The rules of media-politic have been clear for some time: talk radio belongs to conservatives, Hollywood belongs to liberals. But a new generation of conservative filmmakers is determined to change the equation, and they’ve been joined by an increasingly vocal group of Hollywood stars whose political leanings veered right after 9/11.
Tag: 06.26.05
Art That Won’t Leave You Alone
Video art is hot right now, and collectors are eager to purchase innovative pieces. But what do you do with art that practically requires a major installation space and that, in many cases, never shuts up? It’s an increasingly real problem for collectors, not mention their unsuspecting houseguests…
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em (Finally!)
After years of trying to beat file-sharers into the ground, the music industry appears to be shifting strategies. Rather than focusing on money lost to pirates, the industry is now focusing on creating new revenue streams from new technologies such as peer-to-peer file-trading networks. Of course, this is exactly what many observers had been saying the industry should do from the beginning, but it may be that the years spent fighting online piracy have created a need for music peddlers to find a way for music sales to coexist with the free transfer of concert tapes and unlicensed material.
The Paradox Of Artistic Jerks
Creativity is much revered, and yet, so often, it seems, the individuals responsible for creative genius disappoint when viewed as human beings. “Art seems to require an inviolable freedom to seek the good of the artifact, without either overt or covert messages being forced into it. And history demonstrates that it is simply a statement of fact (to paraphrase Aquinas) that rectitude of the appetites is not a prerequisite for the ability to make beautiful objects. Thus our poisoner with his exquisite prose style. Or Picasso brutalizing the women in his life. Or the legion of artists and scientists who drank or drugged themselves to death.”
LA Phil Ticket Sales Stay Strong
Orchestras are declining? Don’t tell it to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which is continuing to ride a wave of popularity that got a major boost with the opening of the spectacular new Disney Hall. For the second year in a row, the Phil sold more than 97% of its available seats for the season, up from 60% capacity in its huge old home across the street.
Too Many Words, Not Enough Action
Scotland’s Cultural Commission released a 500-page report this week underlining the importance of the arts in everyday life. But do such bureaucratic examinations miss the point? “No committee ever wrote a book, no strategy composed a symphony and no review created a work of art. [The] report fails to make its central case – that only the proposed Culture Scotland, a membership organisation owned and governed by councils for heritage and creative industries, plus representatives of business, education, and the voluntary sector, is the vehicle to deliver cultural rights.”
Napa Arts Caught In A Catch-22
California’s Napa Valley has seen an artistic renaissance over the past five years, with multiple venues undergoing extensive renovations to bring them up to snuff for high-level performing arts groups. But post-renovation, many of the area’s arts organizations are finding themselves priced out of the venues, which must charge high rents in order to break even.
Has Kansas City PAC’s Fate Been Decided?
Kansas City music critic Paul Horsley touched a nerve last week when he penned a column blasting the city’s political elite for being culturally clueless and watering down an ambitious plan to build a massive new performing arts center. Some Kansas Citians were offended at the suggestion that they could use a little more height in their brows, but most of the reader response was vociferously positive. Still, Horsley says that no matter how many arts fans protest the scaled-back PAC plan, his sources indicate that the decision to scrap the original project has already been made behind closed doors.
Rebirth In Silicon Valley
When the San Jose Symphony folded back in 2002, a new orchestra, Symphony Silicon Valley, quickly rose in its place. But the new ensemble was nothing like the full-scale professional operation that the old one was, even though many of the musicians were the same. These days, though, the new orchestra seems to be coming of age, and a recent grant from the San Jose Symphony Foundation should go a long way towards solidifying Symphony Silicon Valley’s position in the community.
Keeping Classical Music “Special”
It seems absurd to think, in this age of endless entertainment choice, that classical music is truly falling off the map, as so many self-styled experts claim. The real problem may actually be the opposite: “the challenge for classical music ahead is not that people constantly fired upon by the mass-marketing budgets of commercial music won’t know how to relate to Brahms and Ravel. The danger, rather, is unexpected: that there is so much classical music around in this golden age of choice that it is ceasing to be special.” So what’s the solution? Try a little personal connection, and give your customers a sense that they’re truly important to you.