Today’s art critics have been marginalized. “Ultimately, the critic seems trapped in an inherently reactive and ever-more marginalised position. After all, the function of critics has remained largely static while the art world metastasised, growing too big to allow them any real overview, charging too fast for their publication deadlines and developing a slew of new information channels that bypass critics altogether. Not so long ago, Europeans depended upon travelling critics to relate the latest developments in New York or London. Today, fairs and biennials function as seasonal trend updates, and anyone curious about a faraway show can simply hit the gallery’s website for JPGs and a press release.”
Tag: 04.15.05
The New Walker – Exhilarating
“For decades now, the Walker has been one of the liveliest museums in the country, an institution that maintained a strong independent voice despite its ties to the mainstream art world. When the museum hired the Swiss team of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron to design a $67 million expansion and renovation of its existing 1970’s-era building, it seemed like a match made in heaven. The architects had built their reputations on museum projects like London’s Tate Modern and the Goetz Collection in Munich, known for their meticulously refined materials and a sense of inner tranquillity. The result is an exhilarating place to view art.
The World In A Click
Major music labels may not think world music is worth the bother, but thanks to small labels there’s never been so much music easily available. “The broad rubric holds a wealth of music that is now more accessible than ever before. And while major labels have largely lost interest in world music, independents have been busy, while listeners are no longer dependent on the shelf space or classification skills of local record stores.”
Ah, You’re Such A Romantic (Just Don’t Admit It)
Why are people so snobby about romantic fiction? “Domestic? Boring? Who would want to be dubbed romantic as well? Maybe that explains the collective identity crisis that seems to have seized the Romantic Novelists Association in its choice of shortlisted novels for its annual prize.”
Will The Minnesota Orchestra Be America’s Best?
“When Osmo Vanska says that within a few years, the Minnesota Symphony will be one of the best orchestras in the United States, right up there alongside the Chicago Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, you’re inclined to believe him. He says it in such a matter-of-fact way that it never for a moment sounds like boasting and, more importantly, he does have the track record to back up his claim, having taken a run-of-the-mill municipal orchestra in Finland, the Lahti Symphony, and, in less than two decades, transformed it into one of the most distinctive bands in Europe.”
Indies Protest UK Chart Downloads Plan
Independent music labels are complaining that a plan to include downloads in UK Top 40 singles charts is unfair to indies. “A large chunk of the independent community are concerned about the way the chart has been thrust on us and the fact that most indie labels are unable to get their music into i-Tunes, which is unfairness from the off.” Some indie reps say they’ll game the new downloads system in protest.
Peru’s Emergency Plan For Machu Picchu
The Peruvian government has come up with an emergency rescue plan to save the ruins of Machu Picchu from erosion and tourists. “The $132.5m (£70m) plan is to be studied by Unesco and the World Bank at a three-day meeting in Lima beginning on Saturday. Machu Picchu is the most visited archaeological site in Latin America. It has been a Unesco world heritage site since 1983, but the UN’s cultural organisation made it clear last year that if something were not done soon it would be put on the list of sites at risk.”
US State Department, NEA, Agree On Biennale Selection Process
The National Endowment for the Arts and the US State Department have signed an agreement to create a new committee to choose American artists for international biennales. “The committee will comprise “up to seven people”, appointed by the NEA for terms of “no more than three years”. They will include curators, artists, museum directors, specialists in American contemporary art, and perhaps persons from outside the field as well. Important details remain uncertain, including the names of anyone who will serve on the newly established panel, precisely how the selection will take place, and how exhibitions will be administered and funded.”