Doing Art Since The Beginning Of Time "For years, scholars regarded the appearance of figurative art as the initiation of an evolutionary process, that art became progressively more sophisticated as humans experimented with styles and techniques and passed this knowledge to the next generation. But a growing body of evidence suggests that modern humans, virtually from the moment they appeared in Ice Age Europe, were able to produce startlingly sophisticated art. Artistic ability thus did not ''evolve,'' many scholars said, but has instead existed in modern humans (the talented ones, anyway) throughout their existence." Miami Herald (WP) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:39 pm
Big Brother's Watching... Does Anybody Care? It used to be that surveillance was thought to be a bad thing. But a new book argues that reality TV makes being watched cool. "Reality shows glamorize surveillance, he writes, presenting it as one of the hip attributes of the contemporary world, an entree into the world of wealth and celebrity and even a moral good." The New York Times 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 12:02 pm
Does American Culture Have Legs For The Long Run? American culture dominates the world like no other in human history. But will it have the staying power of Plato? "Some experts believe US domination of communication channels makes it inevitable that its messages will become far more entrenched than those of previous empires. The main difference now in favor of American culture is the importance of technology - telephone, Internet, films, all that did not exist in ancient Greece or the Mongol empire." Christian Science Monitor 01/15/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:19 am
Are Laws Killing Digital Creativity? "Who knows what creativity could be unleashed by the growth of digital distribution and the widespread availability of programs to create, sample and manipulate content. But if we treat copyright as an absolute property right, and allow the limitations on re-use forced on us by digital rights management technologies, we will never find out." BBC 01/16/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 9:33 am
GroupThink - Choosing The WTC Memorial Plan Choosing a plan for the WTC memorial was an arduous task for the project's jury. "With 5,201 entries to consider, the original strategy was for the submissions to be divided among three groups of jurors. The jury decided, though, that every juror would look at every board, including some 400 that had been disqualified on technicalities." The New York Times 01/19/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:53 pm
Returning Marbles To Greece Would "Distort" History Salvatore Settis argues that returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece would distort history and shouldn't be considered. "The Acropolis is the result of an operation that eliminated its Christian and Ottoman past. In order to reconstruct what is only one of the various possible forms of the Acropolis, all other forms are negated; this process would be crowned and legitimised by the return of the marbles. It would sanction the idea that of all the history that has flowed through the Acropolis (in fact, the history of Europe), only one moment matters and all others must be suppressed." The Guardian (UK) 01/19/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:47 pm
Dali, In Retrospect As celebrations of Salvador Dali's 100th birthday gear up in Spain, it's interesting to note how he and his work are now perceived. "The truth is that the savage visions of Dali, once considered genuinely disturbing, have been comfortably absorbed into the cultural mainstream. This has meant, inevitably, a partial sanitisation of the artist's more excessive expressions." Financial Times 01/16/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:23 pm
Dave Barry: I'm "Clueless" About Art Dave Barry willingly acknowledges he's a "clueless idiot" when it comes to art. But he doesn't understand some of the art he saw recently at Art Basel Miami: "Anyway, in the corner of one container there was a ratty old collapsed armchair - worn, dirty, leaking stuffing, possibly housing active vermin colonies. I asked the gallery person if the chair was art, and she said yes, it was a work titled "Chair." I asked her what role the artist had played in creating "Chair." She said: "He found it." She noted that "Chair" had been professionally crated and shipped to the art show." Denver Post 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 6:38 pm
A Barnes Conundrum Should a judge allow the Barnes Collection to move from its current suburban home to Philadelphia? There's been little evidence to convince critic Edward Sozanski that the move would work out for the best. The judge "can't let the Barnes perish, and he must also contend with two situations, over which he hasn't any control, that militate against staying put." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 3:52 pm
Trying To Love The WTC Memorial (It's Difficult) James Russell is trying very hard not to hate the design for the WTC memorial - even after the revisions. "What it takes to make a commemorative work of design meaningful can be quite subtle—and quite hard to evaluate before it’s built, even in slick computer-produced images. But aspects of the revised Ground Zero memorial raise questions, lots of them." Sticks & Stones (AJBlogs) 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 2:57 pm
Ancient City Found Under Naples A port city dating back to the 2nd Century has been found under Naples. "Extending into the heart of present-day Naples, the second-century port was found 13 meters (43 feet) beneath one of the city's main squares, not far from the 13th-century Maschio Angioino fortress. Evidence for the ancient Mediterranean port included a 10-meter (33-foot) ship, wooden pieces belonging to piers, and various items." Discovery 01/15/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 1:50 pm
Acropolis Museum - Epicenter Of Controversy Greece has built a new museum in hopes of getting the Parthenon Marbles back from London. "But the structure intended to settle a controversy has become an object of controversy itself. The design clashes with the setting, some critics say. It jeopardizes an archaeological site, others claim. And perhaps most dispiritingly, the Olympic deadline is hopelessly out of reach. Like an athlete who trains for a lifetime and then sprains her ankle the week before the games, the New Acropolis Museum may have missed its best chance to make an impression. When the Olympic torch is lighted on Aug. 13, the museum will look like something that Athens already has plenty of: a giant excavation." The New York Times 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:51 am
WTC - Making The Aesthetic Arguments Revisions to the WTC memorial are creating an interesting conversation on design function. "When the site is complete, it will form the backdrop for aesthetic conversations between youth and experience; between the logic of the corporate world and that of the avant-garde; and, we found out this week, between minimalist abstraction and literal narrative." Slate 01/15/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:10 am
Buy The Music You Like A Silicon Valley entrepreneur was tired of the contemporary music she was hearing. So she decided to buy some that she did like. She started a commissioning project, but she's a hands-on patron... San Francisco Chronicle 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:14 pm
London Symphony In Debt The London Symphony has much to be proud of, and it's held up as a shining success. Oh, one problem, writes Charlotte Higgins: "the LSO is mired in financial troubles. It is facing its first deficit in years, despite, to other organisations' frequent exasperation and envy, being the best-funded symphony orchestra in the country.' And all about a building? The Guardian (UK) 01/16/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 9:15 pm
Springer Opera Picks Up Olivier Noms Jerry Springer the Opera has been nominated for eight Olivier Awards in London. The nominations include an unusual commendation: "The 20 actors in the line-up of the sell-out show at the Royal National Theatre were jointly shortlisted for 'best performance in a supporting role in a musical' in the final stage of the contest to be concluded on February 22." The Guardian (UK) 01/16/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:41 pm
Will European Noise Regulations Kill Beethoven 9? European Union noise regulations for workers might mean that symphony orchestras will have to quiet down. "The intriguing issue, though, is whether the directive will impose changes in the repertoire itself. The London Symphony Orchestra says that this is a real possibility. Loud works like Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler may have to be scheduled more rarely and surrounded by quieter pieces. Look up the European commission's website and you will find a section mocking the idea that Beethoven's Ninth symphony - the EU's anthem - might even fall foul of the noise at work directive. But the idea is not so far-fetched." The Guardian (UK) 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:37 pm
How To Win That Elusive Orchestra Job In any given year there are few jobs that open up in full-time professional orchestras. Winning one of those jobs is a matter of determination, discipline, and sometimes, a little luck... Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:45 am
Dance Of The String Quartet How do members of a tring quartet keep from arguing? How do they stay togeter year after year? "Lurking behind the first question is an idealistic vision of a quartet as a non-stop idyll of glorious music-making with your friends, a working life as fulfilled and perfect as the Beethoven quartets we play. The implication of the second question is that this long and intense menage à quatre must be some sort of Strindbergian dance of death, endured by a species of subtle masochists. The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between - although some groups veer towards one extreme or another, especially if they last for decades." The Guardian (UK) 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:14 am
Surge In Music Downloading The number of people downloading music off the internet has surged again after several months of decline after the recording industry began suing consumers. "The number of U.S. households downloading music from peer-to-peer networks rose 6 percent in October and 7 percent in November after a six-month decline, according to a study of computer use in 10,000 U.S. households conducted by The NPD Group. In a separate, bimonthly survey, 12 million individuals reported getting music on the free networks in November, up from 11 million in September." Wired 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 9:37 am
BBC Broadcasts "Silent" Work The BBC has broadcast John Cage's 4'33" - his famous work that includes no instrumental notes. "Despite having no notes to play, the musicians tuned up and then turned pages of the score after each of the three "movements" specified by the composer. The silence was broken at times by coughing and rustling sounds from the audience, who marked the end of the performance with enthusiastic applause." BBC 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 9:07 am
Vatican Orchestra Concert For Peace A concert at the Vatican featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony and an international cast of performers was performed for the Pope with the purpose of fostering understanding between the world's major religious faiths. "The inter-faith theme of the concert was echoed among the performers - a mixed choir consisting of singers from the London Philharmonic, from Turkey, from the Pope's own home town of Krakow in Poland and from Pittsburgh in the United States. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was under the baton of Gilbert Levine, an American who used to direct the Krakow Symphony Orchestra and who is a personal friend of the Pope." BBC 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 8:34 am
Experience Music Project Cuts 129 Jobs The Experience Music Project in Seattle lays off 129 employees, among rumors of further downsizing. "It is the third time that the museum at the foot of the Space Needle has eliminated employees in January - 46 people were cut last year and 124 were laid off in 2002." The $240 million museum devloted to music, designed by Frank Gehry, has only been open since 2000. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 8:28 am
Israeli Ambassador Vandalizes Swedish Art Israel's ambassador to Sweden vandalized an art work at Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities Friday. Over the weekend, the Israeli cabinet supported its ambassador. The ambassador was "thrown out of for vandalising an art work showing the photo of the suicide bomber who killed 21 Israelis at a restaurant in northern Israel in October. Israel has demanded that Sweden dismantle the installation, but its request has been refused." Yahoo! (AFP) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 5:24 pm
For A Pete Rose Solution - Try Looking At Museums Baseball is trying to decide if Pete Rose Ought to be in the Hall of Fame. For guidnace, baseball ought to look to the museum world. "Museums make no moral judgment about their artists. Just imagine the personal lives of the artists who are represented at museums. We know Jackson Pollock was a drunk. We know Picasso had no regard for women artists, and he said women were either "goddesses or doormats." Heck, if you believe Patricia Cornwell's recent book, museum-worthy artist Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper. But museums know they shouldn't be presenting the artists as good people, only their work as beautiful or important." Townonline (Massachusetts) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 5:17 pm
Spalding Gray Still Missing Spalding Gray was working on a new piece when he went missing last week. "His family last saw him Jan. 9, when he walked away from his SoHo apartment without his wallet after having seen the movie “Big Fish” with his wife, Kathleen Russo, and one of his sons. There have been subsequent reports that he was seen on the Staten Island ferry later that night, and Russo has said she fears he may have tried to jump off the boat." Detroit News (AP) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:11 pm
- Gray - Talk Of Suicide As An Artform "When Gray went for a walk last Saturday night and vanished into the streets of New York, it seemed that one hidden fantasy may have at last come true, and the monologist's voice may have no scripts to deliver in the future. Gray's disappearance is a startling, troubling event, and one that hopefully might still have a happy resolution." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 6:29 pm
James Levine In Boston James Levine reveals his opening lineup for the Boston Symphony. "He is just past 60 and has more or less run the musical end of the Metropolitan Opera for more than 30 years. His health is both a mystery and a cause for concern. He walks gingerly and conducts sitting down. His musical energy, on the other hand, is as high as ever and his graphic if understated conducting style just as compelling. He talks as if he is planning on a long future." The New York Times 01/17/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 12:17 pm
O'Neill Center Reinstates Open Submissions Four months ago, the Conn.-based Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced it would no longer accept open submissions for its annual Playwrights Conference. The change in policy was made as a cost-saving measure. But after much protest, the O'Neill has decided to reinstate its open submissions policy.
Backstage 01/16/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 10:19 pm
Lining Up Candidates For Denver Theatre Job Who will replace Donovan Marley as head of the Denver Center Theatre? "One of the many testaments to the resident company Marley has developed since 1984 is that there are at least three viable candidates with DCTC ties who should be given foremost consideration: Israel Hicks, Anthony Powell and Bruce K. Sevy." Denver Post 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 6:33 pm
Chicago Lion King - King Of The Jungle The Lion King leaves Chicago after "a highly successful 39-week Chicago engagement that reported a total net gross in excess of $40 million and attracted more than 710,000 theater-goers to Chicago's Loop." The show, some observers say, could have run for three years here. Chicago Tribune 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 6:27 pm
Guettel - The Future Of Broadway Musicals? "To many aficionados, Adam Guettel - grandson of Richard Rodgers, the composer who set so much of Broadway's agenda for so much of the previous century - represents the most accomplished exemplar of the musical theatre form, even without an actual Broadway show on his resume."
Chicago Tribune 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 6:25 pm
Toronto Theatre's Diversity Problem Toronto theatre has a diversity problem "The current population of Greater Toronto consists of 43 per cent visible minorities. In their current seasons, the seven largest not-for-profit professional theatres in the city employed 79 actors from visible minorities out of a total of 394, a rate of 20 per cent. If you add the two major festivals — Stratford and Shaw — to the mix, the figure becomes 106 out of 622, or 17 per cent. That's a considerable gap, and while everyone agrees the winds of change are blowing, they're not moving rapidly enough for many people." Toronto Star 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:22 am
A Theatre Beyond Its Size Ari Roth's Theatre J is a small Jewish theatre in Washington DC that is making much more of a splash than its size would suggest. "What he (Roth) puts on the Goldman stage often feels like the product of a much bigger operation than his, which chugs along with a skeletal staff in a cramped suite of offices and a budget of $500,000. Major regional theaters like the Shakespeare and Arena spend 20 times as much. Last season alone, he had several major successes." Washington Post 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:17 am
In Praise Of Book TV "I'm a little agog at the number of friends and acquaintances who still respond with blank looks when I start babbling about the bounty that is Book TV, even though it celebrated its fifth anniversary last fall. There is intelligent life on television, I assure them, and its name is Book TV." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/19/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 11:07 pm
Ode To Emily Dickinson "Dickinson's fame has always been fed by myth. She was the virgin poetess dressed in white, the tremulous daughter who never left her father's house, the maiden who turned to art because she was thwarted in love. Hard-working biographers notwithstanding, myth often wins out." The New York Times 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 1:43 pm
Fox Exec: Traditional TV Sked Dead The traditional network TV season is dead, says a Fox entertainment exec. Instead, seasons will begin and end when they do. “The economic model that created this business has lasted too long. We’ve seen cable companies make inroads while we hid our heads in the sand. We need to change our business. We need to respond to our consumers and viewers.” Detroit News (AP) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 7:14 pm
The (Ongoing) Prime Of Mikhail Baryshnikov "In the past, Baryshnikov has been openly critical of dancers continuing beyond their prime. He's redefined "prime." The works he commissions for himself are by choreographers completely familiar with what he can do physically - which is a surprising amount. Unlike other older dancers, he has not deleted jumps from his vocabulary. 'I'm doing almost a full class every day, so I have to jump'." Boston Globe 01/18/04
Posted: 01/18/2004 5:07 pm
