Tag: 07.17.04

The Meaning Of (Bad) Art

What is bad art? A Melbourne collector thinks she knows. “After a decade of ferreting in dusty op shops, she has nailed the criteria: a complete lack of technical skill; unusual, poor or tasteless subject matter; and an asking price of $2 or less. Round’s collection of 200 original canvases, dubbed The Museum of Particularly Bad Art, is being unleashed on the public. Like a B-grade movie or a lovers’ public spat, you can’t look away. This is art so bad it’s downright good.”

The Marketing of Controversy

In the past few months, two of the most successful films in history have also been two of the most controversial. In fact, major controversy is just about the only thing that Mel Gibson’s bloody biopic of Jesus and Michael Moore’s brutal indictment of the Bush administration have in common. But Gibson and Moore have both tapped into a marketing concept that took Hollywood completely by surprise, yet seems like a no-brainer in retrospect: controversy sells, and you can’t let too many facts get in the way of a good story or the profits a good story will bring.

Oliphant’s Offspring

Betty Oliphant’s death this past week leaves a hole in the Canadian ballet scene, says William Littler, but her lasting mark on the genre has already been guaranteed in the form of her countless disciples, her professional children. She revolutionized professional ballet training, exposing her students to the widest possible variety of experiences, both dance-related and not. Denied many of the most basic aspects of a dancer’s development in her own youth, she was determined to turn out the world’s most well-rounded and intelligent dancers. “Biologically speaking, Betty Oliphant had no sons — she had two daughters. But in dance terms, her many children belong to both sexes and number among the most remarkable Canada has produced.”

How Dare You Spin Off My Copy Of That Duplicated Idea?

TV critics are used to seeing industry execs engage in some pretty petty sniping, but Tim Goodman cannot believe that he has spent the better part of a week listening to Hollywood types argue over who stole whose idea for a lousy reality show that wasn’t even remotely original anyway. “In a town all too familiar with the notion that there are only seven original stories and the rest is just, well, copy machines, ambition, connections and timing, why anyone is getting all uppity about theft is beyond comprehension.”

The Minnesota Microbroadcasting Movement

Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center is closed for the year as its building undergoes a major expansion, but rather than fade completely from public view, the museum is mounting a series of interactive exhibitions called “Walker Without Walls.” The latest project has Walker staffers “spending the summer helping as many as 500 locals build and operate their own miniature radio transmitters. It’s called microradio, and organizers hope the combined voices of the new microbroadcasters inspire a ‘Radio ReVolt’ (the project’s title).” The transmitters are all set to the same frequency (97.7FM, an open spot on the Twin Cities dial) and can broadcast for up to 200 feet.

Looking For Mr. Right

With the retirement of William F. Buckley, the intellectual conservative movement he founded seems to be in danger of fading into the past. After all, as one prominent conservative thinker puts it, the movement was founded to “defeat Communism and roll back creeping socialism… The first was obviated by our success, the latter by our failure. So what is left of conservatism?” Does the current dominance of the Republican Party in national politics mean that conservatism has won out, or has it merely dumbed itself down to achieve short-term victory? It’s a problem that a new crop of young conservatives are already wrestling with, and there is a definite hope among the old guard that Mr. Buckley’s ideas will find a voice among the youth.

Rescuing a Futuristic Icon of the Past

“Philip Johnson’s steel and concrete fantasia in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, designed as the New York State Pavilion for the 1964-65 World’s Fair, has been crumbling for decades. Now it is finally getting some attention… The Queens Theater in the Park — which produces performances geared to the borough’s immigrant communities — is planning to build an 8,000-square-foot addition to its space, a small section of the pavilion that was called the Theaterama during the World’s Fair… But the shiny new addition will also call attention to the blighted condition of [the huge ‘Tent of Tomorrow], which appears to be on the verge of collapse.”

Chicago’s Withering Art Fair

“The Chicago art establishment, from museums to galleries to artists, still seems shaken by what it perceived to be the failure this spring of its internationally known contemporary art fair.” In fact, Art Chicago has been gradually losing the interest of the international art community for years now, and the flurry of activity surrounding this weekend’s much-ballyhooed opening of the city’s new Millenium Park is meant in large part to put Chicago back on the map where art is concerned. Art Chicago’s organizers insist that a comeback is imminent, but observers are skeptical, especially as the fair prepares to move to temporary quarters in a 125,000-square foot tent.

Costello’s Crossover

Rock musicians who try to cross over to the classical world tend to fare about as well as sheep attempting flight. More often than not, their efforts tend to illicit scorn from classical audiences, and confusion from their traditional fan base. But if critical response is any indication, Elvis Costello be be the exception to the rule, as he prepares for the premiere of his first major symphonic work in Brooklyn this weekend. “‘Il Sogno’ was commissioned four years ago by an Italian dance company for its adaptation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ Costello composed it in 10 weeks, writing it out painstakingly in pencil across 200 pages, without computers or collaborators.