Tag: 12.04.06

Is “Middle-Class Guilt” Holding Back Arts Funding?

“Given the overall success of the arts in Britain, given the quality of exhibitions and live arts programming, given the way that new capital projects have led to artistic innovation; given the fact that past funding increases went directly into the arts themselves and not into the (miserable) salaries of those who run the arts (NHS administrators, please note!); given such a record, why are we so tortured with self doubt, so crippled with apology and self-abasement?”

How Walt Disney Took Over The World

“Even now, forty years after his death, the slight figure of Walt himself is almost impossible to pick out from the parti-colored throng of movie clips, projects, and moral tendencies that march under the banner of ‘Walt Disney.’ Say the name to most people and you know what will flash onto their mind’s eye: unashamedly bright hues, flying elephants, singing bears, corporate dominance, happy endings, and a helping of values that slip down as easily as ice cream. How did we arrive at this blinding apotheosis?”

Design Tethered To, Or Divorced Of, History

Nicolai Ouroussoff considers skyline-altering projects in two great cities and advises that “while the design for the Phare Tower in Paris is a work of sparkling originality that wrestles thoughtfully with the urban conflicts of the city’s postwar years, the other, the gargantuan Gazprom City in St. Petersburg, Russia, is a bone-chilling expression of corporate ego run amok. Together, they train a lens on the range of architectural approaches to a daunting problem: the clash between the classical city and the inflated scale of the new global economy. And they underscore the limits of the creative imagination when it is detached from historical memory.”

Organizing To Save Theatre Museum

A group of cultural heavyweights has banded together to protest the imminent closing of London’s Theatre Museum. “The organisation is demanding the V&A withdraws its notice of closure on the museum and is looking for alternative ways to manage the institution. In the longer term, it also wants to investigate ‘broader possibilities for properly housing’ the museum’s collections, potentially moving them to a new location.”

James Wood To Lead Getty

“Wood, educated at Williams College in Massachusetts, began his career with a series of academic and museum positions, including a post at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He took over as director of the St. Louis Art Museum in 1975, then moved on to serve as president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1980 to 2003.”

Getty Names Wood As New CEO

James Wood has been named as new president and CEO of the Getty Trust. Wood formerly ran the Chicago Art Institute. “One of the very appealing things about the Getty to me is that its collecting opportunities are really quite open. We were not left with an iron-clad restriction, so the opportunity is there to make the most of changing times — both in terms of the legality of acquisitions and in the cost and the importance of different cultures for both Los Angeles and the nation.”

Paris Opera Changes Direction In Choice Of New Director

The Paris Opera has named Nicolas Joël as its new General director, succeeding the controversial Gerard Mortier. “By contrast Joël, highly regarded for his oversight of the Toulouse opera, orchestra and ballet since 1990, is known for his elegant and conventional designs and choice of directors. He has staged five of his company’s nine productions this season and has not staged one at the Paris Opéra in recent memory.”

Is There Any Point To Literary Prizes?

“The truth is literary prizes are a very blunt instrument. Judges will never get it ‘right’ because there is no such thing as an objective judgment about which book is ‘best’. All one can hope for, really, is that in the process of drawing up the long- and shortlists the judges will have scooped up a goodish proportion of goodish books out of which they pick a winner which is, well, goodish.”