The job of the critic is to discover and praise good books, whether they are written by men or women. The job of the writer is to write them. And neither job is made any easier by complaining about the “place of women in the literary world.”
Tag: 04.04.12
Belfast Festival’s Director Resigns After Six Months
“Mark Prescott’s shock departure as the director of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s comes as the event celebrates its 50th year. … It’s not clear why he has left what is seen as a plum post in the arts world, but some sources indicated that Mr Prescott may have had plans to expand festival events outside Belfast, and that could have created some friction.”
Exploding Onto The Art Scene: Fireworks Artist Cai Guo-Qiang
“For Cai Guo-Qiang, every time feels like the first time. His nerves still tingle, his mind still races – during that climactic, split-second moment before he lights the fuse and the gunpowder goes boom. It’s an intensity that time hasn’t dimmed, not even after 30 years. That’s how long Cai’s been making art with explosions.”
Why So Few UK Movie Directors?
“Only 14 per cent of British films released in the UK are directed by women. If that seems oddly as well as infuriatingly low, it’s probably because so many of the brightest and boldest British film-makers of recent years, from Lynne Ramsay to Lucy Walker, are women – women who it seems are exceptions as well as being exceptional.”
US Museums Recover (But Confidence Still Isn’t High)
“Leading US museums are finally in recovery mode and their directors are much more optimistic about the financial outlook than a year ago, but few are feeling bullish.”
Why Are Blockbusters All-Male?
“Wait a moment. Yes, it is Everyman. After all the revolutions in art over the last couple of centuries, the gender bias is apparently as deep as ever.”
How Stupid Electronic Games Worm Into Our Brains
“In the nearly 30 years since Tetris’s invention — and especially over the last five, with the rise of smartphones — Tetris and its offspring (Angry Birds, Bejeweled, Fruit Ninja, etc.) have colonized our pockets and our brains and shifted the entire economic model of the video-game industry. Today we are living, for better and worse, in a world of stupid games.”
Is Paul Taylor At The Center Of American Contemporary Dance?
Alastair Macaulay makes that proposition to his fellow New York Times dance critics, who have some things to say about the matter.
Virginia Quarterly Review‘s Embattled Editor Steps Down
“Nearly two years after the managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review killed himself following complaints he made about his boss, Ted Genoways, Mr. Genoways has announced that he is stepping down as editor of the award-winning literary journal.”
Malaysia Cancels Nutcracker Because Tutus Are Indecent
“Malaysia has denied a permit for a Singapore dance troupe to perform The Nutcracker and other ballet works due to concerns about ‘indecent’ costumes.”