IDEAS
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas
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2003: Year In Review What were the top stories of 2003? Here's our updated archive of year-end stories from publications around the world. - ArtsJournal 12/28/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20031231-36140.html
The Nature OF Nurture (Or The Other Way Around) "Fifty years after the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, we are for the first time in a position to understand directly DNA’s contribution to the mind. And the story is vastly different from—and vastly more interesting than—anything we had anticipated. The emerging picture of nature’s role in the formation of the mind is at odds with a conventional view." - Boston Review 12/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20031229-36177.html
ARTS ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues
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Liverpool At The Top (Culturally Speaking) Excuse me, all you scoffers who snickered when Liverpool was named European Capital of Culture. "A spectacular waterfront, museums without parallel outside London, an elegant Georgian quarter, two imposing 20th-century cathedrals, the neo-classical masterpiece of St George's Hall - where can those be matched? Past glories make every Scouse heart swell: imperial trade, cup-winning football, the Beatles." - The Telegraph (UK) 12/30/02
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20031229-36179.html
Culture To the People... "The pompous, almost self-flagellatory, tone which compels us to suffer for our art is sounding increasingly irrelevant. Walk into the Tate's Turbine Hall and what you will see is young people "hanging out". That funny word from the cultural explosion that was the 1960s, "happening", is happening again. And it is happening everywhere: at the National Theatre, whose new director Nicholas Hytner signalled his intent by putting on a blasphemous satire of trash culture; at the National Gallery, which surrounded us with ultra slow-mo videos that had us double taking to detect movement from stillness; at the Royal Opera House, which for the first time admitted a bona fide musical - Sweeney Todd -through its doors. We all felt a little dislocated in 2003." - Financial Times 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20031229-36171.html
DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/dance
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Montreal Dance Festival Folds: Montreal's Festival international de nouvelle danse (FIND) has closed. "After 20 years of presenting the best of contemporary dance from Quebec, (occasionally) the rest of Canada, and Europe, the biennial festival is finished, the victim of financial woes that resulted in a $600,000 accumulated deficit." Toronto Star 12/29/03
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20031229-36174.html
MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/media
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Which Movie Awards Count There are hundreds of movie critic associations and awards. And this is the time of year when they all weigh in with pronouncements about which movies matter. So how do you figure out which awards matter? Slate 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031229-36182.html
So Bad Language Doesn't Matter? Bad language is everywhere in the media. I there anything that shocks us anymore? And yet, we make gestures at protesting. "We obsess over the encroachment of vulgar words into public spaces on pain of a stark inconsistency, one that will appear even more ridiculous to future generations than some Victorians calling trousers "nether garments" does to us. At least the Victorians' vocabulary taboos reflected mores that permeated society. Theirs was a world in which an author of a slang dictionary would have had trouble finding a publisher, people sequestered themselves under reams of fabric, illegitimate birth was a scandal, and sex was never spoken of in polite society." Washington Post 12/28/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031229-36178.html
When Tech And Media Join Up "With more American households going to broadband, faster Internet connections are changing the movie, music, telephone, computer and cable businesses. The battles brought on by these changes are likely to occupy the media and technology industries in 2004." The New York Times 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031229-36173.html
America's Record Movie Weekend Led by the latest installment of the Lord of the Rings, America's movie theatres saw record holiday box office over the weekend. The total estimated weekend box office receipts for the top dozen films was $168.6 million, a record. The top 12 movies over the same weekend last year pulled in $155.9 million. The New York Times (AP) 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20031229-36172.html
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/music
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Piano Museum May Close Kalman Detrich's New York piano museum is out of money and almost out of time. "For 40 years he repaired pianos, and for 20 years he has exhibited them in the Museum of the American Piano, the eccentric little Manhattan attraction he created. On Wednesday, unless a benefactor miraculously appears to pay his rent, he will close his museum and send his collection to foster homes while he figures out how to pursue his passion." The New York Times 12/25/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031229-36185.html
Suing The Downloaders (It Works?) Canadian recording companies are about to begin suing downloades. Why? It appears to be an effective tactic. "In the United States, since the American recording industry began filing lawsuits earlier this year, Kazaa usage has fallen 41 per cent, according to monitoring of Internet use by Nielsen/NetRatings. As a result, sales of CDs began to rise in the U.S. after three years of decline." Edmonton Journal 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031229-36181.html
Rethinking Music (And How To Sell It) There are numerous experiments in selling music online competing for consumers. A company called Magnatune offers no set prices, and a variety of creative music licenses. "Magnatune is one example of a growing movement among arts organizations, civil libertarians and artists who are rethinking the whole notion of access to creative works and copyright laws. Some, like Magnatune, believe they can profit if their artists make their works more readily available, in some cases for no charge; or if they even relinquish at least some rights to their works." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20031229-36180.html
PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/people
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PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing
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Wanted: New Librarians A shortage of librarians is looming for American libraries. So first lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, is championing a program to recruit and train new librarians. "The first lady's stamp is all over a federal grant program to recruit a new generation of librarians, largely through scholarships in library and information science. In late October, the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is implementing the program, announced its first grants, totaling almost $10 million. The White House is asking for $20 million in its fiscal 2004 omnibus spending bill now before Congress." Chicago Tribune 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20031229-36170.html
THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre
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2003 On Broadway - Revenue Up, Ticket Sales Down 2003 Broadway grosses are "projected to be $730 million, up roughly 3.2% from the $707 million for 2002 and nearly 10% from the $664 million for 2001, when that year's final quarter saw the aftereffects of the Sept. 11 attacks. In terms of ticket holders, however, the league is projecting figures of 11.2 million in attendance during 2003, down from the 11.4 million in 2002 and down nearly one million from the record 12.1 million achieved in 2000." Backstage 12/29/03
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20031229-36176.html
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/visualarts
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Are Corporations Playing Censor? An artist whose image for a London light projection was rejected by sponsors, says corporations are increasingly getting a censorship role in art. "The patrons of contemporary art, the Medicis of today, are the corporations. They give the impression of supporting dissident views and freedom of expression, but if there is any danger that your sponsored work encourages even a modicum of critical debate, you're out the door. The sponsors are in it to ratchet up 'the buying mood'. Censorship of culture is something one does not speak of in the free market - it brings back images of Lady Chatterley and the Lord Chamberlain. But in the visual arts it is an increasing determinant of what people are allowed to see in public spaces." The Guardian (UK) 12/30/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031229-36186.html
Protecting The Nude Barbie A US federal court has ruled that a Utah artist can make art depicting nude Barbies being menaced by kitchen appliances. "Noting the image of Barbie dolls is "ripe for social comment," a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected toymaker Mattel Inc.'s appeal of a lower court ruling in favor of lampooning the popular doll." Yahoo! (Reuters) 12/29/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031229-36183.html
The Case Against PowerPoint There seems to be a mounting backlash against PowerPoint as a means of conveying ideas. "Visual artists say Microsoft's popular "slideware" — which makes it easy to incorporate animated graphics and other entertainment into presentations — lulls people into accepting pablum over ideas. Foes say PowerPoint's ubiquity perverts everything from elementary school reports to NASA's scientific theses into sales pitches with bullet points and stock art. One of the internet's original developers, Vint Cerf, gets laughs from audiences by quipping, "power corrupts and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely"." Australian IT 12/29/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031229-36175.html
MoMA's New Curatorial Team As New York's Museum of Modern Art prepares for its new home, a new curatorial team is chosen. "Almost immediately after being chosen as the Modern's chief curator of painting and sculpture in March, John Elderfield, 60, decided he wanted a certain kind of team to help him shape the institution's future. Those chosen should be young(ish), he specified, yet steeped in both classical and contemporary modern art; risk-taking but also willing to collaborate; similar in outlook but different enough to challenge one another. Bold visionaries residing in solitary genius need not apply." The New York Times 12/26/03
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20031229-36184.html
