“Time was when the ‘authorship’ of a work of art was usually (if not always) a clear-cut matter. Nobody wonders who wrote ‘David Copperfield’ or painted ‘Guernica.’ Even in the performing arts, it’s long been taken for granted that the mere act of performance creates no enforceable property right on the part of the performer… Here’s the problem: Where do you draw the line separating creative performance from actual authorship?”
Tag: 01.06.07
Hollywood Can’t Kick The Habit
Smoking is on the rise in Hollywood films, and public health advocates are appealing to the industry to cut it out. “60 per cent of [films released in 2006] depicted smoking, with more than 15 cigarette-related scenes an hour. This compares with only 10 scenes an hour for films of the 1950s.”
Consolidation Works For Indies, Too
Two prominent independent UK publishers have announced plans to merge. “The deal brings together two of publishing’s most outspoken and independent characters – Profile founder Andrew Franklin and Serpent’s Tail founder Pete Ayrton.”
Pictures From An Execution
“Last week images of the execution of Saddam Hussein were beamed around the world. News travelled much more slowly in June 1867, when a political execution took place under very different circumstances: the idealistic emperor Maximilian of Mexico, who had been installed three years earlier by a French intervention, faced a firing squad of resurgent nationalists. Learning the news, Edouard Manet made some of the greatest of all political paintings.”
Who Will Win Atlantis? (And Will Viewers Lose?)
When Canadian TV distributor Alliance Atlantis put itself up for sale last month, many wondered what the impact would be on the country’s always-struggling entertainment industry. So far, there has been no shortage of suitors, but deciphering what the various potential deals would mean for Canadian viewers is a tough assignment.
Wurlitzers Or Stadium Seating? Why Not Both?
Does the age of the multiplex have to mean the death of the classic old movie palace? The answer depends entirely on what city you live in. Some areas embrace the new with gusto and see the single-screen house as a charming but outdated feature of a bygone era. But others, notably the San Francisco Bay Area, see a distinct and lasting place in the urban environment for a cinema with all the frills and luxuries of yesteryear.
Vandalism Or Bad Luck? Sculpture Collapses In GA
“An artist who hoped to stir debate over global warming with his 175-ton quartzite and bronze sculpture ‘Spaceship Earth’ is instead struggling to solve the mystery of its spectacular crash at Kennesaw State University last week… Questions abound over whether vandals destroyed the sculpture, made by a Finnish-born artist known as Eino, or whether a combination of substandard adhesive and rain caused it to crumble in the middle of the night on Dec. 29 in a collapse the campus police said they felt from their offices around the corner.”
When Does Art Require A Zoning Code?
A bizarre legal battle has broken out in high-society Connecticut, pitting two art-collecting homeowners who want to keep a 40-ton concrete sculpture on their lawn against neighbors and the town they live in, who claim that the object should be considered a structure and require a ‘certificate of appropriateness.’ “The fight has not yet become an all-out battle over the First Amendment, since deliberations have not dwelt on the artwork’s content or message so much as its size and manner of installation.”
Bring Me A Nobody Who Won’t Lose My $10 Million!
Broadway is tapping into the reality TV game, offering to let viewers choose the lead actors for a new revival of Grease, and known theatre commodities need not apply. But it’s a risky gambit: “Reality television producers and viewers still love the nobody from nowhere who wins it all; the first episode puts heavy (and at times, teary) emphasis on the contestants’ personal stories. But the winners also have to hold up a $10 million musical eight times a week for at least a year, a demanding feat for a total greenhorn.”
A Hopeless, Greasy Mess
Tom Shales says that the idea of letting TV viewers cast a Broadway musical is a bad idea made worse by the hackneyed efforts of cynical Hollywood executives. “What a lot of trouble to go to, and how phony it all seems as it plods its ugly way along… To call this ‘reality television’ is truly stretching the term to the outer limit of meaninglessness. To call it ‘good television’ would be to risk being struck by lightning.”