Ideas

Looking For Mr. Right With the retirement of William F. Buckley, the intellectual conservative movement he founded seems to be in danger of fading into the past. After all, as one prominent conservative thinker puts it, the movement was founded to "defeat Communism and roll back creeping socialism... The first was obviated by our success, the latter by our failure. So what is left of conservatism?" Does the current dominance of the Republican Party in national politics mean that conservatism has won out, or has it merely dumbed itself down to achieve short-term victory? It's a problem that a new crop of young conservatives are already wrestling with, and there is a definite hope among the old guard that Mr. Buckley's ideas will find a voice among the youth. The New York Times 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:20 am

Visual Arts

The Other Barnes Debate There is more to the great battle over the future of Philadelphia's Barnes Foundation than just an argument over the location of the permanent collection, says Edward Sozanski. In fact, the future of the Barnes's educational program is the subject of a debate that truly gets to the heart of the foundation's mission. "The Barnes gospel of aesthetic analysis, which the founder expounded in a number of books, letters and public utterances over three decades, contains the key to the collection. Yet over the last six years, the Barnesian doctrine, which remained reasonably intact for more than 60 years through several administrations, has been strained by what amounts to a theological schism." Philadelphia Inquirer 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 9:49 am

Greece's New Temple Of Athleticism "The Olympic Games are returning to Greece. And Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish genius of Parnassian accomplishments, has redesigned a sports complex that now embodies the tensile strength of athletes in their glory... Some engineers criticize Calatrava because prominent features of his buildings are structurally inessential. They serve purely expressive purposes. Architects, meanwhile, fault his work for appearing to be stuck in the 20th century. But the appeal of Calatrava's work, if you are susceptible to it, lies in its hybrid quality. Rather than fusing architecture and engineering, the designs arise from the struggle between them." The New York Times 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 9:42 am

Millenium Park Makes Its Debut One of the most controversial civic art projects in recent U.S. history opened to the public this weekend, and Blair Kamin was bowled over. "Remember the dusty pit that sat for decades amid the beaux-arts splendor of Grant Park, Chicago's front yard? Well, it's gone, turned into a joyful park that's sprinkled with smile-inducing sculpture and mind-bending 'wow-chitecture.' This is the miracle of Millennium Park, the $475 million fusion of old-fashioned world's fair and newfangled cultural spectacle that opened Friday. Yes, there have been huge cost overruns and delays, and they have resulted in some less than ideal park spaces. But get real: Did anyone ever ask Eiffel whether he busted the bud-get on his tower? The park is found ground -- a no place that is suddenly a someplace." Chicago Tribune 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:58 am

• Daley's Park, For Better Or For Worse Millenium Park will be many to things to many people, but to Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, it will be his legacy. "When Mr. Daley took office 15 years ago, the site, north of the Art Institute and east of Michigan Avenue, contained old railroad tracks and gravel parking lots." Mr. Daley's vision for a useful public space became the biggest civic art project in the city's history, and depending on whom you ask, it is either a testament to the skill and vision of the designers and fundraisers who brought it together, or an overpriced boondoggle spearheaded by a mayor who cut the public out of the process. The New York Times 07/18/04
  Posted: 07/18/2004 8:57 am

• Gehry Does It Again The centerpiece of Millenium Park is the new Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which will serve as the new 11,000-seat home to Chicago's Grant Park Orchestra. "Even in a city renowned for its big moves, Gehry's project makes for an extraordinary structural drama. And the stage on which that drama occurs -- a new 24.5-acre park at the foot of the downtown skyline -- plays perfectly to the architect's strengths, allowing his explosively sculptural forms all the room they need to preen, as they were not free to do in his dazzling, but more tightly confined, Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles." Chicago Tribune 07/18/04
  Posted: 07/18/2004 8:55 am

Rescuing a Futuristic Icon of the Past "Philip Johnson's steel and concrete fantasia in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, designed as the New York State Pavilion for the 1964-65 World's Fair, has been crumbling for decades. Now it is finally getting some attention... The Queens Theater in the Park — which produces performances geared to the borough's immigrant communities — is planning to build an 8,000-square-foot addition to its space, a small section of the pavilion that was called the Theaterama during the World's Fair... But the shiny new addition will also call attention to the blighted condition of [the huge 'Tent of Tomorrow], which appears to be on the verge of collapse." The New York Times 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:16 am

Chicago's Withering Art Fair "The Chicago art establishment, from museums to galleries to artists, still seems shaken by what it perceived to be the failure this spring of its internationally known contemporary art fair." In fact, Art Chicago has been gradually losing the interest of the international art community for years now, and the flurry of activity surrounding this weekend's much-ballyhooed opening of the city's new Millenium Park is meant in large part to put Chicago back on the map where art is concerned. Art Chicago's organizers insist that a comeback is imminent, but observers are skeptical, especially as the fair prepares to move to temporary quarters in a 125,000-square foot tent. The New York Times 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:10 am

Nazi Association Taints Flick Exhibition "As Berlin prepares to unveil one of the world's biggest private art collections, curators said Tuesday they had recruited historians to shed light on the controversial Nazi-linked past of its founder. The collection of Friedrich Christian Flick, comprising some 2,500 works, is due to open in September. Berlin beat out other world capitals that had vied to host its first public exhibition. But the event has faced fierce criticism already, especially from Jewish community leaders in Germany, who rail against showcasing a collection begun by Flick's grandfather, a notorious collaborator of the Third Reich." Miami Herald (AFP) 07/15/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:00 am

Music

It Looks Good, But The Sound Needs Work The on-stage acoustic of Frank Gehry's new Jay Pritzker Pavilion in downtown Chicago is a vast improvement over anything the Grant Park Orchestra has known before. Musicians can hear each other, and the overall quality of sound on the stage is something previously thought to be impossible on an outdoor stage. But for the audience, the acoustic "remains a work in progress. Indeed, the quality, depth and presence of sound still varies dramatically from place to place; ironically, the sonics are best at the back of the seating area and on the first half of the lawn." Chicago Tribune 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 9:06 am

Informing The Public, Or Forcing A Strike? AJ Blogger Drew McManus says that the Philadelphia Orchestra's new web page offering a supposedly impartial "informational update" on contract negotiations with the orchestra's musicians is full of hypocrisy and hyperbole. "It’s almost as though [board chairman Richard] Smoot wants to force the musicians to go on strike. And when that happens, no one wins. Yes, changes need to occur, but this is the absolutely worst possible way to draw them out. This is a clear sign that the Philadelphia community and the classical music community at large should call for the resignation of Richard Smoot as Chairman of the Board and Joe Kluger as President." Adaptistration (AJ Blogs) 07/16/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:50 am

• Previously: Philly Orchestra Management Takes On Musicians On Website Contract negotiations between orchestra musicians and managements usually take place behind closed doors, but the increasingly contentious talks currently ongoing in Philadelphia have apparently escalated into open warfare. This week, the Philadelphia Orchestra's board chairman launched a new corner of the ensemble's web site, entitled "Securing the Future," which advertises itself to be an informational update on the negotiations while declaring that "it is our musicians' turn to share responsibility." Highlighted on the new site's front page is a fiery declaration that "Our current trade agreement is a roadmap to extinction." Philadelphia Orchestra 07/04

Costello's Crossover Rock musicians who try to cross over to the classical world tend to fare about as well as sheep attempting flight. More often than not, their efforts tend to illicit scorn from classical audiences, and confusion from their traditional fan base. But if critical response is any indication, Elvis Costello be be the exception to the rule, as he prepares for the premiere of his first major symphonic work in Brooklyn this weekend. "'Il Sogno' was commissioned four years ago by an Italian dance company for its adaptation of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' Costello composed it in 10 weeks, writing it out painstakingly in pencil across 200 pages, without computers or collaborators. New York Post 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:02 am

Arts Issues

Looking For The Line As U.S. TV and radio broadcasters continue to tread an unusually cautious route through the latest "obscenity" minefield laid out by politicians and the FCC, the impact such crackdowns can have on popular culture is beginning to be assessed. No big media company wants to be made an example of for crossing the Puritanical line being toed by FCC chairman Michael Powell, but at the same time, no one seems to be terribly clear where that line is. The New York Times 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 9:22 am

Theatre

Theatre Sucks, Even If You're Straight A few months back, Emma Barber suggested in an interview that "no straight man ever willingly goes to the theatre." Since the interview was published, Barber has met every straight man in the UK who enjoys the theatre, and one of them turned out to be her editor, who promptly assigned her to start going to some plays herself. Five evenings of theatre later, Barber is unmoved: "Where do you start listing what is wrong with it? The booking? The building? The queues for the loos? The surly bar staff? The undrinkable wine? The rip-off programmes? The torturous seats? These can all be summed up in the feeling that from the minute you embark on this excursion you have set yourself up for a sucker." The Observer (UK) 07/18/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 10:04 am

Media

The Marketing of Controversy In the past few months, two of the most successful films in history have also been two of the most controversial. In fact, major controversy is just about the only thing that Mel Gibson's bloody biopic of Jesus and Michael Moore's brutal indictment of the Bush administration have in common. But Gibson and Moore have both tapped into a marketing concept that took Hollywood completely by surprise, yet seems like a no-brainer in retrospect: controversy sells, and you can't let too many facts get in the way of a good story or the profits a good story will bring. Toronto Star 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:43 am

How Dare You Spin Off My Copy Of That Duplicated Idea? TV critics are used to seeing industry execs engage in some pretty petty sniping, but Tim Goodman cannot believe that he has spent the better part of a week listening to Hollywood types argue over who stole whose idea for a lousy reality show that wasn't even remotely original anyway. "In a town all too familiar with the notion that there are only seven original stories and the rest is just, well, copy machines, ambition, connections and timing, why anyone is getting all uppity about theft is beyond comprehension." San Francisco Chronicle 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:32 am

The Minnesota Microbroadcasting Movement Minneapolis's Walker Art Center is closed for the year as its building undergoes a major expansion, but rather than fade completely from public view, the museum is mounting a series of interactive exhibitions called "Walker Without Walls." The latest project has Walker staffers "spending the summer helping as many as 500 locals build and operate their own miniature radio transmitters. It's called microradio, and organizers hope the combined voices of the new microbroadcasters inspire a 'Radio ReVolt' (the project's title)." The transmitters are all set to the same frequency (97.7FM, an open spot on the Twin Cities dial) and can broadcast for up to 200 feet.
St. Paul Pioneer Press 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:27 am

The Art Of Giving Credit Film credits are usually just a part of the film to be gotten through these days. In fact, most modern movies leave almost all their credits for the long, slow scroll at the film's conclusion, lest the audience be bored by the lack of creativity. But to Saul Bass, those credits were a true art. "The daubed graffiti credits that open West Side Story, the crumbling statues in Spartacus, the scratchy modernist posters and sleek corporate logos of his later work all carry his measured approach to expressing a story in, as he put it, 'some metaphorical way'. That approach is the subject of an extensive exhibition which opens [this weekend] at London's Design Museum." The Telegraph (UK) 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 7:55 am

Looking Forward To Days Of Yesteryear ABC's new drama, "The Days," has the potential to revolutionize the television industry, but not because of anything that happens to the characters. Instead, ABC is using the miniseries to test out the next generation of product-placement techniques, and is taking a page from the golden age of the medium, when companies sponsored entire programs rather than simpy buying 30-second spots. To advertisers, it's a way to get value for their ad-buying dollar at a time when most viewers click away from ad blocks. To the network, they hope it's a way to keep the money rolling in without angering viewers with blatant commercialism. Chicago Tribune 07/16/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 7:42 am

Dance

Oliphant's Offspring Betty Oliphant's death this past week leaves a hole in the Canadian ballet scene, says William Littler, but her lasting mark on the genre has already been guaranteed in the form of her countless disciples, her professional children. She revolutionized professional ballet training, exposing her students to the widest possible variety of experiences, both dance-related and not. Denied many of the most basic aspects of a dancer's development in her own youth, she was determined to turn out the world's most well-rounded and intelligent dancers. "Biologically speaking, Betty Oliphant had no sons — she had two daughters. But in dance terms, her many children belong to both sexes and number among the most remarkable Canada has produced." Toronto Star 07/17/04
Posted: 07/18/2004 8:37 am

• Previously: Betty Oliphant, 85 Betty Oliphant, founder of Canada's National Ballet School, has died at the age of 85. Emigrating from England in 1947, she became an icon of the Canadian dance scene. Some of the most celebrated dancers in the company's history – including dancers Frank Augustyn, Veronica Tennant, Karen Kain and Rex Harrington, and artistic director James Kudelka – are graduates of the institution." CBC 07/12/04