Being Smart - Is It OverRated? In academia, the top complement these days is to be called smart. "But why this preponderance of smart? What exactly does it mean? Why not, instead, competent? Or knowledgeable? Or conscientious? We might value those qualities as well, but they seem pedestrian, lacking the particular distinction of being smart. Historically, smart has taken on its approbative sense relatively recently." Chronicle of Higher Education 12/17/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 6:05 pm
What Constitutes A Successful Museum? From the outside, today's American museums look prosperous and happy. "Yet all is not well in the art museum profession," writes Maxwell Anderson. "Within the confines of their boardrooms, American art museums today are beset as never before by disagreement about their priorities. The difficulty in measuring success in art museums today stems in part from the fact that, over the last generation, art museums have shifted their focus away from collection-building and toward various kinds of attention to the public—without balancing these two imperatives and without a consensus on what constitutes best practices in the latter." So how do you measure success at the modern American museum? Getty Leadership Institute 12/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:43 pm
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Is Berlin Deadening The Human Spirit? Berlin imposes strict rules on any architect wishing to erect a new building, rules drawn up and enforced by the city's powerful director of urban development. The strict code has had some benefits, but overall, Lisa Rochon says that it is killing German architecture. "Urban-design regulations and zoning bylaws... dictate the maximum height of the building (22 metres), a setback for upper storeys, a careful ratio between window openings and masonry walls and a preference for buff-coloured limestone. The preferred elevation looks taut and minimal. The result is an architectural flatness that, when combined with the city's grey winter light, can deaden the human spirit." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:49 am
Washington State Tax Agents Go After Art Collectors Inspired by stories of New York art collectors avoiding sales tax on their purchases, Washington State revenue agents subpoenaed records of an art shipper and went after state residents who hadn't paid a "use" tax (essentially a sales tax) on their out-of-state art purchases. Thousands of collectors may have been dinged for the taxes - plus penalties, which can run as high as 50 percent... Seattle Post-Intelligencer 12/15/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 9:51 pm
The New Barnes - Different, Maybe Better? Perhaps the Barnes art will benefit from a new setting, writes Roberta Smith. "Of course, it is great to see paintings in an intimate setting that glows with the patina of time and bears the imprint of a collector's personal vision. But it is also correct to ask whether a collector's wishes, especially when they are restrictive, must be observed in perpetuity. The Barnes collection is not the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Barnes didn't make the art; he bought it, one movable object at a time. Very few things remain the same forever, and they change largely because of human need." The New York Times 12/15/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 6:54 pm
World's Tallest Bridge Opens It's in France. "The 1.6-mile viaduc de Millau has been described as one of the most beautiful bridges ever, a work of art as much as an engineering feat. Its architect, Sir Norman Foster, has said driving across at a record 270 metres (885ft) above the Tarn valley should feel like 'flying a car'." The Guardian (UK) 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 6:27 pm
Philly Mayor: The Barnes' New Site A day after finding out that the Barnes Collection will be allowed to move to Philadelphia, the city's mayor announced the new Barnes site. It will be at the Youth Study Center, which is now the city's juvenile detention center at the corner of 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. "The move to the Youth Study Center, however, has some complications. The city has already bought land in West Philadelphia to build a new juvenile detention center, but that new building won't be ready to occupy until October 2007. The Barnes however clearly wants to start building its new museum much sooner." Philadelphia Inquirer 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:14 pm
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Thinking Smaller In South Florida With no new symphony orchestra in sight, some former members of the now-defunct Florida Philharmonic have banded together to form the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra, with the aim of filling the classical void while maintaining enough organizational flexibility to stay afloat in an area that has not shown a great deal of interest in the genre. The Fort Lauderdale-based group is showing early signs of success, and is already being booked for concert dates as far north as Georgia. Miami Herald 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:59 am
Musician Protest Forces Brooklyn Opera Cancellation The Opera Company of Brooklyn has been forced to cancel a benefit concert after the musicians' union announced plans to stage a protest outside the venue. The protest was scheduled as a result of the company's decision to resume use of the "virtual orchestra" synthesizer known as Sinfonia. Pressure to dump the synth is also being applied by the powerful head of Columbia Artists Management, which owns the hall in which the company performs. "The opera company considers the Sinfonia an instrument and said it is used merely to enhance the musical accompaniment, with live musicians playing along with it; the union said the machine would take jobs away from players and debase the quality of live performance." The New York Times 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:23 am
Madonna Tops 2004 Tour Take The top touring artist of 2004 was Madonna, who took in $125 million this year. "The singer sold out 55 of 56 shows worldwide on her Re-Invention tour, making about $2.23m a night. 'My Re-Invention tour was by far the most creatively satisfying experience I have ever had,' Madonna told Billboard." BBC 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:51 pm
A Very Beethoven New Year Japanese conductor Hiroyuki Iwaki and Japan's NHK Orchestra will perform all nine Beethoven symphonies New Year's Eve in a marathon concert. "Iwaki will conduct members of the NHK Orchestra, with other musicians, in a concert that begins at 3:30 p.m., and will likely last over six hours. There will be five intermissions." PlaybillArts 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:21 pm
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Canada Renews Crucial Arts Funding Program "The sense of dread engulfing Canada's arts community is about to be lifted — for now. Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla will announce today that Ottawa is renewing its Tomorrow Starts Today arts-funding program, the Toronto Star has learned. That translates into about $200 million for 12 months starting April 1, 2005. The decision comes after months of fierce lobbying and parliamentary hearings, as well as fear, anger and frustration. And it removes a big black cloud hanging over the cultural world. The program, which has pumped more than $750 million into the arts over the past four years, was heading for a sunset on March 31, which would have been devastating." Toronto Star 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 6:33 am
You Pay The Piper, You Call The Tune The regional government of Wales has announced that it will be bypassing the UK's Arts Council and taking over the fiscal management of all the major Welsh arts groups immediately. The change marks a dramatic shift in the way the arts are funded and managed in the UK, as politicians and bureaucrats will now have absolute authority over the affected groups, without the usual democratic council of experts acting as middleman. Strangely, no one in the Welsh arts community seems to be protesting too loudly. The Times (UK) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:33 am
Major Moves At SPAC The chairman of New York State's embattled Saratoga Performing Arts Center has resigned in the wake of a scathing audit which accused the center of absentee management and severe negligence in its oversight of one of the Northeast's prominent summer arts venues. The SPAC board also canceled its planned $400,000 buyout of its president, Herb Chesbrough, which was specifically targeted for withering criticism by the auditors. The Saratogian (NY) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:10 am
New Barnes Key To Philly Arts Boulevard? With the addition of the Barnes and the possibility of a new Calder Museum, Philadelphia's Franklin Parkway might indeed become a long-envisioned grand arts boulevard. "The Parkway, of course, already has a lot going for it. The area is home to the Art Museum, the Rodin Museum, the Free Library, the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Moore College. But there are huge gaps along the broad, tree-lined boulevard that make it hard for visitors and natives alike to think of the 1.1 miles from LOVE Park to the Art Museum as an entity." Philadelphia Inquirer 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:29 pm
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Pinter Collects Top Playwright Award Playwright Harold Pinter gets a special Evening Standard theatre award as outstanding dramatist of the past 50 years. "Amid cheers, Pinter accepted the award, a statuette, happily - and with a barbed memory. 'Forty six years ago my [first] play The Birthday Party was performed in London and slaughtered by the critics - particularly by the Evening Standard, by the way. But in the early new year I'm happy to say that rehearsals will start for the fourth revival in London'." The Guardian (UK) 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 6:44 pm
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Google, Schmoogle! Canada's Got It Covered. Google's plan to digitize large chunks of the knowledge contained in major U.S. libraries is sure to get lots of attention, but the fact is that major digitization efforts have been underway in Canada for some time. "Many major libraries and national archives are digitizing parts of their collections, not as a way of replacing physical libraries, but as an extension of their reach... Library and Archives Canada, which combines the former National Library of Canada and National Archives of Canada, has been especially active, scanning millions of pages of documents a year. It has now put all of the publications, including pamphlets and books, printed in Canada in the 18th and 19th century on-line for the public to access." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 5:54 am
From Blog To Book Where are our new writers coming from? Some publishers think it's blogs. "Sometimes publishers are interested in publishing elements of the blogs in book form; mostly they simply enjoy the blogger's writing and want to publish a novel or nonfiction book by the blogger, usually on a topic unrelated to the blog." The New York Times 12/15/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 7:12 pm
No More Love Notes At Juliet's House (Use Email) Visitors to Juliet's house in Verona are going to have to stop leaving notes on her door. "Written on post-it slips, the love notes are often attached to the medieval walls with chewing gum, creating damage and producing a rather disgusting view, according to Verona's tourist council. After the cleaning early next year, Juliet will be given her own telephone number and email address. Lovers from all over the world will have to express their innermost feelings via text messages, which will be displayed on a giant screen inside the house." Discovery 12/14/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 6:10 pm
Lord Of The (Copyright) Jungle "Edgar Rice Burroughs Incorporated, the estate of Tarzan's creator, has demanded that Victoria University Press stop selling copies of the humorous novel Tarzan Presley. Written by New Zealander Nigel Cox, it tells the story of Presley 'raised by gorillas in the wild jungles of New Zealand, scarred in battles with vicious giant wetas, seduced by a beautiful young scientist' who gets a record deal with Elvis Presley's producer and has 30 No 1 hits." Stuff (NZ) 12/02/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:34 pm
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Oxymoron Of The Day: Public Radio Hipsters Public radio audiences aren't exactly known for their embrace of cutting-edge pop music, but that didn't stop Minnesota Public Radio from launching a cutting-edge pop show recently, with the aim of demystifying the genre for listeners who like the music, but are intimidated by the insider lingo and youth-dominated club scene. As it turns out, public radio stations around the country could not have been less interested in Pop Vultures, and the show, which was critically praised in the few markets in which it aired, has been killed off after only 22 episodes. City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 6:16 am
Yes, But We Could Tell They Wanted To Air It The FCC's decision to investigate NBC's Olympics telecast was apparently the result of no more than nine consumer complaints nationwide. The commission is still refusing to disclose exactly what was potentially indecent about the Games. Most of the speculation has centered on the opening ceremonies, which featured some nude dancers posing as classic Greek statuary, but that theory has one big problem: NBC never aired any of the nudity. New York Post 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 6:09 am
Hollywood Sues Computer Server Owners Hollywood movie studios are suing owners of computer servers that facilitate movie downloading. "The defendants this time run servers that use BitTorrent, now the program of choice for online sharers of large files owing to its immunity to industry attempts to confound file-swappers with bogus decoy files. 'Today's actions are aimed at individuals who deliberately set up and operate computer servers and Web sites that, by design, allow people to infringe copyrighted motion pictures'." Yahoo! (AP) 12/15/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 7:17 pm
FCC's Powell Has First Amendment Duties Backward FCC chairman Michael Powell's recent illogical and contradictory pronouncements on the "indecency" battles he's overseeing are indefensible. "Powell has got his responsibilities under the First Amendment backwards. Over tremendous public protest, he foisted upon the American public an excessively-concentrated media that restricts free expression. Then, when that excessively-concentrated media inevitably produces indecent material, he censors it. The public loses both ways." MediaChannel 12/13/04
Posted: 12/14/2004 5:38 pm
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The Risk of Tweaking A Classic Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is one of those works of art about which the public tends to have very strong feelings, and the ballet companies that rely on their annual productions to line their coffers for the year mess with the show at their own risk. This year, the San Francisco Ballet is updating and overhauling its Nutcracker for the first time in nearly two decades, and the hope is that traditionalists won't be too put off by the changes, innocent and unthreatening as they may be. San Francisco Chronicle 12/15/04
Posted: 12/15/2004 6:28 am
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