Tag: 03.03.05

Musical Taste (Literally)

“But the stimulated sensation is usually colour vision. Synaesthesia, as the stimulation of one sensory perception by another is known, is not that unusual. ES is a professional musician who is able, literally, to taste what she hears. Almost every musical interval provokes a gustatory sensation in her. A major third sounds sweet. A minor third, salty. A fourth has the flavour of mown grass. Only an octave is tasteless.”

Namibia Debates Culture Bill

Is Namibia’s fractured culture the product of a lack of national debate about culture? The country is currently debating a bill to support national culture. “The absence of a cultural discourse may be symptomatic of the multitudes of problems that we are facing as a country. The area of culture and values is dominated by various sub-groups that sometimes transmit contradictory values. Art plays an important role in transmitting values and helping individuals to eternalise them.”

Is Poluution Hurting Terra-Cotta Warriors?

American scientists are collaborating with Chinese counterparts to study the effects of pollution on the terra-cotta warriors in Xian. “Based on continuous observation of the pollution and studies onthe change and chemical reaction mechanism of corrosive gas, aerated solids and dust, researchers will work out an evaluation report on the mechanism of pollutants’ corrosion on the rare cultural relics.

Maastricht Art Fair (Old Masters R Us)

Time for the annual Maastricht European Fine Art Fair. Prices keep going up as the supply of Old Masters goes down. “Old masters have appreciated about 17 percent since October 2003 after a 30 percent drop in the previous five years, according to Art Market Research’s index of the 25 percent most expensive works sold at auction. The top-priced old master is owned by billionaire Ken Thomson, who paid 49.5 million pounds ($76 million at the time) for Peter Paul Rubens’s “Massacre of the Innocents” at a London auction in July 2002.”

The Unforgivable Sin Of Noticing Beauty

“New York Times dance critic John Rockwell kicked up a minor tempest recently when he wrote, of ballet dancers, that ‘looks do count: for dramatic verisimilitude, for romantic illusion, for box-office excitement.’ That such self-evident assertions would register as controversial says something about where we are these days in our unsettled view of beauty. The dissonance in the culture runs deep. We tend to look at exquisite dancers, fashion models, gorgeous movie stars, even particularly lovely people in daily life as a slightly different species, part idols and part freaks who occupy an alternative plane… We see beauty as a trick in some ways, a genetic ruse paired with the money, privilege and private trainers to cultivate it.”