In November the Metropolitan Opera tried to shut down John Patterson’s website devoted to all things Metropolitan Opera. The opera company accused the fan site (www.metmaniac.com) of violating its copyrights and trademarks. An uproar of protest caused the Met to rethink its position, and the site is back in business. The deal: “Mr. Patterson would have the name of his site back for a dollar a year. No video clips, except with permission. And no indication of trading or even any indication that he has a broadcast collection at all. According to Mr. Patterson: ‘I told them, ‘That’s OK. I already have everything I can get. My collection’s more comprehensive than yours!’ He has long stated that he intends to donate his collection to the Met upon his demise.
Tag: 12.06.02
Building As Picture Frame
The new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a signature art building like most new museum buildings. But curators say the building ought to be a supporting player to the art. “My job is to represent the artist. If an artist makes a big painting, they want it to look big. What I want is small spaces where I can make small paintings look big and big paintings look big, without compromise.”
A New Gehry In Jerusalem
“The Simon Wiesenthal Center of Los Angeles, named for the dedicated Nazi hunter, commissioned Gehry for the $150 million Jerusalem Center of Human Dignity and Museum of Tolerance. The SWC opened its education arm, a Museum of Tolerance, in 1993 in Los Angeles. Last spring, it opened another such museum in New York.”
After The Rain
The damage is being toted up after the sprinklers went off during a Philadelphia Orchestra rehearsall. “A second Steinway grand piano was damaged in Tuesday morning’s deluge at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, some warping has begun to appear in the floor of Verizon Hall, and 11 orchestra musicians are reporting damaged instruments.”
Singer Sues Over Fog
A singer is suing San Francisco Opera over the company’s use of stage fog. “The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, is the latest twist in a fight between the city’s opera and several singers who claim the fake fog is damaging their health.”
Dodging The Buckeye Budget Ax
In Ohio, where a massive state budget deficit and an arts-unfriendly Republican leadership threaten to leave arts funding in the lurch, the Ohio Arts Council is looking for creative ways to maintain their cash flow. The OAC budget has been slashed 21% in the last year alone, and further cuts loom, but council leadership insists that they will be all right if they can get at least a philosophical commitment from legislators.
The Long And Short Of London Theatre
“The ever-busy world of London theater this season has produced two important premieres by two singular playwrights, Tom Stoppard and Caryl Churchill. Their vastly different new works — Stoppard’s running a little over nine hours and Churchill’s clocking in at a mere 55 minutes — are certain to have United States productions, and when they get to America, they are sure to cause a stir.”
The Rise And Fall Of The Guggenheim
Thomas Krens cut the figure of museum director as all big ideas and fearlessness – redefining the modern museum in an age of global branding. But he’s also a polarizing figure, an easy target for those who lament his big-business approach to art. With a pursestrings-attached gift to Krens’s Guggenheim Museum, the era of the Guggenheim as lavish spender and worldwide art brand seems to be at an end. “Global culture sounded inevitable a few years ago — all those plane-hopping travelers and multinational collaborations. But Sept. 11 put an end to that. The world became more divided, people less willing to travel, the American public poorer, more attuned to protecting itself and what it has.”
Auction Houses Or Discount Bins?
As the American economy continues to tank mightily, art auction houses are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of putting masterpieces on the block for far less than they are worth, at least according to the inflated price scales of the 1990s. Case in point: a mature Rubens painting set to be auctioned soon for $4-$6 million, down from its original asking price of $25 million. In other tough news for the industry, Sotheby’s New York is facing another round of layoffs, less than a year after the company let go 375 employees.
It’s Our Award And We’re Going Home
The American Institute of Architects has chosen not to award it’s annual Gold Medal for the 36th time in the 95-year history of the prize. The decision doesn’t necessarily mean that no new building was deserving of the honor, merely that 3/4 of the judges could not agree on a single winner. And since the list of nominees is kept confidential, we can all do our own speculation on whether 2001 architecture was a disappointment, or whether two or more worthy finalists managed to split the vote.