“Though translators often get the short shrift, they are more important than ever in this global age. Literature from foreign lands is one of the best ways to understand and experience distant cultures. Yet it represents only a tiny fraction of the books published in America. Of the 195,000 new titles printed in English in 2004 (the most recent year for which numbers are available), only 891 were works of adult literature in translation.”
Tag: 03.05.06
Budick: Whitney Biennial Premise A Cliche
We’re told that artists in this year’s Whitney Biennial are “challenging concepts,” “transgressing boundaries,” “blurring lines” and “investigating relationships.” But Ariella Budick has some news for the curators: “There are no boundaries left to transgress. Art can’t be liminal in the absence of the thresholds. How can you challenge conventions that have already been burned beyond recognition? There’s something almost quaint about the use of these cliches. Where have the curators been for the past 20 years?”
Gum Boy Gets Slammed
The 12-year-old boy who stuck gum on a valuable painting during a school visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts probably got more than he bargained for. “He’s slammed with a suspension from school, a front-page newspaper account, derision from morning-ride DJs and mentions in media across the world. At 12 years old, he becomes Gum Boy. Forevermore, everyone expects the worst from him. His parents keep their shades drawn.”
A Little Darkness Falls On The “Painter Of Light”
Thomas Kinkade has made millions as a self-styled “Painter of Light.” But some of his gallery owners are suing him, and they paint a pretty dark picture. “In litigation and interviews with the Los Angeles Times, some former gallery owners depict Kinkade, 48, as a ruthless businessman who drove them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business associates’ bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of millions of dollars.”
Crashing Credits – The Producers Who Demand Their Share
A dispute about producer credits for the movie “Crash” highlights the difficulty in giving credits for producing modern movies. “Those four slighted “Crash” producers say the film’s multiple producing credits are not the result of any personal vanity but instead underscore the frantic mechanics of making movies outside the studio system.”
Big Box Office Vs. The Oscar Winners
The connection between box office hits and quality movies that win Oscars has never been strong. But this year there’s a particularly big disconnect. “Together, these movies have taken in $228 million – by far the smallest total in recent Oscar history. By contrast, “Revenge of the Sith,” 2005’s top-grossing film, has made $380 million domestically.”
Where The Mass Audience Went
What’s the cause of Hollywood’s declining audiences? “There are digital personal video recorders, iPods, on-demand music and video, 500 TV channels, billions of Web pages catering to every obscure subculture — endless choices spinning the hamster wheel that is our attention spans.”
Mills: Many Plans For Edinburgh Festival
Jonathan Mills defends his appointment as the new director of the Edinburgh festival. “Without going into detail, he suggested expanding the festival into areas in which his predecessor Sir Brian McMaster had not been interested. There was scope, for instance, to do more work in the visual arts, he said, also hinting that he would like to encourage younger people to get involved. ‘There’s not going to be a revolution. I’m not going to do anything drastic, but there will be changes, gentle, gradual and subtle ones. Like every other organisation the festival has to evolve if it is to remain relevant’.”
Selling A Canadian Unknown On Broadway
“How do you sell $1-million (U.S.) worth of tickets a week to a show that practically nobody’s heard of? You cast your eyes across the Broadway musical-theatre landscape, and this is what you see stacked up against your baby: big stars and big brands. How do you position a smart, funny musical from first-time Broadway writers, with an ensemble cast and a lead from Canada?” You get unconventional…
What Effect Does TV Have On You?
A new study says TV isn’t bad for you. But Virginia Heffernan doesn’t believe it. “Television, after all, is the only art form reviewed in this newspaper that is also regarded as a public health hazard; maybe this news will help to clear its name and win it some respect. But I wouldn’t count on it. Study after anti-television study has failed to pinpoint the exact perils that viewers are prone to, and yet the idea that television is dangerous persists as an article of faith.”