New York’s Seventh Regiment Armory, which is used to stage several prominent art fairs, changed hands in mid-December, and this week, those who are used to staging events at the venue got the news they had been expecting: rents are going up. Way up. By this fall, the cost of renting the Armory for an art show will have tripled.
Author: sbergman
Pulpy, Yes. Classy, Absolutely.
Janet Maslin says that Sidney Sheldon, who passed away this week, had a talent for blending the lurid with a potent literacy that gave his books just the right kick. “He brought class to trash. And he did it with consistent professionalism, turning himself into a legitimate brand name. If that sounds like no great accomplishment, think about how rarely an author does it right.”
We Manipulate – You Decide
Allowing the public to vote on the outcome of televised competitions and reality shows has become a staple of the modern entertainment world. “Yet even as entertainment democracy proliferates, some question how well it works… And some skeptics ask whether the spread of such contests is a reflection less of rising populism than of new marketing tricks.”
Forget The Oscars – Critics Know The Score
The Oscars may be an enjoyable diversion, but David Gritten says that the Academy’s sketchy voting practices have undermined its collective judgment, and allowed the Oscars to be bypassed in importance by the various critics’ choice film awards. “I guarantee we film critics see more films week in, week out, than members of other awards bodies. When we cast a vote, it’s based on a vast wealth of film-watching experiences – by no means all of them good ones.”
Scottish Theatre Declines To Relocate To Slums
“Scotland’s flagship national theatre is set to abandon plans to base itself in a deprived Glasgow housing scheme. Easterhouse had been earmarked as a home for the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS). When the surprise move was announced in 2003 by the then Culture Minister, Frank McAveety, much was made of the symbolic power of the new cultural institution being sited in an area associated with deprivation and poverty. However, the core staff of the NTS has never moved to the £9.5m facility and has instead been based in temporary offices in central Glasgow.”
Making Everything Old New Again
Plays are frequently products of their specific era, and as such, it can be difficult to make an old script seem relevant (or even understandable) a few decades after it was written. “The toughest problems in keeping a play contemporary are prices and politics… The question of what to do with dangling 1970s references has recently occupied many rehearsal rooms, because theatre seems to operate a 30-year rule when it comes to choosing plays to restage.”
Record Art Auction Predicted In London
A single four-day Sotheby’s auction could bring in as much as £200m next week, experts are estimating. If the sale meets expectations, it could be the richest art auction in European history, featuring works by masters from Degas and Renoir to Warhol and Banksy.
Arts Veteran Tusa To Advise Tories
“Sir John Tusa, widely respected for having turned round the fortunes of London’s Barbican Centre, is to lead a new Conservative taskforce on the arts. The former broadcaster steps down from his role as the Barbican’s chief executive in August, and in the meantime joins a number of prominent figures from Zac Goldsmith to Bob Geldof who have been enlisted by the Tories to look at all areas of policy before the next general election.”
At Least They’re Starting With High Expectations
British publisher Penguin has officially launched its wiki novel project, offering anyone who cares to participate the chance to help write a full-length book online. “‘It may end up like reading a bowl of alphabet spaghetti,’ Jeremy Ettinghausen, head of digital publishing at Penguin UK said, adding there were no plans as yet to publish the completed work.”
Are Cable Companies Conspiring To Kill Canadian TV?
The Canadian Television Fund, which draws money from the license fees paid by cable and satellite companies and uses it to support homegrown TV programs, is the focus of a major inquiry in Parliament after Canada’s two largest cable companies cut off funding for the fund. Concerned MPs demanded hearings after a cable executive was quoted boasting that the fund would soon be dead and buried.