After recent cuts in state funding, Colorado has fallen to last in the US among the states. “Arts funding in the state dropped from $1.86 million in fiscal 2001-02 to $1.04 million for 2002-03, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. That represents about 25 cents per resident. The national average is $1.22, down from $1.42 in 2001-02.”
Tag: 01.03.03
House Of Glass – A New Director Takes Over Smithsonian History Museum
This week Brent Glass took over as director of “the third most popular museum in the world – the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It is not an altogether happy place. But in his 55 years, Glass has developed a well-honed vision of what history is and what that museum can be.”
Artists Defends His Controversial Art
The Chinese performance artist shown in a UK documentary seeming to eata stillborn baby, has defended his work: “An artist does not give answers, but possibilities. When facing an issue, we must try to allow people’s debate of an issue to produce a deeper discussion. Only if people did not curse it, did not detest it, would there be something wrong. They are right to scold.”
The New Biographers
“The old style of Canadian biography was written mainly by academic historians and characterized by a slavish devotion to the facts, and nothing but the facts, about the subject at hand.” Boring. But a new generation of biographers has taken more of the novelist approach to their work. “Virginia Woolf said every biography should be written twice – once as fiction and once as fact. Fact is accessible but interpretation is not, and fact won’t tell you much about character and thought.”
General Cluelessness – RIAA Gets Hacked Again
The Recording Industry Association of America has taken the lead against digital copying of music, so it’s not surprising the organization would be a target of hackers. The RIAA was hacked again Monday. “This time, the defacement resulted in bogus press releases on the front door, touting the joys of cheese and interspecies romantic relationships.” This was the sixth time the site had been hacked in six months – the question is why the RIAA hasn’t protected itself better…
Country Time – Country Music CD Sales Surge
CD sales might have been down 9 percent in 2002, but not all kinds of music sales declined. Sales of country music CD’s increased 12 percent. “Along with hip-hop, country accounted for three-fifths of number one albums in the US…
Controversial Documentary Beaten In Ratings
A documentary aired in the UK that showed a Chinese performance artist “apparently eating a stillborn baby” sparked only 15 calls of protest to the TV station. “An estimated 900,000 tuned in to see the documentary, which went out at 2300 GMT on Thursday. It was beaten in the ratings by the 1997 movie Beverly Hills Cop II, which attracted 3.4 million viewers.”
Disney Sues Blockbuster Video
“In a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Los Angeles, Disney alleges that starting in 1997, Blockbuster Inc. failed to account for missing videos, improperly charged the Burbank-based company for some promotional costs and prematurely sold videos before their rental life was finished.”
All Moves, Few Words – Broadway’s Surprise Dance Hit
“One of the great surprises of the current Broadway season is that Twyla Tharp’s ‘Movin’ On”, which received mixed reviews and was in well-publicized trouble on the road, is such a hit. The only words uttered onstage are those of the songs and a drill sergeant’s occasional bark. The rest is told in pure dance movement, from the smallest details of everyday life on Long Island in the 1960’s to the savage roar of the battlefield. Still, it is all intensely believable to audiences, particularly Vietnam veterans. Most of the performers have come not from Broadway but from the relatively arcane worlds of classical ballet and mainstream modern dance.”
Little Movies Played Big In ’02
In a great and profitable year for Hollywood, it was a great (and profitable) year for small independent films. “Movies such as “Bowling for Columbine,” “One Hour Photo,” “Monsoon Wedding,” “Empire,” and even the obscure French film “Brotherhood of the Wolf,” made 2002 one of the most successful years ever for specialized fare.”