A host of small new dance companies has sprouted in Cleveland. It’s a great development for fans of dance. But others wonder: is there enough of an audience to support the new activity?
Tag: 09.15.04
Seattle’s Big New Sculpture Park
The Seattle Art Museum announces art for its ambitious new $85 million sculpture park. Works by Calder and Serra will anchor the park, on the shores of Puget Sound. The park is scheduled to open in 2006, after several years of delay.
DC’s National Mall: No Vacancy
“Is there any space left on the Mall? With the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian Sept. 21, the officials in charge of Washington’s main savanna have hoisted a “No Vacancy” sign.”
Feeling Poorly? Then Play!
Is the way to better health found in playing games? “Dozens of games have been developed in recent years to train physicians, educate patients, improve fitness and help treat the addicted and the mentally ill. Dozens more are on the way.”
The Radical Librarians
US librarians are getting radical in their fight against the USA Patriot Act. “What got many librarians’ dander up was Section 215 of the law, which stipulates that government prosecutors and FBI agents can seek permission from a secret court created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to access personal records — everything from medical histories to reading habits. They don’t need a subpoena. In fact, they don’t need to show that a crime has even been committed. And librarians, stymied by a gag order, are forbidden to tell anyone (except a lawyer).”
The One And Only? (What A Concept!)
“Ever since Impressionism, we tend to associate a unique visual style with an authentic expression of some inner feeling of the soul of the artist. Then if he does it over again, you think, ‘Wait, how authentic was this?’ Certainly, many artistic masterpieces are singular, but the ideal of the unique, individual work of art is fairly new — it emerged 200 or so years ago as part of the artistic movement known as Romanticism.”
Lazy-Eyed Rembrandt?
The New England Journal of Medicine is publishing a scientist’s observation that Rembrandt might have suffered from a vision disorder known as “lazy eye.” “Consequently, Rembrandt probably had little depth perception, which might have actually been an asset, since artists have to depict a three-dimensional world on a flat canvas.”
20,000 American Indians To March For Museum
Some 20,000 American Indians are expected to march in Washington DC next week to celebrate the openin of the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum is “the first national museum in the United States to be dedicated exclusively to Native Americans and the first to present all exhibitions from a native viewpoint. The procession, which culminates in the opening ceremony, will begin with a tropical flourish, as Hawaiian conch-shell blowers signal the start from the balcony of the Smithsonian Castle.”
Taking The Artistic Temperature Of 9/11
More and more artists are making art about difficult events of the past few years. “In the week of the third anniversary of 9/11, it’s worth asking how they’re doing. For, ever so slowly, writers, film-makers and dramatists have begun to address the twin events that have dominated the start of the 21st century: the attacks on New York and Washington and the subsequent Iraq war.”
Wrong Way For The Abbey
Dublin’s Abbey Theatre has dug itself a deep hole. “The theatre, which produced playwrights from Sean O’Casey to Brian Friel, has seen the centenary of its foundation by WB Yeats marred by the disastrous box office of its anniversary programme, a deficit of almost €2.5m (£1.7m), a sudden plan to axe a third of its staff, and a decaying building that is a health hazard. A bitter email by its artistic director, Ben Barnes, has stoked tensions.”