Are Video Games Ready For Serious Work? "'Serious gaming' is the idea of using [video] gaming technology, gaming theory and those kinds of things to understand complex dynamic processes. For example, powerful computer hardware and software have been used for years to help train pilots and other operators of complex machines. And as graphical capabilities continue to expand, such simulations have expanded to other areas — virtual worlds where soldiers can learn how to fight in urban surroundings, or doctors can practice difficult surgical procedures." ABCNews 10/28/05
Posted: 10/28/2005 9:11 am
Are Art Schools Wrecking Young Artists? "It has always been the function of artists to tell the narrative of our times in a way that isn’t filtered through big-media spin or the historical revisionism of academic pundits. Recent and historical precedence tell us that it should be young people, and particularly the artists among them, who are most passionately voicing this narrative. But they’re not. In fact, there is a critical lack of voice among young artists, and I believe that art schools are to blame for this crisis." LAWeekly 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 5:51 pm
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Italy makes Claim On Met Museum Prize Vase Italian authorities say they have irrefutable proof that "the most prized ancient Greek vase in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art was looted. The Euphronios krater, described as one of the finest antiquities ever obtained by the Met, has been a source of controversy since the museum acquired it 33 years ago. Italian authorities have long maintained that the vase was looted from a tomb north of Rome, but the Met has refused to return it, saying the Italians lack proof." Los Angeles Times 10/28/05
Posted: 10/28/2005 6:47 am
Stolen Cezanne For Other Paintings? Twenty-seven years ago seven paintings were stolen from Michael Bakwin’s home. "The thieves took a Cézanne, two Soutines, a Vlaminck, a Utrillo and two works by the French painter Jean Jansen. Despite a police investigation the works did not resurface until 1999." Then a negotiation ensued, deals were made, and though the Cezanne was returned, the others are now in dispute... The Art Newspaper 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 8:44 pm
Scotland Gets Paintings Trove After a 20-year saga, a collection of 14 master paintings has been given to Scotland, including works by Gainsborough, Murillo and Rubens. "A story that links the National Galleries in Edinburgh to a sleepy village in the heart of the English countryside, includes a decade-old row between two of the most distinguished institutions in Scotland, and, along the way, involves Winston Churchill's secret headquarters for D-Day." Glasgow Herald 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 7:12 pm
Getting The Lowdown In LA, museum spaces have begun programming Lowbrow in earnest. "Some of Lowbrow’s newfound respectability comes from being associated with hip art-world trends." LAWeekly 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 5:57 pm
LA: Center Of The New Media Universe? "Southern California has become the unrivaled international hub of new-media art, design and theory. About 100 Southern California artists, theorists and curators, are at the forefront of a media-art movement destined to help it all make sense." LAWeekly 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 5:44 pm
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All Naxos, All Online Naxos has made its catalog of 75,000 tracks available for downloading. "From the Music Library, subscribing institutions can stream any Naxos title, and the company hopes to make this service available to individual subscribers in the future. Naxos Web Radio streams 72 channels of music programmed by genre for an annual fee." Boston Globe 10/28/05
Posted: 10/28/2005 7:18 am
NY Phil Merges With Louisiana Phil For Concert "The New York Philharmonic entwines itself with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in a joint concert to support the New Orleans-based musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina." The New York Times 10/28/05
Posted: 10/28/2005 7:03 am
Why Classical Music Belongs In School "Classical music should be a fundamental part of the school curriculum, for it is as relevant today as ever. A now notorious 2002 survey undertaken by Classic FM established that 65 per cent of six- to 14-year-olds were unable to name a single classical composer and could not differentiate between instruments. This highlighted the neglect of music in many of our schools and was enough of a shock to provoke a response. That response was the Government's much-touted 2004 music manifesto, which was full of good intentions but short on how they would be delivered." The Telegraph (UK) 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 7:22 pm
Is Terfel The Next Pavarotti? Who's the next Pavarotti? How about Bryn Terfel? "A baritone to succeed Pavarotti? It is not beyond reason. Terfel has more than sold half a million UK copies of his last classi-pop album. Terfel matches Pavarotti in his sincere lack of taste. Like Pavarotti, Terfel runs a summer festival, an August weekend at his Welsh estate, Faenol, where he guilelessly mingles with the likes of Van Morrison and Alison Moyet..." La Scena Musicale 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 4:41 pm
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Liverpool - Swamped By Outside Culture Liverpool is 2008's Capital of Culture and the money is pouring in - hundreds of millions of pounds. But some of the locals are getting irked. “It’s as if the people running 2008 have no confidence in what’s already here. There are lots of government agendas being worked out. People are getting grants because they are good at filling in forms. But money isn’t coming into the music scene: it’s going to consultants. The clubs that really fuel the music are unfunded and almost off the radar as far as the official bodies are concerned.” The Times (UK) 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 8:56 pm
Italian Culture Minister: I'll Resign If You Cut Italian culture minister Rocco Buttiglione says he'll resign unless the government cancels plans to cut spending on culture by 35 percent. "This is not only a battle for the opera and the struggling Italian film industry, but also for the theatre, for libraries and archives. We have to defend ourselves on a broad front," BBC 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 4:19 pm
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Experts: Portrait Isn't Shakespeare A portrait long believed to be of William Shakespeare, is not,say experts. "The only evidence is that the portrait is dated 1588 and was painted, according to the inscription, when the sitter was 24 - making him the same age as the playwright. The back of the painting bears the initials WS - but they were added in the 19th century." The Guardian (UK) 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 6:55 pm
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Chronicling NY's Downtown Theatre Michael Feingold has written about theatre for the Village Voice for 34 years. "That so many Voice critics have been, openly, practitioners has often given uptown journalists pause. But it had to do less with the long-standing tradition of the critic-playwright than with the communal nature of what had evolved, by the early 1960s, into the Off-Off-Broadway movement. While Off-Broadway itself became more upscale and commercial minded, the Downtown theater had burgeoned into a large, loose pool of extraordinary talents that was a community in itself. Not to participate actively would have marked one as hardly more than a tourist in an audience where, it sometimes seemed, everyone was a practitioner, and usually a multitasker at that." Village Voice 10/25/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 6:41 pm
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Amazon Growth Slows To counter a slowdown in sales increases, Amazon is extending its free shipping offer in the UK. "Amazon said growth this year would be between 13% and 24%, below the 31% recorded last year." The Guardian (UK) 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 7:02 pm
A Home For Poets? "Canterbury could be home to a vibrant community of poets sharing their thoughts over a cup of coffee or glass of wine before leading a workshop or giving readings of their work to the public. The idea of a permanent building for poets and their work which would have an all-year-round programme of performances and workshops, is based on the French idea of 'maisons de poésie': 'houses of poetry' that exist throughout France and have spread across the French-speaking world, from Quebec to Morocco. The facilities within each maison vary, but generally encompass a performance space, a publishing or printing house, a library and information resource for poets and researchers and a cafe or bar. Some also boast residential accommodation to put up visiting poets or house a poet-in-residence." The Guardian (UK) 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 4:52 pm
da Vinci Code Lawsuit Gets Trial Date Two writers have sued da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. "A trial will begin on 27 February in London to hear the claim that Brown stole Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh's idea that Jesus had a child. They are suing Random House, claiming the bestseller lifts from their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail." BBC 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 4:13 pm
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CBC Boss Faces Sharp Questions CBC president Robert Rabinovitch appeared before a parliamentary committee Thursday to answer questions about the company's recent lockout. "The questioning from the members of Parliament on the committee was sharp and accusatory, blaming Rabinovitch for locking out workers for nearly two months and breaking management's commitment to CBC viewers and listeners, let alone to its workers." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/28/05
Posted: 10/28/2005 7:35 am
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A Plan To Get More Boys The Royal Winnipeg Ballet used to have a problem attracting boys for its dance school. So the company instituted a financial incentive program that has seen enrolment for boys grow from about 25 to 250 each year. "The professional division of the ballet has reaped the benefits, with a larger talent pool of young male dancers to choose from." CBC 10/27/05
Posted: 10/27/2005 4:26 pm
