How Tourism Is Killing Art
The crush of tourists is ruining the world's great cultural monuments. "We are just now beginning to get beyond the phase of shock-horror reports about the destruction caused by tourism. There are possible solutions, some already in place, especially in the field of eco-tourism. Because this started more recently than cultural travel and is usually run by people with a greater sensitivity to issues of exploitation, it has often developed in a constructive and thoughtful way."
The Art Newspaper
08/12/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:31 am
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Artists, Collectors Sue Storage Company Over London Fire
More than "50 artists, galleries and collectors are suing the art storage and shipping company Momart, following the disastrous fire in their East London warehouse on 24 May 2004. Total claims are expected to amount to around £20 million."
The Art Newspaper
08/12/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:48 am
In LA: Care For Important Architecture?
Recent attention on the condition of Frank Lloyd Wright houses in LA have preservationists hoping that Angelenos will decide "that care of the buildings is a civic responsibility. But in a city where distinctive architecture has been overwhelmingly driven by the resources of affluent owners, it is no easy task. For one thing, while the city's popular midcentury modern houses have come to represent a way of life that is appealing to many wealthy people, Wright's crumbling concrete buildings, remain an acquired taste. They bear little resemblance to his earlier and later work, and none of them were designed for conventional family living."
The New York Times
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:05 am
Treasure Hunters Looking For Nazi Art Threaten Lake
At the end of World War II, the Nazis used military trucks for months and months to dump in crate after crate of stolen art, money and treasure into Austria's Lake Toplitz. "The Nazis eventually commissioned locals to do the deed, bringing the crates by oxcart, transports which occurred more and more frequently in the frantic last days of the war." While some of the treasure was recovered after the war, much is still there, and authorities are now worried that repeated search missions are harming the lake.
San Francisco Chronicle
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 7:35 am
Even Greenspan Pictures Make Money
An art student painted 20 unauthorized portraits of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Hoping to raise some money, he put them on sale in a gallery in Sag Harbor. "From the moment the Greenspan images appeared, people began wandering in off the street to gaze at the paintings, which capture the Fed chairman's face in a variety of expressions ranging from exasperation to perplexity to mirthful amusement. Titles of the works include "If You Say So," "I Gotta Tell Ya" and "Humpf." Several visitors to the gallery bought paintings, telling stories of how they adored the Fed chairman, how he had saved the world and made them millions."
Washington Post
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 7:18 am
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Can Music Remember?
"Sixty years after the end of World War II, across German-speaking Europe, classical music has been invoked as a medium of public memory, an accompaniment to the fitful process of reckoning with the past. In these countries, as firsthand memories of the war dwindle, music is serving as a kind of proxy allowing postwar generations to approach a difficult history. But why, other than the convenience of an anniversary, is this music being called to speak now? And what exactly can it remember?"
The New York Times
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:55 am
CD Burners A Bigger Threat To Big Recording Companies Than Downloading?
"Music copied onto blank recordable CDs is becoming a bigger threat to the bottom line of record stores and music labels than online file-sharing, the head of the recording industry's trade group said Friday. Burned" CDs accounted for 29 percent of all recorded music obtained by fans in 2004, compared to 16 percent attributed to downloads from online file-sharing networks."
Yahoo! (Reuters)
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:51 am
World Music - A Tension Between Art And Selling Recordings
World music can be endlessly inventive. "The debate throughout the polity in recent weeks has centred on issues of multiculturalism and tolerance. The world?s problems are not going to be solved by people playing crazy rhythms, and meaning it, but it is a small indicator that we are travelling in the right direction. There is another imperative at work here, however - that of selling records. Music is an industry, as well as an art form and a cultural tradition; and it happens to be an industry that is finely honed in its marketing and promotional techniques. And, wouldn?t you know it, the requirements of commerce and artistic integrity occasionally fail to gel."
Financial Times (UK)
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:43 am
Payola - Can You Buy Hits?
It's called "taste magnetics: People experiencing art together are apt to concur on its merits. When you laugh, I'm more prone to smile. When you flinch, I grimace. We're swayable. Taste magnetics also helps account for the persistence of payola, or radio 'pay for play.' That bogeyman of the music biz is back. Reactions seem split: Camp 1 cries, 'See why the radio is so full of lousy music?' while Camp 2 yawns, 'Same as it ever was; you can't buy hits.' Each has a point."
The Globe & Mail (Canada)
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:20 am
America's Best Orchestras?
Which are the best American orchestras? After a year in which he heard most of the contenders, Mark Swed has some observations about where the new powerhouses are... and what it takes to be the best.
Los Angeles Times
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 7:54 am
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Is Greenwich Village Dead?
Greewich Village has lost its artistic edge. "The Village has been remorselessly gentrified since the 1980s. Neighbourhood coffee shops have become Starbucks, local diners have become chic restaurants booked up weeks in advance or have been turned into a McDonald's. Now the Voice's strident tone and a documentary called The Ballad of Greenwich Village have shown how the final nails have been driven into the coffin of a neighbourhood whose artistic contribution to American cultural life is unmatched."
The Observer (UK)
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:57 am
Working On The Getty's Image (At $650 An Hour)
The Getty has had a rough year. Several top execs have left, an LA Times story detailed the high compensation of director Barry Munitz, and the State of California is investigating the institution's operations. Is it any wonder the Getty has hired expensive PR consultants to work on its image?
Los Angeles Times
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:23 am
Obsessed With Terror (But Why?)
What is it with the popular culture's obsession with terrorist imaginings? "In the four years since 9/11, British culture has seemed rather ghoulishly obsessed by terrorism, and by the possibility?no, likelihood?of some terrible atrocity being visited upon us."
Reason
08/12/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:22 am
Richmond Shuts Down Performing Arts Center Construction
The City of Richmond has shut down construction on a new performing arts center, saying that the foundation running the project didn't have the required permits. "The order stunned the foundation, already under intense fire from Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, who has said he won't release any more city funds for the project because he doesn't believe the group has the resources to build the project as it had planned, especially now that the estimated cost climbed again this week, by roughly 20 percent to $112 million."
Richmond Times-Dispatch
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 7:42 am
Can We Save Our Dying Languages?
"Every two weeks or so, the last elderly man or woman with full command of a particular language dies. At that rate, as many as 2,500 native tongues will disappear forever by 2100."
Los Angeles Times (AP)
08/13/05
Posted: 08/13/2005 11:36 pm
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Rise Of The Women
"Books written by women have doubled their share of sales in the past 20 years and could overtake those written by men in the next 20. British trade magazine, The Bookseller, reports the same trend, with almost half the titles in its top 20 by female authors. And a couple of names in the top sellers are enough to make highbrow literary types tear out their hair - Danielle Steele and Maeve Binchy."
The Age (Melbourne)
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:54 am
Conflicted Out - Does It Make A Better Book Review?
Why is it desirable to require book reviwers to have no "conflict of interest" regarding the books they review? "To begin with, the world of fiction is pretty small. The number of folks who are any good at writing reviews of fiction is smaller still. By the time you find one willing to review a book, it's inconceivable that he or she not have preconceived notions about the author, the author's work, or the proper way to write a novel. A hundred other conflicts may exist: relationships with literary agents, friends, or friends of friends; workplace affiliations; political sympathies, religious views; and on and on. Also, writers are notoriously petty people: I'd wager that nine out of 10 who receive a bad review can discover some undisclosed conflict or conspiracy that caused the reviewer to slag them."
Slate
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:11 am
Google Halts Book-scanning Project (For Now)
Google has temporarily suspended its project to scan libraries of books after complaints from publishers. "Google wants publishers to notify the company which copyright books they don't want scanned, effectively requiring the industry to opt out of the program instead of opting in."
Wired
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 9:05 am
Denver Library Pulls Thousands Of Spanish Books
The Denver Public Library has pulled thousands of Spanish-language books fromk its shelves after complaints the books might be inappropriate.l "About 6,500 fotonovelas, popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries, have been temporarily recalled from Denver Public Library branches. The review could be completed by next week. The Denver library system, which includes a large Spanish-speaking population, has been offering the fotonovelas for about 15 years but started receiving complaints last week after a local radio host said some books contained 'shocking' illustrations."
Yahoo! (AP)
08/13/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:57 am
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The Secret To "Idol" Popularity? Humiliation
American Idol has become a phenomenon. "You should be watching "American Idol" because not only is it riveting television, but it's also one of those rare amalgamations that taps into the American imagination -- there's the dire need to be famous, the longshot-dreamer feel-good story, the bitter infighting and, most successfully, the idea of public humiliation. Make no mistake about it -- "American Idol" succeeds primarily on its rampant, painful-to-watch, grounding down of wannabe stars." San Francisco Chronicle
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:33 am
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Les Grands Gets A Makeover
Montreal's Les Grands Ballet has often seemed more "worthy" than exciting. But a new artistic director has the company focusing on "new European choreography, in addition to dances by familiar names, and the repertory would be performed by dancers chosen as much for their personal qualities as for the requisite technical skills."
The New York Times
08/14/05
Posted: 08/14/2005 8:10 am
