Putting Revisionism In Its Place "Sitting in the shadow of the Capitol, on some of the most prestigious real estate in Washington, the new [Museum of the American Indian] has emerged with ambitions far greater than simply... becoming a Disney-style happy magnet for native peoples. It is a monument to Postmodernism -- to a way of thinking that emphasizes multiple voices and playful forms of truth over the lazy acceptance of received wisdom, authority and scientific 'certainty.' Its successful completion is evidence that American Indians have emerged as perhaps the only minority group in this country to win a skirmish in the culture wars." Washington Post 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:00 pm
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Imagining Denver's New MCA Architect David Adjaye's design for Denver's new Museum of Contemporary Art won't be unveiled until October, but details are trickling out slowly. Plans for the museum have expanded since Adjaye was engaged to design it, with the latest projections showing an increase in both square footage and price. It was decided early on that "the building should not contain one or two large spaces that could be partitioned and adapted to all kinds of art. Instead, they're opting for an array of distinctive galleries, each serving certain types of work better than others." Denver Post 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:39 pm
China's Architectural Mood Swing "After essentially sealing the country off from foreign architects for much of the 20th century, the Chinese government kicked off the 21st by turning itself into the biggest single patron of avant-garde architecture in the world." But the government's enthusiasm is proving short-lived, as major projects by big-name foreign architects have recently been savaged in the state-controlled Chinese press, halted or delayed by the same authorities who initially gave them the green light, and generally placed on a national dart board. Call it one part nationalism, and two parts fiscal insecurity... The New York Times 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:21 pm
- Beijing's Bad Buildings "The construction boom that has been remaking Beijing has attracted famous architects from around the world. But the cityscape is hardly the stuff of a glossy design magazine. For every Zaha Hadid tower in the works for the capital, there are hundreds of forgettably mediocre buildings already in place, displaying the sort of mirrored-glass facades and gilded decoration that went out of style in America sometime in the 1980's." The plague of bad architecture is so bad that a website has been launched to chronicle the worst examples. The New York Times 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:20 pm
Rent-A-Pic: Museums & Ethics This past spring, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts rented out 21 Monets to a commercial art gallery operating inside a Las Vegas casino. On April 13, the casino lost power for three days, and the paintings may have been left baking in the desert heat while the juice was restored. Tough luck? You bet, and according to many in the museum world, a serious ethical lapse by the MFA as well. There are codes to which accredited museums and their directors must supposedly adhere, but according to AJ Blogger Tyler Green, those codes are frequently flouted, and rarely enforced. "Critics [have] warned about what might happen when a museum considered money-making to be more important than caring for and conserving art. When the electricity died at Bellagio, an academic debate was transformed into a real-life disaster." Modern Art Notes (AJ Blogs) 09/17/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 7:53 pm
Staying Afloat By Selling Off The Stock Times are tough for art institutions and foundations across North America. And one of the dirty little secrets of the business is that such organizations frequently keep themselves afloat fiscally by selling off bits of their collections. But is it ethical to do so? The answer depends on whom you ask, and there doesn't seem to be any general agreement. But for foundations which refuse to give up any piece of their collections, (such as Philadelphia's notoriously strapped Barnes Foundation,) the alternative can be serious financial hardship and even insolvency. Philadelphia Inquirer 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 7:45 pm
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Fighting Over The Money Pool The San Antonio Symphony's strategy of bypassing the city's arts board and lobbying City Council directly for funding appears to have paid off, as the SAS was awarded a $400,000 allocation last week. "But other cultural arts groups were left looking for answers — and more money. None of those 30 agencies received as much money from the city as they had requested, and some felt slighted by a council willing to break the rules for a high-profile, politically connected organization." San Antonio Express-News 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 5:49 am
And You Thought Job Interviews Were Tough? Last fall, 56 of the finest cellists in the U.S. descended on Minneapolis to audition for a single open position in the Minnesota Orchestra. Some would flame out on the first phrase they attempted, while others would cloak their nervousness behind a veneer of professional calm perfected at countless other such tryouts. They would have less than ten minutes each to show what they could do... St. Paul Pioneer Press 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 5:35 am
Phil Orch Extends Contract After a weekend of ominous noises from both sides, the musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra have followed the lead of several other U.S. orchestras, extending their contract for 30 days in order to avert a strike. Both sides have also agreed to a media blackout, which would be a marked change from the nearly continuous potshots that flew back and forth over the summer. Philadelphia Inquirer 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 5:18 am
- Previously: Philly Players Authorize Strike Following a week of increasingly public recriminations between musicians and management, the Philadelphia Orchestra has voted to authorize a strike if an agreement is not reached by midnight Monday. Musicians' representatives walked out of a bargaining session on Friday, citing management's unwillingness to budge from a proposed list of cuts to the musicians' salaries and benefits. The orchestra has a history of acrimonious negotiations, and was last on strike for 64 days in 1996. Philadelphia Inquirer 09/19/04
They Can't Be New The classical music industry is awash in reissues these days, with the aim of marketing to the nostalgia of an aging audience that can still remember learning a Brahms symphony at the business end of a phonograph. But all the remastered CDs in the world can't replicate the enjoyment those old records brought, writes Bernard Holland, and it's not the snap, crackle, and pop of analog recordings that's missing, either. "We still love the Schubert symphonies, perhaps more than ever, but the excitement, the stabs of discovery, have modulated into a broader, slowly rising plane of experience, drawing on the many recordings and concerts heard since, and with a lot more room for thought." The New York Times 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:34 pm
Chicago Lyric At 50 Lyric Opera of Chicago turns 50 this year, and stands as one of the world's most successful companies, and as one of Chicago's most enduring arts institutions. When Lyric began presenting opera in 1954, Chicago had been without opera for eight years, and had never been host to a company of national stature. But a combination of good timing, top-notch staff, and high demand catapulted the company to national prominence almost immediately, and it's been in the spotlight ever since. Chicago Sun-Times 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:13 pm
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Pay Us Anything! Just Come Watch The Show! All across the UK, opera companies, theaters, and orchestras are testing cut-price ticketing schemes designed to lure first-timers to performances they ordinarily wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. "So it is £10 at the National Theatre, £5 for students at the Royal Shakespeare Company's new Albery season, a third off for two operas or more at English National Opera, £5 at Welsh National Opera, and 'pay what you can' nights at the Bristol Old Vic." Slashing ticket prices may smell a bit of desperation, but the strategy is working: the National Theatre had 50,000 new patrons last season, and a third of those have returned this year. The Guardian (UK) 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 6:38 am
Philanthropists To Fly Coach "The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of several major philanthropies to take heat this year over high-end travel by board members, said it will no longer pay for first-class flights by its directors or most trips by their spouses." Directors will now fly business class or coach, depending on the length of the flight. Recent media reports had questioned the use of foundation funds to pay for first-class travel. Chicago Tribune 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 6:16 am
Suing To Save Orphan Art "Valuable resources are being lost to students, researchers and historians because of sweeping changes in copyright law, according to digital archivists who are suing the government. These resources -- older books, films and music -- are often out of print and considered no longer commercially viable, but are still locked up under copyright. Locating copyright owners is a formidable challenge because Congress no longer requires that owners register or renew their copyrights with the U.S. Copyright Office." The plaintiffs in the lawsuit want the right to create a digital archive of such "orphan works" for public use. Wired 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 5:58 am
New Liability Law May Sail Through Congress Tech companies and consumer groups are trying to persuade the U.S. Congress to hold public hearings before it adopts the so-called Induce Act, which would hold companies that manufacture file-trading software liable for the illegal actions of its users. The issue of secondary liability is far more complicated than many of the bill's sponsors seem to realize, but Congress's desire to pass some sort of serious copyright reform quickly may trump the need for further debate. Wired 09/18/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:34 pm
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Better Late Than Never The man behind the new Museum of the American Indian is visibly excited about this week's opening. In fact, Richard West will be donning native garments and participating in a Cheyenne dance at Tuesday's ceremonies. "From a native perspective, this is a powerfully affirming time in history. We should have been among the first threads of culture on the Mall. Instead we are the last. But, poetically, we occupy the first site next to the Capitol. There is poetry in that having belatedly gotten here, we occupy one of the two key sites on the National Mall." Minneapolis Star Tribune 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:44 pm
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Everyone Knows Good Books Are Huge "The number of people who read books is getting smaller and smaller, but the size of the books they read seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Step into a Barnes & Noble or a Borders and you will see shelves sagging with supersize works, some so back-breakingly heavy they are shipped in boxes with plastic handles. Search online and you'll discover larger-than-coffee-table tomes. The illogic of this phenomenon speaks volumes -- ever-expanding volumes -- about the state of reading in contemporary civilization." Washington Post 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 8:50 pm
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TIFF Wraps It Up It's a measure of the populist nature of the Toronto International Film Festival that its top award is known as the People's Choice. This year, as TIFF closed up shop for another season, the prize went to a riveting British/South African/Italian co-production called Hotel Rwanda. It was a good year for South African film in general at the fest, and also a strong year for documentaries. And just in case anyone had forgotten what country he was in, TIFF organizers released their official list of the top Canadian films of all time. Chicago Tribune 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 6:11 am
- Drunken Alien Conquers Toronto No matter where you went during the Toronto International Film Festival, you couldn't avoid Phil the Alien. The director, the stars, and just about anyone else associated with the film were absolutely everywhere at TIFF, and the exposure was no accident. "Within a week, this well-orchestrated buzz would lead to a Canadian distribution deal for Phil the Alien with Lions Gate Films." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 6:10 am
It's HBO's Year (Again) HBO trumped the broadcast networks yet again at this year's Emmy Awards, taking home a record 11 awards for its miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, as well as the award for best drama, which went to The Sopranos. Fox's critically acclaimed but low-rated Arrested Development won for best comedy, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart took home best variety honors for the second year in a row. Los Angeles Times 09/20/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:44 pm
Napster, Take 3 Following the Napster name from pirate scourge to persecuted litigant to legit music company over the last few years has been dizzying. "Now in its latest reincarnation, [Napster's current parent] Roxio has shed its CD-burning software business and plans to concentrate solely on selling and delivering music over the web. It will adopt Napster as its corporate name, trading under a new ticker symbol. The pure-play move will mark Napster's birth as the name of a public company, but more importantly, arm the company with resources to help survive the rough-and-tumble as other deep-pocketed, powerful rivals enter the crowded online music space." Wired 09/18/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:30 pm
Making It Big (Or Not) Getting on the list of films to be screened at a major festival is a big step for an indie filmmaker, but it's only half the battle. Distributors prowl the fests looking for indies to turn into the Next Big Thing, but for most fledgling directors, there's no pot of gold waiting at the end of all the schmoozing and politicking. Toronto Star 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:23 pm
A Mixed Bag Beats Homogeneity There were some fairly unwatchable films shown at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and naturally, critics will be sure to harp on their selection for what is supposed to be a showcase of great art. But the point of such festivals to show us a reflection of our world in artistic fashion, and human error is sometimes a part of that reality. "We must... remember that programmers aren't infallible and that occasionally they make mistakes. But an even worse mistake would be to return to the kind of blanket censorship that dogged the festival in its early years, when Ontario's cinema nannies regulated every thrust and slash." Toronto Star 09/19/04
Posted: 09/19/2004 9:14 pm
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The Bessies Celebrate NY Dance "New York dance had its annual gathering of the clan on Friday night at the Joyce Theater with the New York Dance and Performance Awards ceremony, dance's equivalent to the Oscars and Tonys. Better known as the Bessies, named after Bessie Schonberg, a choreography teacher who was a mentor to many, the awards carry prizes of $500 to $1,000." The madcap nature of the event was downplayed a bit this year, with more political musing than usual making its way into acceptance speeches. The New York Times 09/20/04
Posted: 09/20/2004 6:54 am
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