Visual Arts

Waiting For A Facelift The Walker Art Center is arguably the dominant institution in Minnesota's arts scene, which is quite an accomplishment for a relatively small, quirky modern art museum housed in a decidedly dated modernist building. There are more glamorous museums in the Twin Cities, but Minnesotans love the Walker, with its claustrophobic stairwells, leaking skylights, and bare, unadorned concrete decor. On Valentine's Day, the Walker will close for a year-long renovation and addition which will forever change its distinctive look and cramped feel. The renovation is a good thing, says Mary Abbe, but she'll miss the old Walker. Minneapolis Star Tribune 01/16/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:05 am

Dali Rights Dispute Salvator Dali's biographer claims that he owns the rights to Dali's commercial work. But the Dali Foundation disputes the claim, and the row hangs like a cloud over celebrations of the surrealist's 100th birthday. "Dalí has turned out to be as much of a cash generator since his death as he was during his money-obsessed career. The foundation, which runs a museum in his birthplace, Figueres in north-east Spain, expects to earn more than €1m a year." The Guardian (UK) 01/14/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:49 pm

Painter Attacks Contemporary Art(ists) Sir Kyffin Williams, one of the UK's leading painters, attacks contemporary art and artists. "Speaking at the opening of the Oriel Gwyngyll gallery in Llanfairpwll, north Wales, on Monday night, he blamed the art establishment, including the arts councils and competitions like the Turner Prize and the Welsh-funded Artes Mundi. "Nobody ever likes the work in the Turner Prize. Conceptual installation art is worthless and people don't want it. Galleries are desperately trying to find young artists who can draw - even in places like Cardiff and London'." BBC 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:38 pm

WTC: Barren Memorial Inga Saffron writes that the World Trade Center memorial is a major misstep. "Launched a bare two years after terrorists pulverized the twin towers - which were themselves a compendium of dehumanizing architectural features - the competition demanded that architects distill meaning from that historic event while the rest of us are still reeling. The result is a design so generic and so sanitized that it drains the site of its sound and fury, signifying nothing." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 5:52 pm

Saving Spiral Jetty The Dia Foundation is discussing whether to restore Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty in Utah's Great Salt Lake. The work is Smithson's masterpiece, but as the lake has receded, it has exposed the earthwork to environmental damage. "To ensure that "Spiral Jetty" is accessible to future generations, Dia, which exhibits and preserves art made since the 1960's, has discussed raising it by adding more rocks. Dia is also studying whether nature will restore the contrast the "Jetty" originally had with its surroundings by dissolving some of the salt crystals when the lake's waters rise, or whether the foundation needs to do something more." The New York Times 01/12/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 1:57 pm

Music

Betrayal and Backlash in Harlem The Harlem Boys Choir is in crisis, with a $30 million lawsuit alleging sexual and physical abuse at the hands of trusted employees threatening to tear the organization apart, and the choir's founder under pressure to step down. But Walter Turnbull insists that he did nothing wrong, and cannot imagine the choir, which has changed the lives of countless underprivileged kids, going on without him. Moreover, he is still incredulous that an employee with whom he trusted his choir of young boys implicitly could have turned out to be a child molester. Washington Post 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:46 am

• Previously: Harlem Boys Choir Leaders Under Fire To Resign An explosive memo concerning leaders of the famed Boys Choir of Harlem and how they handled a case of abuse against one of the choir's boys, threatens to result in the ouster of the choir's founder. "The accusations against the Turnbulls have dealt the choir and its academy a painful blow at a time when both are struggling with their finances, as they have on and off for many years. The crisis could signify the end of an era for the group, which has performed from Yankee Stadium to Tokyo, and the beginning of a decidedly shaky future." The New York Times 01/09/04

The Power of Bach A weeklong conference on the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach is going on in Toronto, and William Littler finds himself wondering what it is about Bach that continues to so fascinate and inspire musicians, audiences, and scholars across the generations. "Perhaps it is the very ability of Bach's music to survive a variety of approaches that provides a clue to its universality. As [conductor Helmuth] Rilling put it, a bad performance of Bach is still Bach, but a bad performance of Handel isn't very good." Toronto Star 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:41 am

Between The Pope & The Publicity This weekend, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform for the pope in Vatican City, the first American orchestra to do so. But the honor of being part of such an event is only part of what makes this trip so important to the PSO, says Andrew Druckenbrod. "It is crucial for the future of this organization that it is able to put itself on the big map as it has with this Vatican affair, even if it means the slight subordination of the music to the 'event.'" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:35 am

In Defense Of Cell Phones Musicians are becoming increasingly agitated by the plague of ringing cell phones and beeping watches in the concert hall, but composer Gavin Bryars takes a more zen-like view of the uninvited chirps, beeps, and squawks. Having once endured the humiliation of having his own phone ring (with a tone he himself had composed) during a performance of his own music, Bryars has come to accept the unscheduled interruptions as nothing more than spontaneous extensions of the concertgoing experience, and sometimes, as legitimate musical enhancements. The Guardian (UK) 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:28 am

• Previously: Careful Of That Cough - The Musicians Might Attack! Cellist Stephen Isserlis is fed up with audience members who snooze, cough, or forget to turn their pagers, watches or cell phones off. "I do believe that the first step has to be taken by the audience - or rather, by that usually tiny minority who believe that, contained within the right to free speech, is the right to ruin concerts. I should advise them that, if they continue to ignore the warning signals, it is only a matter of time before a musician turns truly violent; and a cello spike or a piccolo placed in an inappropriate orifice could prove to be really quite uncomfortable..." The Guardian (UK) 01/10/04

The Ring Of Sweet Money The fastest growing segment of the music business? Ring tones for phones. "Sales of mobile-phone ring tones, those tiny song recordings programmed into millions of cell phones around the world, jumped 40 percent in the past year to $3.5 billion, according to a study released Tuesday. The worldwide sale of ring tones, which started as a marketing gimmick for music labels and mobile phone companies, is roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the $32.2 billion global music market." Wired 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:20 pm

What In The World? What, exactly, is world music, asks Andrew Taylor, and "does it help us to assign categories that cannot be defined? Of course, most would answer that 'world music' is non-European music, or compositions, cultural expressions, and performances from cultures other than the traditional performing arts fare. It's music from the Middle East, China, Africa, Israel, Nepal, and so on. And we categorize it because it makes it easier to talk about it, program it, and present it to an audience - we can have a 'world music' series and everyone will know what we mean. The problem is, such categories seem to cause more problems than they solve - both from a business and aesthetic perspective." The Artful Manager (AJBlogs) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:12 pm

No Child Left Behind Music There seems to be a relationship between learning music and excelling in other subjects. So "if a school is not teaching music as intensively and zealously as it's teaching math and science, then it's not teaching math and science. The decline in music education is a big part of the problem in math and science education." San Antonio Express-News 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 6:20 pm

Digital Improves Recording Company Outlook After a couple of years when music sales were down, 2003 was something of a turnaround. "More than 19.2 million digital tracks were sold online in the past six months, according to Nielsen Soundscan, helping to narrow the music industry's losses last year. Overall, North American music sales were down 0.8 percent last year compared with 2002, while album sales, which includes cassettes and other formats, were down 3.6 percent, according to Nielsen Soundscan." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (AP) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 5:59 pm

Seoul Philharmonic Fires Conductor For Attendance "When the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra decided to fire its head conductor last month, it resorted to the strict letter of the law. The grounds for dismissal was his attendance record, which showed that Kwak Sung, music advisor and conductor, spent only 60 days out of the 180 required days a year at the Sejong Center of the Performing Arts, the orchestra's administrative home." Korea Herald 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 3:04 pm

Deposed Conductor Hopes For Reinstatement The deposed conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is hoping that a citizens group will find a way to pressure the orchestra to rehire him. "Speaking yesterday from his home in Berlin, Martin Fischer-Dieskau said it's his ambition to 'be able to say what's happened has been only an interruption in the orchestra's inexorable way to greater achievement. But I can't, at least not for the time being." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 12:07 pm

• Previously: Little Orchestra, Big-Time Politics The chairman of the Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario) Symphony Orchestra has stepped down following a wave of protest over the recent dismissal of the orchestra's principal conductor. However, a group of donors which had gathered 500 signatures opposing Martin Fischer-Dieskau's dismissal, and had called for the entire board of directors to resign, is still angry, saying that the resignation of one man is unlikely to convince the board to reverse its decision. Most of the frustration seems to stem from the board's unwillingness even to explain the reasons for Fischer-Dieskau's dismissal. Toronto Star 01/07/04

People

Union Man David Lennon may not be a familiar name to most theatergoers or classical music lovers, but he may be the most powerful man they've never heard of. Lennon is the new president of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, succeeding longtime head man (and union legend) William Moriarty. 802 is New York City's local, and as such, Lennon speaks for the workers of one of the largest professional music scenes in the world. From the Broadway pits to the New York Philharmonic, Local 802 is the final authority in which professional musicians place their trust, and the president of the local has historically been a figure of national prominence in the union. Backstage 01/13/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:44 am

Osama, Saddam, & The Humor Columnist Before the 9/11 attacks, James Lileks was just a lightweight humor columnist for a Minneapolis daily. Before the Iraq war, he was best known nationally for his quirky retro web site cataloguing the myriad horrors of food, pop culture, and interior design that the America of his youth was forced to endure. But these days, Lileks is making a name for himself as a "war blogger," one of an increasing number of angry right-wing freelancers giving over their personal bandwidth to cheering American forces and brutally shredding anyone who dares oppose the Bush administration's policies. Bloggers can write what they like, of course, but Dennis Perrin is concerned that Lileks and other war bloggers like him seem to consider truth secondary to bluster, and reasoned analysis inferior to blind machismo. City Pages (Minneapolis-St. Paul) 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:08 am

Indians Protest Rushdie Visit A crowd of muslims protested in Bombay Monday to protest Salman Rushdie's visit to India. "The protesters, including Muslim clerics and scholars, shouted slogans such as "Hang Salman Rushdie", "Kill Salman Rushdie" and "Expel Salman from India now"." The Scotsman 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 6:50 pm

Neil Simon Sets The Stage "Despite Neil Simon's stellar reputation as one of America's funniest writers, he's never won an Oscar and hasn't had a bona fide big-screen hit since 1988's 'Biloxi Blues. 'What they want today are action-oriented and futuristic stories. I write about families and relationships.' There was a time when that was good enough." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 5:36 pm

Spalding Gray Missing Monologist Spalding Gray has been reported missing since Saturday by his wife. "Gray had a history of depression and tried to commit suicide in 2002, The New York Times reported. Gray discusses his neuroses in his monologues and has said his mother committed suicide at the age of 52." Baltimore Sun (AP) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 2:55 pm

Understanding Orwell "It's ironic, then, that we have no record of George Orwell's own voice. Orwell delivered hundreds of BBC radio broadcasts during World War II, but not a whisper remains. There isn't any film footage of him, either. We have plenty of written records of him, naturally. In fact, for last year's centennial of Orwell's birth, two new biographies were released – Gordon Bowker's Inside George Orwell and D.J. Taylor's Whitbread Prize-winning Orwell: The Life – as well as a sizable new collection of his essays." Dallas Morning News 01/09/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 10:45 am

Theatre

Marley Quits Denver Center "Donovan Marley, who as artistic director transformed the fledgling Denver Center Theatre Company into the largest regional theater between Chicago and the West Coast, announced Tuesday that he plans to resign before the end of his contract, citing his frustration over continuing budget cutbacks. In the past two decades, perhaps no individual has had more influence on the development of Colorado's cultural scene. His exit not only is expected to trigger an upheaval that will be felt throughout the company's 130-person staff, but is further evidence of the continuing demise of the American regional theater movement." Denver Post 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:54 am

Taboo Closing "Taboo" is closing on Broadway after less than three months. Taboo was "the first Broadway show produced by Rosie O'Donnell, who financed it with $10 million of the fortune she had made on her television talk show, which ran from 1996 to 2002. Beyond that original outlay, the production has been losing money week to week." The show is expected to have lost $10 million by the time it closes. The New York Times 01/14/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:54 pm

Dario Fo Being Sued For Latest Play Italian actor/playwright Dario Fo is being sued for his latest work. "A member of Silvio Berlusconi's party, Forza Italia, is suing Dario Fo, the literature Nobel prizewinner, for defamation in his new play. Marcello Dell'Utri, a Forza Italia senator, is demanding €1m (£700,000) for damages caused by 'unfounded, personal attacks' made by Mr Fo in his satirical play The Two-headed Anomaly."
The Guardian (UK) 01/14/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:46 pm

Musical About Versace Killing Draws Heat A musical about the 1997 slaying of fashion designer Gianni Versace being planned by the La Jolla Playhouse in Californing, is drawing criticism. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 2:58 pm

Publishing

Nightmare On Elm Street Elm Street, a Canadian magazine aimed at women and featuring an impressive roster of writers and a broad cultural focus, has folded after seven years of publication. The failure of yet another high-quality Canadian periodical ought to be setting off warning bells, says Andrew Cohen. "We don't have the depth, consistency or quality of periodicals that a country of our size should, especially in critical areas such as foreign affairs. Then again, when you're paying writers the same rate as 20 years ago, you won't attract the best." Montreal Gazette 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:16 am

DiCamillo Wins Newberry "Author Kate DiCamillo has received this year's Newbery Medal for best writing in children's literature, for "The Tale of Despereaux," the story of a small mouse in love with a princess." Washington Post 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 1:09 pm

Media

Taking On NC-17 The conventional thinking in Hollywood says that you can't release a movie with an NC-17 rating if you want anyone to see it. And it's true that many theaters won't show NC-17 movies, and many publications won't carry ads for them. But Fox Searchlight Pictures is testing the theory with a major release making its debut at the Sundance Festival. Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers features full frontal male nudity and a steamy sex scene featuring a brother and sister, will be released in February, with the controversial rating still attached, and the studio is convinced that Americans won't be scared away by the 'adults-only' label. New York Post 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 6:25 am

Is Sundance Too Big? Robert Redford's little independent film festival isn't remotely little anymore, and with the major Hollywood studios clamoring for ever more inclusion, "the question of whether Sundance has become too big and too co-opted seems ever more on point... And yet. There are more foreign films on hand this year than ever before, and despite premieres of such mainstream studio fare as The Butterfly Effect" - featuring Ashton Kutcher playing hopscotch with his past - Sundance continues to be mostly about the singular vision of the lone filmmaker." Boston Globe 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:47 am

Monkey See, Monkey Do With the campaign by the American recording industry to eradicate online music piracy through lawsuits against the pirates having a demonstrable chilling effect on sites which enable illegal file-trading, the British Phonographic Industry is saying it will soon begin a similar campaign of its own. As industry-backed download sites such as Apple's iTunes begin to gain market share, the record companies have more interest than ever before in wiping out the myriad no-pay alternatives, or at least steering the bulk of music consumers away from them. BBC 01/14/04
Posted: 01/14/2004 5:01 am

PBS Funding Up, But Still No 'Masterpiece' Sponsor Corporate sponsorship for PBS is up, but no underwriter has yet been found for Masterpiece Theatre, despite much looking. "I have no answer on why we haven't been able to attract an underwriter to replace Exxon Mobil, expect for the obvious answer it's a pretty high price tag. We are all concerned and unhappy about it," she said, vowing the series will continue for the next two years no matter what." Backstage 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:43 pm

Celeb Journalism In All Its Sorry State The Conan O'Brien Show banning the National Post in Canada from access to a visit to the show's set in Toronto is a sign of how celebrity journalism is compromised. "Banning the Post, or even threatening a ban, from something that the taxpayers are funding merely gives it more ammunition. It's unprofessional and out of line. It's bad publicity. And it's undemocratic." Toronto Star 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 7:04 pm

• Previously: O'Brien Show Freezes Out National Post The Conan O'Brien show is going to Toronto for a week. The city lured the late night talk show north in an attempt to promote the city after the SARS scare last summer killed the tourist industry. The government is giving the O'Brien show $1 million for coming, and some Canadian critics are unhappy that public money is being used to subsidize the show. And - after printing stories critical of the deal, the National Post was told by O'Brien producers they would be frozen out of interviews or access while the show was in town. National Post (Canada) 01/12/04

Sing-along With Dorothy And Toto People are lining up to pay $26.50 to see the sing-along Wizard of Oz on the big screen. "Oh, sure. You get a little goodie bag at the door — bubbles and a magic wand for when Glinda the Good Witch appears and a kazoo and noisemaker for … well, we're not really sure for what. There's a comedian/singer/emcee who oversees a parade of those audience members who come in costume. And then there's the film itself — a digitally remastered version equipped with lyric subtitles, just on the off chance that you blank out on the words to 'Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead.' But, as Dorothy herself might say, why oh why would someone pay three times the going rate of a movie just for the pleasure of singing along?" St. Paul Pioneer-Press 01/13/04
Posted: 01/13/2004 6:15 pm