IDEAS
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas
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Painting Is Dead, Long Live Painting! A recent survey suggested Britons know next to nothing about fine art. But how can this be true, really? "If half the population can’t remember who painted the ‘Mona Lisa’ — or never knew in the first place — the other half seem anxious to travel to Paris and stand in front of it. In fact it is an excellent example of a work of art so popular that no one has had a chance to see it properly for decades. There is a constant, jostling throng in front of the picture, so only the staff of the Louvre and those lucky enough to be let in after hours ever get a chance to look at it as a painting should be looked at, slowly and tranquilly. " The Spectator 10/11/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20031014-31159.html
ARTS ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues
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Darwinism As Applied To The Arts Two Minnesota theatres are going out of business. That's sad, writes Dominic Papatola, but not really. "I'm a believer in what one arts consultant calls the 'limited life organization.' Not every arts group that pops up should grow into a major institution. To be brutally honest, Minnesota's historically generous philanthropic support for the arts has kept some groups on life support longer than would be considered merciful elsewhere. We live in a new age of artistic Darwinism: Some groups will expire as the energies of their founders fade. Some will not earn audience support. Some will not have the hustle it takes to find funding and endure." St. Paul Pioneer-Press 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20031014-31157.html
DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/dance
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Riverdance Plays The People's Palace: China's Great Hall of the People, home to its government, was converted to a giant theatre to host the dance sensation Riverdance. "The vast stage, which is better known as the platform for speeches by Communist party leaders, has been filled with about 100 dancers, musicians and production staff tapping, drumming and fiddling out jigs and ballads from the other side of the planet. In the audience, a full house of almost 7,000 people sit at the desks usually reserved for legislators." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031014-31153.html
Forsythe Tops Dance Fest Offerings: Montreal's annual Festival International de Nouvelle Danse is a massive showcase for dance. "Just consider the numbers: 22 companies, 25 choreographers and 250 dance artists, not to mention 200 Canadian and foreign critics, journalists and producers eavesdropping on the more than 60 shows in 17 different locations throughout the city." And what stood out? William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt, which just points out the absurdity of this company's imminent demise. Toronto Star 10/14/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031014-31150.html
Merce Cunningham's Rock Celebration: Merce Cunningham is celebrating 50 years of his company with a collaboration with two rock bands. Radiohead and its Icelandic cousin, Sigur Ros are performing with Cunningham's dancers at the Brooklyn Academy, and, as usual Cunningham has engineered the programs for maximum unpredictability... The New York Times 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031013-31145.html
Merce - Going Where The New Sounds Are: Merce Cunningham on his Radiohead collaboration: "Well, I don't know that much about rock bands, but it was a new kind of sound. I thought, 'Well, that's interesting.' As music is greatly concerned with sound and, as John Cage would say, silence, I thought, Well, we'd never done anything like this before, so why not try it?' But what started out as a relatively simple idea - find an open-minded, nonconforming composer with whom to collaborate on a new piece - quickly became a more complicated venture than Cunningham had ever encountered." Washington Post 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031013-31148.html
MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/media
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Hollywood Heavyweights Protest DVD Ban Hollywood filmmakers protest the decision by the Academy of Motion Pictures not to send out DVD copies of movies to Oscar voters. "More than 130 filmmakers led by director Robert Altman signed an open letter, published as full-page ads in industry trade papers Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, calling the ban an "unwarranted obstacle" that will keep independent, cutting-edge films from gaining needed exposure." Toronto Star (Reuters) 10/14/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031014-31149.html
Magazine Publishers Try Tivo Tactic To Undermine TV A magazine trade group gives away Tivos to consumers as a way of making a point about advterising. "The point was to underscore the magazine publishers' argument that an ad's appearing on television does not mean the consumer actually sees it. By contrast, according to an ad for the contest, '90 percent of all consumers pay full and complete attention to magazines when reading'." The New York Times 10/13/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031013-31146.html
Hollywood To Studios: Tone Down Oscar Lobbying (Really?) The past few years (just the past few?)have ubleashed an ever-growing barrage of studio lobbying for Oscars. So the Academy wants to tone it down a bit, and has developed a new set of promotion guidelines. "Academy members are urged to limit parties to true friends, and to prevent studios from paying for the food or drink at those occasions. Studios are asked to refrain from spending excessively on Oscar campaigns and to keep print and television advertisements for films free of endorsements from academy members. Even gossip and innuendo are now considered official no-nos for academy members." The New York Times 10/13/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031013-31143.html
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/music
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The Philadelphia Orchestra's Little Deficit Problem The Philadelphia Orchestra had a deficit of $1 million on a $35 million budget last season. Not too bad, considering. "But look a little deeper, and the real problem becomes obvious. Since 1999, the orchestra has racked up a total of roughly $14 million in deficits, and only about $8 million of that has been paid off - through bequests from, among others, Gretel Ormandy, the widow of Eugene Ormandy, the orchestra's fourth music director. The orchestra has covered the rest, about $5 million, by borrowing from its endowment." Philadelphia Inquirer 10/14/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031014-31158.html
La Scala Appoints a Referee...Er, "Artistic Director" La Scala has appointed a new artistic director to mediate between music director Riccardo Muti and general manager Carlo Fontana. Muti has fought against what he characterizes as Fontana's attempts to "dumb down" the famous company. "Mr Fontana had been criticised for introducing popular fare such as West Side Story to fill the 2,600 seats of the Arcimboldi theatre, built on the industrial outskirts of Milan to host La Scala's performances while its city-centre premises undergo a £40m refit. Tension between the two men burst into the open in July when Mr Muti snubbed the official presentation of the opera's new season." The Guardian (UK) 10/13/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031014-31152.html
Recordings - The Politics Of Price "As musical recordings have increasingly shed their physical form, the record industry and its customers have been at odds over what it all should cost. Music fans complain of high CD prices and copy more music illicitly than they purchase legally, while the record companies rail against the devaluation of their product and take file-sharers to court. Since legal ways to experience online music are only now becoming widely available, there is no established record of what the market will bear or how these innovations will be received. Will each song purchased online represent the loss of a whole CD sale in the store? Or will customers respond to the ease and selection of e-commerce by buying more, overall?" The New York Times 10/12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031014-31147.html
NY Phil - Negotiating A Deal To Stay Home So is all forgiven of the New York Philharmonic now it's decided to pass on Carnegie Hall and stay at Lincoln Center? Maybe. But the orchestra has to negotiate a new lease at the West Side culture campus. And there are just a few things Lincoln Center wants to change about its arrangement with the orchestra... The New York Times 10/14/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031013-31144.html
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing
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100 Books In 30 Days... And The Winner Is? A judge of this year's Booker Prize reflects on the practicalities of trying to find the best book published this year. "Theoretically, the chance to read 100 of Britain and the Commonwealth's finest at the rate of three a day (I am a fast reader and I resolved not to hang about with this particular task) ought to prompt all kinds of informed judgments about the state of British fiction here in the foothills of the 21st century. In fact it does nothing of the sort." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20031014-31155.html
A Booker Shortlister's Unsavory Past DBC Pierre is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But the notoriety brought by the Booker has brought to life some of the author's unsavory past. "The reformed drug addict and gambler admitted to selling his best friend's home and pocketing the proceeds as well as working up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a scheme to find Montezuma's gold in Mexico. Pierre is the nom de plume of an enigmatic Mexican-Australian called Peter Finlay, 42, whose chequered past began to catch up with him last month when he was shortlisted for the prize, arguably the world's most prestigious book award." The Guardian (UK) 10/11/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20031014-31154.html
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/visualarts
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Glasgow's Conspiracy Theory: They Hate Visual Artists? A conspiracy theory is ripping through Glasgow's visual arts community. "It goes something like this: Glasgow City Council, which owns Tramway, has secretly agreed to let Scottish Ballet make the building its new home, even though this will mean the closure of Tramway 2, one of Europe’s most striking exhibition spaces and, its supporters argue, vital to Glasgow’s reputation as a centre of excellence in visual art. Why? Because, one well known artist told me, 'It’s very clear that they [the council] don’t care about the visual arts and would rather be rid of it. What they’ve done with the Tramway visual arts programme is slowly strangle it.' This was one of the more measured responses. Naturally, Glasgow City Council denies this." The Scotsman 10/13/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031014-31156.html
Laban Center Wins Stirling The new Laban dance center in South London has won this year's Stirling Prize for architecture. "The Laban centre, designed by the Swiss team Herzog & de Meuron - who gave Bankside power station a new lease of life as Tate Modern - has brought glamour to an old London district which for many years has been in need of cultural or indeed any kind of investment." The Guardian (UK) 10/14/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031014-31151.html
Baltimore's First Great Building Of The New Millennium The Maryland Institute College of Art has a new building-size sculpture for a home. "Designed by Ziger/Snead and Charles Brickbauer to put MICA on the map as a center for digital art and design, Brown Center is that rare work of architecture that lives up to its billing. It is, quite simply, the first great Baltimore building of the new millennium - a world-class home for art in the Mount Royal cultural district." Baltimore Sun 10/12/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031013-31142.html
