We're Watching You (Always) A new book details the extent of the new security realities in America. A 'security-industrial complex" is being built to tie together massive amounts of private information about everyone. It details the "far-reaching consequences for ordinary Americans, who must cope not only with the uneasy sense of being watched (leading, defenders of civil liberties have argued, to a stifling of debate and dissent) but also with the very palpable dangers of having personal information (and in some cases, inaccurate information) passed from one outfit to another." The New York Times 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:35 am
Every Word A Gateway The internet has revolutionized the way we get information. Now one researcher wants to push the revolution even further. The "idea is simple -- he plans to move beyond the basic hypertext linking of the web, and change every word into a "hyperword." Instead of one or two links in a document, every single word becomes a link. Further, every link can point to more than one place, pulling up all kinds of background context from the web as a whole." Wired 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:09 am
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Saltz: Reinventing MoMA Jerry Saltz can't stop going to the new Museum of Modern Art. Since it's reopened, he's made 14 visits. So he has some suggestions for how it could be improved. Nothing major... a rehang here, a new space there... Village Voice 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 8:37 am
Painting Is Dead, Long Live Painting? (Don't You Believe It) This is the year collector Charles Saatchi was supposed to be renewing the cause of painting. "In 2005, the celebrated Iraqi/British collector would be reviving the cause of painting. He would be bringing a new batch of painters to the world's attention with a series of exhibitions called The Triumph of Painting. Part One opens tomorrow. Its title makes a clear bid for legend. It sounds like a chapter in a history book already. So, to start with, let's put the record straight. All the above story is untrue. Whenever you hear about a revival of painting you should be suspicious." The Independent (UK) 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:22 am
Add Moscow To the Biennale Circuit The first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is about to open. "The main venue of the biennial is at the Lenin Museum, off Red Square, and it is titled “Dialectics of hope”, an ironic play on the theme of the utopia never found by Communism and now lost to the pressures of capitalism, and the expectations of improvement as Russia re-enters the Western orbit." The Art Newspaper 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 4:10 pm
French Art Sales Fall Behind Art-selling in France continues to be tough going. "The art market in France shrank slightly in 2004 as Drouot, the umbrella organisation for Parisian auction houses, reported turnover of €365 million ($480 million). In addition, the gap is gradually widening between the two leading international auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s and their larger French competitors, whose sales are stagnating or declining." The Art Newspaper 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 4:01 pm
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The Next Superstar Violinist/Supermodel/Spokesperson? Seventeen-year-old violinist Nicola Benedetti is about to become a household name and one of the highest-paid performers of her generation after agreeing a £1 million-plus, six-album record deal with Universal. Last May she became the first Scot to win the BBC Young Musician of the Year award. "Between modelling, advertising and other personal appearances, she has been booked for a series of UK and US performances this year." The Independent 01/20/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 9:04 am
The Women Of The Vienna Phil It's only eight years since the Vienna Philharmonic admitted its first woman player. Now more women occasionally end up in the orchestra, but last week, a woman conducted the orchestra as it played for a production of "Così Fan Tutte." The New York Times 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:30 am
DePriest Named To Lead Tokyo Orchestra James DePriest has been named music director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. "DePreist, who for 23 years was music director of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, currently serves as principal artistic advisor of the Phoenix Symphony and is director of conducting and orchestral studies at the Juilliard School. After leaving the music director post at the OSO in 2003, he became the orchestra’s laureate music director." PlaybillArts 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 11:51 pm
How Snow Changes An Orchestra Audience's Demographics What happens to an audeince when snow shuts down a major American city? Well, in Philadelphia, "the orchestra put $10 snow tickets on sale starting Friday, and so at least an audience of about 750 showed up. Not surprisingly, they seemed to come mostly from Center City, and perhaps through weather-induced natural selection, they were overwhelmingly younger. On this single night, the median age of the orchestra audience shed at least 35 years." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 7:36 pm
Springer: Opera Springer Is Offensive And what does Jerry Springer the man think of Jerry Springer, The Opera? Evidently not much. He finds it offensive. "I wouldn't have written it. I don't believe in making fun of other religions or in saying things that could be insensitive to other people's religions. You would have to talk to the people that wrote it. I don't make religious jokes so I wouldn't have done it. But it's not up to me." The Guardian (UK) 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 7:36 pm
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Culture Wars Make Everyone Look Bad Christian "outrage" over the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer, The Opera is cynical. But no one comes out of these debates well. "If the religious thrive on a feeling of persecution, so do artists. They have shouted censorship in response to what in some cases is no more than a consumer boycott. (Violence and intimidation are a different matter, of course.) On Millian grounds, no liberal society should forbid behaviour that is offensive to others without causing any actual harm, and to that extent the BBC's decision to show Jerry Springer must be right. But it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the controversial elements of the opera are present only to produce a lazy frisson in the audience. In a society as secular as the UK, mocking religious pieties has power only parasitically." Financial Times 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 5:51 pm
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Teachout: Carson? A Fast Fade To Black AJBlogger Terry Teachout is impressed by the nostalgia accompanying news of the death of Johnny Carson. Not impressed by Carson himself, though. Oh, there'll be the predictable flood of warm tributes. "And after that? A fast fade to black, I expect. American popular culture is cruel and brutal when it comes to the immediate past: it respects only extreme youth, and has no time for the day before yesterday. All of which somehow makes me feel sorry for Johnny Carson. I wonder what he thought of his life's work? Or how he felt about having lived long enough to disappear into the memory hole?" About Last Night (AJBlogs) 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 11:39 pm
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Do "Genius" Awards Help A Career? How effective are the MacArthur "Geniue Awards" that give recipients $500,000 to use as they see fit? "An examination of the program reveals that most of the 31 writers chosen since 1981 as MacArthur Fellows had already hit their artistic peak. Surveying book reviews, author profiles and the opinions of literary scholars, Crain's determined that 88% of the MacArthur recipients wrote their greatest works before being recognized by the Chicago-based foundation. The sheer number of books produced by the writers declined, too, after their MacArthur awards." ChicagoBusiness 01/24/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 8:55 am
Living With The Writer What's it like to be the partner of a writer? A new book explores the handholding and psychological propping-up required. "What makes the arrangement work, or not work, and why? How does life at home contribute to the creative process? What is the cost of a masterpiece on a caring relationship? All this mollycoddling of someone who, after all, could just as easily be playing solitaire behind that closed door as writing, might sound excessive, but it's by no means an exception." Rocky Mountain News 01/23/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 7:41 pm
Ode To A Library A London Library lover waxes eloquent about the power and personality of the library. "There are moments when a library becomes itself. The rest of the time is potential. The book collection, arranged by subject and author, latent with pleasures and instruction, is a library in Clark Kent mode. The crux where the book, the reader and the need collide like particles in an accelerator is its apotheosis, the library as Superword." The Telegraph (UK) 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 5:10 pm
Dame Helen Of Poetry Helen Vendler has been one of the most prominent poetry critics over the past 40 years. "Whole sectors of the poetry world have complained about the limits of her sensibility. She doesn't like experimentation, one complaint goes. Her attitude toward poetry is too academic, says another. At the same time, somewhat paradoxically, literary scholars often consider Ms. Vendler far out of touch with their profession. Her approach is, so to speak, rigorously untheoretical: A poem speaks to her, or it doesn't, and the critical essay is Ms. Vendler's preferred medium of reply." Chronicle of Higher Education 01/28/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 4:43 pm
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FCC Crackdown Confuses Broadcasters American broadcasters are complaining that the FCC's crackdown on content has left them unclear about what will be deemed acceptable and what will not. But the pressure group Parents Television Council is unsympathetic: "They're lucky they got away with as much as they did. It reminds me of a person who has been speeding as much as they wanted and now they're getting tickets." Chicago Tribune (AP) 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 8:02 am
Oscar Nominations The Aviator leads with 11 Academy Award nominations... Los Angeles Times 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:26 am
The Way All Movies Will Be Shown Sundance shows the first movie delivered wirelessly to a theatre. No film, no cannisters. "The premiere of Rize that took place last Saturday at a ski lodge here was a historic event - the first feature film to be delivered via wireless technology." Wired 01/25/05
Posted: 01/25/2005 7:13 am
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Peter Boal - PNB In Waiting Peter Boal is finishing up his career dancing with New York City Ballet before moving to take over directing Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet. What might he bring to PNB? "Boal is a rare commodity—a great dancer who is not a great star. Charisma, an essential element for stardom, is not part of his makeup—though he’s a disarmingly nice fellow on- and offstage. The glory of Boal’s dancing lies in the fact that it is not dependent on expressive personality. Indeed, it’s entirely free from self-advertisement." Seeing Things (AJBlogs) 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 11:13 pm
Colorado Ballet Fights To A Draw With Holiday Rockettes Colorado Ballet, like dance companies in several cities around America, fretted before Christmas when the Rockettes Christmas show came to town. The company, like many, depends on annual Nutcracker revenues to survive. So how'd the Rockette showdown go? "Not surprisingly, the Rockettes drew huge numbers: 155,063 paid attendance for 64 performances. That translates to an impressive 88 percent capacity. More remarkable are the final numbers from Nutcracker. December's Paramount engagement held its own, compared with the previous, Rockettes-less run. Some 33,600 attended 31 shows (30,100 paid). That total matches numbers from 2003 - 33,400 (29,250 paid)." Rocky Mountain News 01/24/05
Posted: 01/24/2005 9:39 am
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