03.05.00 – ArtsJournal Wayback

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Student at the San Francisco Art Institute staged a sexually-explicit performance with a volunteer that shocked this normally adventurous cutting-edge institution. “It is considered a serious violation for you or any individual to participate in any activity, sexual or not, which involves exposing yourself or others to any bodily fluids or excretions including but not limited to feces, urine, semen, saliva and blood,” reads a letter from the Institute’s vice president and dean of academic affairs. – Washington Post

“If I have to not have sex on campus anymore, they’d better put that in the student handbook, and then we can decide whether that’s an appropriate rule or not,” says the student. – SF Weekly

BEHIND BALLET

Dancer Natalia Makarova is working with San Francisco Ballet for the first time. “Is it all right to talk about the soul, do you think?” asks one of the most soulful ballerinas in the history of dance. “It is a cliche, so I don’t talk much about it. Instead, let’s talk about the spirit. Spirit means something in ballet, means everything in `La Bayadere.’ ” – San Francisco Chronicle

GUNNING FOR THE TOP

The Dallas Symphony is 100 years old this year, and it’s got big dreams. “The board has a mandate to get Dallas within America’s top-tier orchestras. It’s a long-term project. I think it will take 10 years. And another five before the world notices.” Money helps. The orchestra regularly sells out its concerts, and is raising $100 million for its endowment. Is it possible to buy a tradition as something more than a good, solid, middle-of-the-road American orchestra? – New York Times

NURTURE THIS

A prestigious series presenting promising performers in the world’s “dream” concert halls hits a few bumps. What should the criteria for “promising” be? – New York Times

THE “ART” OF THE PIANO

Artur Rubinstein had one of the longest careers as a pianist in the 20th Century and one of the greatest. Now a 94-CD 106-hour collection of his recordings is being released. The pianist’s recordings were said not to have given the full measure of his talent, but they do map out an extraordinary career. – Washington Post

THE ORCHESTRA THAT WOULDN’T DIE

It’s been decades since the Shanghai Symphony has been “the best orchestra in the East.” But it certainly gets the prize for most persistent. – New York Times

TAIWAN’S GUINNESS MUSEUM OF WORLD RECORDS —

— to close in Taipei. A sensation when it opened in 1995, the crowds have melted away since then. – China Times (Taiwan)

OWNERSHIP PROBLEM

As Britain’s museums and galleries try to apply new consciousness about buying and owning art possibly stolen by Nazis in WWII, auction houses refuse to give guarantees about the provenance of the art they sell. – The Independent (UK)

CONTEMPORARY IN THE HOUSE OF TRADITION

LA’s Getty Museum collects the old and established. But a new show invites in a group of contemporary L.A. artists to create work inspired by whatever part of the Getty holdings might interest them. The project invites artists and audience to consider the Getty’s traditional holdings in new ways. – Los Angeles Times

CAN YOU BE SPECIFIC?

Canadian inquiry into mega-store bookseller practices hears plenty of complaints from publishers but few specifics. – CBC