Last year a large crucifix made of chocolate, titled My Sweet Lord, caused a mini-storm when it appeared in a Manhattan art gallery. But now the idea has gone commercial: a German businessman has started manufacturing and selling “Sweetlord®” and the “Original Chocolate GoldJesus®” (available at www.goldjesus.com).
Tag: 12.02.08
Composer Brett Dean Wins 2009 Grawemeyer Award
Brett Dean, one of Australia’s most admired composers (and a formidable violist as well), receives the $200,000 prize for his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing, co-commissioned by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Cologne Philharmonie and premiered in the US by the Boston Symphony.
Empire State Building Archives Up For Auction
The architectural archive of New York’s most famous skyscraper, which includes more than 500 elevation drawings, models and other items, will be sold at the Wright auction house in Chicago on Dec. 11. The low estimate for the collection is $740,000.
Turner Winner: Enough With Hirst, Emin, And Shock Art
“The Young British Artists (YBAs) who drove the contemporary boom were a bad thing for British art, the new Turner Prize winner said last night.” From the podium, artist Mark Leckey criticized the artistic discourse: “‘I kind of hate the relationship the press in Britain has towards art,’ he said. ‘I hate the way it’s all Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and Banksy.'”
Condi Plays Brahms For Queen At Buckingham Palace
“Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, gave a piano recital for the Queen yesterday during her visit to Buckingham Palace. Dr Rice performed music by Johannes Brahms accompanied on violin by Louise Shackleton, the wife of David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. Three members of the London Symphony Orchestra offered backing to the high-profile duo.”
Even Renoir & Degas Go Unsold At Paris Auction
“A benchmark Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin fell well short of pre-sale expectations Monday…. Christie’s auction house said in a statement it raised $9.67 million at its evening sale of works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It had originally valued the collection at $25.2 million.”
Not Everyone Has Ceded Digitized Books To Google
“Google executives sound like they are doing the world an immense favor by digitizing books, rarely mentioning that they are in business to sell stuff, not give it away.” One early alternative group devoted to open access, the Open Content Alliance, “is morphing into the Open Knowledge Commons, now supported by the Sloan Foundation, which will hold an organizational meeting at the Library of Congress next week.”
Belatedly, Boston Symphony Launches Download Service
“After waiting on the sidelines as other orchestras leapt online, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched a download service yesterday that will allow customers to buy new and historical recordings through the organization’s website, www.bso.org.”
Visitor Center Disfigures The U.S. Capitol
“The ‘truth to power’ side of the Capitol, the East face, has been demolished by the new Visitor Center, a tragically misconceived and overscale addition, which opens today. The East face has become something entirely new, with a false and slick pomposity created by an impressive promenade over an imposing bridge, which seems to cross a kind of moat. It is a historical and aesthetic jumble, a nonsensical place and a gross disfigurement of one of this country’s most important and iconic buildings.”
At Capitol Visitor Center, (Big) Mistakes Have Been Made
“In principle, the Capitol Visitor Center — the vast underground addition to the U.S. Capitol that opens today — has something for just about everyone. … And yet the CVC, the most important addition to the Capitol in nearly 150 years, is fundamentally misconceived.”