The God Culture: Heavenly Comeback Or Hellish Culture War? "Nearly 40 years after Time magazine posed the question "Is God Dead?" signs of His resurrection are everywhere: Mel Gibson's 'The Passion' is on its way to becoming the highest-grossing independent film of all time, while the apocalyptic 'Left Behind' novels, based on the Book of Revelations, have sold 58 million copies, a publishing jackpot... The nation's born-again president pronounces Jesus his 'favorite philosopher' and trumpets America's mission to battle evil in the world. And faith avowals are all but requisite on the campaign trail - with hell to pay for anyone who demonstrates biblical illiteracy... Is all this ferment a result of post-Sept. 11 anxiety? Or has spirituality become just another commodity in a world where consumerism has become the ultimate value?" Newsday 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:27 am
Taking Comfort It was the sweltering summer of 1951 when artist Charles Comfort spent 58 days creating a 20-meter mural on the back wall of a Toronto Dominion Bank branch in Vancouver. The resulting artwork stayed in place for half a century, and became known as one of British Columbia's most important works of public art. "When the bank branch closed in 2002 and the space was taken over by a pharmacy, the bank was determined to find a way for it to stay in the province. It wasn't such an easy task. The size of the mural was certainly an issue. And the restoration needed to remove layers of tobacco smoke and grime was extensive. More troubling, however, was the controversial history of Comfort's murals in Vancouver." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:12 am
Installation Art 101 Eleven Colorado high schools are taking part in "Design and Build 2004," an annual program sponsored by the Denver-based Museum of Outdoor Arts which is designed to give students a chance to experience firsthand the challenges of designing, building, and installing a major piece of public art. The students create "technical drawings, topographical maps and conceptual statements" of their proposed installations, then consult with the museum on feasibility, cost, and other minutiae. Finally, their fully constructed works are mounted at various high-profile sites throughout the Denver metro, with all the attendant fanfare of a "professional" installation. Denver Post 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:04 am
Some Lessons On Memorials From Berlin Are there lessons to be learned about the WTC Ground Zero project from Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin? Michael Kimmelman observes that: "in Berlin, as at ground zero, the architecture was chosen before a decision was made about how to fill the building. The balance between form and content has been a vexing issue. Neither the Jewish Museum nor ground zero is immune to box office pressure. Both dubiously equate populism with civic duty." The New York Times 04/14/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 7:16 pm
Grave Robbers Destroy 1000-Year-Old Mural Grave robbers in Peru tried to steal a 1000-year-old mural, but destroyed it in the process. "They probably used picks or wooden poles in a futile effort to steal the mural — a black, yellow and white dragon in sculpted relief on a painted red background — but only succeeded in destroying it." Yahoo! (AP) 04/12/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 5:40 pm
Miss Manners Vs. The Conductor's Temper In the last year alone, a conductor in Rio de Janeiro has mooned an audience which was booing the opera he was conducting, and another baton-twirler went on a 10-minute tirade against an audience in Florida for some perceived slight or other. The problem of audience behavior and musician backlash is nothing new in the music world, of course, but when conductors begin displaying their posteriors in public, someone needs to step in, and Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, figures it might as well be her. In fact, she's proposing a career exchange with the marauding maestros. "It is true that Miss Manners can’t count terribly well, but she looks fetching in evening clothes and has some experience at terrorizing people into silence with a mere glance. How difficult can the rest of it be?" Rockdale (GA) Citizen 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 5:42 am
Are Great Conductors Avoiding France? "France's main symphony orchestras are struggling to recruit conductors, especially on a permanent basis, though the roots of the problem remain unclear... Departing conductors speak of conflicts with management, the difficulties of having to share facilities with other artistic companies, overwork and, more coyly, personal reasons." Whether the problem is bureaucratic, artistic, or cultural, it is clear that France has a conductor problem to which no one has yet found a solution. Expatica (Agence France-Presse) 04/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 5:35 am
Better Sport Through Mozart Forget drugs. "A strong dose of Mozart is more likely to enhance athletic performance. This is the revolutionary theory of a Greek cardiologist who, when not attending to affairs of the heart, busies himself as a composer. He recommends music as the best stimulant for sporting success and claims that a series of studies have shown that, used in combination with the right diet, 'it can act as an energy supplement in the attempt to reduce the use of pharmaceutical substances by young people involved in sport'." The Independent (UK) 04/11/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 9:08 pm
Making The Museum Experience Kid-Friendly For the first time in decades, art museums are making a concerted effort to cater to the needs of children, and the museum field trip may never be the same. "The once-a-year docent-led sprint through the galleries is being replaced by more sophisticated strategies. Children are being invited to write labels, dress up in the period costume of a particular painting, and act as docents themselves." One Boston museum is even embarking on a year-long study to discover just what children get out of the museum experience, and what information they retain. Boston Globe 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 5:54 am
Cities Zero In On Arts Budgets Last year it was state governments that slashed arts funding. This year it's cities. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York... all are looking at cutting cultural funding as hey struggle to balance budgets. Philadelphia Business Journal 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 9:41 pm
The Ghetto Dream Maker In times of political upheaval, many people take refuge in music, and in South Africa, an entire musical movement has grown out of the nation's first tumultuous decade following the end of apartheid. The music is called kwaito, and its biggest star is a man known as Zola, who personifies all the anger, confusion, and hope of the impoverished black township residents who are wondering whatever happened to the promises of post-apartheid prosperity. Washington Post 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:40 am
Mancini In The Mail The US Postal Service has honored Henry Mancini with a postage stamp. "Formal first day of issue ceremonies for the 37-cent stamp were held in Los Angeles. The stamp will be available nationwide Wednesday. Mancini is known for his television theme songs and movie scores. He composed "Moon River" for the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's," as well as the themes for "Peter Gunn" and "Days of Wine and Roses." NJOnline (AP) 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 7:35 pm
A 12-Year-Old Genius Of The Piano Kit Armstrong is 12 years old, the youngest student at the prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He's also, according to his teachers, a musical genius of the kind that comes along once in a lifetime. "Have you heard about this kid named Kit Armstrong?" is the question of the moment in the small international community of impresarios who decide which artists land recitals in leading venues and perform with orchestras. His name is already circulating in the wider entertainment industry. He's been on David Letterman, and handlers are busy fielding his many media requests." Philadelphia Inquirer 04/11/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 6:55 pm
30 Seconds With Dame Judi Dame Judi Dench is one of England's most distinguished actors. "She's a peculiarly British heroine. An underdog. Dench is short and a little dumpy and not obviously glamorous. And yet she can transcend her given lot to become beautiful and heroic. In polls, she is regularly voted Britain's best-dressed woman, Britain's most admired woman (she recently beat the Queen down to number two), the woman we would most like to be." The Guardian (UK) 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 6:35 pm
Virtually Yours - Off-B'Way Stage Can Use Virtual Orchestra The New York musicians union has made an agreement with an Off-Broadway theatre to allow use of a virtual orchestra. "The deal will allow shows at the theater to use the machine, which can closely replicate the sound of musicians, but only with union consent. No other Off Broadway theater currently has such an agreement with the union; Broadway producers are banned from using the machine." The New York Times 04/14/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 7:26 pm
Virtual Orchestra Off-Broadway A show coming to Off-Broadway is using a "virtual orchestra" and the musicians union is protesting. But the show's composer says he isn't replacing any musicians with the device - he likes the sound he gets from it. In previous productions, the show used three musicians, and it does now as well. Newsday (AP) 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 6:29 am
Nabokov: Plagiarist or Cryptomnesiac? The allegation that Vladimir Nabokov may have lifted the plot of Lolita from another author's work has Ron Rosenbaum fascinated. "It’s not so much a scandal as a literary mystery — a mystery about the mind of one of the great artists of our era. And second, the alleged scandal turns on the question of a literary-psychological term that was new to me, but that has now become one of my favorites: 'cryptomnesia.'" The term mean just what it sounds like: it describes an author who has read another author's work, but completely forgotten about it, to the extent that he appropriates the plot without ever realizing that he has done so. New York Observer 04/19/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:50 am
Perhaps A Satire Warning Label Would Help In an age when a fake news show (Comedy Central's The Daily Show) serves as a more reliable news delivery vehicle than some real news networks, and when it is increasingly difficult to distinguish opinioniated hype from objective fact in the national media, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the satirical newspaper The Onion has a bit of an ongoing problem with people who take their stories seriously. The paper's deadpan style may have something to do with it, but another factor is emerging as well: in a society so politically and culturally divided as the US seems to be at the moment, people are ready to believe anything that validates their personal point of view, no matter how absurd it may seem. Wired 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 5:22 am
The Humiliations Of Being A Writer Writers are constantly being humiliated. Is it their nature? Take the book tour stop: "Most frequently, though, no one shows up. Carl Hiaasen arrived for a reading in Arkansas and found a chili-cooking class and a University of Arkansas Razorbacks game scheduled in town at the same time. He ended up autographing books for the salesmen. William Trevor drove for hours to a reading and found the place empty. So he read to the cabdriver and two people who wandered in." The New York Times 04/14/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 7:24 pm
Music To Torture A Deity By The soundtrack to Mel Gibson's controversial film about Jesus's last hours has been certified gold after selling 500,000 copies in February alone. Philadelphia Inquirer (AP) 04/14/04
Posted: 04/14/2004 6:59 am
MTV - The Most Trusted Name In News? (Among Young People?) Network news is heading for a crisis, with fewer and fewer young people using it as their primary information source. Why rush home for the six o'clock news when there are online papers, blogs, and cable available 'round the clock? A recent Pew Research Center survey revealed that only 23 percent of young people 18-29 get their campaign news from network anchors." Into this landscape, MTV News is gaining more and more influence. Village Voice 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 6:18 pm
Broadcasters To Play It Safe Under US Content Crackdown The US government crackdown on content of TV and radio is having an effect. "Broadcasters may stage a retreat from risky shows over the next few seasons as a regulatory campaign to clean up the airwaves gains momentum from election-year politics, media analysts said on Monday." Backstage 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 5:45 pm
What Becomes A Flop? "If you want to make your own flop film, it is not simply a case of throwing money at a poor script and hoping no-one will come. Flops can generally be said to misjudge the public mood. A number of big movies have become big flops for very different reasons, however." BBC 04/13/04
Posted: 04/13/2004 5:36 pm
