IDEAS
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philosophy For The Masses Philosophy, while usually an exalted profession in academic circles, has rarely held much interest for the public at large, with its convoluted language and bafflingly theoretical views of real-world events. "These days, though, philosophers are engaging with the world more readily than before. During the past 10 years there has been a spate of books intent, not so much on taking philosophy to streets, as taking it to the dinner parties. And they're a mixed bag. Many are just crass attempts to cash in on the movement - the worst kind of arranged marriage between publishing and opportunistic editors." But some of the books are legitimately moving philosophy into the mainstream without much dumbing down. - The Age (Melbourne) 09/04/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/ideas/redir/20040905-51346.html
ARTS ISSUES
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Building Support For The NEA, One Vote At A Time National Endowment for the Arts chairman Dana Gioia has spent the last year building political support for his agency, one politician at a time. "Conservative support for the agency is among the little-noticed political developments of this election year. In January President Bush asked Congress to increase the endowment's budget by $18 million for the 2005 fiscal year, the highest percentage increase in a quarter-century." - The New York Times 09/07/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsissues/redir/20040906-51383.html
DANCE
http://www.artsjournal.com/dance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ballet Problem - Where Are The Women Choreoghraphers?: Where are the women choreographers? "Is it possible that in an art form driven by feminine ideals, women haven't made nearly the gains of their sisters in business and politics? If Cinderella wants to be a choreographer, is she more likely to encounter a glass ceiling than a glass slipper?" Houston Chronicle 09/06/04
http://artsjournal.com/dance/redir/20040906-51386.html
MEDIA
http://www.artsjournal.com/media
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Record Movie Summer North American movie box office hit a record this summer. The industry took in an "all-time summer haul of just under $4-billion from the first weekend in May through Labour Day. That's up 3 per cent from the previous record of $3.9-billion set last summer. But like the summer of 2003, higher admission prices meant fewer tickets were sold. Exhibitor Relations estimates moviegoers bought 637.8 million tickets domestically this past summer, down 0.76 per cent from 2003." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/06/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20040906-51378.html
Hollywood Delivered This Summer? "The feeling within Hollywood at summer's end was that despite some uneven results, on the whole this season's movies delivered, unlike last year, when a raft of sequels like "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" came in for critical bashing and complaints during exit polls." The New York Times 09/07/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20040906-51384.html
Venice Protests Over American Films Protests are being staged at the Venice Film Festival to protest the domination of American movies this year. "Anti-capitalist protesters have set up a Global Beach camp nearby to denounce the prevalence of Hollywood stars and the cost of screenings." BBC 09/06/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/media/redir/20040906-51375.html
MUSIC
http://www.artsjournal.com/music
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Dallas Concert Hall Turns 15 Dallas' primary concert hall turns 15. "After a decade and a half, the Meyerson definitely doesn't squeak like a mouse. Acoustically, it is the best hall of its generation, with a sound as sumptuous as warm brandy and a silk jacket. Architecturally, it remains a mixed bag, a good example of Mr. Pei's elegant classical modernism but also aloof and somewhat intimidating, a piece of sculpture meant to be admired rather than embraced. Promises of hefty economic benefits – the association predicted that the new hall would generate at least $25 million in new tax revenue and 500 housing units – proved delusional." Dallas Morning News 09/05/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20040906-51373.html
Cantrell: A Fabulous Hall It takes a pretty good hall to impress a critic over many years, but Scott Cantrell likes Dallas' Meyerson: "Fifteen years on, and with the experience of a lot of concert halls around the world, the Meyerson is still my favorite modern symphony hall and one of my favorites of any period. It's not a perfect hall – there's no such thing – but it's a fabulous one." Dallas Morning News 09/05/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/redir/20040906-51374.html
PEOPLE
http://www.artsjournal.com/people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doyle: "New" Ireland's A Joke Writer Roddy Doyle is amused at the Irish obsession with writing about being Irish: "Being Irish has changed 'about 17 times' in the last hundred years. He finds the image put out by the tourist board of Ireland these days hilarious in its cheek, particularly since all around the world people have swallowed it. 'It's a big con job,' he says. 'We have sold the myth of Dublin as a sexy place incredibly well; because it's a dreary little dump most of the time. Try getting a pint at one in the morning and you'll find just how raving it actually is'." The Guardian (UK) 09/06/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/people/redir/20040906-51382.html
PUBLISHING
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Violent New "Alice In Wonderland" A new version of Alice in Wonderland, by Frank Beddor, has inflamed critics for its violent and bizarre retelling. "Mr Beddor, who produced gross-out movie There's Something About Mary, and is a former world champion skier, has transplanted Alice into a modern and violent fantasy world that could have come straight out of a computer game." But he defends the story: "Kids are used to a more violent and real world now - video games and movies are dominating, and hopefully they will love this book." BBC 09/06/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/publishing/redir/20040906-51370.html
THEATRE
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chilean Theatre Awakes After A Long Sleep "No one can underestimate the havoc wrought in Chile by the Pinochet military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. 'Culture,' in the words of my dramatist friend Benjamin Galemiri, 'was seen by Pinochet as an act of terrorism.' Under the dual threat of state censorship and physical intimidation, many artists were silenced." But now, Chilean theatre is reawakening... The Guardian (UK) 09/07/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20040906-51381.html
A Scottish Theatre Crisis Scottish theatre has plenty of talent and produces much good work. But theatre is so underfunded, the country's theatres are starving for oxygen. "When dairy farmers are milking their cows, they increase their ration. If the cows do not get enough, they move on to their own body mass. That's the state of Scottish theatre. We don't have enough resources to maintain the body." The Guardian (UK) 09/07/04
http://www.artsjournal.com/theatre/redir/20040906-51379.html
VISUAL ARTS
http://www.artsjournal.com/visualarts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At The Tate: Do-It-Yourself Labels Tate Britain is inviting visitors to write their own labels for art in the galleries. "The 30 most vivid contributions will go up on the walls, beside the efforts of the curators, in time for British Art Week, starting on September 20. More will be added, and may remain for as long as the paintings stay on display. This is the first time the gallery has invited members of the public to join a contentious debate about how to label art." The Guardian (UK) 09/07/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51380.html
Turkey Nixes Noah's Ark Search "A Honolulu businessman's plan to take an expedition to Mount Ararat in search of Noah's Ark ended this week when the Turkish government refused to permit it because of security concerns about the area, which borders Iran and is 150 miles from Iraq." Honolulu Star-Bulletin 09/03/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51377.html
In Hartford: A Museum Solution Across The Street Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art had ambitious plans to shut down for two years and "create a spectacular new $100 million building." But when that plan was abandoned, it opened new possibilities and a bit of reinvention of the museum's operation... Hartford Courant 09/06/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51376.html
Culture Wars Revisited Fourteen years after landing at the center of the American culture wars, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati mounts a show of controversial art from the 1980s. "Cincinnati remains a conservative redoubt in a battleground state. But the selection of paintings, sculptures, videos and photographs in this show — on view through Nov. 21 in Zaha Hadid's acclaimed new building — feels like a brave attempt by a rejuvenated institution to confront its local audience, and perhaps at the same time begin to repair the city's reputation for cultural provincialism." The New York Times 09/05/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51372.html
Munch Museum Beefs Up Security After Scream Theft After heavy criticism after "The Scream" was stolen, the Munch Museum in Oslo is installing new security measures to protect its art. "We are closed and will be closed for three weeks to install alarms, among other things." BBC 09/06/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51371.html
Ono To "Recreate" 60s Naked "Happening" Yoko Ono plans to recreate one of her most famous pieces of art at the Tate Modern, 40 years after first performing it. "The original 1964 'happening' involved Ono having clothing cut from her body by the audience until she was naked. The 71-year-old recreated the work in Paris last year in an effort to promote world peace, but left the stage in her underwear." BBC 09/06/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51369.html
A New Museum For Paris "A $265 million museum devoted to the indigenous art of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania is rising on the banks of the Seine beside the Eiffel Tower. Within a year the Musée du Quai Branly, as it is known, will begin receiving the 270,000 objects in its collection." The New York Times 09/06/04
http://artsjournal.com/visualarts/redir/20040906-51385.html
