“The ‘New Yorker short story’ is no longer the hegemon it may once have been. In fact, this collection of ‘thrilling tales’ actually serves as a more effective counterbalance to an entirely new phenomenon. Call it the ‘McSweeney’s short story’ — younger and hipper and more experimental, but no less influential. In some ways, McSweeney’s has been a useful counterpoint to the mainstream publishing scene. Regardless of whether its self-referential play is to your taste, it’s the first bona fide literary movement in decades—with all the old-fashioned energy that such a term implies. But the quality of the work inside McSweeney’s has yet to live up to the promise of the magazine’s gloriously designed packaging.”
Tag: 04.03.03
LA’s Uber-Underground
“L.A.’s notoriously fragmented underground nightlife is coagulating more often lately, producing a new category, an über-category, if you will, of event where everyone – the Punks, the Desert People, the Anthropologists, the Beat Junkies and the Hip-Hop Kids and Artists – can find something.”
Tharp On The Move
Twyla Tharp is busy these days with several projects at once. But, she tells Frank Rizzo, “Multi-tasking is not healthy. Nor is it ultimately productive. I don’t look at [what I do] as multi-tasking. I look at it as quick shifts of gear.” Does she miss having a home base to work out of? “What is this word `home’ you keep using?” It would be a lovely thing, but I never had a home. I’m basically still moving from studio to studio…”
Ticket Sales Down In Denver
Sales of tickets for Colorado Ballet are down so much since the war began that the company has cancelled fiver performances. Elsewhere in Denver the impact is mixed…
TV – More Choice Leads To Shorter Attention Spans
“Today’s teens are growing up in a far more varied and alluring entertainment environment than previous generations – a world offering endless video games, the Internet and hundreds of cable channels. They’re used to getting what they want when they want it. So they’re impatient. They move around a lot. They have short attention spans.”
Gioia’s Plan For The NEA
New NEA chairman Dana Gioia is out talking about how he intends to strengthen the National Endowment for the Arts. “I go back to the original vision, which was to foster excellence in the arts and to bring art to all Americans. This doesn’t seem to me a controversial mission. The average American wants art in their communities and their schools. It’s not a program of the left or the right. It’s mainstream American opinion. One of the major needs is to build a public consensus for the support of art and arts education, and we’re going to do that by building a kind of inclusive coalition, by refusing to polarize.”
Boston Theatre Box Office Down Since War
War is not good for Boston theatre. “Since the fighting started, business is bad, as bad as it was after Sept. 11. People are afraid. They just want to go home now. Indeed, there is a palpable sense of malaise at Greater Boston theaters and concert halls this spring, say local presenters, producers, and performers. ‘It’s very hard to get people out of the house to see anything but light entertainment at this time, and I can’t say I entirely blame them’.”
Parlor Tricks – Attention For The Wrong Reason
Aleksandr Sokurov’s one-take movie “Russian Ark” at the Hermitage Museum is getting all sorts of attention for all sorts of the wrong reason, writes Nigel Andrews. “The whole world loves useless virtuosity. Masterpieces come 10 a penny, but building the Taj Mahal with matchsticks – that’s real achievement. Without its history-making the single-take ‘Russian Ark’ would be a routine Sokurov essay in narcoleptic expressionism. Now he has accepted a challenge to make the Great Russian Movie and the result is fascinating, maddening, boring and hypnotic, in any adjectival order you want.”
Australia Ponders Arts Funding Cuts
The Australian has concluded a review of its arts spending, and will likely make funding cuts for the country’s major arts institutions. “The 15 institutions reviewed receive $75 million a year for depreciation of their buildings, equipment and collections. The institutions include the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library, the Australian Film Commission and the National Portrait Gallery, and all have been apprehensive since late last year when the Government confirmed a review of funding had started.”
Carnegie Hall’s New Hall
Carnegie is opening a new, $100 million 644-seat third concert hall, underneath its main auditorium. “The hall is preparing to open at a difficult period for the arts, when the weak economy has hurt charitable giving and advance ticket sales. Indeed, Carnegie Hall delayed Zankel Hall’s opening for a year because of the difficult economic climate after the terrorist attacks. Budgeted at $50 million, the new hall eventually cost twice that; all the money has been raised.”