IDEAS
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas
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Academia, Politically Speaking (Oh Really?) Is Academia liberal? Is there a liberal bias in higher education? "The state of the job market these days makes things especially hard to pin down. Ayn Randian, liberal, Marxist, conservative: In most fields, there aren't jobs for anyone." Boston Globe 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20031012-31117.html
ARTS ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues
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Complacency - Enemy Of Art? Leaders of Hartford's arts institutions get together to talk about the challenges their organizations face. "I think I see a widening complacency on the part of a big chunk of our audience. Not the best of our audience, which remains smart, risk-taking and just as ambitious in their own way as we try to be as the leaders of arts agencies. But I see a creeping complacency. Maybe it's a taking for granted of the uniqueness of so many wonderful institutions in this town. Increasingly I fear that our audiences don't know how good they have it, living in a place like this. I don't think [the public] gets it the way they used to in the 1930s [up until the] early '80s. That's what I'm worried about because that will affect all of us." Hartford Courant 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20031012-31131.html
DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/dance
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Burrows - A Hit In Europe, At Home Just A Name: Choreographer Jonathan Burrows is a big hit in Europe. So whay not at home in Britain? "Why Burrows is so little seen in Britain - only glimpsed in London or Nottingham's adventurous NottDance festival - baffles and troubles me. He has been based in Belgium for three years, which he believes gives him a better view of the waves of innovation that constantly break in European dance and art. London, with its 'island mentality', is 'resolutely isolated'. Britain, he says forcefully, is addicted to hype, which is intensely discouraging to choreographers not keen to replay old familiarities." The Telegraph (UK) 10/13/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031012-31133.html
Forsythe: Off To The Slums Of Rio: William Forsythe is "winding up probably the most controversial, certainly the most innovative, ballet company of our era with a triumphal world tour to rub the Frankfurters' noses in their parochialism: New York, Paris and, next week, London." So what's next? It's off to the slums of Rio for inspiration... The Telegraph (UK) 10/13/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031012-31132.html
MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/media
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New Mexico, American Movie Capital? "A growing number of states offer tax credits as a way to lure Hollywood dollars. But New Mexico actually is investing in movies - the state has established a fund of $85 million for the purpose. The money comes in the form of no-interest loans, repayable in two to five years. The state will invest as much as $7.5 million in any movie that passes muster with the New Mexico State Investment Council, as long as filmmakers agree to spend most of their shooting schedule in the state and hire a crew made up of at least 60 percent New Mexico residents. On top of that, New Mexico offers any film, whether financed by the state or not, a 15 percent tax rebate for every dollar spent locally." Miami Herald (LAT) 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031012-31135.html
The Coming Movie House Revolution A new report presdicts that movie houses will be revolutionized by digital equipment. "Screenings of things other than normal films will account for one third of cinemas' profits by 2008, it said. Rock concerts, Broadway musicals, football and wrestling are among the events that have already been screened. Content rights owners are only just starting to grasp the potential that this represents. The digital changes would turn cinemas into 'entertainment complexes' - not just movie houses - the report said." BBC 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031012-31125.html
Pixar: All Hits, All The Time Pixar, the digital animation studio, once again has another hit on its hands. Finding Nemo has grossed more than #335 million so far this year. "Pixar have the enviable reputation of having a hit with every film they have made - Toy Story, A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc (2001) and Finding Nemo. It is a situation few other Hollywood studios can ever have related to," and one that has changed the business of animation. BBC 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031012-31124.html
Making Movies, Co-op Style A group of some of the best and brightest film stars in Canada have come together to form a movie co-op production company. "In lieu of their (on average) $250,000-to-$1-million-per-picture salaries, these Canadian actors are going to work free of charge on the upcoming comedy, Mozart Loves Me, written and directed by George Bloomfield. And in exchange, they and the other stakeholders in the Movie Co-op will own a share of the production and any potential payout. Why, you may ask, would these successful people stick their necks out in a decidedly high-risk venture? Because they say they believe feature filmmaking - at least in English Canada - is broken and urgently in need of fixing." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/11/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031012-31123.html
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/music
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At The Gramophones: Bartoli Named Most Popular Cecilia Bartoli has been named the world's most popular classical music artist at this year's Gramophone Awards. "The mezzo soprano beat Sir Simon Rattle and Nigel Kennedy to the Classic FM listener's choice prize, voted for by fans of the radio station." BBC 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031012-31121.html
PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/people
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Explaining Maya Angelou Maya Angelou is so easy in her dispensation of wisdom, she's like a "Dial-an-Oracle" "Asked about the popularization of her poetry, she has a quick answer to any suggestion of criticism. 'A friend of mine responded negatively when I told him that I was going to write greeting cards for Hallmark. He said, 'Oh, I hope not. You are the people's poet in this country and you don't want to trivialize that.' But I thought about that. 'What am I doing? What am I talking about?' I asked myself. If I can say something on a card that can reach somebody's heart and mind, let me try. And I found that that is almost the most difficult writing that I have done. It might take me three pages of prose to write an epigram that is two or three sentences'." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/11/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/people/redir/20031012-31122.html
John Adams, Composer Laureate John Adams is at the stage of his career that a little self promotion may be in order. Not necessarily for more attention. But his work does need an advocate. "You know that basically I’m a very private person, the outgrowth of my Yankee upbringing. Lately I’ve had to reconcile that attitude with the demand for public works; without blowing my own horn, I like to link myself with Frank Gehry. Large pieces — operas, orchestra works, concert halls — need to preserve the personality of the maker while pleasing the outside world, and it’s not always easy.” LAWeekly 10/09/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/people/redir/20031012-31119.html
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing
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The 100 Most Loved Books (In English) Of All Time? The BBC is about to name a list of the 100 most-loved books of all time. But the Observer has come up with its own list. "First of all, our list is fundamentally English and inevitably reflects the age, sex and education of its Observer contributors. We started with an intra-office email, inviting nominations for a top 10. The matrix of replies produced a surprising unanimity. Top of the list were the universal favourites: Austen and Dickens, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. When a vociferous and influential minority, led by the editor, argued for Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales, we had to introduce a few basic rules." The Observer (UK) 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20031012-31129.html
THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre
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Things Are So Great In Denmark, There Is No Great Theatre Things are alomst Utopian for the theatre in Denmark. "Here, the preference is overwhelmingly for word-bound, well-made plays. These are supported by per-capita funding levels significantly higher than Britain's and a peerless children's theatre network, totalling 50 companies, which grooms audiences early. A lavishly funded playwriting course in the city of Aarhus supplies a steady stream of playwrights. And because of strict union rules, actors enjoy astonishing luxuries, including a minimum term of employment of 75 days. The Danes have created something that other countries don't dare dream about: an all-encompassing cradle-to-grave theatrical welfare state." So where are the great Danish plays and theatre companies? The Guardian (UK) 10/11/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20031012-31126.html
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/visualarts
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Museums As Art, Or Buildings, Or Social Agents... Or Whatever... A show in Miami brings together designs for 25 museums built in the past decade. "It's a confounding mandate. Museums can no longer be temples-on-the hill, built by and for a tiny elite, but they must serve a larger and more diverse public without compromising artistic standards. The architecture must not be inaccessible, and yet it must be exceptional, enough to draw public interest and attract crowds with architecture that is both part of and apart from the city. All these are fodder for thought, and the 25 projects on view certainly can lift the level of dialogue." Miami Herald 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31134.html
The Underground World Of Art-Assisting You know, of course, that many artists don't literally "make" all of their work. Enter the assistant. "Being an artist's assistant is an underground thing. I didn't know how it worked at all, that most artists have them. I couldn't do what I'm doing without full-time assistants. Nor could I do it without a computer. But even without, I'd still be an artist and I'd still make things. That's my nature - just like a fish that grows to the size of the tank, assistants allow us to grow our work yet remain the same'." The Observer (UK) 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31130.html
Artist Recreates American Prison In Inner City Manchester A performance artist recreates the American prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, in the inner city of Manchester. It's a bit of a shock. And why do it? "There is nothing complicated about it. This is a fully-operational miniature version of the US internment camp at Guantanamo Bay. What is the point of painting a picture of it or showing photographs or a video of it? People have seen those and are immune to them." The Guardian (UK) 10/11/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31128.html
The 'David' Beneath The Dirt "Slowly but surely, despite concern in the international art world over whether anyone should be touching one of the world's most admired statues at all, Cinzia Parnigoni has stripped 130 years of grime from the statue's perfectly proportioned left elbow, providing a glimpse of what is to come. By spring next year, in time for his 500th birthday, she aims to have cleaned every nook and cranny of this famous but filthy marble man." The Observer (UK) 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31127.html
Christo Wraps Doghouse Christo has wrapped a dog house - "Wrapped Snoopy House" in honor of his friend and Charlie Brown creator Charles M. Schulz. "In 1978, the cartoonist memorialized Christo's work in his daily strip, with the beagle pondering what the Bulgarian artist would do next. The final panel on the strip has Snoopy standing before his wrapped doghouse - a prediction of the latest sculpture." San Francisco Chronicle 10/11/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31120.html
A Chrismas Tale Doug Chrismas is something of a mystery in the art world. "As director of Ace Institute of Contemporary Art, he’s provided a home for some of the world’s most demanding art since 1966. The subject of dozens of rumors alleging that he stiffs artists, has produced and sold unauthorized fabrications of sculptures, poaches artists from other dealers, and occasionally sells artworks that he fails to deliver to the buyer, Chrismas has become something of a local legend, partly because nobody really seems to know much about him." LAWeekly 10/09/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031012-31118.html
