“At just the moment when the technologies of borrowing, sharing, repackaging, and reinventing — technologies such as blogs, wikis, peer-to-peer file sharing, full-text searching, digital video, and off-the-shelf music mixing software — have become so powerful as engines for creative expression, copyright law permits, in effect, nothing at all. Just when the future of creative expression looks so promising, argues Lawrence Lessig, the claims of the past have been shored up, and they block the way.”
Tag: 11.29.04
Giving Ground – Arts Philanthropy In Canada
A new portrait of philanthropic giving to the arts in Canada points to some big challenges. “Less than 2% of the population make financial donations to the arts sector. The average donor is described as being over 45 (57% of donors), university-educated (38%), and with a household income exceeding $50,000 (71%). Nonetheless, while the value of donations is increasing – 22% from 1997 to 2000 – the number of donors has actually decreased, a worrying trend for the future.”
In Search Of The Digital Actor
Increasingly, movie studios are using digital actors in movies. “The creation of a computer-generated digital person has been the Holy Grail of the digital effects industry. Digital Domain generated attention in this area as far back as 1997, when it populated the decks of the Titanic with digital passengers in its Academy Award-winning epic “Titanic.” More recently, Digital Domain and other effects houses have increasingly used digital characters for certain applications, including stunts where having an actor perform would be dangerous or simply impossible.”
The Most-Watched Movie In History
Gone with the Wind is the most watched movie in UK history. The US civil war epic, based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel, has been seen by 35 million people. The most recent film in the top 10 was 1997’s Titanic, with 18.9m admissions.
Alexander Fails To Conquer Box Office
Oliver Stone’s blockbuster “Alexander” is a bomb at the box office. “The swords and sandals blockbuster, rumoured to have cost more than $150m to make, earned just $13.5 over three days at the US box office.”
Drawn To New MoMA
Peter Schjeldahl has been checking out the new MoMA. “I was amused, at the evening opening that I attended, by a negative consensus that emerged in the crowd, evincing the hysteria of sophisticates who find themselves momentarily at a loss for anything to disdain—apart from the grab-bag miscellany of works in the contemporary galleries, which incurred easy, contradictory complaints. (Some yawned at the predictable names, from Serra to Matthew Barney; others deplored oddities.”
Book Aid To Fight AIDS
A group of 21 prominent authors have contributed stories to a book project to raise money to fight AIDS in Southern Africa. “Telling Tales, a collection of short stories by Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Gabriel García Márquez, Susan Sontag, Woody Allen, John Updike and 15 others, will be launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York by Kofi Annan tomorrow, before World Aids Day.”
A Record Aussie Auction Year
Australian auction houses look likely to have a record sales year, surpassing $100 million in sales this year. “The evermore frequent sales and reports of record prices have attracted an increasing number of new collectors. With the property boom slowing and the sharemarket at an all-time high, cashed-up investors have turned to art as a tradeable commodity.”
The Archaeological Site And The Superstore
The construction and opening of a Wal-Mart-owned superstore in Mexico near an important archaeological site has upset experts. “The presence of the supermarket near the archaeological site, which lies just north of Mexico City, has outraged environmentalists and conservationists but is proving more popular with residents of the small town of San Juan Teotihuacan, many of whom queued up for early bargains when the store opened on 4 November.”
What’s Going On Inside The Getty?
Last month’s departure of Deborah Gribbon as director of the Getty Museum has led to swirling rumors about the inner workings of the Getty. Some of the most popular theories about dissention in the Getty don’t add up, writes Jason Kaufman.