The photos of Samuel Beckett have been black and white. Now an exhibition of color pictures: “Whereas those who met Beckett invariably spoke of his piercing, pale blue eyes – ‘scarily intelligent,’ as Michael Colgan, the director of the Gate theatre in Dublin, described them – the published portraits of Beckett remained in black and white.” – Sunday Times (UK)
Tag: 10.22.00
MERCE CUNNINGHAM has won —
— the $250,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, given to choreographers. – Chicago Tribune
ARTISTS’ DIRECTIVE?
Singapore’s minister for information and the arts called on his country’s artists to “balance artistic integrity with social responsibility, as they develop the arts scene here. ‘Artists sometimes appear to forget that they have audiences… Great art can be shocking or startling, but perhaps it is more important it be compelling and intelligent. It can be bold and daring, but it should also be sensitive and searching.” – The Straits Times (Singapore)
WAR OF THE BUTTS
“Last year, Damien Hirst made a tidy sum by producing a limited edition design for Camel cigarettes. Now, the anti-smoking lobby, having seen the wonders a little artistic street-cred can do for the tobacco industry, has decided to beat the cigarette barons at their own game. An exhibition will open in London next month displaying the work of 20 contemporary artists commissioned to produce images to encourage people to give up.” – The Independent (UK) 10/22/00
SAN FRANCISCO’S SPLIT FEELINGS ON GRAFFITI
“While Mayor Willie Brown and a force of volunteers armed with solvents gathered at Yerba Buena Gardens on Saturday for a city-organized effort to stamp out graffiti, San Francisco-based video-game maker Sega of America played host to an art show featuring some of the nation’s best taggers just a few blocks away.” – San Jose Mercury News
NEW MELBOURNE MUSEUM OF ART OPENS
“The overriding message from the speakers was that this was a museum devoted to reconciliation, at a time when issues surrounding reconciliation occupy a great deal of our national consciousness.” – The Age (Melbourne)
POLITICS OF IMPERMANENCE
Museums generally take great pains to protect and care for the artwork that comes to them. But what is their responsibility toward conceptual art in which the artist often intends its decay or obliteration to be part of the work? – Chicago Tribune
THOSE LEFT BEHIND
Now that Cleveland San Jose Ballet has folded its tent in Cleveland and reinvented itself in San Jose, what’s next for dance in Cleveland? – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
NEXT TIME FOR THE POWER OF MUSIC
Pinchas Zukerman recently tried to take his National Arts Center Orchestra to Israel and Palestine. But the fighting canceled much of the tour. “Music seemed impotent in the face of such events, but Pinchas Zukerman is convinced that in other circumstances it can play a vital role in bringing about the sorts of reconciliation the region desperate needs.” – The Independent (UK)
VIRGIL THE GREAT
How many organists do you hear about, let alone someone who has been dead 20 years? Virgil Fox was the Great Popularizer of the organ. “Unlike the ‘purists’ who detested the lush liberties he sometimes took with Bach, Fox was not above forsaking pipes and using an electronic organ to get the music across. He dragged Black Beauty, a booming, blaring Rodgers electronic instrument, along with a light show and smoke and mirrors, to rock-concert halls, hoping to get young 70’s listeners to trip out on the music of Bach.” – New York Times