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Weekend, November 18-19




Ideas

Yawwwwwn... More Masterpieces (Can Nothing Move Us?) "Once, it must have been possible to have stood in front of a great painting and to have felt your world being slowly flooded as if by some wondrous light. Now, it is possible to stand in front of a great painting and to feel nothing more than: yeah, I've got the postcard." The Observer (UK) 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 9:46 am

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Visual Arts

Myopia, Exhibit One: The Whitney The Whitney's big celebratory 75th birthday show is a dud, writes Christopher Kinght. "Fittingly, apathy is pretty much what the show deserves. Why? Call it an eye for an eye. The myopia is breathtaking. We might be living in a new millennium, but this exhibition still thinks the only 20th century American artists of note are New Yorkers. This boring, repetitious lack of discernment might also help explain a rising tide of inchoate critical restlessness with Manhattan's art museum culture."
Los Angeles Times 11/19/06 Posted: 11/19/2006 9:19 am

De Kooning For $137 Million Hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen "bought the 1952-53 oil on canvas, 'Woman III,' directly from the entertainment magnate and megacollector David Geffen, who in the last two months has emerged as equally prolific in selling his contemporary masterpieces. It is the last painting in de Kooning’s 'Women' series still in private hands."
The New York Times 11/18/06 Posted: 11/19/2006 8:37 am

Questions Mount About Goya Theft The painting was stolen as it was being driven from Toledo to the Guggenheim in New York. "The likelihood that the thief or thieves knew that a valuable painting was on the truck and were aware of its location led the authorities to conclude that whoever stole the painting had obtained precise information about the contents and route of the truck, even though such details are closely held at the two museums involved — the Toledo Museum of Art and the Guggenheim — and among employees at the art shipper. Law enforcement authorities did not identify the shipper."
The New York Times 11/18/06 Posted: 11/19/2006 8:21 am

That (Not So Fine) Line Between Art And Graffiti A man paints a giant cartoon of pinup icon Bettie Page on the side of his house in Seattle. Th city knocks on his door calling it graffiti and demanding he take it down...
The Stranger (Seattle) 11/16/06 Posted: 11/19/2006 7:08 am

More Political Art In LA Politically tinged social/relational art shows" are on the rise in Los Angeles. "Characterized by a kind of shaggy-dog rhetoric, a hands-on DIY workshop aesthetic, and a post-Seattle sense of political theater married to a post-9/11 sense of urgency, these groups have taken on the unthinkable task of forging a crazy-quilt sense of community from the disparate and physically isolated pockets of disenfranchised creative types that riddle L.A.’s cultural infrastructure."
LAWeekly 11/17/06 Posted: 11/19/2006 7:06 am

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Music

London Orchestra Gets Salonen Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is joining London's Philharmonia Orchestra as its principal conductor beginning next year. He will succeed Christoph von Dohnanyi, who has held the post since 1997. Salonen will keep his post as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Guardian (UK) 11/18/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 9:49 am

Sorting Out The Vision For Orange County's New Concert Hall Orange County's new Segerstrom concert hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is working out the kinks in its acoustics. But the hall has some challenges, not the least of which is attracting audiences. At performances by two of the world's great orchestras - the New York Philharmonic and the Kirov - there were plenty of empty seats. "When that happens, something is wrong. And what is wrong is that prices are too high (a $200 top for the Kirov) and that there is not enough culturally curious elite in Orange County to support an elite showplace." Los Angeles Times 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 9:09 am

Opera's Big New Thing: Puppets! "Puppets and all that goes with them have had a place in opera for centuries. But mostly they have inhabited a parallel universe, miming on miniature stages to the voices of unseen singers, live or recorded. Why use them alongside breathing singers on the stage of a regulation opera house?" The New York Times 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 8:13 am

Duet For One + One Technology has made the "duet" album a big deal. Singers "perform" together, even though they may never have met and the list of live singers recording with dead ones and singers of one genre recording with those of a different one without really collaborating is getting longer... Slate 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 6:52 am

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Arts Issues

Non-Profits Taking Advantage Of Hot Real Estate To Cash In (Or Out) "Investors and developers, even those who were historically not sellers, have taken advantage of the market to sell their assets rather than refinance or allow cash flow to accumulate. Nonprofits have followed suit, many feeling that the value of some longstanding locations are replaceable by other locations combined with consolidation of services and residences is a positive arbitrage that results in a stronger balance sheet." New York Sun 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:14 am

LA Arts Funding Not Growing With Activity A new study reports that funding for the arts in Los Angeles has stayed flat in recent years, even though arts activity has grown by 20 percent. "The levels of funding from some public and private sources for 2004 were close to or even below 1998 levels, when the nonprofit arts sector was significantly smaller, according to the groups." ABC7.com 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:02 am

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People

Breuer - Inside The Outside Director Lee Breuer hasn't had nearly as much attention for his experimental vision than some of his colleagues. Maybe "Breuer's independent, unpredictable methods and visionary ends aren't what the commercial theater or most of the major nonprofits are buying or selling." Los Angeles Times 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 9:23 am

Ruth Brown, 78 The pioneering singer died in Las Vegas of a heart attack. "Feisty, joyful and possessing the perfect balance of sugar and salt, Brown's voice took African American pop into the rhythmically expressive, emotionally direct rhythm-and-blues era." Los Angeles Times 11/18/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:21 am

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Theatre

Live And On Stage: Virtual Shakespeare "In 'La Tempête,' the much buzzed about French-language production of 'The Tempest' from the Montreal's 4D Art, are 10 actors. Four of them (those playing the roles of Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, and an Ariel/Caliban hybrid) appear live. The six others are virtual characters, their video images (with sound) projected onto the back wall; at times, projected off curved mirrored surfaces, they look three dimensional. The high-tech wizardry is as cool as it sounds." New York Sun 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:17 am

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Publishing

Foreign Invasion - Outsiders Take French Book Prizes This fall, four out of six of France's top novel prizes went to non-French writers. So what does this mean about the state of French literature? The New York Times 11/18/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 8:39 am

We Must Protect The Children From Gay Penguins! Parents at a school in Illinois want the school to move "a picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin" to a restricted section of the library. Why? "Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book — available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis — tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle." Yahoo! (AP) 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 6:57 am

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Media

Scottish TV - A Basic Lack Of Entertainment Scotland sends £180 million a year on its public broadcaster. The public affairs and news shows are great, writes Tom Little. But when it comes to producing entertainment... well, is this really the best they can do? Scotland on Sunday 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 9:26 am

A Close Personal Relationship With Your TV "Grandiose promises of an interactive future circulated for decades, then seemingly died out a few years back. But today more than 25 million homes can engage with their television on something approaching their own terms." So what do people really want from their TVs? The New York Times 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:25 am

Foot Soldiers In The Technology Wars Why all the non-compatible formats and versions of your favorite electronics? "The relentless drive to upgrade, overtake, or replace the competition has led to a dizzying number of choices in everything from digital cameras to MP3 players to personal computers. If it's not new features, it's hipper fads that keep most of us on a treadmill of constantly replacing our personal electronics." Christian Science Monitor 11/17/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 7:12 am

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Dance

A Closer Look At Albert Evans "Albert Evans stands out. The cheap explanation is that he’s the lone African-American principal dancer in the New York City Ballet, and only its second ever, besides Arthur Mitchell in the 1950s and ’60s. But the truer distinction is artistic: regal and uninhibited, Mr. Evans moves like few others of his generation." The New York Times 11/19/06
Posted: 11/19/2006 8:16 am

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