Modern Media Sending Us To Hell?...Well... "The modern media, at least according to the modern media, is our cultural Gin Alley — a virtual world that caters to our basest instincts, fuels a mass addiction to sex and violence, and blinds us to the big political and social picture. Before we conclude that we're all going to hell in a cleverly marketed handbasket, though, it's worth putting this cultural lament in historical perspective." The Age (Melbourne) 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 5:28 pm
Ivories Stolen From Ontario Museum Five le Marchand ivory cameos were stolen from the Art Gallery of Ontario this week. The pieces are so well-known, it's likely the thieves will have difficulty selling them. Art theft is said to be rare in Canada. "Observers say it's likely about 150 art works, antiques or artifacts are stolen or reported stolen each year in Canada from galleries and homes. The return rate tends to be less than 20 per cent." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 8:00 am
London Art Fair Spruces Up Where are the new collectors? "Finding them has proved more difficult in an age when collecting is less fashionable than it was and there are plenty of alternative ways of spending disposable income. But last week, London's first major art fair of 2004 underwent a radical overhaul in an attempt to bring in new, younger buyers." The Telegraph (UK) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:30 pm
Tate Gets Bacon Studio The Tate has acquired the contents of Francis Bacon's chaotic studio, after a decade of controversy about it. "Art world legend insists that when Bacon died in 1992 the Tate was offered the studio by his heir and last companion, John Edwards, who died in Thailand last year. The gallery is said to have rejected the offer and the room, with every scrap of paper and cigarette stub forensically recorded, went to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, where it is a popular exhibit. The history of the material donated to the Tate is as eccentric as the artist." The Guardian (UK) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:06 pm
Israel/Sweden Harden Stands Over Attacked Artwork The row between Sweden and Israel over the Israeli ambassador's attack on artwork in Stockholm is escalating. "The artistic director of the museum, which is keeping the work on display, has reportedly been attacked. Artist Dror Feiler, who is also said to have been threatened, said the envoy's actions made reconciliation harder. He told the BBC World Service that his work was "absolutely not" a glorification of suicide bombers as had been claimed and criticised Zvi Mazel for a "stupid act". BBC 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 6:30 pm
French Government Considers Giving Monuments To Local Governments The French government is considering whether to turn over ownership of half of its monuments to regional governments. "The move is part of a wider trend towards decentralisation. Almost 400 monuments throughout France are owned by the ministry; many were nationalised following the French Revolution." The Art Newspaper 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 6:08 pm
US Customs Stolen Art Unit Is No More The US Customs unit set up in 2000 to investigate stolen art has been subsumed into the Department of Homeland Security. "The agents who had concentrated exclusively on tracking and seizing smuggled art have now been redeployed to investigate cases related to the war on terrorism and financial fraud. Although cases of stolen art will still be investigated by Customs agents, no employees will work exclusively on art investigations." The Art Newspaper 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 5:52 pm
Clamoring For John Cage (Who Knew?) Who could have predicted that last weekend's London festival dedicated to the music of John Cage would be a hit? But it was. "Surely three larger factors counted for more. Cage's wide reputation, even posthumously, as a witty, pawky, down-to-earth maverick (though he was no real subversive); the fact that this was another BBC-Barbican weekend which promised a grand, enlightening survey of one composer's work, like others in past years; and above all the super-intelligent programming of the main concerts, which surrounded a few key Cage pieces with comparable and enticing works by his "maverick" American contemporaries." Financial Times 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 7:25 am
Scottish Opera's Emergency Bailout - Layoffs To Come The cash-strapped Scottish Opera has received an emergency advance of £4 million of its 2004/2005 budget and "been forced to turn to the Scottish Arts Council for an emergency hand-out to pay staff salaries." It seems likely the company will have to make job layoffs - with 80 employees at risk of losing their jobs. The Scotsman 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 7:15 am
Music - Increasingly, We're Hearing It Live Sales of recorded music might be down in some places, but there was a lavish surge in concert-going in 2003. "I think that a lot of people have had enough of non-performing acts. A lot of the music of the 1990s was not real live performance music. The trend for real music is great news for us and great news for the industry in total."
The Guardian (UK) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:02 pm
Tenor Walks Across England Singing American tenor David Pisaro is walking 200 miles across England. "He will stop each evening to perform Franz Schubert's Die Winterreise in 13 venues along the route including village halls, shops and churches with pianist Quentin Thomas. The song cycle traces the physical and emotional journey of a rejected lover travelling away from home and Mr Pisaro says he hopes his trip will bring the music to life." BBC 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 6:34 pm
William Christie: Portrait Of A Sourpuss Conductor William Christie has a cult following in his adopted France. But Peter Conrad discovers a dispeptic soul who gives no quarter. "A recent book by a French critic pays reverent homage to what it calls l'église Christique - the Church according to Christie not Christ. I didn't imagine, when I set off to meet him in Paris, that I was going to encounter a redeemer or saviour. I'd have been grateful, however, for a little milky human kindness." The Observer (UK) 01/18/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:22 pm
Vancouver Arts Center Cancels Shows The Vancouver Arts Center has canceled two of its upcoming shows and laying off staff. The theatre has been presenting traveling Broadway shows, but has lost money on most of its presentations in the two years since it has been open. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 7:56 am
National Book Critics Awards Nominees The National Book Critics Circle anounce their finalists for this year's awards. "Ninety-one-year-old Studs Terkel, the oral historian and self-described champion of the "uncelebrated," will receive a lifetime achievement prize. Competitive nominations went to two books released by McSweeney's, an irreverent publishing house founded by best-selling author Dave Eggers." Washington Post (AP) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 12:30 am
The Booker's New Wrangler Member of Parliament Chris Smith is heading up this year's Book Prize jury, and he says he has no preconceptions about what the winner should demonstrate. "Cynics might argue that this absence of preconceptions is merely a spin on an absence of knowledge. After all, how much time does your average MP have to keep up with even a fraction of the 10,000 or so novels published each year? What sort of books does he have on his bedside table?" The Guardian (UK) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:11 pm
Comics Comeback "At the culmination of the so- called golden age of comics in the 1950s, an estimated 250 million to 300 million comic books sold annually, transforming this country's popular culture and becoming one of its most important exports. Even if unit sales of new comic books are down to about a third of that level, they're still averaging about $200 million in sales each year. Combined with classic or back-issue comics and graphic novels, total sales may be more than $700 million a year. Beyond the financial throw-weight of the industry, comics have as much or more impact on American popular culture than ever." Denver Post 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 10:58 pm
Paterson Wins TS Eliot Poetry Prize "Scottish poet Don Paterson has won the prestigious TS Eliot Prize for poetry for the second time in six years. Paterson, 40, has become the first person to be awarded the Poetry Book Society honour more than once." BBC 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 6:42 pm
Ode To A Closing Bookstore One of Melbourne's biggest bookstores is closing, and it's hard not to feel nostalgic. "Do I protest too much? Metropolis was just another place of consumption, much like a cafe or a bar or a chemist. Let's not get sanctimonious about a bookstore. Maybe my mother is right; maybe I am a literary snob. Maybe I should watch more TV, drink more Coke, get in touch with the mainstream. Who am I to say Acland Street, post-Metropolis, has gone to the dogs?" The Age (Melbourne) 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 5:43 pm
Adventures In Self-Publishing Andy Kessler was wary. "I had been warned against self-publishing. You can't get reviews, you can't get shelf space, and you can't get respect. One hundred thousand books are published every year, so you need an imprint to stand out from the noise. Being naive, and used to being treated like Rodney Dangerfield, I decided to publish my book anyway..." OpinionJournal 01/20/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 5:40 pm
Anne of Green Gables Suit Thrown Out A judge has thrown out a $55 million libel lawsuit against heirs of "Anne of Green Gables" author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The complainant, who produced two very successful TV series based on "Anne," sued over charges the heirs made that they had not been properly paid royalties for the TV shows. Toronto Star 01/20/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 8:29 am
Report: Pope Keeps Thumbs Horizontal Over Gibson Movie The Vatican officially denies reports that the Pope endorses Mel Gibson's new movie. However, "one prominent Roman Catholic official close to the Vatican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he had reason to believe that the pope probably did make the remark about the film. 'But I think there's some bad feeling at the Vatican that the comment was used the way it was. It's all a little soap-operatic'." The New York Times 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 11:50 pm
The CBC's Hippest Project "Don't be alarmed if you hadn't previously heard of CBC Radio 3. Most CBC executives themselves don't even understand the on-line revolution happening right under their noses. CBC Radio 3 is more than just music. 'We're trying to develop new forms of storytelling and develop a web presence that incorporates audio, video and text. No media company in North America is doing anything like this'." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 10:52 pm
The Royal Ballet's Monica Mason - A Love Story It's been 15 months since Monica Mason took over as head of London's Royal Ballet after Ross Stretton was fired after only a year on the job. "What is remarkable is that Mason's honeymoon period seems still to be continuing. People at Covent Garden speak of her with respect, often love. This is the way she talks about the company - as something greater than herself that she wishes to serve. And yet she is a forceful presence: a woman of purpose." Financial Times 01/19/04
Posted: 01/20/2004 7:50 am
The Danes Come To America The director of the Royal Danish Ballet has a mission leading up to the 200th birthday celebrations of August Bournonville in 2005: "to make ballets vivid to the contemporary viewer who may not instinctively find them accessible and appealing." The company is visiting America, and Tobi Tobias reports that progress is well along towards that goal... Seeing Things (AJBlogs) 01/19/04
Posted: 01/19/2004 8:59 pm
