How The Age Of Reason Begat A Simmering Backlash It seems clear that one of the hallmarks of the 21st century American mind will be the increasingly popular devotion to blind faith over intellectual pursuit. Call it the Age of Unreason: "If Americans are flocking to religious faith, to revealed dogma, to creationism, to a place where no one pays any heed to a logic based on if x then y, it's because reason gave us a world that hardly makes sense anymore... Face it: People want Truth and Beauty. They want to be touched. They want mystery, because without it, life would be dreary indeed." Baltimore Sun 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:37 am
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Trustees To Vote On Cleveland Expansion One week from now, the board members of the Cleveland Museum of Art have a huge decision to make: should they commit to a $225 million expansion and renovation of their building, as designed by architect Rafael Vinoly? The advantages of such a project are obvious, but the complications for the museum could be myriad. The city of Cleveland is fighting decades of decline and is currently in a deep financial hole, limiting available civic funds for the museum project. Board members have already raised some money for the expansion, but there are questions about whether they have the connections necessary to raise the rest. Still, there's little question that Vinoly's design, if realized, would be a huge boon to the institution, and that may trump all other concerns. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 12:19 pm
Form & Function, Together At Last How do you get a community to embrace the construction of a water treatment plant in its backyard? Hire a really good architect, and build the coolest-looking water treatment plant ever. "From New Haven to Hiroshima, architects best known for signature museums and concert halls are now designing buildings filled with tanks and filters... Why shout 'Not in my backyard!' if your backyard can be made to resemble a sculpture garden?" The New York Times 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:26 am
Berlin's Ambassadors of Architecture "Little daring architecture was born of the fortune that was spent on rebuilding Berlin in the 1990's - which was just how the city fathers wanted it." But in the years since reunification, the challenge of embracing bold new architecture in Berlin has been enthusiastically taken up - not by the Germans, but by the architects of the foreign embassies that dot the city. "In an unusual communal experiment, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland have built a hamlet of embassies behind a glowing green copper fence in the traditional diplomatic district of Tiergarten in the former West Berlin. Across town, deep inside the former East Berlin, the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has designed his country's ultramodern embassy overlooking the Spree River. The New York Times 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:22 am
SF's de Young Museum To Reopen With New Acquistitions New York entrepreneur and art collector John Friede has announced that he will donate his entire 3,000-piece collection of New Guinean art to the soon-to-reopen de Young Museum in San Francisco. The collection is valued at over $100 million, and 300 pieces will be immediately exhibited in the de Young's new building when it opens in October. The New York Times 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:05 am
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Back To Work In St. Louis, But At What Cost? It's been a very long two months for the striking musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, but with a tentative agreement awaiting their official approval, most of the players are relieved and cautiously optimistic about the ensemble's future. Still, some veteran members say that this strike was different from past work stoppages in St. Louis, and are worried that the damage done to the orchestra's reputation and to the relationship between musicians and management will not be easily repaired. St.. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:52 am
Wexford Festival Outsources Its Orchestra Ireland's Wexford Opera Festival has anounced that it will contract with a low-cost Eastern European orchestra to play in its pit this year, snubbing the country's own National Symphony Orchestra, but saving €150,000. "Irish musicians have accused Wexford of using cheap labour, and will picket the festival again this October in protest. The Arts Council has expressed its 'serious concern' at the festival’s failure to nurture Irish artists, and has made it a condition of future funding that the festival 'respond with vigour to its concerns'." The Times (UK) 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:45 am
America's Invisible Composers America's classical music tradition might not stack up to Europe's centuries of acheivement, but in the oft-overlooked area of film scoring, American composers have carved out an impressive niche. "When the film and the music are great, the results can be stunning - with a score that plays almost continuously for longer than most great symphonies. Picture Psycho without Bernard Herrmann's electrified, staccato strings, or "The Third Man" without Anton Karas' burbling zither... For nearly a century, movie scores have helped to propel a popular medium, and at the same time have surreptitiously exposed audiences of millions to the joys of the orchestra without requiring them to buy a ticket to the local symphony hall." Newsday (New York) 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:28 am
Chicago Takes Its Time The Chicago Symphony doesn't seem to be in any big hurry to choose a successor to outgoing music director Daniel Barenboim, but John van Rhein says that the orchestra can afford to take its time. "It seems that the more people who are heard from, the lengthier the job description for CSO music director becomes. Beyond being a superior conductor, a fine musician and a strong leader who's respected by the orchestra, he or she should be thoroughly familiar with how American orchestras function in a changing social and economic landscape. And the next music director should be willing to help the organization stump for funds, a role Barenboim has declined to play but one that has become essential." Chicago Tribune 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:21 am
- Chicago's Youth Movement "Forget the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's hunt for a new music director, for now. The organization is moving on a parallel track that, while not likely to grab headlines, also relates closely to the CSO's vision of its artistic future.The orchestra is developing relationships with a number of talented younger conductors, including Alan Gilbert, Mikko Franck, Andrey Boreyko and, next season, Daniel Harding. A few associations may bear fruit while others may fade. The important thing is creating opportunities for some of tomorrow's potentially important conductors to refine their craft." Chicago Tribune 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:20 am
The Exclusive Soprano Most major orchestras insist on exclusivity clauses in the contracts of "superstar" soloists, so as to insure that ticket sales aren't diluted. But such clauses rarely need to be enforced, since booking agents are well aware of the rules and make sure that their clients aren't double-booked in a single city. But this week in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Orchestra and the Schubert Club each announced their new seasons, both featuring appearances by soprano Deborah Voigt, despite an exclusivity clause in the orchestra's contract with the singer. Both groups agree that the mistake belongs to Voigt's manager, but the orchestra is enforcing its exclusivity anyway, forcing the Schubert Club to cancel Voigt's appearance, even though most of the club's brochures had already been printed. Minneapolis Star Tribune 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:28 am
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Can Cultural Relevance Be Bought? Singapore is a country with a reputation for economic success, but little in the way of a creative side. In the last decade, the government has sought to change that, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in arts and culture, but somehow, the results still seem strangely stilted and authoritarian. More importantly, it may be flatly impossible for a truly creative environment to be nurtured in a country as repressive as Singapore. The Telegraph (UK) 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 12:08 pm
England's Irish Obsession The sociological and national tensions between the British and Irish go back hundreds of years, but so does Britain's obsession with Irish culture, literature, art and music. The uneasy balancing act of the UK's Irish population is getting a close look this year at London's National Portrait Gallery, "surveying visual representations of the artistic, literary, dramatic and political influence exercised in Victorian London by Irish incomers, determined to make their mark. Culturally fashionable Irishness was not just the result of rampant Celtic Tigerism over the past decade and a half; it has, apparently, a long-established pedigree." The Guardian (UK) 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:56 am
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Two Charged In Painter's Murder "Warsaw authorities charged two teenagers Friday in the stabbing death of surrealist painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. One suspect is the son of a longtime friend and aide to the painter. Beksinski, 75, considered one of Poland's leading contemporary artists, was found stabbed to death Monday at his Warsaw home. He was best known for his abstract renditions of skeletons, monster-like creatures and other apocalyptic images evoking death and decay." The Globe & Mail (AP) 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:50 am
Eastwood's Second Act Ask anyone in the movie business, and they'll tell you that there is nothing worse for your career than getting old. And with a few notable exceptions - actors and actresses who are allowed to pop up in the occasional film past the age of 60 - most aging Hollywood legends are more or less expected to just fade away gracefully. "[Clint] Eastwood, though, has joined a highly selective group: long-successful artists who continuously tinker with their careers, who make changes in the fundamental nature of their work even at a time when they could safely kick back and relax, endlessly repeating past themes and proven methods." Chicago Tribune 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 10:09 am
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Perhaps Some Directors Are Going Through Mid-Life Crises? Broadway seasons tend to have an overall feel to them, a theme through which various disparate productions can be linked. This season, the common thread seems to be men behaving like perfect louts. "A look around town suggests that male dysfunction is providing much of the dramatic grist in the current season. By any fair count, there are a lot more than 12 angry men working the stages of Manhattan." The New York Times 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:20 am
Brits On Broadway "This spring there's an unusually rich crop of [Broadway] entries from American Theater 101. Opening in a span of less than two months are three of the American theater's best-known and best-loved classics: Tennessee Williams's Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This is noteworthy in itself - producers tend to get out of each other's way when it comes to name-brand, star-spangled revivals - but another phenomenon is even more intriguing: all three plays have been placed in the hands of British directors. Conspiracy? Certainly not. Coincidence? Not exactly." The New York Times 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:12 am
A Globe Grows In Brooklyn? The National Park Service is accepting proposals for a renovation of historic Castle Williams, located on New York's Governors' Island between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and one of the most intriguing has come from British architect Norman Foster. "Foster has designed an adaptation of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London that would fit inside the 194-year-old castle and serve as a stage for Shakespeare productions and other performing arts... The cost of the new theater is estimated at $78 million, including renovation of the castle." The New York Times 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:12 am
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The Lucky Few Getting a first book published is a monumental undertaking for most authors, particularly if their tome is not a new-age self-help book or a shrill political diatribe. So for those writers who manage to get a publisher interested in their work and make it to press, the anticipation of publication is a heavy time, and every wannabe's road to success is unique. The Observer (UK) 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 12:01 pm
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Sideways Cleans Up At Indie Awards "The comedy Sideways has dominated this year's Independent Spirit Awards, winning all six of the awards for which it was nominated. It was named best film while Alexander Payne won best director and best screenplay, along with writing partner Jim Taylor. It also won acting awards for stars Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen... The awards, now in their 20th year, are given to films made outside the traditional studio system, and are traditionally held the day before the Oscars." BBC 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:07 am
- Only In The Movies... All the Oscar hype surrounding the surprise hit film Sideways may be missing some significant disapproval from a rather large moviegoing demographic: namely, women. Sideways may be a great buddy film from a guy's point of view, but the concept plays out like just one more variation on the endless Hollywood theme of disgusting men with no discernible social skills or sense of humor seducing beautiful women who they love and leave with no consequence. "Imagine, if you can, a movie about two unattractive, gross women slobs going on a week-long spree and ending up with Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. Imagine that becoming a hit, nominated for five Academy Awards, acclaimed by critics." Washington Post 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:05 am
Brits Love Their Digital Radios For the first time, sales of digital radio receivers have outpaced traditional analog sets in the UK, where the technology has taken firm hold and a complete changeover to digital broadcasting is expected to occur by the end of the decade. By contrast, digital radio receivers are nearly unheard of in the US. BBC 02/27/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 11:04 am
Important? Perhaps. Interesting? Oh, God, No. Oscar night is of huge importance, not only to Hollywood, but to the entirety of human existence, at least according to Hollywood. But even if we concede that the Academy Awards are a valuable gauge of U.S. cultural sensibilities, one burning question remains: "How can something of such apparent importance be so incredibly tedious and trivial?" Toronto Star 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:46 am
Finally, A New Way For Newspapers To Make Money! "Paul Martin Hennessey really, really, really wants Josh Hartnett to star in his movie. Hennessey, a retired union executive who lives in a double-wide trailer on 40 acres outside the tiny Missouri town of Alton, is a budding screenwriter. He believes he has the hottest script this side of Hollywood, and he says it would be perfect for Hartnett." So, after three years of being unable to get his script anywhere near his chosen leading man, Hennessey took a bizarre step, taking out a $990 half-page ad in City Pages, the alternative newsweekly of the Twin Cities, from whence Hartnett hails. The ad took the form of an open letter to Hartnett, explaining the reason for Hennessey's unusual method of making contact, and begging the actor to have a look at the script. St. Paul Pioneer Press 02/26/05
Posted: 02/27/2005 9:39 am
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