Tag: 04.25.07

If We’re Numb, Why Does It Hurt So Much?

That the Virginia Tech shootings happened in the same week that the ultra-violent new double feature Grindhouse debuted in movie theaters across the country is an unhappy coincidence, but it does point up our society’s increasingly inexplicable relationship with violence. “Violence, both actual and in the media, [may] just be in our nature, doomed to come out in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways… But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t think about the context in which [the Virginia Tech shooter] lived, with its endlessly streaming mayhem and ready supply of guns. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about the content and style of violent movies, television and video games.”

The Complicated Mr. Kirstein

Lincoln Kirstein was a formidable figure in the development of American dance, and this week, a “wide-ranging centennial celebration” for the much admired but little understood educator gets underway in New York. “He was formidable yet oddly shy, a manipulator whose scheming was almost always discernible and almost always in the service of his beloved dance. He is probably best known for having founded, with George Balanchine, the City Ballet and its school. But he was a Renaissance man of the arts, though that title sat uneasily on his massive, ungainly shoulders.”

Hip-Hop Under The Microscope

Controversies tend to spiral in directions that few would have anticipated, so it probably shouldn’t be a big surprise that the dust-up over racist comments by radio shock jock Don Imus turned quickly into a referendum on the use of similar words in hip-hop music. “Like MySpace users and politicians and reality-television stars and, yes, talk-radio hosts, rappers are trying to negotiate a culture in which the boundaries of public and private space keep changing, along with the multiplying standards that govern them.”

The Dudamel Ripple Effect

The LA Phil’s surprise announcement of Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel as its next music director caused critics across the country to heap praise on the orchestra’s courageous show of support for a young up-and-comer, and admiration for the quick and efficient way the hiring came about. Peter Dobrin says that it’s far too early to say whether the Phil has made a brilliant hire or a colossal error, but other MD-less orchestras are feeling the pressure to make a similar bold move.

Russell Simmons vs. The Three Words

Hip-hop pioneer and media mogul Russell Simmons is taking a public stand against the racially charged and misogynist language that permeates much of today’s rap music and hip-hop culture. Simmons is calling for “a voluntary ban on the three words he considers the most unacceptable, and among the most common, describing ‘bitch’, ‘ho’ and ‘nigger’ as ‘extreme curse words’ that were inconsistent with any sense of social responsibility by rap artists or their record companies.”

Bacon’s Trash Worth Nearly £1m

A motley collection of items discarded by the artist Francis Bacon has sold at auction for a whopping £965,490, nearly twice its pre-sale estimate. “Most of the lots could be described as ephemera at best. Among them were various diaries, some entirely blank.” The auctioneer, a small outfit in Surrey, UK, had its biggest night ever, and was nearly overwhelmed by the level of interest.

New Music Pays Big Dividends For Scottish School

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama’s festival of new music was created only last year, but Michael Tumelty says that its growth from year one to year two has been stunning. “Whereas the bulk of performances last year were small group chamber-type performances, such was the clear success of the venture that the academy has placed its symphony orchestra, chorus, and the RSAMD Big Band at the disposal of the festival… In all, there will be around 35 premieres in the five-day fest, featuring the work of about 24 composers.”