Tag: 08.18.15

James Wood – A Harsh Critic Mellows?

“For me, there’s no competition between pleasure and analysis. And there never was. That might be the self-selecting answer as to why I became a critic. At exactly the moment that I wanted really to write, and started writing poems and then trying to write bad fiction, I was reading with a view to learning stuff.”

Taking To Kickstarter, A Major Architect Wants To Fund Activist Public Art

The Kickstarter campaign is as much about activism as it is about funding—an increasingly popular tactic in the architecture world. “You could say the whole idea of the project is an exercise in radical transparency. What the project does is make blatantly legible a carbon footprint that is invisible, and only exists in the form of numbers and specifics and news.” The point of the tower is to raise environmental awareness. By asking the public to contribute, the firm is putting it to the people to decide if they want a visual representation of pollution on the skyline. It also detaches the project from any corporate influence.

There’s A Fast-Rising Conductor Hiding In Plain Sight In Philadelphia

“Philadelphia Orchestra associate conductors are like U.S. vice presidents: They have huge exposure, a bit of dirty work to do, and ascend to the boss’ job only in dire circumstances. Nonetheless, Philadelphia’s Cristian Macelaru (once associate conductor – new title, ‘conductor-in-residence’) is making a more-than-vice-presidential career for himself” – including important gigs filling in for the late Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the ailing Pierre Boulez.

Italy’s Culture Minister Brings In Wave Of New Directors For Museums – Including (Gasp!) Some Foreigners

“Fourteen art historians, four archaeologists, one cultural manager and a museum specialist make up the new directors, who will be at the forefront of cultural reform in Italy. The majority have international backgrounds and half are women, although the culture minister, Dario Franceschini, said nationality and gender had no influence on Tuesday’s appointments.”

Santa Monica’s Troubled Arts Center Brings In New Chief To Shake Up Programming

The Broad Stage, which has seen a serious decline in box office income and donations over the past three years – even as it prepares to open a third performance space next year – has hired Stanford Live director Wiley Hausam. He says, “My sense is that this is a community willing to take artistic risks and do stuff that’s more interesting.”