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Thursday, October 12




Ideas

When Satire Becomes More Important Than News That comedian and fake news anchor Jon Stewart has more credibility with much of the public than real journalists or the politicians they cover is old news. But what does such a state of affairs say about our country and this moment in history? Are we sliding towards a desperate decline, or do we just have a highly developed sense of humor? The truth may be more boring: "we live in an era of the most sophisticated and relentless media manipulation ever, but the news media has not adjusted to the new environment." Baltimore Sun 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:20 am

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Visual Arts

Two Postwar Masterpieces Change Hands Two paintings by Jasper Johns and Willem de Kooning have been sold for $143.5 million in a private transaction. Media mogul David Geffen was the seller, and the buyers are a pair of hedge fund billionaires looking to up the profile of their own collections.
The New York Times 10/12/06 Posted: 10/12/2006 6:07 am

Libeskind's Self-Portrait? Nicolai Ouroussoff says that Daniel Libeskind's new addition to the Denver Art Museum is a mighty piece of work, but also one which embodies "all of the contradictions within Mr. Libeskind’s oeuvre. Its bold, often mesmerizing forms reaffirm the originality of his talent, yet its tortured geometries make it a daunting place to install or view art — hardly a minor drawback. And for all its emotional power, the building seems eerily out of date, and its flaws readily apparent."
The New York Times 10/12/06 Posted: 10/12/2006 6:04 am

  • It Looks Like Denver (And That's Quite An Accomplishment) Inga Saffron loves the new Libeskind addition. "When the prow of the museum's new Hamilton Building cruises into view, it is a staggering sight. Its slashing, titanium-sheathed planes thrust up from Denver's wide-open city grid like a newborn Rocky Mountain... In contrast with its ponderous, earthbound neighbors, his museum looks ready for a springy takeoff."
    Philadelphia Inquirer 10/12/06 Posted: 10/12/2006 6:03 am

  • This Is What Happens When You Hand Out Champagne In A Museum An installation piece by San Francisco artist William T. Wiley was damaged over the weekend during the opening celebrations of the newly expanded Denver Art Museum. Parts of the installation were knocked to the floor when a visitor tripped into them. Museum officials aren't saying how severe the damage is.
    Denver Post 10/12/06 Posted: 10/12/2006 6:03 am

Pollock Paintings To Get Viewing, Whether Real Or Not "The director of the only museum that has agreed to show a group of recently discovered paintings attributed to Jackson Pollock said today she'll show them even if laboratory tests show that the works are fake... Harvard University has said it soon will release the first physical analysis of the works, which include two dozen paintings and a dozen sketches and studies on paper. The analysis likely will show whether the materials used to make them existed during Pollock's lifetime."
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 10/12/06 Posted: 10/12/2006 5:57 am

Van Gogh Controversy Close To Resolution The controversy over the authenticity of a painting attributed to Van Gogh in Australia's National Gallery of Victoria hasn't swayed the confidence of the gallery's director. "The portrait, estimated to be worth $20 million, is included in all catalogues listing the artist's works, and was part of a US exhibition in 2000 that was seen by more than 1 million people without complaint. But its authenticity was questioned by some British critics when it went on show in August at Scotland's Dean Gallery as part of the Edinburgh Festival." The painting is now being carefully scrutinized by experts to determine the truth.
Sydney Morning Herald 10/12/06 Posted: 10/11/2006 8:17 pm

The Artist's Fingerprint A new piece of software developed by researchers at the University of Maastricht may be able to significantly cut the time it takes for art experts to authenticate a painting or spot a forgery. "Using high-resolution scans of paintings, the Authentic software builds up a library of characteristics, such as brushstrokes, colours and type of canvas used, that form a 'fingerprint' for a particular artist. A painting can then be compared against this fingerprint to help experts decide whether it is a fake."
The Guardian (UK) 10/12/06 Posted: 10/11/2006 7:36 pm

The Frieze Descends On London "If Tate Modern, with its new Carsten Höller helter-skelters, has been accused of resembling an old-fashioned fairground, it has nothing on Frieze art fair. In the vast, chaotic encampment that has suddenly sprung up in Regent's Park you wouldn't be too surprised to encounter a coconut shy and a bearded lady... Frieze represents the moment in London's calendar when commerce and art become most nakedly and shamelessly entwined. Four hundred and seventy galleries from Europe, the US, Russia, Japan, Lebanon and Eygpt have competed for the chance to have a pitch at this, the fourth Frieze art fair. Only 152 have been accepted."
The Guardian (UK) 10/12/06 Posted: 10/11/2006 7:33 pm

  • London's Golden Age of Art The Frieze Art Fair may be the best encapsulation available of the artistic explosion London has undergone over the past few decades. "People complain of party fatigue and all the work blurring into each other but there has never been a better time to be involved in art in London."
    The Times (UK) 10/12/06 Posted: 10/11/2006 7:32 pm

Congressman Steps Into Barnes Battle The fight over the Barnes Foundation's intended move to Center City Philadelphia has taken yet another unexpected turn, as a local congressman announces his plans to introduce a bill on the floor of the U.S. House which would block the move. The congressman claims that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's commitment of $25 million in state money to facilitate the move was the last straw in spurring him to act against the relocation.
Culturegrrl (AJ Blogs) 10/11/06 Posted: 10/11/2006 6:37 pm

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Music

Pittsburgh Opera Taps Australian Pittsburgh Opera has named Australian conductor Antony Walker as its next music director, beginning later this season. "Walker has worked closely with [Sir Charles] Mackerras on many opera productions in Australia and Europe, and benefited from his personal relationship with, and advocacy by, the world-renowned maestro." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 5:36 am

How The Kitchener-Waterloo Fiasco Got This Bad It was August when executives at the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony learned that their ensemble was in serious danger of not being able to complete the 2006-07 season unless a major financial turnaround was achieved. The KWSO had ended the '05-'06 season $600,000 in the red, even after a $750,000 behind-the-scenes fundraising campaign. "The symphony, after studying solutions struggling orchestras in Vancouver and Calgary have used, realized it would have to go public with its problems." The Record (Kitchener, ON) 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 5:26 am

  • Previously: Another Canadian Band On The Brink The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, a regional ensemble in Canada's most populous province, says it needs to raise CAN$2.5 million by the end of the month to avoid immediate bankruptcy. That goal might well prove unreachable - the total contributions of the orchestra's board members to the emergency drive total only $230,000. The Record (Kitchener, ON) 10/05/06

BBC Phil Extends Noseda's Run "Gianandrea Noseda, 42-year-old principal conductor of the Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic for four years, has extended his contract by two years and will now be known as chief conductor... Noseda has endeared himself to Manchester audiences and has won wide critical praise. He throws himself into a score (Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet for example) with passion, sometime crouching so low you fear he will end up on his knees or leaping so high that those in the front row of Manchester's Bridgewater Hall prepare for his imminent arrival in their laps." The Guardian (UK) 10/11/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 7:18 pm

SF Opera To Offer Discount Tickets San Francisco Opera is slashing some ticket prices in an effort to grow its audience. Under the plan, members of the $60-per-year Bravo Club will be able to purchase tickets for $50 that normally sell for between $87 and $155. The company's announcement comes on the heels of the Metropolitan Opera's decision to make $20 seats available for most weekday performances. San Francisco Business Times 10/12/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 7:08 pm

You've Got The Hall - Now Show Us The Music Now that Orange County, California has its beautiful and acoustically impressive new concert hall, it's time to start asking whether the principal tenant lives up to its new digs. "The Segerstrom, with 2,000 seats, is a place a lot of major orchestras in big American cities would kill for. The Pacific Symphony, on the other hand, is more than a pickup orchestra but also less than a year-round, full-contract ensemble... The citizens of Orange County have dropped a splendid gift on this young, perhaps embryonic orchestra and will now wait to see what they get in return." The New York Times 10/12/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 7:01 pm

Oregon On The Side Early this week, rumors were rampant in the orchestra biz that Edmonton Symphony managing director Elaine Calder was about to be snatched up as the next president of the Oregon Symphony. As it turns out, the rumors weren't true, but Calder has agreed to serve as a consultant in Portland. The unusual arrangement will require the Edmonton Symphony board to approve Calder's double duty. Musical America 10/11/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 6:46 pm

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Arts Issues

Foundation Hopes To Boost Business Acumen of Arts Leaders "The Joyce Foundation is giving $95,000 over two years to send local leaders of [midsize arts groups] to a new series of business seminars... The sessions will be open to arts leaders from around the country and led by business faculty from major U.S. universities." Chicago Tribune 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:42 am

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People

Notorious Modernist Filmmaker Dies "Danièle Huillet, the French-born filmmaker who, in collaboration with her husband, Jean-Marie Straub, created some of the most challenging and intensely debated motion pictures of the modernist era, died on Monday at the home of friends in the Loire Valley in France. She was 70." The New York Times 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:15 am

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Publishing

Nobel Prize Goes To Turkish Novelist Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, who was prosecuted last year for talking openly about the slaughter of Armenians in Turkey during World War I, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. "He has published six books in English, the first of these being The White Castle, primarily a historical novel set in 17th-century Istanbul, but also about how stories and fictions build self-perception." BBC 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 7:16 am

Art & Science: No Longer Mutually Exclusive There was a time when scientific journals reveled in an "all substance, no style" approach, sure that their readers were too high-minded to be sucked in by a glossy look anyway. But no more: "The realities of competing for limited readership have caused editors to employ a little pizazz to stand out on the shelf. That means paintings, photos and, most popular, microscopic illustrations (if medical journals were tabloids, the DNA double helix would be J.Lo). Inside, poems and first-person essays often break up the pages of dauntingly technical and data-laden articles." Chicago Tribune 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:44 am

National Book Award Finalists Announced Richard Powers, Ken Kalfus and Jess Walter are among the nominees for best fiction book of the year, while a chronicle of the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. will compete with a much-praised review of the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks in the non-fiction category. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Gluck is among those nominated in the poetry category. Boston Globe 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:36 am

Preparing For The Post-Booker Deluge The first days after winning the Man Booker Prize are a whirlwind of media engagements and adjusting to newfound celebrity. For this year's winner, Kiran Desai, who wasn't even on the radar screen of the oddsmakers that handicap the Booker, "the impact of the win and attendant publicity is likely to be colossal." The Independent (UK) 10/12/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 7:47 pm

  • What's The Opposite Of Sour Grapes? The two Australian women shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize not only aren't upset that they didn't win, they're professing relief. Kate Grenville and MJ Hyland were the first Australian women ever to make the shortlist, and they say that the whole experience was overwhelming. "In sales terms, the shortlist is certainly enough, with Grenville saying sales of her novel have increased tenfold since it was nominated for the last six." The Age (Melbourne) 10/12/06
    Posted: 10/11/2006 7:25 pm

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Media

Why Aren't You Watching The Good Shows? Critics were beside themselves with joy this fall when the major TV networks unveiled a slate of serious-minded programs. But several weeks into the season, critical praise is not translating into high viewership. "Observers have plenty of theories on what's hampering the latest crop of programs, which critics have praised for their intricate plots, strong casts, and movie-worthy production values." Boston Globe 10/12/06
Posted: 10/12/2006 6:33 am

Lynch To Go His Own Way Filmmaker David Lynch has decided to bypass the usual Hollywood system and self-distribute his latest film, a 3-hour digital epic called Inland Empire. Self-distribution is extremely unusual for a director as accomplished and bankable as Lynch. Sydney Morning Herald (Reuters) 10/11/06
Posted: 10/11/2006 8:13 pm

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