Land Of The Free (Except If You Disagree With Us!) "An attachment to a bill that supplements funds for Iraq, passed by Congress and now on the president's desk, would allow the United States once again to keep out and to deport foreign nationals not for their conduct, but for their politics—their ideas, their speech, and the groups with which they associate." Slate 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:07 pm
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Chimp Art Comes Up For Sale Congo was a chimpanzee who painted. Picasso owned one of his works, as did Miro. "Now, for the first time, three Congos have come on to the open market and will be auctioned alongside works by Renoir, Andy Warhol and the Chapman Brothers at Bonhams in London this month. The pictures, created with tempera on paper, are from the artist's most productive period in the late 1950s. They are estimated to be worth between £600 and £800 for the three, but such has been the interest already that they may well fetch much more." The Guardian (UK) 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:23 pm
Public's Taste In Art - More Ikea Than Museum? UK researchers say that public taste in art has gone through a dramatic change. It appears that the public is more interested in designer art than that found in museums. "Indeed, it appears, the popularity of famous artists makes them less appealing because people want their homes to look individual and do not want the same picture as their neighbours. When talking to people, Alison Kidd found being "fresh" and "individual" was more important than fame or quality. BBC 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 3:12 pm
Belgium - Crossroads Of Stolen Art? "Belgium is known to be a key transit point of stolen art in Europe. And its bad reputation for tackling the problem has yet again been slammed in 'La Collection egoiste' (The Egoist’s Collection), by Liberation journalist Vincent Noce. Noce highlights just how active the 'art mafia' is in the country, French-language daily La Libre Belgique reported on Thursday." Expatica 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 2:36 pm
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The "Turner Prize" Of Music? A new contemporary music award in the UK aims at being the "Turner Prize" of music. But what seems to be competing is an odd collection of sounds rather than music. "I can't help wondering where the music is in all these projects. And without music per se, it's hard to see how the New Music Awards can claim to reward work which has "new British music at its heart". Of course, a list consisting almost entirely of installations and "sound sculptures" neatly evades the ticklish question of what actually constitutes the "heart" of British music." The Telegraph (UK) 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:47 pm
In Praise Of Mackerras Conductor Charles Mackerras has been racking up awards. There's a reason, writes Rupert Christiansen: "He is the most purposeful of conductors: a Mackerras performance invariably has energy, pace, bounce, clarity, shape. With his unique gift for getting music moving, he puts singers as well as orchestras on their toes - there's no slacking under his baton, no empty sentimentality or self-indulgence." The Telegraph (UK) 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:44 pm
London Orchestra Captain Steps Down "Clive Gillinson has run the London Symphony Orchestra for the past 21 years, seen the orchestra establish itself at the Barbican in London, pioneered orchestral own-labels with LSO Live (or "LSO Clive" as the wags prefer) and fashioned a £17m music education centre at what was the crumbling ruin of St Luke's church, close to the Barbican. It is a formidable achievement, especially at a time when the recording industry has been contracting. Now Gillinson's long tenure is coming to an end." The Guardian (UK) 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:26 pm
Former Quebec Premier Weighs In On Montreal Symphony Strike Former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard says he's ready to step in and intervene in the strike at the Montreal Symphony. Bouchard is chairman of the orchestra's board. "The MSO earned its reputation as one of the top 10 orchestras in the world through touring and recording, but Bouchard says the inflexibility of the musicians' current contract makes it impossible to keep that up. 'The proof is in the pudding. For the last five years, we have not been able to tour abroad'." CBC 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 3:55 pm
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Creatives Leaving America? Is America's "creative class" fleeing the US for other countries? Richard Florida tried to make the case: "It may be too soon to anoint Tallinn, Estonia - or Dublin, Ireland, or Sydney, Australia - the world's new creative capital, as opposed to many thriving US cities. Still, by Florida's reckoning, America's magnetism for creative workers has weakened as the drawing power of other nations has become supercharged - owing to regulatory policies, quality of life, tolerance, and a range of other issues." Christian Science Monitor 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 4:29 pm
San Jose Bumps Up Its Arts Funding For the first time in four years, the city of San Jose is increasing its arts funding - to a total of $2 million. "Up from $1.8 million last year, the figure represents the first jump since 2002-03, when the city awarded $3.2 million. The fund had peaked at $3.9 million in 2001-02." San Jose Mercury-News 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 2:10 pm
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Theatre Entrepreneur Still Going Strong At 91 Tony De Santis has opened a new theatre in Chicago - the Drury Lane at the Water Tower. This is the latest addition to the 91-year-old's theatre empire. "Well, I don't know anything about theater per se, so it's fair to say that I'm not a theater person," De Santis says with a chuckle from his office at Drury Lane Oak Brook. "But I am a very good businessman." Chicago Sun-Times 05/13/05
Posted: 05/13/2005 7:05 am
Is Billy Elliott The Best British Musical Ever? Plenty of musicals being made from films these days. The new Billy Elliott is the best of them, writes Charles Spencer. "This is not a time to beat about the bush. Billy Elliot strikes me as the greatest British musical I have ever seen, and I have not forgotten Lionel Bart's Oliver! or Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. There is a rawness, a warm humour and a sheer humanity here that is worlds removed from the soulless slickness of most musicals." The Telegraph (UK) 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 6:24 pm
Yikes - Brits Everywhere! Three American clasics on Broadway have been directed by Brits. "The continuing tragedy of American theater is that it doesn’t have confidence in its own culture. It doesn’t reveal security in its own glorious past. If it did, there would be no need to ask British directors to stage American classics. There would be no need for Anglophilia. Now, on the one hand, I don’t believe in cultural borders. Theater is an international art form, and artistic exchanges can revitalize both cultures. On the other hand, I strongly believe that American artists should not be treated as also-rans because the British are cravenly thought of as somehow "better." New York Observer 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 5:39 pm
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Wasserman's LA Times Legacy The controversial Steve Wassserman is leaving as editor of the LA Times Book Review. "Steve hit his stride about 1998, and for a few years there, he put out some truly great sections. More provocative than speculating about whether he ultimately jumped or was pushed might now be to start a conversation about the precarious ledge he leaves behind." San Franciaco Chronicle 05/13/05
Posted: 05/13/2005 6:34 am
Young Named California Poet Laureate California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has named screenwriter/novelist Al Young as the state's new poet laureate. "Young, 65, is a two-time recipient of Pushcart Prize for poetry - a national small press award - and a winner of the PEN/Library of Congress Award for short fiction. He has also taught creative writing at Stanford, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He has also written film scripts for Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor." San Jose Mercury-News 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 4:59 pm
Study: Writers Hit Their Peak At 50 A study has pinpointed the average writer's peak. "The average age of writers who topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List from 1955-2004 was 50.5 years. Of the 350 authors who saw their novels reach the number one spot over the past 50 years, Francoise Sagan was the youngest with Bonjour Tristesse, published at the age of 19 in 1955. By comparison, Agatha Christie was the oldest author to top the list, with her novel Sleeping Murder, published shortly after her death at the age of 85." BBC 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 3:08 pm
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Ombud To Investigate CPB Chairman The inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has agreed to investigate some of the activities of CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson, including the hiring of an outside consultant to monitor the political leanings of guests on the PBS public affairs program "Now." Washington Post 05/13/05
Posted: 05/13/2005 6:18 am
The Art Of Cannes "The opening ceremonies of the Cannes International Film Festival are, have been and will always remain the most lavishly meaningless event in the world of cinema, compared with which the Oscars resemble a seminar in German philosophy. This is not necessarily a put-down..." The New York Times 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 8:55 pm
BBC Workers Set Strike Dates BBC unions have announced they'll strike on three days over the next month to protest plans to cut more than 3000 jobs. "The unions said the cuts were the most damaging in BBC history. The corporation said it regretted the decision to take industrial action." BBC 05/12/05
Posted: 05/12/2005 3:05 pm
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