“If current trends persist, the sheer amount of poetry “published” is likely to double, quadruple, “ten-tuple” in the decades ahead. Who is writing all this poetry?”
Tag: 02.21.10
Vanessa Redgrave, Mixing (Or Confusing) The Political, Personal And Artistic
“Saving humanity has long been her main objective, ideally through the imposition of a political programme that follows a Trotskyist understanding of dialectical materialism. … She has said that she took to heavy drinking in 1972 ‘when Ted Heath imposed statutory wage controls’. It requires a unique talent for the dramatic to flirt with alcoholism as a result of industrial legislation, if you’re an actor.”
The Frenzied Birth Of Washington Ballet’s New ‘Gatsby’
“Making a ballet from the ground up is deep wallow in microeconomics and minutiae. Creating a three-minute pas de deux takes [choreographer Septime] Webre some five hours of studio time. … Webre has to keep to a schedule of six-hour days carved like therapy sessions into 55-minute blocks. Rehearsals have resembled nothing so much as a manic pinball game of bodies set to eight-count bars of music.”
Why Does Giving Up On A Book Fill Us With Dismay?
“We turn off TV shows without a second thought. We walk out of movies on a whim. Concerts and plays? Sometimes, we don’t even wait for intermission. But abandoning a book feels different. It feels shabby and small-minded and short-sighted. Like a character flaw.”
Prof Begs Hollywood: Stop Violating The Laws Of Physics
A set of guidelines is “intended to curb the film industry’s worst abuses of science by confining scriptwriters to plotlines that embrace the suspension of disbelief but stop short of demanding it in every scene.”
Caravaggio’s Paintings Are A Sign Of Their Times
“For models, Caravaggio used laborers, prostitutes and gypsies. The church was outraged. Painting after painting was rejected: a dead Virgin that looked like a bloated corpse, a jailer yanking Christ’s hair, saints with dirty feet.” But 16th-century Rome was not a pretty place.
Were Artists And Athletes A Bad Olympic Match All Along?
Once upon a time, artists competed for Olympic medals. “The animating idea was to award the prizes to work directly inspired by sport — a limitation that may have helped lead to their eventual demise. How many statues of muscle-bound athletes, how many paeans to the glory of manly competition, can the world really be expected to celebrate?”
‘The Hurt Locker’ Sweeps ‘Avatar’ At BAFTAs
Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War drama won six British Academy awards, while the 3D sci-fi juggernaut directed by her ex-husband, James Cameron, took only two, both in technical categories.
Britain’s Only Gay Bookstore Under Threat
“Gay’s the Word on Bloomsbury’s Marchmont Street, the country’s only LBGT book shop, celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. It’s long been something of an institution for gay Londoners.” Now the store’s landlord, Camden Council, wants to raise the rent by “a hefty 25%, more than the shop’s managers say they can afford.”
The Root Of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Problems? Hearts And Minds
“Here is what’s particularly frustrating about this rueful moment in the history of a great ensemble: It’s obvious that as the Philadelphia Orchestra sits on one side of the footlights wondering why its audience has abandoned it, former listeners sit at home wondering why the orchestra they love has abandoned them.”