The “fastest book in the world” – conceived, written and printed in 12 hours by a group of 40 German writers this week, has immediately sold out of the 1000 copies printed.
Tag: 04.24.03
America’s Arts Squeeze
Across America, arts organizations are pressing their supporters for more help as budgets bust. “The year 2003 is proving a major challenge for advocates and fundraisers. Even with the greatest hearts and keenest minds pushing the arts-funding message, the going is tough if the money just isn’t there.”
When Business Takes On Education
“Whether the commercialization of higher education has reached the crisis point probably is a matter of definition, but there can be no doubt that it is at least headed there.” A new book by former Harvard president Derek Bok argues that the rising influence of commercial interests on campus puts universities on a road lined with compromises…
Survey: Seattle Loves Arts
A new study reveals that: “Seattleites love their performing arts, with more than two of three residents attending at least one such event every year. And Seattle’s support is strong across all almost all demographic groups, including age, sex and economic means. Yet among those who attend arts events in Seattle, only one-quarter make an annual financial donation to even one arts organization. And almost two-thirds of those who frequently attend make no such contribution.”
Save Antiquities By Letting The Free Market Work?
Andre Emmerich wonders why museums like Iraq’s National Museum have such a high concentration of available artifacts in one place. Wouldn’t it be better for the preservation of the art if it were spread between many museums and collections? “Contrary to what some believe, trade in ancient objects is not the enemy of preservation. The great contribution the art market makes to this cause is to endow works of art with value. As a practical matter, the objects yielded by excavating tombs are generally quite repetitive within each culture. An obvious solution would be to deaccession the masses of such repetitive minor objects now stored in deplorable conditions.”
NEA’s Shakespeare Initiative Plays It Safe
So the National Endowment for the Arts is paying to bring Shakespeare to the far corners of America. “On the face of it, it seems like a sound idea, but you don’t have to scratch far beneath the surface to detect the icky stench beneath,” writes Dominic Papatola. “By aiming high, the program targets the lowest common denominator: The NEA’s decision to do a nationwide Shakespeare program speaks more to the once-controversial agency’s fear of offending than it does to bringing a master playwright to the masses.”
The Next Big Conductor?
Conductor David Robertson is on many people’s list to land the directorship of a major American orchestra. Indeed, critics added his name to the list for several high-profile orchestras in the past few years. “I find out about these things in the newspapers. I found out recently that there was an orchestra I refused, which was rough, because I was never asked. It’s an interesting thing, where people seem to know more about potential posts than I do. It’s nice that my name comes up, but I look a little bit like the perpetual bridesmaid.”
Booming Aboriginal Art Market
Australian aboriginal art is hot. “Thirty years ago Aboriginal work was hardly recognized as art. Painted tree bark and ritual stone and wood objects, spears and clubs tended to be lumped together with stuffed koalas and wallabies in the ethnographic sections of Australian museums; Aboriginal art was never displayed in the same spaces as work by white artists. Less than 20 years ago you could barely give it away. People just didn’t take art made by Aboriginal painters seriously. But at our sales in July we’ll have people from all over the world bidding hundreds of thousands of dollars for art you could have bought for hundreds in the 1970’s. We’re estimating a total sale value of more than $3 million.”
Laugh Track Inventor Dies
The man who invented the laugh track for TV shows has died at the age of 93. “Charlie Douglass was working as a technical director for live TV shows in the early days of the industry when he came up with the idea of developing a ‘laugh machine’ to enhance or substitute for live audience reaction. He called his first invention the ‘Laff Box’ and it became the basis of a lucrative family business.”
Pachelbel And The Gang – Is This Really The Most Popular Music?
Is it really possible that Brits’ taste in classical music is as bad as the annual Classic FM hit parade vote would indicate? “Is it really possible, I wonder, that millions of Brits really believe that Howard Shore’s music for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is the greatest piece of classical music of all time? And will I have to listen, yet again, to Rachmaninov’s super-saccharine Piano Concerto No 2, in C minor (that’s the music from ‘Brief Encounter’)?”