“The look remains instantly recognisable and rather friendly. But its energy, commitment and optimism have become frankly unbelievable. Those blocky graphics and lettering! Those zooming diagonals! Those slicing sheets of pure colour! It’s a style that comes with exclamation marks, and for us that means it comes with irony. Its name was Constructivism. Can we take it seriously at all?”
Tag: 02.10.09
Equine Statuary Returns With A Vengeance
“A giant white horse has been chosen as a new £2m art commission for south east England dubbed ‘Angel of the South’. The design, by former Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger… will see a horse standing on all four hooves at 33 times life-size.”
A Conductor With The Chops, But Not The Orchestra
“How can a conductor as obviously talented as [Grammy winner John McLaughlin Williams] remain hidden in plain sight? The answer has to do with his relatively late start and the circuitous path he took to the podium, the unusual repertoire he has chosen to champion and the vagaries of a business in which the best musicians don’t always get the best gigs.”
Half-Price Tickets: A Niche With Room For Expansion?
“Is there room for one more half-price ticketing agency in Los Angeles? Joining Goldstar, Theatermania and L.A. Stage Alliance’s LAStageTIX is StubDog, offering 50% tickets to Southern California events including theater, concerts, sports and more. StubDog says it is adding an incentive for the culturally minded: For every ticket sold, 10% will go to benefit local arts organizations, including L.A. Stage Alliance….”
In Letter, Museum-World Power Trio Protests Rose Plans
“Three prominent museum-world figures who are Brandeis University graduates” — the director of the Whitney Museum of American Art; the chairman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s department of 19th-century, modern and contemporary art; and the director of Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art — “spoke out vigorously on Tuesday against the school’s plans to close its Rose Art Museum and sell off artworks to raise money.” Their open letter is posted on the Rose’s website.
One Year Later, Fallout Of Writers’ Strike Comes Into Focus
“Given the state of the global economy, some of the downsizing and budget-slashing that Hollywood is now enduring would have come even without the 100-day walkout. But the realignment of the biz’s investment priorities is coming more swiftly and more comprehensively because of the scrutiny of operations that took place while the scribes were pounding the pavement.”
Canadian Theatre Feels Creeping Effects Of Downturn
“It may have taken a bit longer than it did in the U.S., but the legit industry in Canada has begun to show signs of vulnerability to the current economic downturn. Theaters have begun canceling shows, reducing seating capacities and slashing prices in an attempt to survive a situation whose full extent probably hasn’t yet been felt.”
Site-Specific Theatre – On The Radio (?)
“Shakespeare a la Carte originally ran at Pizza Express in Brighton last May, offering audiences the chance to order extracts from Shakespeare plays and watch them performed by actors masquerading as waiters. BBC Radio 4’s version of the show will be recorded live before customers at a restaurant in Brighton next month.”
‘Sweetness With A Knife Behind It’ – The Inimitable Blossom Dearie
“[Her] voice, girly, breathless, tentative, is her own twice. No one else would dare try to sing with it the way she did. It’s tempting to say her voice is a cross between Betty Boop’s and … whose? One writer said Chet Baker’s, which is perfect. She was cute, femme cotton candy drizzled with a contradictory syrup of opium and Bleecker Street espresso.”
Dancer and Dance Photographer Carolyn D’Amboise, 81
“She started her career in Broadway musicals in the 1940s as Carolyn George. She joined the San Francisco Ballet in the late 1940s, then the New York City Ballet in 1952. She met Jacques d’Amboise in the New York ballet company, and the two married on New Year’s Day 1956… After retiring from dance, Carolyn d’Amboise worked as a photographer, specializing in dance and traveling the world.”