Category: issues

The San Francisco Art Institute is in the business of pushing the edges, of encouraging its students to think unconventionally – “It’s high concept, but you bring it down to a raw level.” Sometimes, as in a recent controversial student project that featured sex on stage, the concept gets a bit out of hand. Can this stuff really be taught? Should it be? – Chronicle of Higher Education

Long blamed for encouraging misspent youth and mind-numbing violence, now Sony’s hugely popular PlayStation 2 is being accused of inflicting far more damage: the potential to be used to build weapons of war. Japan decided to restrict all exports of the videogame console because it “contains a graphics processing facility quick enough to help guide certain types of missile, such as the Tomahawk, towards their target. – The Age (Melbourne)

— vote to go on strike against producers of TV commercials. Strike set for May. – Variety

For years Australians looked to Britain for its arts leaders. But with two Aussies taking the top London ballet jobs, it looks like the Brits are seeking the vitality of the former colonies to inject new energy into these keystone establishments. – The Age (Melbourne)

A documentary on violinist Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg raises questions about the relationship between manic depression and artists. “I think that people who suffer from depression may be able to use their creativity to help themselves out of it,” says one doctor. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A proposal by the British government to slash admission fees to £1 to London museums is being met with mixed (but generally enthusiastic) reaction. – The Art Newspaper  

Elitist, artistically moribund, over-dependent on government funding, and poorly managed; these are the favorite charges leveled against Australian arts organizations. But wait just a minute – does reality bear out these perceptions? – Sydney Morning Herald

It’s tough to defeat a libel charge under British law. But a British judge threw out controversial historian David Irving’s case against the historian Deborah Lipstadt, who had written in a 1993 book that Mr. Irving was “one of the most dangerous spokesmen for Holocaust denial.” Remarkably, the judge went so far as to call Irving a racist anti-Semite who deliberately distorts historical evidence to portray Hitler “in an unwarrantedly favorable light.” – New York Times

Historian David Irving, who lost his controversial libel trial in London earlier this week and now faces bankruptcy, is planning a lecture tour of the US with other Holocaust deniers. He hopes the trip will replenish his “fighting fund.” – The Independent (UK)

Korean arts groups are hoping the much-anticipated policy summit between North and South Korea in June will give inter-Korean arts exchange some needed momentum. “The excitement is understandable, given that for more than a half century there has been almost no civilian contact.”  – Korea Times