Tag: 02.04

Found In The Age Of Writing

There are very real differences between “being a ‘young writer’ and an ‘older writer’ and even an ‘old writer’. My conclusion is that old writers have the greatest advantage in that they can offend people at will without consideration to consequences. After all, it’s not like they’re in this business for a long career.” And younger writers? they have an advantage “because if there is one thing publishing takes to be successful it is TIME, usually just a bit more than you’re willing to give.”

Classical Music – Too Old? Too Abstract?

What’s wrong with classical music, asks Greg Sandow. “The classical music world, on the whole, has no discernable relation to the present day. The music is mainly talked about in scholarly terms, as structures of abstract musical elements, or else as history. Or if emotion ever enters the discussion, there’s a tone of piety, or sometimes vague inspiration, a feeling of transcendent exhilaration that, upon examination, has nothing to do with any specific piece that might be played. It comes from classical music as a whole.”

Trafficking In Ideas – It’s Getting Complicated

Debates over who owns ideas and creative work are getting fierce. “As a result of the move from a manufacturing and service economy to a knowledge and creative economy, intellectual property is now being asked to play a primary role that it is not capable of. Each kind of intellectual property, with its distinctive historical antecedents and unique characteristics, is under considerable strain. Multiple trends are undercutting and de-stabilising the entire system. We can see shifts and changes in how we have and share ideas and especially in how we develop and commercialise them.”

Powerhouse Aussie Lit

Time was that Australian literature was considered lesser than the Englis variety. But “in the last 50 years, Australian literature has become a force to be reckoned with; now it is the motherland’s turn to feel insecure. Australian novelists are outwriting us, they tweak the Booker prize out of our hands (Peter Carey has won it twice, Thomas Keneally once, Tim Winton has been shortlisted twice and 2003’s winner, DBC Pierre, is Australian by birth). And there is a flotilla of younger Antipodean writers coming on stream.”

Open Source As Guiding Principle

The open source movement isn’t just for computers anymore. Numerous businesses and intellectual projects are adopting the open source model, and enjoying good results. “Open source draws on some of these collaborative traditions but remains a highly distinctive phenomenon. It has come of age thanks to global electronic networks that make exchanging information cheaper than ever before, at a time when the market for information-based products, whether software, music or opinion, is larger than ever.

Of New York And Intellectuals

Will the tradition of the New York intellectual survive? “The failure of the New York Intellectuals, finally – after a life in the American public as critics and theorists, pundits and intellectuals-was the failure to pass on a tradition. They became but a historical quirk when they failed to bequeath the tradition onto another generation and another age.”

Shutting Off Art From Cuba

Until recently, licensed collectors were able to travel to Cuba and bring some art back to the United States. But “the Bush administration has canceled most licenses for culture-related Cuban travel, and the Treasury Department recently stepped up prosecution. Americans who are caught taking unlicensed trips to Cuba from, say, Canada or the Caribbean now face hefty fines, reportedly up to $10,000. The Cuban government allows some artists to leave the country to sell their work, and Cuban artists may mail works to the United States. But some Cuban artists at the Havana Biennial were worried they might have trouble obtaining U.S. visas to attend gallery shows here.”

That’s Great (Isn’t It?)

Charles Murray attempts to quantify greatness. Is such a thing a good idea? Is it even possible? Denis Dutton believes so: “We take pleasure in watching an athlete break a record, hearing a soprano in full flight, or reading a philosopher of depth and insight. Human accomplishment is the ultimate spectator sport. Apply as much historical analysis to it as we wish, and we’ll not unlock all its mysteries. The continuous capacity of genius to surpass understanding remains a human constant.”

New Music – The Popularity Problem

How can classical music become popular when there seems to be no consensus what popular is? Frank Oteri: “The problem nowadays is that it’s very difficult for anyone to attain any kind of universal popularity since everything is so fragmented. We decry the majority of our populace and even many in the so-called serious music audience for not knowing the names of living American composers. Yet how many of us in the new music world know the names of all but the most prominent people in popular music?”