Tag: 02.23.09

Turning The Art Market Into A Market For Art

Faced with demand in the doldrums, dealers at the Armory Art Show in New York are treating their displays more like curated exhibits than trade-show booths. “In other words, dealers want to make art precious again – not just pricey. Galleries that look like museums help do that and, when Wall Street woes have scared off buyers anyway, why not? […] Instead of encouraging people who speculate in art, treating it like a stock, these shows aim to develop true collectors, who buy and hold for years.”

Offending Thai Royalty Was No Publicity Stunt, Author Says

“A Victorian writer jailed in Thailand for maligning the royal family in his self-published novel has denied he included the offending passage as a publicity stunt to win literary fame. Harry Nicolaides was released from prison last Friday after receiving a royal pardon and arrived back in Melbourne at the weekend. A former colleague of Nicolaides, Heath Dollar, has accused the author of including a passage in his novel, Verisimilitude, knowing it would violate Thai law.”

Americans Watch More TV Than Ever, And Not Just On TVs

“If you’ve seen that Hulu commercial starring Alec Baldwin, you surely know that TV is a plot devised by aliens to turn our brains into mush so they can scoop them out and eat them. … The human race seems to be falling for this devious scheme, and aliens must be readying their sporks and knives.” That’s right: American TV viewing is at “an all-time high,” and people are watching even more hours of TV online and on cell phones.

Brain Study: Men & Women Respond Differently To Beauty

“Beauty is famously in the eye of the beholder; but it’s also in the beholder’s brain, and may work differently in the brains of men and women. In men, images they consider to be beautiful appear to activate brain regions responsible for locating objects in absolute terms — x- and y-coordinates on a grid. Images considered beautiful by women … also activate regions associated with relative location: above and behind, over and under.”

For Classical Fans, An iTunes Primer (And Cheat Sheet)

“When I recently converted my largely orchestral CD collection to MP3s, several readers warned me that I would regret it. When it comes to classical music, iTunes misses a beat, they said. … But with just a few tweaks and some tips, you can turn your iPod and iTunes into classical companions. Here’s how you can better organize your classical collection, find high-quality downloads online, and get music cheaply or even for free.”

Battling Piracy With Free Streaming Audio

“The days of paying for music over the internet — or illegally downloading free tracks — are numbered, according to artists, music companies and leading industry insiders. The reason given for this is the rapidly growing popularity of Spotify, a music service that ‘streams’ tracks to your computer. All the major record labels have signed up to allow users to access millions of tracks — from Michael Jackson to Lily Allen, U2 or Shostakovich — free of charge at the touch of a button.”

Baltimore Theatre Project May Not Make It To Next Season

“The Baltimore Theatre Project is teetering even more on the brink than usual. Buffeted by the grim economy, an official at Baltimore’s premier venue for cutting-edge productions is hinting for the first time that the theater might be in danger of shutting its doors in the fall.” The company “always has lived hand-to-mouth, so even a relatively small drop in revenues has big consequences.”

Please Remain Calm. It’s Just A Concert-Hall Renovation.

“Could I throw a couple of glasses of cold water — not as much as a bucket, just a few handfuls, really — on all the euphoria about the new Alice Tully Hall? My problems with it aren’t major, and they’re not particularly musical: it sounds good, and the theater itself is beautiful to behold. But the reopening is being treated as if it were the arrival of another millennium, and I think people are getting carried away.”