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Wednesday, June 2




Ideas

The Bohemians Won The Bohemian lifestyle, romanticized in Victorian times, has been absorbed into the mainstream. "We have to recognise that many of our present assumptions about life have originated from people who, sometimes in very small ways but motivated by revolutionary ideals, hope and defiance of convention, challenged the establishment 100 years ago. In a way, we're all Bohemians now. We can conduct relationships with people from any social class without fear of ostracism, while deploring oppressive, stratified societies." The Guardian (UK) 06/02/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:41 pm

Complexity Complex Complexity theory is "the ultimate of interdisciplinary fields." It "has blossomed into a broad movement of scientists searching for universal patterns that occur at all levels of nature and society when local interactions give rise to new collective behaviors. They want to know, for example, how millions of amoebas swarm into a self-directed slime mold, how a trillion-celled organism develops from a single egg, and how markets arise from the interactions of individual human beings. Complexity theorists want to reproduce these patterns with computer models, in order to gain a kind of insight that equations or statistics supposedly cannot match. What's more, they want to see both the forest and the trees, by viewing big patterns through the local rules of interaction that produce them." Boston Globe 05/30/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 11:01 am

Visual Arts

Case Against Supposed Spanish Art Hoarder Unravels A Spanish raid on what authorities claimed was an illegal collection of antiquities hidden away from public view has turned out to be an embarrassing mix-up. "What the police described as 'an illegal archaeological museum' of 'clandestine' objects was anything but hidden. A dusty sign reading 'Museo' points to the entrance to the exhibition space, which, it transpired, was open to visitors to the winery and was frequently toured by local school groups. Furthermore, the little museum at the Toro Albalá Winery was included in cultural circuits proposed by the Córdoba tourist office." The New York Times 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:31 am

Scotland's Brilliant New Parliament Building Scotland's new Parliament building is about to open. Finally. After its budget came in 800 percent over projections. "Why has it been so very costly? The intricate design by the late Enric Miralles, of Barcelona, commissioned in 1998 and realised by the joint Catalan-Scottish practice EMBT/RMJM, is one of richness and great complexity. It has a style very much of its own, neither in nor out of fashion." The Guardian (UK) 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 10:08 pm

Ye Olde England In China "In a small corner of the giant construction site that is China, something rather quaint is happening: modern skyscrapers are giving way to Georgian terraces, concrete squares are being discarded in favour of English village greens, and instead of the usual eight-lane superhighways there are winding cobbled lanes. That, at least, is the ambitiously low-rise plan for a giant new satellite-city near Shanghai that aims to recreate the most picturesque elements of a British town to lure homebuyers from China's newly affluent middle class." The Guardian (UK) 06/02/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:49 pm

Vienna's Museum Wars Museum competition in Vienna has grown fierce in the past year. "Over the last year, the Albertina has emerged as the surprising victor, attracting an audience of one million in its first 12 months. It is now the country’s most successful gallery, pushing the Kunsthistorisches Museum into second place." But some are questioning the Albertina's aggressive tactics in growing... The Art Newspaper 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:19 pm

Canadian Art Market Sets New Records "The bullish Canadian art market showed no signs of slowing down as Sotheby's Canada sold more than 160 lots worth almost $6-million at its spring auction in Toronto, setting records for least four Canadian painters in the process." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 11:34 am

sponsor

Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative: Discover the power of mentoring. Launched in 2002, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative programme pairs gifted young artists with renowned artists in their fields, for a year of one-on-one mentoring. The mentors for the Second Cycle are Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney, Mario Vargas Llosa, Mira Nair, Jessye Norman and Saburo Teshigawara. The Second Year of Mentoring begins in May 2004. http://www.rolexmentorprotege.com/

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Music

Violists Are Always Better Named Later "The world of classical music was in turmoil this morning when officials of the Professional Orchestra League revealed that seven principal players of the New York Philharmonic had tested positive for steroids and would receive automatic life suspensions from the league." In other surprising industry news, the principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra has been demoted to the minor leagues, and San Francisco has traded its concertmaster to St. Louis for "its entire flute section and a violist to be named later." Broken Newz 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:12 am

Adams Wins Inaugural Northwestern Prize "The Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer John Adams is the first recipient of Northwestern University's Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition. The biennial award carries a cash award of $100,000 and honors living composers of widely recognized achievement. It is one of the largest in classical music." Chicago Tribune 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:04 am

Wong Leaving Honolulu Conductor Samuel Wong is stepping down as music director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. The move is being cast as Wong's own decision, but the orchestra was informed not by the conductor himself, but by the orchestra's president, without Wong in attendance. "Wong just completed his eighth season with the Honolulu Symphony. He will remain as the conductor laureate for the 2005-06 season and conduct at least six concerts over the next two seasons." As for what he'll do next, Wong, who holds a degree in opthalmology from Harvard, is hoping to help start an Institute of Music & Healing, which would deal with music-related injuries. Honolulu Advertiser 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:58 am

Critics: Royal Festival Hall Renovations A Disaster "Planned alterations to the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank are "disastrous" and an "act of architectural vandalism", according to the Twentieth Century Society, which protects Britain's legacy of modernist architecture." The Guardian (UK) 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:57 pm

The Ring Tone Charts A new music chart will track the popularity of phone ring tones. An estimated £70m of ringtones were sold in 2003 - up from £40m in 2002. The fortnightly chart will count down the 20 most popular tones downloaded onto mobile phones and will be published in Music Week magazine. Most current pop hits are available to buy as mobile phone rings for between £1.50 and £3.50." BBC 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:09 pm

Barenboim Says He'll Be Done In Chicago Daniel Barenboim says he won't appear with the Chicago Symphony again as guest conductor after his contract runs out in 2005-2006. He has said he "disliked guest conducting, preferring to work with orchestras on a longer-term basis." Chicago Sun-Times 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 11:08 am

Pulitzer Music Changes Debated Changes in the criteria for the Pulitzer Prize for music to broaden it are provoking controversy. Defenders say: "The board has been concerned for many years that the full range of exellence in American music was not somehow getting through the process in such a way that it could be properly and appropriately considered. The changes in the wording are intended to make sure that the full range of excellence can be considered. The prize should not be reserved essentially for music that comes out of the European classical tradition." Boston Globe 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:44 am

Arts Issues

Jowell: Let's Support Art Because It's Art UK culture minister Tessa Jowell has made a case of art for art's sake, for supporting the arts because it's a good thing to do. "Too often politicians have been forced to debate culture in terms only of its instrumental benefits to other agendas - education, the reduction of crime, improvements in wellbeing..." The Guardian (UK) 05/29/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 5:52 pm

People

NY's Power Couple Du Jour A cultural scene as vast and diverse (and expensive) as New York's could not survive without major benefactors, or without benefactors who are proficient at attracting other benefactors. And in a city where figures like $1 billion are thrown around as fundraising targets without anyone so much as batting an eyelash, the generosity and fundraising talent of such philanthropists are in high demand. The cultural "power couple of the moment" in the Big Apple consists of Jerry Speyer and Katherine Farley, who between them hold the key to many of Manhattan's most ambitious cultural projects. The New York Times 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:16 am

Did Michelangelo Suffer From Asperger's? Two experts in Asperger's Syndrome say that Michelangelo might have suffered from the condiction. They describe him as "strange, without affect, and isolated," adding that he was "preoccupied with his own private reality. His single-minded work routine, unusual lifestyle, limited interests, poor social and communication skills and various issues of life control appear to be features of high-functioning autism or Asperger's Syndrome." BBC 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 5:19 pm

"The Columnist Broadway Loves To Hate" The New York Post's "Michael Riedel has become the columnist Broadway loves to hate. An attack dog in a world of lapdogs, this magna cum laude Columbia graduate, who reads Dante and Suetonius for fun, is an unlikely tabloid bad boy. But his twice-a-week, mean, often funny, always dishy, ruthlessly vitriolic behind-the-scenes gossip column has made him the scourge and the talk of the theater world." New York Magazine 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 5:02 pm

Kael & Sontag: Portrait Of Two Critics David Kipen is a fan of a new book about two very different critics. "Craig Seligman's new book about Pauline Kael and Susan Sontag is the sassiest, classiest work of popular criticism since Nick Hornby's "Songbook." Kael might have praised it as "fizzy,'' Sontag could call it "serious" and neither would be wrong. But "Sontag & Kael: Opposites Attract Me'' transcends these catchwords to present a funny, smart diptych of two bookish girls from California who took Manhattan and knocked it sideways." San Francisco Chronicle 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 12:20 pm

Theatre

Those Lazy, Lazy Voters "One press agent calls it 'votergate.' A veteran producer says it's 'a problem that has been going on for years.' And a former drama critic says it's a scandal people 'bitch and moan about' but one that the theater industry does 'absolutely nothing to police.' They are talking about Tony voters who do not bother to see all the nominated shows but vote for candidates in all the categories nonetheless." New York Post 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:59 am

Theatre Critics meet This week 100 members of the American Theatre Critics Association converge on San Francisco for their annual meeting. This year's conference features new plays... San Francisco Chronicle 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 8:53 pm

In Search Of Shakespeare's Music Where is the music that originally accompanied Shakespeare's plays? "Many scholars believe that the music that originally accompanied Shakespeare's plays has been lost. But perhaps it was so much a part of the popular culture of Shakespeare's time that we simply haven't been able to sort it out from all the surviving examples in library archives. Enter Canadian musicologist Ross W. Duffin, who has not only collated and reorganized all previous known studies on this subject but used computer-matching techniques to supply appropriate period music for songs that have come down to us with Shakespearean lyrics but no known melodies." Miami Herald (LAT) 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 12:00 pm

Publishing

Booker Goes Global "The organisers of the Booker Prize for Fiction have launched a new £60,000 international literature award. The Man Booker International Prize will be handed out every two years from the middle of 2005... The existing Booker Prize is open to citizens of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The new global prize can be won by an author of any nationality, providing his or her work is available in the English language." BBC 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:40 am

Town Offers Bounty To Bookstore "In an ever-tougher business environment for independent booksellers, the town of St. Johnsbury, Mass., population 7,571 as of 2000, is offering startup money and a break on rent to a qualified person willing to open a bookstore downtown. The word is out in the book trade, and St. Johnsbury officials say calls are coming in." Boston Globe 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 9:29 am

Media

Ontario To Stop Censoring Films By early 2005, Canada's largest province will end nearly a century of film censorship, thanks to recent court rulings and a decision by the provincial government of Ontario not to fight for the survival of such practices. Ontario has always required that films be presented to its Film Review Board for possible censorship before being released to the public. The government is considering implementing an American-style ratings system to replace the review board. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:48 am

Karmazin Quits Viacom - Is Stern Finished? Mel Karmazin has resigned as chairman of Viacom, the media conglomerate that owns CBS and radio giant Infinity Broadcasting. The resignation is likely to have ripple effects throughout the media world, as several Disney board members are known to have been courting Karmazin as a replacement for embattled CEO Michael Eisner. Additionally, Karmazin's departure could spell the end for controversial radio host Howard Stern, whom Karmazin allowed a very long creative leash which is unlikely to be matched by future execs running scared from a potential FCC crackdown on obscenity. Detroit Free Press 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:33 am

Bollywood Director Charged In Production Death A major Indian film director has been arrested on several charges surrounding the death of an assistant on a film set last week. The assistant, Nadia Khan, was hit by a train during shooting in Bombay, and director Kaizad Gustad is charged with fabicating evidence and negligence. The judge in the case is asking that an additional charge of culpable homicide, which carries a prison term of ten years, be added to the list. BBC 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:43 am

The Best (They Hope) Little Movie Studio In Texas The University of Texas is attempting to take its film studies program where none has gone before, joining forces with investors to create an actual working, albeit tiny, movie studio. "No American film school has ever tried such an ambitious foray into commercial filmmaking, and the project is being watched with great interest, and great skepticism, in academia and Hollywood." The New York Times 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:27 am

Moore Gets Distribution Deal "The independent studio Lions Gate Films will distribute Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which has gained wide notice for its critique of President Bush and was spurned for distribution by the Walt Disney Company. It will be released on June 25 in about 1,000 theaters." Lions Gate, a Canadian company, has distributed other Miramax pictures in the past which Disney found too controversial. The New York Times 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 5:23 am

Dance

Northern Plains Ballet Scales Back Expectations Northern Plains Ballet, which had hoped to become the flagship dance company of its region with productions mounted in multiple cities throughout the Northern Plains states, has announced that it will cut the cities of Sioux Falls (SD), Grand Forks (ND), and Billings (MT) from its schedule in future seasons. That leaves the company with performances in only Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota, and a possible staging of The Nutcracker in Aberdeen (SD). Extremely low attendance and revenue shortfalls were cited as the reasons for the cutbacks. The Forum (Fargo, ND) 06/02/04
Posted: 06/02/2004 6:19 am

Forsythe: Next Up After Frankfurt Ballett There was an uproar last year when German officials announced they were closing Ballett Frankfurt to save money. The company's well-regarded director William Forsythe isn't sitting around though. "Forsythe plans to form a new, smaller ensemble soon, and Ballett Frankfurt will cease to exist in August." San Francisco Chronicle 06/01/04
Posted: 06/01/2004 12:15 pm


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