“Critics of an urban improvement effort in the South Korean capital that requires developers to provide public art say the law generated too many works that many find objectionable. It has been changed.”
Tag: 06.27.11
‘I Hate Cirque Du Soleil,’ Says Prominent Arts Writer
Pia Catton: “Cirque du Soleil is not theater, dance or any sort of performing art that expresses thoughts and emotions. It’s a traveling Las Vegas act … Just don’t kid yourself that you’ve experienced the performing arts. You’ve been to the circus – at opera prices.”
‘Fox News Or MSNBC As Brought To You By The Kremlin’ – The Russia Today Network
It’s “the strangest prime time news line-up on cable television … a block of TV news that’s professionally produced, widely distributed – 20 million American cable subscribers can watch it if they like – and basically immune to market forces.”
Which Composer Is The Biggest Badass?
NPR is running a reader/listener poll to answer this burning question. Among the top nominees so far are Shostakovich (wrote an opera edgy enough to get banned by Stalin), Liszt (major heartthrob, played pianos so hard they broke), and Gesualdo (killed his cheatin’ wife and wrote “the most dissonant music within three centuries on either side”).
The Remarkable Theatres Of Harlem
“Where Egypt has its Sphinxes, Harlem has its theaters. Considering that the modern drama originated in the medieval church, and that nearly every star who ever headlined the Apollo Theater got his start singing in church, it’s appropriate that many of the great theaters of uptown have been preserved as houses of worship.”
Bird Grammar (Yes, It Exists)
Although many animals, including dogs, parrots and apes are known to interpret and construct “sentences”, and recognise human words for individual objects, Kentaro Abe says that only his finches have been shown to have a form of grammar in their utterances. Similar claims have been made for whale song, however.
Boston’s MFA Pays Restitution For Nazi-Looted Art
“The Museum of Fine Arts has agreed to pay restitution to the heir of a Jewish art dealer killed at Auschwitz after determining that a 17th-century Dutch painting in its collection was once owned by him and was probably plundered by the Nazis.”
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum To Close For Security Upgrade
The renovation is necessary “to ensure the condition of the building and the safety of the visitors in the long run”.
Monty Python Will Bring Graham Chapman Back From The Dead (In 3D, No Less)
“Chapman, whose death from cancer in 1989 forever closed the door on a full reunion of the Monty Python comedy troupe, will soon be back in what might be the next best thing: he will star in a 3-D animated version of his absurdist memoir, A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI.”