The Seattle area is getting a second big-venue outdoor amphitheatre. Great – there’ll be more concerts to choose from and ticket prices ought to go down because of the competition, right? Wrong. In the big pop concert business, competition causes ticket prices to go up….
Tag: 04.21.03
Iraq Art – Failure To Act
During the Second World War, Allied governments made protecting Europe’s art treasures a priority. It was a policy that paid many benefits. So why did the Americans not have a similar policy to help protect Iraq’s culture?
Used Bookstores See Sales Increase
Independent bookstores as a group may be facing declining sales, but used bookstores are soing well. “The latest consumer book-purchase study shows that, nationally, used bookstores have increased their market share from 3% to 5% in recent years. The increasing retail prices for hardcover and paperbacks have encouraged consumers to seek out used books for better savings, according to the Book Industry Study Group. Some used-book sellers have found a way to make the Internet work for them, and most have garnered strong customer loyalty.”
When Vandalism Is Art? Why?
Why shouldn’t Jake and Dinos Chapman’s much publicised modifications – or defacements, depending on your point of view – to a £25,000 set of prints of Goya’s ‘The Disasters’ be considered vandalism? “There’s no reason why they should work on the real thing apart from vanity on their part. I find it objectionable that they should, as they have consistently done, compare themselves to Goya, because he was a deeply serious artist and The Disasters of War is one of the most powerful commentaries on war ever created.”
Iraqi Libraries – Destruction Of History
The destruction of Iraq’s libraries is a disaster. “While the extent of the loss is not yet fully known, two great libraries, with priceless ancient collections, have been burned, and at least two others looted. In many respects, what has happened is the complete destruction of history. Manuscripts are the main materials we use to write history – it is the evidence. Books published in the last 30 years can be replaced. But rare manuscripts can never be replaced. The looting and burning of virtually all these collections is an incalculable and largely irreplaceable loss. Just imagine the Library of Congress and National Archive pillaged and burned.”
Bookstore Sales Down
Though retails sales in America rose 3.5 percent in February, bookstore sales fell 4.3 percent, to $1.07 billion. “For the first two months of the year, bookstore sales inched up 0.5%, to $3.32 billion, while sales for all of retail increased 4.6%.”
Gergiev – A Falling Star At The Met?
Conductor Valery Gergiev was greeted as a star at the Metropolitan Opera when he first arrived. And the reviews were terrific. But “in recent seasons he has had tense relations with the Met musicians and choristers, who are from all reports dismayed by what they consider his idiosyncratic technique, lack of focus and penchant for showing up late to rehearsals. That tension, and even hostility, showed. What is going on? Few artists have risen so fast at the Met.”