Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project is said to look like a cross between a spaceship and a glob of playdough – what about his plans for the new Manhattan Guggenheim? “Take two donuts with holes in them, and put them up on stilts.” Disney World, say the critics. The future, say Gehry and Thomas Krens, the Guggenheim’s director. – The Art Newspaper
Tag: 05.18.00
“MISS IT AND YOU’LL CURSE YOURSELF”
The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto broke all of its attendance records this spring with a blockbuster show of Egyptian artifacts. But popular as ancient Egypt is, to get people through the door the museum hired a slick ad agency to whip up interest. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
POP DADDY
Richard Hamilton, whose 1956 collage “Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So, So Appealing?” is considered by many to have signaled the birth of British pop art, is still at the top of his game – fascinated by all things modern and by his own paintings’ iconic status. “Perhaps that is why of all living British artists he is the one whose work gets the richest showing in the opening displays at Tate Modern.” – The Guardian
BUYING ART WITH YOUR MILLIONS
The newly-rich internet crowd gets into the contemporary art market in a big way. This week’s Christie’s sale of contemporary art was marked by record prices and spirited bidding. “It was such a young audience I thought for a moment I’d wandered into ‘Gladiator.'” – New York Times
MALEVICH SALE
A somewhat overlooked sale of a Malevich painting at the Phillips auction last week signals a final end to Stalinism. –New York Observer
FAILURE TO PROTECT NATIVE ARTISTS
Indian artists tell Congress that the US government is not enforcing a law designed to protect American Indian artisans from forgers said to be cutting into a $1 billion a year business. – Baltimore Sun (AP)
LOOKING EAST
Asian and Middle Eastern films are making a particularly strong showing at Cannes this year, with several vying for the Palme d’Or. – BBC 05/18/00
COUNTER ATTACK
Blockbuster Video has refused to promote the video release of Oscar winner “American Beauty” and is hiding the majority of its copies behind its store counters to protest DreamWorks’ refusal to meet proposed revenue-sharing terms. But resourceful customers are already flocking to other chain stores to get the film. – Variety 05/18/00
GETTING A FOOT IN THE DOOR
A burgeoning number of web sites that showcase short movies – like ifilm.com, atomfilms.com, and Spielberg’s pop.com – are helping unknown first-time filmmakers reach Hollywood. Forty-eight hours after two novice filmmakers aired their nine-minute film “Sunday’s Game” on the web, Hollywood execs and producers started calling. “I don’t think our ideas are any better than they were six months ago, but now people are listening.” – The Age (Melbourne) 05/18/00
PHANTOM CROWDS
No need for a cast of thousands for today’s blockbusters. Just push a button and the computer fills in the crowds. But is something artistic being lost? “Is this wizardry being used promiscuously, or is it just a new color on the special-effects palette that audiences will learn to accept, much as they accept the painted backgrounds of Rome in movies such as Ben-Hur?”– Philadelphia Inquirer 05/18/00