Merce Cunningham company star Holley Farmer: “When newer dancers come into [a piece], it’s like clockwork: Everyone cries because you can’t see anything and the material is very technically challenging and you’re doing it in the dark sometimes or all of a sudden there’s a light in your face and you don’t know where it’s coming from … [You’re crying] because you realize that you’re probably going to be fighting for your life onstage instead of the other things that you try to do.”
Tag: 04.09.09
Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit Becomes Mideast Political Football
Senior officials of the Palestinian Authority have written to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper protesting an upcoming showing of the scrolls at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The Palestinians argue that the scrolls were illegally acquired when Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 and that the exhibition therefore violates international treaties on antiquities.
Is YouTube Doomed?
“YouTube is soaring towards the future like a pigeon towards a plate glass window. The problem lies with the bean-counters. According to a report by Credit Suisse, YouTube is on track to lose roughly $470 million in 2009. No matter Google’s $116 billion market cap: a half-billion dollar loss on a single property, even one as large as YouTube, is a bitter pill to swallow.”
It’s Just Facebook Friends – Should Critics Befriend Artists?
“To friend or not to friend is really a modern gloss on a much older dilemma: what is the appropriate relationship between the artist and the critic?”
Projection: Social Media Will Save Music Business
“A new report says the same social media sites that threaten the old-school, sales-based approach will eventually save whatever’s left of the music business. Social music may not generate much revenue now, but monetization’s effectiveness must — and will — improve.”
Appeals For Help Repairing Italy’s Earthquake-Damaged Art
“The Vatican has appealed to art experts around the world for help in restoring paintings and other treasures damaged by the Italian earthquake on Monday. The 6.3-magnitude quake damaged bell towers, cracked walls and reduced some churches to piles of stones. Also affected were many paintings hanging inside religious buildings, painted frescoes, and objects such as crucifixes, chalices and altars.”
Eli Broad Michigan Museum Delayed
“Budgetary wrangling between university officials and the architectural team has postponed the start of construction of the multimillion-dollar building. This week, officials at MSU said the groundbreaking for the long-planned Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum is now scheduled for March 2010, which represents a two-year delay on the project.”
The Critic, The Fake Critic And The Impersonator (Yikes!)
“As a critic, I’m fair game for satire and complaints. What bothered me was the identity-theft bit. And how Fake Greg Cook was messing with my personal and professional relationships. It didn’t feel funny; it felt something like stalking.”
Art Investment Funds Put On The Brakes
“The London-based Art Trading Fund, which launched its second fund in May 2008, has had to ‘delay’ its plans as it was ‘unable to raise the necessary amounts’… The fund aimed to raise $50m to invest in contemporary art and boasted Mr Saatchi as one of its consultants. While potential investÂors had verbally committed around $35m to the fund, only $15m came in.”
Why Actors Left A Chicago Theatre Institution
Last month 23 members of Chicago’s 24-year-old American Theater Company ensemble walked out.The implication that the ensemble might be too old, white, and hetero upset the departed…