“His pieces include a string quartet to be played by gloved musicians using knitting needles (String Quartet II); a lecture on avant-garde music that is interrupted by music and mime (Sur scène); and an orchestral piece in which the conductor tries to get through a performance while negotiating with hostage-takers (Kidnapping in the Concert Hall).”
Tag: 09.20.08
Public Art – Sex In The Public Square
A new sculpture in a southern German town square has tourists snapping pictures and politicians arguing about the role of public art. The work shows Angela Merkel naked, along with other politicians, and the artist is unapologetic. He calls the work his “group-sex relief.”
Road Plays William Tell, Neighbors Complain
“The road was completed this month as part of an ad campaign for Honda. It’s engineered to play the overture — also known as the theme to The Lone Ranger — at perfect pitch for motorists driving Honda Civics at 55 mph. But neighbors aren’t amused.”
Study: 97% Of Teens Play Video Games
A new Pew study has even more dramatic evidence of how far videogames have entered the American mainstream, noting that 97% of teens 12-17 play videogames.
Canadian Government Arts Funding Has Slipped
“A close look at federal budget documents suggests that nearly $45-million in recent federal funding cuts are symptomatic of a larger trend under the Conservatives that has seen dollars gradually shifted away from arts and culture, and funnelled instead into other branches of the Department of Canadian Heritage that focus on the department’s social mandate.”
Record Movie Box Office Hides Decline In Movie-Goers
“Adjusted for a rise in the average ticket price, attendance is down almost 5 percent this year. But America’s love affair with the movies is now written in the language of box office, numbers that once interested only studio accountants as a measure of whether a film would pay for itself. The figures have become some moviegoers’ proxy for cultural worth.”
A New International Theatre Brings Together UK, Australia And US
“The actress Cate Blanchett was behind the launch of an initiative led by her Sydney-based theatre company this week that brings together acting, writing and directorial talent from the three countries. Such projects suggest a growing trend for cultural “cross-pollination” that could bring more foreign investment to London’s theatres and create a new boom in global arts franchises that span a number of theatres or galleries.”
Power Art Couple Sam Taylor-Wood and Jay Jopling Split
“Jopling, an art dealer, is the owner of the the commercial White Cube gallery, whose artists include Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman brothers. Taylor-Wood is a Turner Prize-nominated artist probably best known for her video portrait, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, of David Beckham sleeping.”
Parents Protest Community School’s Dropping Of Suzuki Piano Program
Parents of piano students in the community-based School of Performing Arts at downtown’s Colburn School are protesting elimination of the school’s Suzuki program. The schools says the program was ended because it doesn’t prepare students for advanced study with traditional piano teachers. But some parents believe the school is shortchanging its 1,500-plus community music students in favor of the school’s elite Colburn Conservatory of Music.
Fear Of The Machine
“It is hard to think of a technology that wasn’t feared when it was introduced. The pessimistic assumption that new technologies will somehow make our lives worse may be a function of occupation or training.”