world for its pride of success, materialism and optimism, why are the most celebrated plays about what she calls 'losers'? Think about it. Willy Loman, Blanche DuBois, O'Neill's own barely disguised family. Even the most beloved commercial comedies - think about the schlumps in Neil Simon's earliest hits - are organized around types that, outside our boundaries, would hardly be identified as winning Yanks." Compare that to Hollywood movies and the heroes they portray. Newsday 08/17/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20030817-27937.html

On The Fringes Of New York "This year the festival is offering more than 200 different productions in 20 locations — to call them all theaters would be to stretch the definition of theater — and to judge from the number of invitations, both polite and pleading, that I've received lately, the commercial aspirations of Fringe show producers are accelerated. A lot more of the shows have press agents these days. And in terms of content, the camp, irreverence and cheerful potty mouth of its glam graduate are reproduced in healthy doses." The New York Times 08/18/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20030817-27936.html


VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/visualarts
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A Turn To The Traditional? Is a new aesthetic of traditional realist art gaining traction? Some "recent surveys show evidence of a very interesting mind shift among a number of young American painters living here or abroad. In general, a broad spectrum of older artists seem almost inevitably to include shock, angst, or politics in their works—an impulse to disturb articulated in The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes. On the other hand, a growing majority of American artists who today are under 40 years old seem more intent on creating paintings that are visually beautiful, rather than emotionally disturbing." NewBohemia 08/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20030817-27929.html


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