“If the Burj Dubai is too shiny, confidently designed and expertly engineered to be a ruin itself, it is surely the marker — the tombstone — for some ruined ideas.”
Tag: 01.03.10
World’s Tallest Building Opens
“Even by the standards of an emirate which has created miles more beach front by building vast islands from millions of tonnes of sand in the shapes of palms, the tower stands out as Dubai’s most remarkable achievement yet.Around 12,000 people are expected to live and work in the tower which is part of a 500-acre development known as “downtown” Burj Dubai.”
Getting To Know You – The Orchestra Residency
“Orchestras across the country have been looking for ways to deepen their relationships with top-tier musicians. Artist residencies, ranging from one week to two years, are now de rigueur.”
Indie Music – Genre Confusion
“Ten or 20 years ago it was relatively easy to define the term “indie-rock” as a handful of related styles and a collective audience slightly on the fringe of the mainstream. But by the end of the decade it has become an ever-expanding, incomprehensibly cluttered taxonomy of subgenres.”
00’s Growth Industry: Artists
“Over the past decade the number of artists has indeed continued to increase, but so has the tally of good ones. The years 2000 to 2009 saw the emergence of a tremendous number of really good, interesting, promising artists. They came from around the world and every demographic, working in every medium.”
00’s In Visual Art – A Decade Passed By
“In the real world the news of the decade was 9/11, two awful wars, staggering corporate greed and the election of an African-American president. In the art world a big event was Mr. Koons showing his sculptures at Versailles. In short, life passed art by. Maybe in the new decade they’ll meet.”
What Defined Classical Music Over The Past 10 Years
“Maybe I am making too much of 9/11 as a prod to this self-examination and renewal. But what seems indisputable is that outreach and education programs have become central to the missions of many artists and institutions.”
Stars And Fame. That’s What Today’s Broadway Is About
“It seems curmudgeonly — and too easy — to dismiss celebrity-driven productions on Broadway. They inspire people to keep buying increasingly expensive tickets, even in a recession, and they allow an institution too often perceived as culturally marginal these days to bask in an international spotlight from time to time.”
How Technology Is Changing The Very Idea Of ‘Movies’
“Film is profoundly changing — or, if you believe some theorists and historians, is already dead — something that most moviegoers don’t know. Yet, because the visible evidence of this changeover has become literally hard to see, and because the implications are difficult to grasp, it is also understandable why the shift to digital has not attracted more intense analysis outside film and media studies.”
Digital Era Demands Artists Have New Skills
“For artists of all kinds (with musicians on the front lines) a 21st-century habitat of possibilities and pressures is taking shape — one that demands skills their predecessors forgot or never needed. The art they make can be created, as well as disseminated, faster and more cheaply. But it will also face exponentially more rivals for attention, and many more temptations toward superficiality and sellouts.”