Experimental composer Johannes Kreidler took the (depressing) data from the Dow, Nikkei and Nasdaq and the (plunging) stock prices of Bank of America, Warner Music Group and the like,fed them into Microsoft’s new SongSmith program, added rhythm tracks like foxtrot and samba, and presto! – a (happy) tune for the times. It’s now a YouTube hit.
Tag: 02.02.09
Shepard Fairey Is A Pretender, Cartoonist Says
Editorial cartoonist Dan Wasserman takes on poster artist Shepard Fairey: “I understand that we live in a world of rampant sampling and remixing, but claiming to be hip or leftist is not an excuse for ripping off other creators. It’s not even fundamentally a legal issue (though it may be that as well) — it’s respect for other artists. And the argument that the art is ‘transformative,’ so no nod to the original is necessary, is a weak one.”
London Old Vic’s Norman Conquests Headed To Broadway
The Olivier Award-nominated production of Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy, a hit in the West End, is set to open in New York at Circle in the Square in April. Director Matthew Warchus and the entire London cast are making the transfer.
Minnesota Man Punches Russian National Ballet Dancers
An evidently inebriated 28-year-old allegedly attacked three members of the troupe and a security guard in the lobby of a Minneapolis hotel. The culprit was apparently angry that the visiting dancers were speaking a foreign language; during the assault and in the squad car afterwards, he also made “homophobic and racially based remarks.”
Suggestion Box: Pay Hollywood CEOs As New Media Would
“Disney and Time Warner were hot companies in the nineties. Now they are being overshadowed by newer ones like Amazon and Google. Part of the reason is that those companies have a better idea where the media business is headed in the digital age. How much are their CEOs paid? Nowhere close to the old media guys.”
SAG Talks On Hold While The Guild’s President Sues It
“In the latest stunning twist in the SAG saga, the guild and the congloms have delayed the relaunch of their contract talks because guild prexy Alan Rosenberg is going to court today to demand the reinstatement of ousted national exec director Doug Allen.”
Tonight’s First Playhouse Is A Manhattan-Bound 4 Train
“Proving that all the world’s a moving stage, a 30-member cast and crew spent a whirlwind winter’s night performing before captive audiences aboard subway trains that served as the combined setting for ‘IRT: A Tragedy in Three Stations.’ The two-hour play — which can be a bit shorter on express trains — tells the story of the evolution of the New York City subway system and the men who risked their lives building it.”
For Philadelphia Orchestra, A Humbler ’09-’10 Season
“Reverberations from formidable fund-raising challenges, a steep rise in labor costs, and a depressed economy will rumble onto the Philadelphia Orchestra stage next season. Guest soloists and conductors are being asked to take lower fees, and programming is assuming more modest proportions.” And those aren’t the only adjustments coming.
‘We Were Never Consulted At All,’ Rose Director Says
“The director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University has issued a scathing response to the university’s plans to close the museum and sell off its $350 million art collection, saying he feels ‘shame and deep regret over the shortsightedness of this decision.’ ‘I want you to know from me some basic facts,’ Michael Rush wrote in a statement posted over the weekend on the museum’s website.”
If Institutions Live And Breathe, Can They Also Die?
The Rose Art Museum’s director, Michael Rush, has said its closure would be “like a death.” Jeff Weinstein asks: “Can a museum, or any cultural institution, die? I’d like to propose that the answer is yes. But I don’t mean that a museum or concert hall dies merely when it goes out of business or the walls get knocked down. The core of my reasoning is personal. If the Rose and its art were to go, a serious part of me would mourn, and as far as I’m concerned, mourning is incontrovertible evidence that something alive and important has passed away.”