“So how did an intellectual purist become a developer’s pet? Has the real-estate business found enlightenment? Or has Libeskind refashioned himself as a high-class hack, peddling a facsimile of the avant-garde to developers who wish to disguise their rapaciousness with a few aesthetic fripperies?”
Tag: 10.01.07
World Art From A Turkish Eye
“The Istanbul Biennial, in its tenth edition, is one of the first non-Western biennials, and one of only a few in Muslim countries, out of the scores of contemporary-art festivals that speckle the planet from Santa Fe to Kwangju. Like most biennials of late, it is strenuously fun-filled and earnest, in soft-core, we-are-the-world veins.”
Crumbling Venice Drops Pieces Of Buildings
“Venetians are now looking up to the skies with trepidation as freak rainstorms are blamed for bringing chunks of masonry crashing down from landmark palaces.”
Can Great Paintings Help With Global Warming?
“Scientists are analysing the striking sunsets painted by Turner and dozens of other artists to work out the cooling effects of huge volcanic eruptions. By working out how the climate varied naturally in the past they hope to improve the computer models used to simulate global warming.”
Baltimore Symphony’s Marin Alsop Era Begins
“As director-designate Ms. Alsop reinvigorated the orchestra, institutionally and artistically. A born communicator and effective proselytizer for music, she has led a major community-outreach effort and taken the orchestra back into the recording business for the first time in a decade. Thanks to a $1 million grant, the Baltimore Symphony this season is offering all tickets to subscribers at $25 a concert. (I am continually amazed at the impact that a sum like $1 million, just pocket change in popular culture, can have in classical music.)”
Gallery Closes Nan Goldin Show Per Elton John Request
The BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art in northeastern England, has closed an installation of 149 pictures by American photographer Nan Goldin, at Elton John’s request. “After the removal of one image from the series it was no longer possible for BALTIC to exhibit the collection of works as the artist intended,” the gallery said.
TV Guide To Launch Video Finder Service
“The publication famous for its television-centric editorial and show listings will launch at TVGuide.com on Tuesday its Online Video Guide, a search service that will attempt to filter out the junk and leave users with the best of Internet video that is related to television.”
UK Artist On Trial In Turkey For Art Work
British artist Michael Dickinson is to go on trial next week accused of insulting the Turkish Prime Minister’s dignity. Dickinson “was arrested for displaying a poster of his work entitled Good Boy. It shows Recep Tayyip Erdogan – the Turkish Prime Minister – as a dog on a leash made from the American flag.”
Giant Booksellers Launch Writing Contests
“Amazon.com, Penguin Group (USA) and Hewlett-Packard Co. have launched the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which offers a contract with Penguin and a small advance, $25,000. Meanwhile, Borders Group Inc., Court TV and Gather.com announced “The Next Great Crime Novel” competition, with the winner receiving $5,000 and a publishing deal through Borders, the superstore chain.”
DVR Viewing Added To The Ratings Mix
The TV ratings system is “undergoing one of its most sweeping overhauls since the advent 20 years ago of Nielsen ‘people meters,’ a then-state-of-the-art audience measurement tool that offered more precision than the viewing diaries that participants had filled out for decades. This fall, homes with DVRs make up nearly 20% (compared with 9% last fall) of Nielsen’s national sample of TV viewers — the cohort whose closely scrutinized behavioral patterns are the most important single factor in deciding whether programs live or die.”