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Weekend, October 30-31




Ideas

Socrates: Books Cause Stupidity Has the printed word replaced good old-fashioned brain power? "In the days before print, books had to be copied out by hand, like medieval manuscripts. If you were a copyist, you wanted to make sure you weren't wasting a few years of your life writing out some piece of trash. You stuck with the tried and true: the Bible, or Aristotle, or Virgil. But a printer could publish anything reasonably quickly," even if it had no real value. Besides, books were never any use to anyone, according to such noted thinkers as Socrates. Writing down information is really just an excuse not to memorize it, and the easy availability of books just encourages idiots to substitute regurgitated information for original thinking. Toronto Star 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:39 am

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Visual Arts

Begging For Art "Tate Modern, one of the most popular art galleries in the world, fears for the future. Last week the Tate organisation was forced to beg 23 artists, including David Hockney and Damien Hirst, to donate works it can no longer afford. The Tate is hopelessly outgunned by big spending foreign rivals in the acquisition of important work... The Tate estimates that, given the cuts or freezing of its government funds year after year, and inflation in market prices of as much as 1,000 per cent, the organisation's buying power is now about 5 per cent of what it was 20 years ago." The Observer (UK) 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 10:00 am

Demolishing A Decade "In a society otherwise enamored of the styles of the 1960's, the architecture of that decade is rarely loved and frequently reviled. All over the country, 60's buildings are being torn down while much older buildings survive. Functional problems, like leaky roofs and inadequate heating systems, are often to blame. But just as often, the buildings are simply disliked by institutions that have enough money to replace them." There is a burgeoning movement afoot to save the structures, but the "so-bad-they're-good" logic doesn't seem to be attracting many supporters for the boxy, concrete buildings that dominated the '60s. The New York Times 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:11 am

U.S. Makes Venice Biennale Selection "A committee of American museum curators has selected Ed Ruscha, a leading painter, to represent the United States in June at the Venice Biennale, putting an end to a year of questions about whether the country would participate in the prestigious art festival." Washington Post 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:53 am

The New MoMA, From The Inside Out Much has been made of the new home of New York's Museum of Modern Art, but what about what's inside the building? MoMA's collection has been wholly reordered and rearranged, and the results are impressive, says Linda Hales. The museum has made use of the increased space to broaden its outlook and move beyond the Bauhaus to a much wider array of contemporary art. The idea is for MoMA to retain its commitment to featuring 20th-century art movements, even as it devotes more energy to current themes. Washington Post 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:47 am

A Museum Closes, But Does Anyone Care? When Chicago's Terra Museum of American Art shuts its doors this weekend, it will represent a major loss in the city's cultural landscape. Or will it? "The Terra Museum's failure to draw crowds even after effectively eliminating its admission charge a few years ago led to the decision to close... [but] most Chicagoans, including members of the city's art establishment, have greeted the closing with a collective shrug, even though it leaves the city with only two major art museums." The New York Times 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:13 am

Museum Clashes With eBay Over 'National Treasures' "At a news conference this week, the British Museum's head of treasure, Roger Bland, called on eBay to agree quickly to 'pull down' Web auctions of artifacts when British authorities identify them as potential national treasures, a step that eBay has been reluctant to undertake without legal proof that the items qualify as treasure... In negotiations that have stretched over a year, eBay has agreed in principle that it doesn't want illicit antiquities on its Web site and is willing to remove them provided the British authorities can state clearly which ones are illegal. But British officials have not been able to give a clear definition." The New York Times 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:07 am

How To Buy Art Without A Second Mortgage New York's Affordable Art Fair is a rarity - a major art event aimed squarely at ordinary people who have always assumed that collecting is outside their monetary means. "More than 130 galleries will offer original work by some 500 artists at the fair, and every piece is between $100 and $5,000. There will also be art demonstrations and tutorials on how to buy." New York Post 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 7:44 am

Adjaye Unveils Denver MoCA Design The design of the new permanent home of Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art has been unveiled, and it stands in stark contrast to the flashy, eye-catching architecture that currently dominates the museum scene. "[Architect David] Adjaye's concept puts the emphasis on dramatic interior spaces. Rather than jutting angles, the 25,000-square-foot building offers a placid interplay of light... Most of the exterior will be sheathed in glass, its color yet to be determined. About a foot inside the glass will be walls of translucent plastic, which will... allow in some diffused light during the day and radiate a glow from inside at night." Denver Post 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 7:39 am

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Music

Philly Hoping To Avoid A Strike "A contract extension for musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra expires just after midnight tonight, but players say a strike is not imminent." That doesn't mean that a settlement is near, only that the orchestra is scheduled to play children's concerts this week, and striking against a bunch of kids wouldn't look too good. Still, there seems to be at least some optimism that a deal could be reached without a work stoppage, especially with the mayor of Philadelphia now taking an aggressive and active role in the process. Philadelphia Inquirer 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:32 am

Play-And-Talk In Cleveland The Cleveland Orchestra will avoid a work stoppage when a 2-month extension of its current contract expires tonight, with an open-ended play-and-talk agreement and an agreement from management that the existing deal will be honored until a new one is settled. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:25 am

Met Opera Names Record Exec To Succeed Volpe The Metropolitan Opera has named Sony Classical president Peter Gelb to succeed Joseph Volpe as general manager. The appointment came more quickly than some observers were anticipating - Volpe won't leave his post until 2006 - and Gelb could be seen as an unexpected GM, having had no direct experience in the performance world. "The Met has 850 full-time and 1,200 part-time employees and a budget of $204 million, and it mounts as many as 30 productions a year. The general manager has to deal with 18 unions, scores of instrumentalists and temperamental stars." The New York Times 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 7:48 am

  • Will The Met Go Commercial? Peter Gelb got his first job at the Met, as an usher, when he was still a teenager. Now he'll be expected to continue Joe Volpe's successful run, and to steer the massive company through an increasingly difficult time for classical music in general. Gelb's years at Sony Classical made him a target for purists - he shut down several specialty sub-labels and made "crossover" music a priority - and some longtime Met observers wonder if he will take a similarly commercial approach in his new post. The New York Times 10/30/04
    Posted: 10/31/2004 7:45 am

Chicago Negotiations Down To The Wire The Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians' contract will expire at midnight tonight, and the players have already cleaned out their lockers at Symphony Hall in anticipation of a possible strike. "CSO contract negotiations are usually contentious, and settlements typically come at the last minute. Though there was no strike in 2000, the talks that led to the CSO's current four-year contract were regarded as particularly acrimonious." Chicago Sun-Times 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 7:31 am

  • Latest From Chicago: Extension Indicates Progress The CSO contract has been extended again, this time for a single day, in the wake of last-minute talks that both sides have called productive. The musicians have scheduled an all-orchestra meeting for Tuesday morning, when they will either vote to ratify or a new contract or call a strike. Chicago Tribune 10/31/04
    Posted: 10/31/2004 7:20 am

We're Critics, Not PR Flaks At the recent symposium on the future of classical music criticism, a familiar argument raged over the role of the critic in promoting the form. "The assumption seems to be that music journalists can help keep classical music alive by constantly writing how wonderful it is and how terrific all those folks are who play it." But besides being an absurd line of reasoning, doesn't cheerleading demean the whole idea of intelligent criticism? "Critics, in every field, are indeed advocates. But not only for performing artists. We also must consider the audience and defend them from mediocrity and worse. At the core of this job is an allegiance to great art, and to those who create it." Rocky Mountain News 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 7:00 am

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People

The Critic Who Hated David Mamet It's a difficult thing to admit, but critic John Moore has come to the conclusion that he actively hates playwright David Mamet, the brilliant wordsmith responsible for some of the more provocative plays and film scripts of the last century. And Moore doesn't deny Mamet's skill or talent. He doesn't even resort to the most frequent criticism of Mamet, that he is a barely-disguised misogynist. "I hate Mamet because he is so infuriatingly brilliant, and yet he has spent the majority of his career honing a peculiar, cruel adeptness for showing men and women at their most amoral and violent. His world is a vulgar wasteland devoid of ethics and compassion." Denver Post 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:50 am

No Good Idea Goes Unpunished Ever since Richard Florida published his groundbreaking book, The Rise of the Creative Class, in 2002, cities have been embracing his formula for success. But the backlash against Florida's arts-first agenda has been brutal, and has come from both sides of the political spectrum. "The one side accuses Florida... of having a 'gay agenda' or an 'arts agenda' and of undermining the Judeo-Christian foundations of our society. The other asserts that he has abandoned the working class in favor of promoting a group of elites." For his part, the author claims that his work has been over-simplified and misinterpreted, and is getting tired of knee-jerk reactions. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:16 am

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Theatre

George W., Theatrical Muse You can't turn around in the theatre world today without bumping into an on-stage characterization of the President of the United States. Ben Brantley has watched a wide array of the Bush portrayals, and is amazed at the passion the man seems to have inspired in actors and playwrights. "This wide-ranging theatrical Bush garden is the more remarkable considering that in the 1990's, I never reviewed a work in which William Jefferson Clinton was the leading character." The New York Times 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:07 am

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Media

No Solutions Yet For Montreal Film Fest "Telefilm Canada and Quebec's film agency SODEC have rejected the four proposals submitted to receive funding for a Montreal film festival... Unhappy with the Montreal World Film Festival and its director, Serge Losique, the government agencies called for proposals Sept. 7. The call came after a study highlighted several problems with the existing festival, compared to others run in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax." The Globe & Mail (CP) 10/31/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 9:56 am

Would Satellite Radio Help Or Hurt Canada? Satellite radio is gaining steam in the U.S., but in Canada, the technology still hasn't managed to get the government's stamp of approval. In a country which is deathly afraid of being overrun by American culture, the notion of a national radio service exempt from Canadian-first cultural rules is a controversial one. But satellite companies argue that their service would actually help independent Canadian musicians. Toronto Star 10/30/04
Posted: 10/31/2004 8:26 am

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