“The RCA is not in the habit of destroying artworks. It describes itself as ‘the world’s most influential postgraduate art and design school’ and counts David Hockney, Bridget Riley and Tracey Emin among its alumni.” But the school deemed a staircase that was part of a student’s MA project “‘not a sculpture’ but a health and safety hazard,” so it was ripped down.
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Edinburgh Film Fest Is Fest Of ‘Discovery’ — Meaning What?
“The fond ideal of a ‘discovery’ festival is lots of people running around eagerly from cinema to cinema, lapping it all up and joyously proclaiming one or other unheard-of film a masterpiece. The reality, of course, is somewhat different. Sitting through a third-rate, unreleasable film is a thoroughly dismal experience….”
A Long-Running Hit By A Troupe Of Deaf And Blind Actors
“In the UK, theatre created by companies of deaf or blind artists seldom reaches a wider audience. But Not By Bread Alone – a show that lasts as long as it takes the cast to make bread, which is then shared with the audience – has been playing several nights a week in Jaffa since 2007. Performances are almost always sold out.”
In Bad Times, We Need Great Public Spaces
“They aren’t a luxury but an essential natural health service, the ultimate drop-in centre – preventative healthcare that is far cheaper than the NHS, and without a waiting list. Shame then that not only will our vital public spaces be among the first to bear the brunt of the cuts” but they also “seem increasingly restrictive of what you can do in a so-called public space.”
Boston Buys Four Libraries More Time Before Closure
“State lawmakers who attended a library trustees meeting yesterday at the main library in Copley Square scoffed at the gesture by the city. They made it clear that they would make good on their threat to strip the library of what remains of its state funding if the city follows through with plans to close any library branches.”
Calif. County Scrambles To Avert Library Disaster
“The rosiest scenario for the struggling library system here is an 83% budget cut, which would force the immediate closure of seven of the 11 1/2 libraries but leave enough money to operate the rest — through December.” The whole system could shutter by month’s end, “making Siskiyou — an area bigger than Connecticut — the only county in California without public libraries.”
In Designing Public Realm, Who Could Take Broad’s Place?
“None of these figures, on his or her own, promises to stand astride the cultural life of Los Angeles the way [Eli] Broad has. Yet their backgrounds, tastes and priorities offer clues about the roles they might play and the kinds of projects and architecture they might support. And they have time on their side….”
At Stonehenge Solstice, Criticism Of Funding Cuts
“The outcry from solstice revellers was led by the unmistakeable figure of Arthur Pendragon, a druid who believes he is an incarnation of the once and future king. Pendragon, who rejoices in the title of battle chieftain of the council of British druid orders, said he was not surprised that the £10m funding was dropped.”
As BBC Cuts Back On Radio Drama, Is The Form In Danger?
“As everyone connected with radio will tell you, its cheapness is its strength. It’s the perfect medium for raw, experimental or ultra-topical writers. And, of course, the audio experience itself remains as potent as ever, bringing an intimate book-like intensity to storytelling by doing it inside the listener’s head.”
Polish National Museum Staff Revolts Against Director
“The main points of contention are [Piotr] Piotrowski’s exhibition programme, which is seen as too contemporary, and his restructuring proposals, which include redundancies. … The protest coincides with the opening of the museum’s controversial ‘Ars Homo Erotica’ exhibition, a survey of homoerotic art from antiquity to the present.”