Weekend, April 15-16
Does "Physics For Poets" Kill Students' Appreciation For Science? The classic "Physics for Poets" classes at universities are an attempt to give liberal arts majors a smattering of science. But, writes Edward Morley, "despite the effort we put into providing classes that are both relevant and informative, I am troubled by the subtext of these classes. By their very existence, these classes send two damaging messages to students in other disciplines: first, that science is something alien and difficult, the exclusive province of nerds and geeks; and second, that we will happily accommodate their distaste for science and mathematics, by providing them with special classes that minimize the difficult aspects of the subject." InsideHigherEd.com 04/14/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:16 am
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Phillips Collection - Hiding Behind The Facade DC's Phillips Collection has built an extension behind its traditional facade. "Preserving this facade was a big mistake," writes Benjamin Forgey. It was "a fruitless exercise in neighborhood nostalgia. After nearly 30 years of experience with our preservation ordinance, we as a city ought to have learned not to fear the architectural future, but to embrace it. And then to apply the law accordingly. Thus, a great opportunity was lost. Instead of getting a new building that speaks honestly about what is behind its facade -- and that speaks for the 21st century while respecting its neighbors -- we got a timorous fake." Washington Post 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:05 am
Brit Antiques Market Continues To Slip Sales of British antiques are falling. "In 2004/05 dealers sold art and antiques worth an estimated total of £647m ($1.16 billion), down from an estimated £658m in 2003/04." The Art Newspaper 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:33 am
Tracking Down Munch Sixty years after Edvard Much died and 40 years since the Munch Museum opened in Oslo, scholars are trying to track down all the artist's work. And 70 major paintings are unaccounted for. "The paintings which cannot be found are probably in private collections. 'In some cases we have an idea who owns the works, but they have not replied when we’ve contacted them'." The Art Newspaper 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:28 am
Doonan: Do Artists Have A Special Place Over Us? Simon Doonan is under attack for allegedly stealing an artist's ideas for the store windows Doonan designs. "Underlying the whole debacle is the horribly flawed idea that artists are somehow at the apex of our society. According to this ridiculous thinking, artists are somehow innately superior to us window dressers, or to coffee-shop waitresses and strip-club fluffers. Being an artist is not just a job or vocation, but something holy and infinitely worthy. In this topsy-turvy retarded world, the option to place a monopoly on a found object would automatically fall to an artist over a window dresser." New York Observer 04/13/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:55 am
Dealers Scour Art Schools Today's market for contemporary art is so hot, dealers and collectors are turning to art schools. "Though the conventional image of an artist's mentor is not generally a venture capitalist, such a presence is not so surprising in an era when collectors from Wall Street are underwriting high prices for contemporary art. The art world is, in the end, a numbers game: as collectors, art fairs and galleries keep growing, while first-rate artworks for sale decrease, dealers and collectors are scouring the country's top graduate schools looking for the Warhols of the future." The New York Times 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:32 am
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Rostropovich Channels Shostakovich Mstislav Rostropovich's days of playing the cello are receding, and he's been expanding his conducting activities, indulging a passion for Shostakovich. "He was the most important man in my life, after my father. Sometimes when I'm conducting, I see his face coming to me. Sometimes it's not really a happy face — I conduct maybe a bit too slow, so I conduct faster, and the face disappears." The New York Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:07 am
Page: Handicapping The National Symphony's Leadership Prospects Who should be Washington's National Symphony's next music director? The orchestra ought to have more respect. More stature. Matter more. The orchestra has always been tough to lead, and Leonard Slatkin is only the latest conductor to be told his services were coming to an end. There are brilliant conductors out there, but the National probably doesn't have the stature to play in the big leagues, writes Tim Page. So who can the orchestra get? Washington Post 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:55 am
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Is It True There Are No British Intellectuals? "The claim that Britain lacks 'real' intellectuals is usually based on a normative model derived primarily from France, where the term 'intellectuels' was applied to the members of a group of writers who supported Alfred Dreyfus in 1898. Since at least the eighteenth century, the British have constructed their national identity by contrasting themselves with the French. When the image of intellectuals as a dissident and cohesive group intimately involved in politics began to emerge in France, in the early twentieth century, it was only natural that the British should define themselves in opposing terms..." The Times (UK) 04/11/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:45 am
Has New York Priced Out Artists? "According to a recent Freelancer's Union report, the city's creative sector—comprised of artists, photographers, designers, composers and writers—is facing increasing economic uncertainty related to a lack of stable employment. Over 40 percent report making less than $35,000 last year, half have little to no personal savings, and over a third lack proper health insurance. Ninety percent cited 'unstable income' as the major disadvantage of their chosen profession. All these factors, the study suggests, means that the city’s creative class—including its emerging artists—may leave New York in favor of cities with a "lower cost of living and developing creative centers." ArtInfo 04/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:48 am
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ABT Star Gets Some Good News Ethan Stiefel has had a rough year. The company the American Ballet Theatre star was trying to build in California postponed its season for lack of funds. Then the company's executive director quit. And, on the dancing front, Stiefel had knee problems that forced him to cancel several performances. Stiefel's now had knee operations, and this week they were deemed successful. He should be back to performing this fall. The New York Times 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:37 am
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Tarzan Comes In From The Jungle Disney's new "Tarzan" musical is "one of the most expensive shows ever mounted on Broadway, with a budget rumored to be between $15 million and $20 million. It is also one of the riskiest, even for Disney, a company which has had an excellent Broadway track record, with three hits in three tries. Most shows open out of town, where problems can be identified and fixed far from prying eyes. But "Tarzan," based on the hit 1999 animated film and the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs novel that inspired it, will land on Broadway cold." The New York Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:04 am
A Reprieve For Borderline Theatre? Two prominent Scottish politicians want to reconsider the decision made earlier this year to cut off funding for the Borderline Theatre. "Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson and Des Browne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, want to reverse the decision to cut the theatre's £215,000 funding." BBC 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:20 am
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Kakutani - A Book Critic Who's Right But Too Judgmental? Michiko Kakutani is a critical institution. She's been book critic at the New York Times for 25 years. "Her main weakness is her evaluation fixation. This may seem an odd complaint—the job is called critic, after all—but in fact, whether a work is good or bad is just one of the many things to be said about it, and usually far from the most important or compelling. Kakutani doesn't offer the stylistic flair, the wit, or the insight one gets from Kael and other first-rate critics; for her, the verdict is the only thing." Slate 04/10/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:40 am
What Would Beckett Have Thought Of All This? Samuel Beckett is getting renewed attention this year on the 100th anniversary of his birth. But the author notoriously didn't like cult of celebrity that engulfed him. So what would he have thought of all this? "Theatergoers have laughed about how the famously reclusive author would have reacted to the sprawling festival, which by some counts is the sixth major posthumous celebration of his work. He wouldn't have turned up at a single event, and he couldn't have borne the hoopla element." The New York Times 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:44 am
Our Memoirist Age What do publishers want to publish these days? "Memoirs have been strong sellers throughout this decade. But this year, publishers plan to put out twice as many as last year – there are likely to be as many as 40, according to Simba Information, a book-tracking company." Wall Street Journal 04/14/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:30 am
Vanity Fair's Recreative Cover This month's Vanity Fair "green" cover has a pedigree. "A spokeswoman for the magazine acknowledged Wednesday that the cover photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Al Gore, shot by Annie Leibovitz, was "inspired" by "Ballet Society," a 1948 portrait by Irving Penn of George Balanchine and three collaborators. Although there's no mention anywhere in the magazine of the connection, the composition of the two photos is virtually identical, down to the leafy garland on Roberts' head." Women's Wear Daily 04/13/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 5:27 am
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Leonardo Image Altered In "Da Vinci Code" Promos One of Leonardo's most famous images is being used to promote "The Da Vinci Code" movie. But in licensed images, the figure's "private parts" have been deleted from the image. Why? "The art was G-rated for products so they'd be accessible worldwide. Those interested in the unrated version can find it in the Da Vinci gallery of our movie website." Toronto Star 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:11 am
China Imposes New Censorship On TV, Radio The Chinese government is imposing new censorship rules on the country's radio and TV stations. "The notice called for greater 'political and propaganda discipline' in the news and drama sectors. The move comes following the Communist Party’s crack down on newspapers and magazines in 2005. Last year, the government imposed a freeze on foreign investment in media ventures, from magazines to television stations." BBC 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:23 am
Networks Appeal FCC Fines Four American TV networks are appealing FCC fines for "indecent" programming. "The move represents a protest against the aggressive enforcement of federal indecency rules that broadcasters have complained are vague and inconsistently applied. Millions of dollars in fines have been levied based on those rules." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 6:00 am
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Rethinking The Martha Graham Company It's been struggling, even in its reinvented form. "In the 15 years since Martha's death, funding changed, presenting changed, audiences changed, and what we rebuilt last year was based on the old model." The reinvented group "got the Picassos out of the attic and dusted them off beautifully, but the connection to how the field had moved forward wasn't addressed. We had a goddess up on top of a mountain and everybody came to her. But without the goddess, we're just another mountain." The New York Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:01 am
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