“By now, nearly everyone with a passing interest in science or religion is familiar with Stephen Jay Gould’s description of the two disciplines as ‘non-overlapping magisteria’.” For many people, this idea “has become an unexamined fiction designed to skirt the culture wars. It is clear, however, that [this separation] is not only a fiction but a useless fiction.”
Tag: 10.07.10
Stephen Pace, 91, Abstract Expressionist Figurist Painter
Following a successful period in the 1950s as a second-generation New York School Abstract Expressionist painter, Pace began spending time in rural settings, where he developed an “exuberant style [that] applied Abstract Expressionist scale and directness to figurative painting.”
Could the French Save the British Film Industry?
“The Hollywood studios are retreating, and the UK Film Council is heading for oblivion. But help is at hand from the other side of the Channel. The French are coming.… StudioCanal has emerged this year as the most significant new force in UK film-making.”
Are Street Artists Selling Out Their Very Nature?
“Their work is provocative, political, uncensored and usually exacted under cover of darkness. Viewed as vandalism by many, street art is steeped in punk, anarchy and iconoclasm. Because it ideologically sticks two fingers up at the Man, it seems anathema that street art should become increasingly commercial.”
The Design of the Lower Manhattan Islamic Center: ‘An Enlightened Building’
“Park51 [has] released three drawings, which show a scrupulously contemporary building, conversant in the latest design trends, drenched with light and transparent to the world. The basic symbolism of the building is obvious: It is porous, open and bright, which is to say, it is literally an enlightened building.”
Children’s Picture Books Do A Big Fade
“The picture book, a mainstay of children’s literature with its lavish illustrations, cheerful colors and large print wrapped in a glossy jacket, has been fading. It is not going away but publishers have scaled back the number of titles they have released in the last several years, and booksellers across the country say sales have been suffering.”
Unknown Ted Hughes Poem About Sylvia Plath’s Suicide Published
“‘Last Letter,’ which has finally been published today, is a long Hughes poem that constitutes his only known account of the events surrounding Plath’s death.” The poem, which was discovered in the British Library, has been printed in The New Statesman and was read aloud by Jonathan Pryce on the UK’s Channel Four.
National Theatre Offers to Share Backoffice With Other London Companies
“Services including box office, legal, HR, contracting, IT support, welfare and occupational health could be provided to other London venues at low or no cost as part of the proposal.” Among the eight companies in talks over this arrangement are Royal Court, the Donmar Warehouse, and the Almeida.
Daniel Catan to Write Opera Version of Frank Capra Film
“Having already adapted one film for the operatic stage – Il Postino, currently playing at the Los Angeles Opera – composer Daniel Catán is set to repeat the task with a new work based on the 1941 Frank Capra classic Meet John Doe.“
ABT to Dance in Moscow for First Time in 50 Years
American Ballet Theatre has added three dates in Moscow to its tour itinerary next March. The performances, part of a festival honoring the late Mstislav Rostropovich, are ABT’s first in the Russian capital since 1960.