A genetics researcher at the University of Pittsburgh has pleaded guilty for obtaining biological materials for a friend’s art exhibit. Robert Ferrell “was indicted in June 2004, along with Steven A. Kurtz, a former Carnegie Mellon University art professor and founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble, which uses art to examine the impact of science and technology on consumer culture.”
Tag: 10.11.07
It’s Probably Alma
Graffiti taggers are a problem in cities the world over, scrawling their nom de vandal on whatever surface they can find. But in Toronto, a new tagger is getting some shocked attention from the city’s musicians. The name popping up on bridges and roadside barriers: Gustav Mahler.
Cate Blanchett Scores A Patron For Her Sydney Theatre
“Cate Blanchett, due to become co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, does have famous friends. It was announced today that she has secured the services of the fashion designer Giorgio Armani as its patron. He will make a large, one-off cash donation to Australia’s pre-eminent theatre company and is also likely to collaborate on costumes for future productions.”
The Making Of A Nobel Writer
“In Europe, the term ‘Nobelisable’ is used freely to mean a writer who could perfectly well win the Nobel prize. Every small country has one – sometimes two. Writers are often identified as being Nobelisable for similar reasons. The Nobel prize carries an aura of the writer’s life as a public one; of collective identity voiced, shaped or advocated by a visionary, perhaps even brave, individual. The writer as unacknowledged legislator, maybe, but nevertheless visibly engaged with their own society. There is something of this aura behind suggestions that the decision-making of the Nobel committee is ‘politicised’. But maybe these suggestions have it back to front.”
How Words Mutate
“Much like the evolutionary theory of Darwin, who was himself intrigued by the concept of a linguistic family tree, the new findings show how individuals can unwittingly influence changes in the ‘species’ of their shared mother tongue. Like genes, words undergo ruthless survival-of-the-fittest pressure and those that are less central to daily life are subject to mutation, according to their study.”
Charles Schulz – A Life In Cartoons
The new bio of the Peanuts creator offers insight into Schulz’s character through his work. “The cartoons themselves — however telling as illustrations of things the biographer has discovered about Schulz — are rich works in their own right. They fall somewhere between art and literature; but those categories really don’t matter very much, because they create their own little world. The biography derives its meaning from the cartoons and not vice versa.”
Plays Thrive On Broadway (At Least In The Short Term)
“These days, there seems to be only two ways to make money on a straight play on Broadway. One is to ride across-the-board raves and a clutch of awards (including the Tony and the Pulitzer) to a long, healthy run, as Proof and Doubt did. The other is to secure the services of a name star and nail him or her down for a run of anywhere from 10 to 20 weeks. Open runs of plays that lack rave reviews or multiple trophies rarely show a profit.”
Radiohead In A New Internet World
“Radiohead’s new website http://www.inrainbows.com was doing brisk business last night, with the blogs documenting thousands of downloads and fans proudly stating how much, or little, they paid. Even so, their jubilation may be somewhat overdone. The age of the almost-free download got off to a shaky start as the site crashed under the sheer weight of demand, with other fans swamping http://www.radiohead.com instead.”
Big Increase In UK Downloading
More than £160 million will be spent on music and video downloads in the UK this year, according to a forecast. That’s up more han 45% from last year.
A Giant New Penn Station (And A Caution)
A long-planned multi-billion-dollar development of a new Penn Station in New York seems to be moving along… and growing. So “what should the public demand from this deal? First of all, it should get a gorgeous landmark gateway. The players must hire top-drawer architectural talent — and then demand their best, not something that looks like an imitator’s work, as happened at Ground Zero.”