The author of The Tipping Point and Blink may be a pop-intellectual rock star who rakes in “stratospheric” speaking fees, but he says, “At the end of the day, I’m just a journalist […] I spend my time talking to people who tell me things, and then I write them down. I’m necessarily parasitic in a way. I have done well as a parasite. [pause] But I’m still a parasite.”
Tag: 11.09.08
Brokeback in Bollywood? (Um, No…)
In Dostana, Indian film superstars Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham play gay. Except it’s Three’s Company-gay: their characters are straight buddies pretending to be lovers so as to share an apartment with a hot babe. In India, this is seen as extremely daring.
Transcendent Technicolor Textiles
In San Diego, “Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota” showcases the work of the late Tokyo artist whose medium was the traditional Japanese robe. Robert Pincus says that photos “don’t capture the vibrancy of the color in these objects – or the way Kubota used texture and layers to make them virtually sculptural.” (The magnum opus is a series of 40 kimonos that form a continuous panorama.)
Banned Satyajit Ray Film Restored
Sikkim, a 1971 documentary about the tiny Himalayan kingdom, was suppressed by Indian censors because it was found to glorify monarchy. (The statelet was a sensitive subject: India went on to annex Sikkim in 1975.) A print of the film, thought to have been destroyed, turned up at the British Film Institute in 2003 and “was restored digitally frame-by-frame by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”
In Seattle, New Theatre Companies Undeterred By Economy
“There are no hard statistics for how many fledgling drama groups emerge each year in the Puget Sound region. Judging from theater listings, a conservative estimate is at least a half dozen. And you can add that to more than 50 existing companies.” The treacherous financial landscape doesn’t seem to be discouraging newcomers.
Cleveland Arts Groups Prepare For Downturn
It hasn’t been felt yet. Ticket sales are good, and funding has been steady, but rocky times are likely…
Chicago Theatres Go Roomies
“Given the economic downturn, sharing of space may turn out to the new paradigm for Chicago cultural institutions. But even though the benefits of splitting costs, pooling resources and putting arts venues to maximum productive use are obvious, sharing performance space is a lot trickier than it seems. Especially if it takes place on less-than-equal terms.”
A Breakthrough In Digital Publishing
Late last month, American authors and publishers reached an agreement with Google to settle lawsuits over Google’s Book Search program, which scans millions of books and makes their contents available on the Internet. The deal lets Google sell electronic versions of copyrighted works that have gone out of print.
Where Is Conservative Theatre?
“Except for David Mamet… and Tom Stoppard…, I can’t think of a single well-known American or British playwright whose political views are even slightly to the right of center. Nor do I think it likely that such a person would flourish were he or she suddenly to emerge from out of nowhere: Theater is a social art form, and the culture of American and British theater is 99% left-liberal, if not more so.”
A Perilous Future For Detroit Institute Of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts “lost $17 million in 2008, the latest in a string of annual operating shortfalls that totaled nearly $100 million in the past 10 years. The DIA is art rich and cash poor.Without major changes in the way it does business — soon — it risks slipping into second-class status, mortgaging its spot in the front rank of American museums and its mission as an encyclopedic venue that represents the depth and breadth of all cultures.”