“Designers know how to make buildings that dazzle us visually. Yet they’re often so intent on satisfying their client’s complex organizational needs, they forget about their obligations to city life. The Barnes design, by New York’s Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, gets an ‘A’ in aesthetics and an ‘F’ in urbanism.”
Tag: 10.16.09
With New York Productions, Berkeley Rep’s Profile Is Rising
“While Chicago’s Goodman and Steppenwolf theater companies have long track records of sending shows to New York, … Berkeley Rep’s emergence as a prime source for Manhattan stages is more abrupt and more unusual for a Bay Area not-for-profit theater.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica Seeks Oldest Complete Set
The Encyclopaedia Britannica is “launching a quest to find the oldest complete set in private hands. Put together in the back streets of Edinburgh by an editor, an engraver and a printer, the first version of the encyclopaedia was released in weekly sections – costing six pence each, or eight pence if printed on smart paper – from July 1768.”
How ‘Bout A Vacant Fourth Plinth?
“I don’t want to see any more public art on the plinth – no war heroes and no more modern art either. … [E]verything put there seems to become at best a scabrous distraction from, and at worst a conscious insult to, the great art in the nearby National Gallery.”
Owner Of 11 Stolen Warhols Won’t Pursue Insurance Claim
“The art world was abuzz in early September with word that a series of original works by famed Pop Art icon Andy Warhol had been stolen from the walls of noted art collector Richard L. Weisman’s Westside Los Angeles home. … Now, Weisman has said he is not going to pursue a payout from the company that insured the paintings.”
Walmart.com Drastically Cutting Prices Of Best Sellers
“The online division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said on Thursday that it is pricing the top 10 pre-selling books on its website at $10 each, including free shipping.” The retailer is also “cutting the price of 200 of the nation’s best-selling books … by 50 percent or more from their listing price.”
Program Matches Retired Corporate Talent With Nonprofits
“A Bay Area pilot project pairs ex-corporate bosses with local nonprofit organizations that could use their expertise. The program is about to be expanded nationwide with funding from the Serve America Act to promote volunteerism.”
Research: We Think Milliseconds Before We Speak
A new study has “found that it takes about half a second to transform something we think into something we say. And three very different kinds of processing needed for speech are all happening in a small part of the brain called Broca’s area….”
When The Artist Wants You To Move The Ceiling
“Contemporary art often demands much of its viewers with imagery or performance pieces so avant-garde they can be difficult to understand,” but “it is often museums and art galleries that face the biggest hurdles to stay on the cutting edge of the art world.” New York’s New Museum is lowering a ceiling by 2 feet for an Urs Fischer show.
Sotheby’s To SEC: We Can’t Give Details On Executive Pay
“Sotheby’s said it can’t disclose the specific criteria it uses in setting executive pay because that would give an unfair advantage to closely held rival Christie’s International. … Amid calls for more corporate transparency, Sotheby’s case illustrates the challenges of a publicly held company when it has a closely held rival.”