Christopher Knight says that the Whitney Biennial has become so dull and predictable as to make one question why it still exists. “The need for a national art survey disappeared long ago. What use does it have in a global art world characterized by broad public popularity in international urban centers, inexpensive travel, instant communications and a roaring marketplace? Even with work by 101 artists, as the show boasts this year, surely no one considers the biennial a reliable survey of anything.”
Tag: 03.22.06
Hook ‘Em Early, And They’ll Never Leave You
“A line of DVDs for babies and parents created by a national child advocacy group and the creators of Sesame Street is drawing heated criticism and renewing the debate over whether children under 2 should watch television.”
EU Lead Regulations Could Ban Pipe Organs
The European Union, known on the continent primarily for governmental overreach and excessive bureaucracy, is about to ban pipe organs. Seriously. “The reason? Organ pipes contain large amounts of lead, and the wind that blows through them is generated by electricity (rather than the older method of people pumping bellows behind the organ). The new directive, to come into force in July, limits the proportion of hazardous substances like lead, mercury or cadmium to 0.1 percent of a finished product that works on electricity.” The law was not intended to apply to pipe organs, but officials have continually refused to create a broad exemption, saying that each organ manufacturer must apply separately to be exempted.
Using Hobbits As A Tourist Draw
Make no mistake, Toronto has a lot riding on its expensive embrace of the theatrical version of Lord of the Rings, and the show’s success or failure will create ripple effects that reach far outside the city’s theatre district. “In recent years, Toronto has suffered the multiple blows of a post-9/11 tourism slump, SARS and the meteoric rise of both the Canadian dollar and the price of gas. These factors have helped cut the number of United States visitors from 3.2 million in 2000 to 2.7 million last year. And so Toronto’s tourism officials, along with everyone from parking lot owners to hoteliers, are optimistically counting on The Lord of the Rings to bring in the fans.”
Straight-To-Paperback
“Even critically acclaimed literary novels often have a short shelf life in hardcover, with one-half to three-quarters of the books shipped to stores often being returned to the publisher, unsold. That has a growing number of publishing companies, from smaller houses like Grove/Atlantic to giants like Random House, adopting a different business model, offering books by lesser-known authors only as ‘paperback originals,’ forgoing the higher profits afforded by publishing a book in hardcover for a chance at attracting more buyers and a more sustained shelf life.”
A Crafts Museum Goes For Broke
As New York’s Museum of Arts and Design prepares to move into its opulent new home at 2 Columbus Circle in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, it needs to put a bitter battle over the historic preservation of the building behind it, and focus on revitalizing an institution that has struggled often throughout its history. “Big challenges lie ahead, for example meeting an operating budget that will jump to $6.9 million, an endowment goal of $20 million, and attendance and membership goals of 450,000 and 3,200, respectively.”
UK Proposes Higher Auction Taxes
New proposed taxes will making buying art at auction more expensive in the UK. “The U.K. will tax the commission at the standard VAT rate of 17.5 percent, following a recent European Court of Justice ruling. Previously, businesses and individuals could use temporary import arrangements to defer the tax, which totaled 5 percent under the prior U.K. interpretation of European VAT law.”
France’s iPod Assault: Anti-Capitalist Or Power To The People?
As the French government tries to force Apple to give up the exclusivity of its iTunes technology, there will doubtless be many criticisms coming from the American business world. After all, goes the capitalist argument, Apple created this technology, so why should it be forced to share with less innovative companies? But music consumers may regret siding with Apple in the long run. “French lawmakers want to protect the consumer from one or two companies holding the keys to all of its culture, just as Microsoft holds the keys to today’s desktop computers.”
A Plan To Save British Public Libraries
British writers have joined a campaign to rejuvenate public libraries. “The Love Libraries scheme aims to give them a makeover, transforming them into a ’21st century reading service’. Revamps in the pipeline include more online borrowing, flexible opening hours and a review of book stocks. Recent research has shown that adults are losing interest in lending libraries, with one in five having never visited their local library.”
Trying Not To Be A One-Hit Wonder
Author DBC Pierre came out of nowhere a few years back to capture the Man Booker Prize for his debut novel, Vernon God Little. The book was praised for its cutting satire and hard-edged tone, and Pierre himself became the subject of much gossip and speculation on both sides of the Atlantic. Now, with his second novel on the verge of release, the author is hoping that he can avoid what he calls “second novel syndrome,” a condition which has afflicted countless other successful authors in recent years.