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Tuesday, March 23




Visual Arts

Recreating The Parthenon Marbles The Parthenon Marbles are deteriorated and "strewn across 10 museums in eight countries" and wouldn't give much of a sense of their original condition even if they were reunited. But the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies is scanning the fragments and recreating them in full as computer models. "It has produced 152 high-resolution models of the sculptures, and produced images which show each in its original position." BBC 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 6:41 am

Museums Form Alliance Of Art Three American museums - in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles - are joining forces to "acquire finished works together and to organize shows as the cost of buying art and producing exhibitions has risen." The New York Times 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:56 pm

France's New Rough And Tumble Art Market Three years ago France opened up its art markets to foreign sellers, ending a long-standing ban on foreign auction houses operating there. Many predicted that in the new era, the big international auction houses would swamp the French firms. "However, the reality has proved very different and in less than two and a half years Paris has evolved into the world's most unpredictable and fiercely competitive art market centre." London Telegraph 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:47 pm

Vettriano - Popular But Scorned Jack Vettriano - the self-taught Scottish painter - is a hugely popular artist in the UK. But no public museums have interest in showing his work. Why? "The proposition that Vettriano cannot be slotted into a spectrum of art that runs from Titian to Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas is just risible. Why Pop Art but not Popular Art? If the National Theatre can reinvent itself by staging popular musicals and also populist shows like Jerry Springer - the Opera, then why cannot our galleries do likewise?" The Guardian (UK) 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:40 pm

Why The Whitney Gets A Pass? "This year's Whitney Biennial may have escaped serious censure in part because there's no one at the Whitney to kick around anymore. In keeping with its sorry tradition of revolving-door directors, the museum lost its former head, Maxwell Anderson, last September and its affable new one, Adam Weinberg, bears no responsibility for this survey's selections. No one has yet been churlish enough to pummel the triumvirate of earnest, low-profile young female curators who made this year's picks." Wall Street Journal 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:08 pm

Music

The Next Great Voice? (Here Now) Last year extravagant claims were made for tenor Salvatore Licitra - that he was the Next Great Voice. After hearing him then, Joshua Kosman wasn't entirely convinced. Now he is. "In a glorious return visit Sunday night to Zellerbach Hall, Licitra delivered on all the most extravagant claims being made on his behalf. His singing was expansive, powerful and superbly shaped, and he wooed the audience with all the dewy charm of a fresh-faced young suitor." San Francisco Chronicle 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 8:55 am

WalMart: 88 Cents A Tune Aplle's iTunes store has been a big hit selling songs for 99 cents apiece. But WalMart is taking aim at the online download business - its new music download store charges only 88 cents. Anyone for 77 cents? The Star-Tribune (Mpls) (AP) 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 7:54 am

Capitol Idea - A Record Company That's Growing Capitol Records is that rare music label that has been expanding even as the music business has contracted in the past few years. "Since taking over nearly three years ago Andrew Slater and his very hands-on approach to music making — from rerecording parts of songs to dissecting new videos — have transformed Capitol from a languishing heritage label best known for the Beatles and Frank Sinatra into a company that can once again develop hit artists." The New York Times 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:59 pm

Groking The Norah Jones Phenomenon What accounts for the phenomenal success of an artist like Norah Jones? "There are sociological explanations. Critics point out, accurately, that young artists like Jones, who is twenty-five, and Josh Groban and Michael Bublé are selling soothing songs by the seashore to a much older audience. These artists’ faith in melody and acoustic instruments ostensibly provides evidence that not all musicians below the age of thirty are getting tattooed with runic symbols and sending viruses to each other on tiny, inscrutable batphones. Record companies have agreed to think that the older audience is their pot of gold. This is half science—the percentage of records being bought by listeners above the age of thirty is growing—and half hearsay." The New Yorker 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:22 pm

A Grey Response To Black And White Laws The public is getting increasingly irritated with Big Music's attempts to tighten copyright. EMI's recent move against Danger Mouse and the Grey Album "was a spectacular backfire in the war over what's fair when the muse runs afoul of copyright law in the Digital Age. Technology is making it easier than ever to sample and rework recordings, and to the chagrin of entertainment companies and some artists who hold copyrights, the public is showing little sympathy for their efforts to control original works." Los Angeles Times 03/21/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 7:44 pm

Sony And McDonald's Team Up On Music Deal Sony and McDonald's are discussing a music deal. "The two companies have been hammering out the details of a pact in which McDonald's would provide fast-food diners with free songs from Sony's online music store, Sony Connect." Los Angeles Times 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 7:35 pm

Indie Times At SXSW This year's SXSW fest in Austin Texas was a raucously independent event. "While few of the 1,261 acts booked to perform during the conference's four nights of showcases would object to selling a million albums, the festival's tone was one of modesty and realism as participants shared advice on how to sustain a career with CD sales in the thousands, not the millions, and with a full calendar of performances rather then video shoots. Most bands were more concerned with having gas money to get to the next show than they were with the major labels' bugaboo, Internet downloading." The New York Times 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 4:48 pm

Arts Issues

Of Shopping Malls And Performing Arts Centers The comparison isn't too crass, writes Andrew Taylor. "The most striking thing about this comparison is how differently the savvy mall developer and most cultural facility developers speak about what they do. With the shopping mall, at least among these two visionaries, design is about the consumers and how they engage with their world -- what draws them in, keeps them in, and lowers their barriers to purchase. With cultural facilities, we seem, instead, to focus on the producers in the equation -- the symphony, theater company, road shows -- and what they need to produce their seasons." Artful Manager (AJBlogs) 03/22/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 7:07 am

Abe Lincoln As A Theme Park? Civic boosters in Lincoln, Illinois want to build an "Honest Abe" theme park, complete with animatronic figures from history. "Invoking images of Disneyland, the project's backers promise to build a dignified family attraction, not a kitschy carnival. "There would be nothing degrading about this. It's a great idea. It's called edu-tainment."
Los Angeles Times 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 8:38 pm

US Anti-Cuba Policy Hurts Artists, US Why is the US government refusing to allow Cuban artists into the United States? "In a profound way, our government takes on the role of oppressor when it tries to control which artists will be allowed access to our minds and our hearts. We may think we are isolating Cuba with our embargo and our travel restrictions, but it is we Americans who are becoming isolated. People travel to Cuba from Australia, Britain, Canada, Italy and Spain — countries we consider staunch allies." The New York Times 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 7:32 pm

People

Mel Gibson On Top Mel Gibson's power in Hollywood has soared with the success of "The Passion of the Christ." "Given the money Gibson stands to make from 'The Passion' and the media attention it generated, I'd be shocked if he wasn't No. 1. In this minute, Gibson is the 800-pound gorilla on the Hollywood landscape. The real question, since there's no possibility of a sequel, is just what's down the road. That question is also on the mind of an industry reeling from the magnitude of Gibson's unexpected success. In a town where money talks and jockeying for position on the power lists is an obsessive annual ritual, the director's currency is higher than ever, Hollywood executives say." Los Angeles Times 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 7:48 am

Meeting The Enigmatic Mr. Pletnev Pianist and conductor Michel Pletnev is "a prime example of one who protects under layers of mystery the emotions and the brilliant, albeit sometimes provocative and idiosyncratic sparks of imagination that fire his piano playing." London Telegraph 03/23/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:53 pm

Did Elvis Have Scottish Roots? That's the claim of a Scottish author who has researched the matter. "Elvis Presley's roots can be traced back to a village in Aberdeenshire," he says. BBC 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:37 pm

Theatre

Director Sues Playwright Over Play Belfast playwright Marie Jones' play "Stones in his Pocket" has become a big hit on the West End. Now, Pam Brighton, who directed some Jones' earlier plays, is claiming that she should get a share of the credit and profits because she "contributed a great deal to the ideas and script of the play." BBC 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 7:01 am

Publishing

On Demand - Self Publishing Unleashes Thousands Of New Books Publishing on demand has resulted in a flood of self-published books. The three biggest self-publishing companies have produced a combined 47,000 titles since the late 1990s. "There's an awful lot of people out there that have something to say." Philadelphia Inquirer 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 8:09 am

Media

SARS, Dollar, Economy = Ontario Movie Production Decline Ontario's movie and TV production fell 11 percent in 2003. "Spending on film and television productions fell to $874.1-million last year from $984.5-billion in 2002. The peak occurred in 2000, when spending hit $1-billion. Last year, the amount of foreign production fell to $369.9-million from $574.4-million in 2002." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 7:36 am

Hollywood's Record Year (Despite The Pirates) Hollywood movie studios took in almost $11 billion in 2003 - a record. "The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) put the 5% rise since 2002 down to rising ticket prices. Although ticket earnings have risen, the total tickets sold has dropped 5% internationally and 12% in Europe." BBC 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 6:54 am

TV: Taking A Chance On Youth Television is breaking its long established talent pipelines. "Network television was a strict dues-paying culture. Writers sweated it out for years on other people's shows — earning arcane titles like 'executive story editor' and 'supervising producer' — before getting a shot at creating their own. But lately those rules are being rewritten. Networks are now clamoring for fresh voices that they otherwise would not have looked toward." The New York Times 03/21/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 8:45 pm

What About The V-Chip? Indecency on the TV? What about the V-chip? "Eight years after Congress adopted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, about 80 million of America's 275 million television sets have one. But it's not easy to find anyone, outside of trivia contestants, who knows what a V-chip is. Rarer still are those who can actually make one work." Los Angeles Times 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 7:39 pm

Dance

The Mysterious Mr. Taylor "After 50 years of making dances, there's still a dash of mystery about Paul Taylor. His sensibility remains complex and elusive, a particular American blend of physicality, naivete and wisdom that has left its mark on the international scene. His themes, music and tonal nuances remain, in all their variety, unparalleled and irresistible." San Francisco Chronicle 03/23/04
Posted: 03/23/2004 8:48 am

Ludmilla Tcherina, 79 "French dancer and actress Ludmilla Tcherina has died in Paris at the age of 79. Tcherina, one of the leading ballet dancers of her generation, appeared in several films including The Red Shoes and The Tales Of Hoffmann." BBC 03/22/04
Posted: 03/22/2004 10:33 pm


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