It was last November when first-year grad student Joseph Deutch pulled out a gun in his UCLA performance art class and proceeded to play Russian Roulette in front of his horrified classmates and professor. Since then, two tenured professors have resigned in protest of the university’s failure to immediately suspend Deutch, calling his actions “domestic terrorism,” and a full investigation has been completed by the school. But Deutch remains enrolled at UCLA, and the dean of students says that there are no plans to expel him.
Tag: 06.15.05
It’s Awfully Big, But At Least It’s Canadian
Following the recently announced merger of Canadian cinema chains Cineplex Galaxy and Famous Players, 63% of Canada’s movie screens will be controlled by a single company, an unheard-of situation for a country that fanatically protects its native culture against incursions from Hollywood. But behind the deal is a single individual, 51-year-old immigrant Ellis Jacob, who has quietly risen through the ranks to become a major player on the international film scene. Jacob points out that while the merged company might resemble an American-style corporate monolith, it will also represent the first time that a majority of Canadian movie screens have been controlled by a Canadian company.
T.O.’s Power Plant Gets A New Sparkplug
“Sources close to The Power Plant, Toronto’s premier non-collecting showcase for cutting-edge contemporary art, confirmed yesterday that a search committee has picked Gregory Burke to succeed Wayne Baerwaldt as the gallery’s director. Baerwaldt, who came to The Power Plant in March, 2002, after running Winnipeg’s Plug In Gallery for 13 years, announced his resignation in February and completed his term in Toronto June 2. Burke is currently in Venice overseeing New Zealand’s participation in the city’s famous Biennale. He also was curator of New Zealand’s first-ever presentation at the Biennale, in 2001. For the last seven years he’s been director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth on New Zealand’s Northern Island.”
Yet Another Ombudsman For Public TV
“Facing charges of political bias and a threat to its funding from Congress, the Public Broadcasting Service yesterday adopted an updated set of editorial standards and announced that it would add an ombudsman who will report directly to PBS President Pat Mitchell. The action comes in the wake of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s hiring of two ombudsmen in April,” a move which has been widely criticized as being politically motivated.
Should Music Have A Place In Museums?
When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art unceremoniously dumped a long-running music series it had hosted for nearly two decades this spring, museum officials explained that the move was part of a decision to focus on LACMA’s core mission of bringing art to the public. Mark Swed is skeptical of this line of thinking: “Money doesn’t seem to be the overriding concern. The museum’s music programming has always been done on the cheap. Many of the series have underwriting… Never have the arts been more suited to interaction than they are now. And never before have art museums been better equipped to be laboratories for such chemical combustion.
Opera To Symphony: Thanks, But No Thanks
Negotiations have broken off between the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Grand Opera, talks which would have returned the HSO to the HGO pit for the first time in four years. The symphony had sought to once again become the official pit orchestra of the opera as part of an effort to right its financial ship, which has been listing badly in recent years. But after hearing the HSO’s proposal, the opera chose instead to sign a new 6-year contract with its in-house orchestra.
If You Build It, Will We Come?
The city of Roanoke, Virginia, is attempting to raise $46 million to build a museum designed by Randall Stout, and the project has the town buzzing. But are high art and small cities in the Blue Ridge Mountains really meant for each other? “The danger is that outsiders will embrace it, but we – the natives – won’t.” In fact, it all sounds suspiciously like this one episode of The Simpsons…
Doing The Ballroom Vegas
We’re in the midst of a ballroom dancing craze. “Ballroom dancing in its pure form, as enjoyable social dance between two people, is still practiced in the school classes and, maybe, at health clubs. People of all ages and shapes like to move their bodies, and to do so in supportive, friendly, nonjudgmental contexts. The present-day ballroom mania, however, is far from such innocence. Most of these contests and films and television shows emphasize competition based on the flashiest moves and glitziest costumes: Las Vegas meets ice dancing. “
Shiny Musums Do Not Great Art Make
“Over the past decade, as a result of a government initiative called Renaissance in the Regions and through the huge amount of investment made by the Heritage Lottery Fund, there has been the beginning of a transformation in museums and galleries throughout Britain. All of this is good news. But it has become increasingly clear that museums and galleries cannot live on capital projects alone. There is no point having beautiful, gleaming new museums and galleries with the most up-to-date facilities and cafés if they don’t have the money to buy works of art.”