Monday, April 17
Animals Inside The Faucets, Chairs, Tables... Wonder how the shapes of everyday objects get their designs? "Once we start to look, we will find no shortage of suggestions of living forms in the furniture and houses around us. There are penguins in our water jugs and stout and self-important personages in our kettles, graceful deer in our desks and oxen in our dining-room tables." The Telegraph (UK) 04/16/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 8:01 am
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The Art Of Security Want to spend your days around art? That's what museum security guards do. So "when it comes to the people who guard art, visitors might be surprised to find that in more than a few cases, underneath that stern visage and pressed uniform there beats the heart of an artist." Los Angeles Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 7:13 am
Aussie Art Cracks Millionaires' Club The market for Australian art is on the rise, with a couple of million-dollar sales recently. The managing director of Sotheby's says "people were in for a few surprises in the next few years on what the Australian market could achieve. It's not fully priced … one could argue the whole market is undervalued." Sydney Morning Herald 04/16/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 7:11 am
The Smithsonian's Greek Revival Revival "The original Patent Office in Washington, D.C., considered one of the America's best examples of Greek revival architecture, is nearing the end of a $300 million renovation. When the building reopens on July 1, the two Smithsonian museums it houses - the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum - will be newly accessible to the public." All Things Considered (NPR) 04/13/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 6:36 am
Philadelphia Museum Puts Its Collector Hat On The Philadelphia Museum of Art has more art than it could possibly exhibit. The museum has an acquistions budget of only $1.2 million a year. But there are signs the PMA is in an acquisitive mood... Philadelphia Inquirer 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:26 pm
Texan Amateur Searches For Pyramids In Bosnia A bizarre dig in Bosnia threatens an archaeologically rich area. "The prospect of their own Valley of the Kings has captured the imagination of many Bosnians desperate for a way to boost the shattered economy and raise the national pride of a country racked by conflict. Opponents of the project are, however, horrified at the prospect of irreparable damage to an area they believe is important enough to be a tourist attraction without a pyramid, yet warrants further archaeological research." The Art Newspaper 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:21 pm
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Cut The Talk - It's Time To Listen More and more, performers of classical music concerts are speaking to their audiences. Andrew Clark isn't impressed: "The trouble with speaking to the audience is that it limits the imaginative scope of the music. Listening to someone discussing a piece of music before you have a chance to hear it pre-programmes your responses. The music has no chance to communicate freely. You are left with a number of objective ideas about what to think and feel, circumscribing the subjective impressions that music seeks to create in the listener through the medium of sound." Financial Times 04/15/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 7:48 am
Email Intrudes Into The Concert Hall Gadgets of our electronic age are increasingly becoming a distraction in the concert hall. A woman next to Robert Hurwitz in a concert recently spent the performance working on her Blackberry while the music played. "The concert hall is not a church or a temple, but in many ways it is a sanctuary from modern life. It is not, and should not be merely an escape where we hear pretty, soothing melodies or music that relaxes us (for that, smooth jazz radio stations or New-Age records will do just fine). It is, rather, a refuge where we can go and still be fully engaged." The New York Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 6:29 am
Where Illegal Downloads Are Encouraged At a time that major recording labels are busy suing downloaders for illegally trading music, unknown bands are finding downloads (legal or otherwise) a benefit. "For an increasing number of acts, free or illegal downloads are a promotional tool more valuable than money." Denver Post 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:51 pm
Michigan Opera In Transition David DiChiera is the "genial founding general director of Michigan Opera Theatre", and the builder of Detroit's $50-million opera house. "They are the products of his vision, his sweat, his moxie and his leadership. They are his destiny. But the 10th anniversary of the opera house, along with the 35th anniversary of MOT, captures the company in transition." Detroit Free Press 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:44 pm
Science Of Music? Not Anytime Soon Last week scientists wired up conductor Keith Lockhart and some of his audience to measure physical response to music. But Richard Dyer is unimpressed: "Science may illuminate magic and mystery, but it isn't going to eliminate them anytime soon." Boston Globe 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:17 pm
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For Better Doctors - Study Humanities Some medical schools are now requiring humanities courses for their students. "At least one study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001, has found that looking at painting and sculpture can improve medical students' observational abilities. 'With heightened observational skills physicians can often ask the questions necessary to make correct diagnoses without relying too much on costly blood tests and X-rays'." The New York Times 04/17/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 8:37 am
- Previously: 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
The Tension Of Leadership The mix between strong leadership and democracy is a tough balance to strike. "A democratic leader is, at least in part, an oxymoron. A leader is ahead of those being led, but a democratic leader is also supposed to be a follower, obeying the will of the people. Neither position is without dangers." The New York Times 04/17/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 8:33 am
Torontopia - A City Building On Culture "A generation ago, an astonished Toronto was energized when its multicultural neighbourhoods won favour from international urban thinkers such as Jane Jacobs. Then, for 30 years, the city the rest of Canada loves to hate cruised back into mediocrity. Today, it is regaining a sense of its own singular potential. In once derelict, now glamorous industrial lofts and hotels, indie rockers talk with hip architects and earnest young public-space activists about books like uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto and debate whether the term 'Torontopia' has gone too far in "fetishizing" the city's newfound energy." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/15/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:21 pm
Is Nothing Sacred? Cell Phones In Libraries? People are using their cell phones everywhere. But libraries? That's intolerable, writes Scott McLemee. "Being forced to listen to one side of a manifestly inane conversation is now a routine part of public life. It is tolerable on the street — but not, somehow, in a library; and in one mostly full of academic tomes maybe least of all. What’s worse, the rot is spreading." InsideHigherEd.com 04/13/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:31 pm
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Chihuly Inc. - Questions About The Artist Inside? Dale Chihuly is the superstar of the glass art world. His enormous operation sells millions of dollars worth of glass each year. But lately Chihuly has hit a rough patch. He's suing, he's being sued, and he's had major health problems... Seattle Post-Intelligencer 04/17/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 6:59 am
Remembering Muriel Spark The author of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was 88 when she died this week. "In literary terms she was the last of a generation, just younger than Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene [all Catholic converts], who helped her and sent her money early in her career. She was one of the most original prose stylists ever." The Observer (UK) 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:39 pm
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Broadway Theatre Gets Thuggish Over Cameras A patron complains that at a Broadway Theatre recently, audience members were forced to surrender their cameras upon entering the theatre. "At the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre to catch a preview of Richard Greenberg's 'Three Days of Rain,' starring Julia Roberts and opening officially Wednesday, he and other patrons were ordered — rather rudely, he says — to surrender their cameras before going in or to give up their tickets. Despite years of theatergoing, he says, he's rarely experienced treatment so brusque." Los Angeles Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 7:16 am
Politically Incorrect - On Our Stages? "How daringly political will we allow our stages to become? The question urges us to move beyond the self-congratulatory platitudes and catchphrases that we who love this art form all too readily dispense. It comes down to something more difficult: Can we envision (and, more to the point, finance) a theater that embraces what the great midcentury Italian critic Nicola Chiaromonte called its inherent and potentially liberating 'unpopularity'?" Los Angeles Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 7:48 pm
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A Book Selection Gone Wrong Ohio State University decided to pick a single book that its freshmen would all read. But the project of choosing that book has unraveled. "The suggestion of one member of the book selection committee that an anti-gay book be picked angered many faculty members, some of whom have filed harassment charges against the person who nominated that book. The faculty members in turn are being accused of trying to censor a librarian — and a conservative group is threatening to sue." InsideHigherEd 04/14/06
Posted: 04/17/2006 7:57 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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Why Film Lost Dance There was a time when dance got star treatment on film. "But somewhere along the line, dance itself got lost in all the narrative strategies. Nowadays, film directors have come to believe that audiences can't get any pleasure from just watching it — and they don't stop with merely cutting it to pieces in the editing room. No, they make sure their films are structured so dancing becomes some kind of competitive ordeal. Yes, Astaire and Rogers did win a trophy in one of their classic musicals, but in recent years, virtually every film about dance culminates in some kind of life-defining contest." Los Angeles Times 04/16/06
Posted: 04/16/2006 8:35 pm
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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