Who Are You? (The Test Says...) Tests of personality are everywhere these days. "Clearly, there's something about the elusive notion of personality, and the possibility of capturing it, that draws us to these tests. But an increasingly vocal group of critics is fighting this testing tsunami, arguing that many of the tests themselves have not been tested and that their unscientific conclusions may do far more harm than good." Boston Globe 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 9:50 pm
How Malcom Rogers Transformed The MFA Outside of the Guggenheim's Thomas Krens, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts director Malcom Rogers is probably the most controversial museum director in America. When Rogers took the job, he inherited an institution in considerable distress. He's made changes, big changes. "There's something so fundamentally annoying to the museum profession about the efforts to break the academy walls down and kind of rethink the role of great art museums in America. They're so concerned about these fake, institutional standards that I don't think these people ever look at Malcolm clearly. They immediately have glasses on that blind them to the end product, which I think is a healthy MFA." Boston Globe 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 9:31 pm
- Malcom Rogers: Art Of The MFA "There have been great shows during the Rogers reign. The Gaugin and Rembrandt shows of this past season are perfect examples. You couldn't ask for more excellent exhibitions anywhere in the world. But there have also been some that seem the result of not wanting to spend the time or money to do right by the subject." Boston Globe 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 9:21 pm
Atheneum Takes A New Track Hartford's Atheneum has seen a 27 percent drop in attendance in three years. It's dropped an expensive building expansion and is embarking on an alternative plan. Changes in the museum's focus are underway. "The idea that the Atheneum can do an important blockbuster show year in and year out is simply not true anymore. Those shows were, in my judgment, the product of an economy which no longer exists, and they are a product of a certain way of thinking about museums that I'm not so sure that in the end was productive." Hartford Courant 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 9:06 pm
Architecture: Computers Can't Substitute For Imagination The Venice Architecture Biennale is full of plans for fancy projects made possible with the wizardry of computer design. But gadgetry doesn't make up for lack of imagination... The Guardian (UK) 09/13/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 8:36 pm
Broadway Turned Into Sculpture Row Sculptor Tom Otterness is mounting "the biggest one-man sculpture exhibition in New York City parks since a show of Henry Moore works in 1984." Otterness is "well suited to the diversity and commercial energy of Broadway. He is both popular and populist — an artist whose sculptures are intended to work everywhere and be understood by almost everyone. The sculptures in 'Tom Otterness on Broadway' range in size from under 2 feet to over 20 feet tall." The New York Times 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:42 pm
On The Architectural Menu This Fall... This fall brings a number of important architecture events around America - from the opening of the Museum of Modern Art, to the opening of the Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC. Blair Kamin enumerates... Chicago Tribune 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:20 pm
Australia's First "Ring" The first-ever full Australian production of Wagner's Ring cycle is being mounted by Adelaide's State Opera South Australia... The Age (Melbourne) 09/13/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 8:09 pm
Who's In Line To Lead The Dallas Symphony... Who will succeed Andrew Litton as music director of the Dallas Symphony? "One thing's clear: The field is wide open. At least at this point, there's no leading contender." So here's a list of the possibilities... Dallas Morning News 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:25 pm
Naipaul's New Story At the time of his Nobel Prize in 2001, Sir Vidia Naipaul claimed to be finished with fiction. There was nothing for him - or any other novelist - left to say. So why the new book of fiction? The Observer (UK) 09/13/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 8:49 pm
Guantanamo In NY Gillian Slovo's play about Guantánamo detainees was controversial in London - so how would it play in New York? "For a novelist who has not previously written for the theatre, New York did seem rather unbelievable, and, it has to be confessed, not a little frightening. This is a play, after all, that centres on British Asians or British Islamic converts, people who had all got caught up in the events that followed the obliteration of the Twin Towers. How would Americans deal with it?" The Guardian (UK) 09/11/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:37 pm
BBC For Sale? (At Least Pieces...) Might the BBC sell off some of its profitable assets? "The BBC is under pressure to become more profitable in the run-up to its charter renewal in 2006 as it needs a war chest to prove to the government it can deliver outstanding programmes. The sale of its commercial wing, BBC Worldwide, could generate up to £2 billion and prevent cuts to the corporation’s 27,000-strong workforce." The Scotsman 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 10:10 pm
Libeskind: How Hitchcock Changed My Life Architect Daniel Libeskind says seeing Hitchcock's "North By Northwest" changed his life. "Seeing people climb on George Washington's nose and hang from the eyebrows of Teddy Roosevelt formed my eternal image of America, with all of its grandeur and illusion. Alfred Hitchcock captured me and took me on a journey into the adventure and unimaginable beauty of the sublime American continent. The movie is a testament to the visual power of film." The Guardian (UK) 09/13/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 8:29 pm
Film-Festivals-Fit-All These days there's a film festival for every taste. "The big festivals, Sundance (ski bums and L.A. players), Toronto (largely sold out before it starts) and Cannes (essentially a massive scrum of 3,500 journalists), mean congestion in the streets, lineups for everything and a hierarchy of press, industry and VIPs that can overwhelm a mere film lover. Add the logistics of getting tickets, getting into the theatre -- never mind a party -- and the bigger fests can start to feel suspiciously like work. Fortunately, for someone willing to travel, there are so many festivals that there is an almost endless choice of alternatives." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/11/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:30 pm
Get Shorty Every year hundreds of short films are made. But aside from landing on the lineups of film festivals, shorts are rarely seen in movie theatres. "So why then, do so many Canadian filmmakers continue to produce them in such numbers? The answer is as complex and varied as the films themselves." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/11/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:27 pm
Devoted To Fagan "Typically, modern dancers stay with a choreographer for months, not years; and those who do stay for years do not often stay for decades. So what is it that keeps dancers performing — and performing with Garth Fagan — for 10, 20, even more than 30 years, up in Rochester, a snowy, medium-size city near Lake Ontario?" The New York Times 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 10:03 pm
A Place For Profile In the "snail-paced, under-funded world of dance", the launch of the new Place dance prize choreographic competition has been big news. It was originally the brainchild of John Ashford, director of the Place in London, who for years has been plotting to organise a high-profile prize for the art form. It wasn't just the cash he was after - 'though dance is still the Cinderella art form and always needs new money' - but the recognition." The Guardian (UK) 09/13/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 8:22 pm
Guillem - The Prima Diva At (Almost) 40 Royal Ballet star Silvie Guillem is almost 40. She's "difficult, it is said, known for being arrogant and argumentative. She stormed out of the Paris Opera following fights with Rudolf Nureyev and took off for the Royal Ballet, where she had more rows, this time with Kenneth MacMillan. She said no to an amazing number of parts and, even where she said yes, she refused to do them in the usual ways or wearing the costumes that other people provided." The Observer (UK) 09/12/04
Posted: 09/12/2004 6:33 pm
