“Substantially financed by the fashion house, “Chanel” is tainted by the same sort of self-interested sponsorship that brought notoriety to “Armani” at the Guggenheim Museum in 2000 and “Sensation,” the 1999 Brooklyn Museum showcase for Charles Saatchi’s collection. We expect better from the Met, an institution always admired as a guardian of professional standards.”
Tag: 05.08.05
Mark Boyle, 71
Boyle was a creative original. “With Joan Hills, his partner since 1957, he took part in Britain’s first “happening,” which scandalised Edinburgh in 1963, developed early light shows for rock groups like Soft Machine, toured America with Jimi Hendrix and, in his lifelong project, worked with Hills and their children, Sebastian and Georgia, on events, assemblages and their extraordinary “earth pieces” – lifelike facsimiles of the surface of the Earth.”
Did Schiller Lose His Head?
“As Germany prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of the literary giant Friedrich Schiller this week, the celebrations are overshadowed by an embarrassing row over whether the skull inside Schiller’s coffin is really his. Schiller, the author of Wilhelm Tell and other celebrated plays – died on 9 May 1805, aged 45. His body was put in a mass grave in the local cemetery. Some 21 years later, Weimar’s mayor, Karl Leberecht Schwabe, decided to dig him up. Faced with a choice of 27 skulls, Schwabe put them all on a table and picked the biggest, declaring: ‘That must be Schiller’s.’ “
Is Vinyl Making A Comeback?
“According to Neilsen Soundscan, about 1.2 million vinyl records were sold in 2004 — not overwhelming considering total CD sales approached 767 million last year. But that number is skewed because most vinyl records are sold by small independent stores and labels, and their sales are not reflected in Soundscan data. And those uncounted sales, while still a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, are significant, vinyl aficionados say. Together with the Soundscan numbers, they represent an uptick for serious collectors and audiophile purists.”
What To Make Of Colorado Ballet’s Woes?
“What started the recent exodus of administrators and board members was the company’s shelving of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice in Wonderland as the season-opener at the new Ellie Caulkins Opera House. A flurry of finger-pointing followed and soon Executive Director Rick Tallman was gone, along with his ticket-manager wife Angela, prominent board members and others on the payroll or board.”
Are PBS’s Days Numbered?
Michael Booth is angry at PBS. “Public-TV programming, in Colorado and around the nation, has become a parody of itself. Reading the program guide alone is enough to put one sound asleep, let alone watching the actual shows themselves – nearly every one stuck in a 1970s time warp of blandly earnest irrelevance. A lineup this dull and out of touch no longer deserves our federal tax money.”
But We Need A PBS…
“PBS is a special resource, valuable in a democracy that depends on well-informed citizens … well, you know the rap. That said, public TV needs an extreme makeover. PBS has bungled at every turn. The system still can’t decide whether to embrace commercials (“enhanced underwriting” is the euphemism). The convoluted bureaucracy doesn’t work. While preaching “localism,” the service has kept a few strong stations in charge (Boston, New York, Los Angeles) while others idle.”
What Happened To The Broadway Showstopper?
“Broadway musicals have long proved they can tell important stories without losing entertainment value. But as that idea has evolved, theatrically credible plot lines don’t accommodate the kind of consolidation of music, character and star presence that is the showstopper. Modern, linear storytelling instead dictates that resources be spread around the show’s landscape of personalities.”
BC – A Place Where The Arts Don’t Matter?
Why do British Columbia politicians ignore the arts? None of the major parties has much helpful to say to the arts. “Is it any wonder that arts organizations are screaming? The B.C. government spends the least on arts—$1.98 per person—of any province, according to Statistics Canada research cited by local umbrella group the Alliance for Arts and Culture. Quebec spends $19.32 per person. Alberta spends $5.69. ‘We look like idiots when we go to national conferences. They’re like, ‘What’s with your province?’ It’s embarrassing!”
“National” Obsession – What Does It Mean?
“What is the purpose of a national theatre, a national opera or ballet company, a national orchestra, or a national gallery? What is the meaning of the word ‘national’ in those famous organisations? Is it simply a matter of pride and funding, an indication that those particular institutions have the backing of an entire nation, its hopes and dreams of excellence? Or is it more complicated than that: do we expect these arts organisations, above all others, to embody in their work something essential about the nation?”