Does Taste Matter? One man's taste is another's "funereal" ugliness. "Taste is what we share with others, as well as what sets us apart. The word has sharply contrasting meanings, when taken individually or collectively. The history of taste, an absorbing subject, tends to concern itself with generalities, and its great categories apply across the board..." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 1:20 pm
A Link Between Religion And Success A new Harvard study suggests that economic success around the world is linked to whether or not you believe in a religion. "Our central perspective is that religion affects economic outcomes mainly by fostering religious beliefs that influence individual traits such as honesty, work ethic, thrift and openness to strangers. For example, beliefs in heaven and hell might affect those traits by creating perceived rewards and punishments that relate to `good' and `bad' lifetime behavior." The New York Times 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:09 pm
The Modern Artist's Challenge In Depicting Religion An artist trying to depict Christ faces a series of challenges, writes Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The challenges have evolved over time, but "all in all, it is no surprise the contemporary depiction of Christ is so complex a task." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:56 pm
Of Photos, Pictures, And Art Where is the line between photo-journalism and art? "On the aesthetic side, many photographers are going through a soul-searching similar to that of painters in the late 1800s when, for some at least, photography made figurative, naturalistic work redundant. Now photographers are questioning their own realistic conventions and, above all, reacting against the new digital technology." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:45 pm
Getting It Right At Ground Zero (One That Works) There's at least one Ground Zero project that appears as though it will be done right - the new PATH train terminal. "Here is how it happened: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, acting on its own, invited qualified professionals to apply for the job and selected Mr. Calatrava, the presiding master builder of bridges, airports and rail stations. No jury. No pandering to populism. No public performances. Alternate proposals were not displayed and debated. The result was presented, and the reaction has been appropriately ecstatic." The New York Times 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:33 am
Smithsonian Reorganizes Its Art Museums For the first time, the Smithsonian has put control of its five art museums under the control of one person. The new director is Ned Rifkin, director of the Hirshhorn Museum. "The Smithsonian’s art museums have previously been overseen by two under-secretaries, and the science museums by a third. Now, for the first time in its 168-year history, the Smithsonian’s vast art collections, research, public and outreach programmes have been brought together under one manager, and art has gained a measure of parity with science and history, the Smithsonian’s traditional areas of focus." The Art Newspaper 01/30/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:24 am
The Top Museum Shows Of 2003 The Art Newspaper is out with its annual survey of museum attendance. "Our survey of exhibition attendance in 2003 reveals a decline in the number of visitors to museum shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Only 190 exhibitions in this survey pulled in more than 1,000 visitors a day in 2003, compared with 215 in 2002. In 2002, over 320 shows attracted more than 760 visitors a day while in 2003, only 259 exhibitions hit the same target. The reasons for this fall can be found in the global economic slump and the decline in international tourism which followed the war in Iraq." The Art Newspaper 01/30/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:21 am
Here's $50 Million And $15 Million More After recently giving the Philadelphia Orchestra $50 million for its endowment, Leonore Annenberg comes through with another $15 million for an endowment for the Academy of Music concert hall, owned by the orchestra. "The gift from the Annenberg Foundation is for the Academy's endowment, to be placed there in perpetuity, generating income each year for capital improvements to the 147-year-old landmark." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:18 pm
On Conductors - In Praise Of Age Conventional wisdom says that orchestras must find energetic young conductors to revitalize the art form. But as a series of recent performances in New York demonstrate, some of the best, most assured performances come from the most well-established conductors... The New York Times 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:56 am
Taking A Byte Out Of Live (Performance) Debates have raged for years about whether it's okay for performers to lip-synch while performing live. "But now, after decades of derision and outrage, audiences are warming up to the fakery." Indeed, some fan "not only don't mind a little gimmickry — they prefer it. They may have no choice: live pop performances rely on an ever-more-intricate mix of live music, prerecorded sound and high-tech tricks, including new programs that produce the same flawless sound as a lip-synched performance, even if the person singing is jumping around, hanging upside-down or just plain out of tune." The New York Times 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:28 am
The NEA Reborn So George Bush is proposing that the National Endowment for the Arts get a big increase in funding. Roger Kimball writes that while there's still plenty of room to debate whether the arts should be publicly funded, the NEA has reinvented itself into an institution that suddenly matters. "After a couple of decades of cultural schizophrenia, the NEA has become a clear-sighted, robust institution intent on bringing important art to the American people." National Review 01/29/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:12 am
Did Dickens Die From Performing? Charles Dickens was a wilfly popular performer. "As well as being our greatest novelist, Dickens developed a new, composite art form in his stage performances, acting out specially adapted passages from his own works and varying his expressions and speech patterns, so that it seemed as if he were becoming possessed by the characters he created. His reading tours won him huge popular acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. And in all probability they contributed to his premature death, from a stroke, in 1870." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 1:50 pm
Theatre-Building In DC Washington DC is in the midst of a theatre building boom. "All over town, all over the region, theaters are hiring architects and raising millions and embarking on ambitious plans to move to spanking new homes or enlarge and refurbish existing ones. It's Act 1 in a period of monumental physical change for Washington theater, a building boom that is going to affect every major company - and even some less-than-major ones - in and around the city. By the time the boom is over, sometime around the end of the decade, the area's premier theaters will all have roomier accommodations and new looks." Washington Post 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:25 pm
Tennyson's Crisis Of Confidence In a recently unearthed trove of writings: "Scribbles by Queen Victoria's poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson on a publisher's proof show he planned to cut out the most celebrated sections of The Charge of the Light Brigade." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 1:59 pm
Backlash On An Opinion Forcefully Expressed Dale Pck was surprised by the furor that erupted over his scathing review of Dale Peck's book last fall. But the backlash has taken its toll, he writes. "God knows the name-calling doesn't bother me (although you'd think a clever writer wouldn't have to resort to homophobia to defend his novel). But it does effectively destroy my ability to be read seriously, by which I mean holistically. I'm the guy who called Moody the worst writer of his generation, and the thousands of words I used to qualify that assertion have disappeared behind it." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 1:56 pm
Satellite Radio Takes Hold After a somewhat rocky start, satellite radio has taken off in the US. "Over the holidays, an unprecedented number of subscribers signed with XM and Sirius, the Coke and Pepsi of orbital radio, for programming that plays through special car or indoor receivers and can be heard coast-to-coast. The services have entered into partnerships with NASCAR, NPR, Fox, Playboy and others to create content that has regular broadcasters feeling earthbound. It is a moment like the arrival of cable television, a novelty 30 years ago, and now a drain on traditional broadcasters' audience and ad revenue." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:22 pm
BBC Turmoil Over Report - Many BBCers May Quit "Some of the BBC's biggest names are considering quitting in protest at the attitude of its acting chairman and the greatest-ever threat to their journalistic independence. The corporation was on the brink of civil war last night as union leaders warned that Greg Dyke's resignation as director-general had split the staff from the governors." The Observer (UK) 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:37 am
- Was Hutton's BBC Report A "Whitewash?" Thom Yorke is disappointed by the Hutton Commission's findings on the BBC. "Lord Hutton's damning report of the BBC is a whitewash. The result will create fear at the Today programme, where there should be pride. As so many times before, they were there with a story that nobody else would touch. And I still cannot see why Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke have had to resign. It flies in the face of reality, ripping all evidence to shreds." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:08 am
- Dyke: Report On BBC Is "Wrong" On his way out as director of the BBC, Greg Dyke lashed out at the Hutton report that severely criticized the BBC for its coverage of the Iraq war. "We were shocked that it was so black and white. We knew mistakes had been made by us but we didn't believe they were only by us." The Guardian (UK) 01/30/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:05 am
Warning: Canadian Film Production May Decline A new report on movie and TV production in Canada warns that the industry is in danger of its first downturn in years. "The grim prognosis is due to a precipitous drop in homemade TV dramas, a slide in international financing, and increased competition from other countries' production incentives." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/30/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 11:02 am
Porn Sites Sue Credit Card Companies Over Piracy The music and movie industries have been combatting digital copying and downloading. Now the porn industry, which has led the web in many of its money-making innovations, is suing to protect its content. Last week adult entertainment businesses sued credit card companies that service websites that offer stolen porn. "The reason it was so hard to make money is because while we were paying for our content, there were many websites out there that were competing against us that were stealing theirs. It's pretty impossible to compete in that situation." Wired 01/30/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 10:58 am
Balanchine's Enduring Ubiquity George Balanchine revolutionized the vocabulary of dance. "In short, he made ballet American, and then watched as American ballet became the official dance language of the Western world. The twist is, Balanchine and his work both became so famous they faded from view. By the time he died in 1983, his streamlined style had become so pervasive worldwide that we don't even recognize it as his style anymore: It's just "ballet." On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the choreographer remains an enticing enigma." Seattle Times 02/01/04
Posted: 02/01/2004 12:14 pm
