“The British art scene now is full of people bidding to define the next thing post-Damien Hirst. Contenders have come and gone, but it’s Higgs, curator of exhibitions including ‘Then and Now’ at the Lisson Gallery and a director of London’s Cabinet Gallery, who seems to be the man with a plan. And the reason that Higgs is a genuine influence is that he chooses the right artists. Long before they attained their current fame, he worked closely with Ofili, Martin Creed, Fiona Banner, Jeremy Deller and Paul Noble.” – The Guardian
Tag: 03.30.00
ANTHONY POWELL, —
— novelist, and a contemporary of Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell and Cyril Connolly, has died at age 94. – New York Times
PEACE WALL
France celebrates the unveiling of its Peace Wall 2000 beside the Eiffel Tower, a 17-meter long, 9-meter high wall covered in the word “peace” in 32 languages. Artist Clara Halter says the wall was inspired by Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall. It has “holes for members of the public to place their own personal wishes.” – CBC
PYRAMID SCHEME
French archaeologists have discovered another pyramid near Cairo, built for a queen some 4000 years ago. The find boosts the number of pyramids in Egypt to 108. – Fox News (Reuters)
SAVED FROM THE BLOCK
As in auction block, of course. US customs officials in New York seized a 10th-century Chinese marble sculpture that they said had been stolen from an ancient tomb and was set to be sold at Christie’s auction gallery. The sculpture is said to be one of ten ripped from the Five Dynasties tomb of Wang Chuzhi in Hebei Province, in northeastern China, in 1994. – New York Times
UNSITED?
The drawings (by Frank Gehry) have already been done for the Guggenheim’s new branch in lower Manhattan. But the city of New York may have other plans for the site Guggenheim officials had settled on. – New York Times
HEART OF A NATION
The New Zealand government has appointed a commission of cultural experts to study how the country can boost culture and help make it better contribute to the economy. “What we don’t want to happen is for everyone to trundle up and say, ‘Give me a lot of money and I could do a lot better.’ We assume that.” – New Zealand Herald
THE POCKETBOOK ARGUMENT
Berlin’s cultural institutions are crying about being underfunded. Now the city’s tourism office warns that any further cuts in cultural funding will imperil the city’s tourism. “Key to solving the acrimonious debate between cultural institutions, city politicians and national culture officials over who can best to manage the capital’s culture, how to manage it, and how much money to spend, is a willingness to begin deep-going restructuring,” says the official charged with promoting tourism. – Die Welt (Germany)
DOWN FROM THE MOUNT
Charlton Heston, speaking at Georgetown University last night, declared a culture war. “Our culture has traded in the bloody arena fights of ancient Rome for state fights on Sally, Ricki, Jerry, Maury, Jenny and Rosie. . . . Our one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all, now seems more like the fractured streets of Beirut, echoing with anger.” – Washington Post
DEATH OR TRANSFIGURATION?
Sven Birkerts says computers are eroding our ability to read deeply. Internet speed discourages reflective reading of literature and we skip across oceans of information without diving deep. “We’ve reached a critical juncture in the transition from print culture to screen culture,” he says, and “We’re metamorphosing from individual and private people to fungible, Web-linked brain connectors in a bright, buzzy, gregarious info-hive.” He couldn’t be more wrong, declares one critic. – Salon