“California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, or Calit2, a $400 million research consortium assembled over the last five years,” is in the process of nurturing a groundbreaking collaboration between science and art, housing a team of artists in what is primarily a research facility and encouraging them to collaborate with in-house scientists on all sorts of projects. “The juxtaposition of digital art with next-generation science and technologies like wireless networks, biosensors and optical supercomputers gives Calit2 a degree of panache that has largely been lost in the American scientific and corporate research worlds in the face of financial cutbacks over the last decade.”
Tag: 11.05.05
The Franco-Louisianan Ties That Bind
They may have given it up for pennies an acre back in 1803, but the French have always maintained a certain affection for Louisiana. “That attachment paid off for Louisiana, in money and relief supplies, after Hurricane Katrina, and on Friday it took a more symbolic turn in the form of a quick but apparently heartfelt visit to this stricken city by the French minister of culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. The minister came to announce a series of cultural initiatives: a planned exhibition here with the help of the Louvre and other French museums, and benefit concerts across France. But since he was the highest-ranking foreigner to come to this city since the storm… his visit was just as much the reaffirmation of a link that has never quite disappeared.
MoMA’s Man Among Architects
“As one of the few to follow in the footsteps of Philip Johnson at the Museum of Modern Art, Terence Riley has had an important platform in the world of architecture and design over the last 14 years. He helped raise awareness of foreign architects like Rem Koolhaas, Kazuyo Sejima and Herzog & de Meuron in the United States. He made architecture shows a high-profile staple of the museum’s exhibition program. He served on the juries of several major architecture projects and on countless panels discussing architecture. And he was instrumental in the creation of the new Modern, the redesigned building by Yoshio Taniguchi that opened last year. Now someone else will fill Mr. Riley’s shoes; he announced on Thursday that he would step down as the museum’s chief curator of architecture and design in March.”
The Getty In Crisis
“Today the Getty Museum is under siege. Its former antiquities curator faces an indictment in Italy, and allegations of lavish travel by [museum president Barry] Munitz have led to a wide-ranging investigation by the California attorney general into the trust’s finances. Overlooked in these controversies, some of Mr. Munitz’s critics say, is the harm suffered by the museum itself, including acquisitions, curatorial choices and departures by talented staff members who bridled at Mr. Munitz’s decisions and style.” In fact, some observers believe that the Getty’s problems can be traced all the way back to 1982, when it received the bulk of oilman J. Paul Getty’s fortune and became a major player on the international art scene.
Clear Channel Shutting Down Local Concert Promotions? Well, Maybe.
Last week, entertainment behemoth Clear Channel appeared to pull out of the concert promotion business in several U.S. cities, laying off employees and shuttering its offices. “This all coincides with the splintering of Clear Channel, which plans to spin off its concert business into a separate company while keeping its radio and billboard divisions.” But the company says that the layoffs merely mark a shift in corporate philosophy, with Clear Channel intending to run its concert promotions from the home office in San Antonio. At the moment, in cities like Minneapolis, Seattle, and Nashville, it’s difficult to accurately assess whether Clear Channel is really gone, and what it means if they are.