Where are dance’s new stars? “A new century has come, but where are the new voices? Where is a Nijinsky, with his blocky new look, echoing the fresh perspectives that were also energizing Picasso, Braque and Stravinsky? Where are the new pairs of eyes, the new synergies, the new conversations? Granted, it is more difficult – and costly – to break through the static nowadays than when Duncan and Graham and the like were embarking on their exploratory ventures. Yet surely artists of 100 years ago were as bound by their constraints as we are by ours. It is up to the artists of today to overcome the constraints, to claim their place in the pantheon of the greats.”
Tag: 12.29.02
Corporations – Collectors For Our Times
Why do corporations collect art? “Apart from the profits and tax relief such sales and donations generate for companies, they also produce what social theorist Pierre Bourdieu has called “cultural capital,” the prestige and importance that come with a reputation for high-mindedness and civic responsibility. Cultural capital is especially important for companies that make things that can hurt people, such as tobacco and alcohol. It’s no accident Philip Morris and Seagram have two of the most respected corporate art collections.”
The Incredible Shrinking Play
One of the phenomenons of Broadway in recent years has been that “you can now sell the public a 70- or 90-minute play on Broadway for $75 and they swallow it as readily as they do spaghetti in oil and garlic, though it may be far less nourishing or tasty. This only becomes a problem when Tony nominations loom and there aren’t enough American plays to fill the Best Play category. Filling the category these days is a more important question than the quality of the work.”
Swarming Onto What’s Happening
Used to be you went someplace where people were to find out what was going on. Now “swarming” makes it more efficient. People broadcast text or cell phone messages to get people to a location where something is happening. “Swarming reverses the idea that geography, in an Internet age, has become irrelevant. The whole point is to bring people together in one location for face-to-face contact. Swarming also is leading to such social developments as ‘time-softening,’ ‘cell dancing’ and ‘smart mobs’.”
Latin Music’s New Starmakers
For years, Miami’s Latin music scene was a one-man show. No longer. As Latin music has increasingly penetrated the mainstream US, a new generation of producers is wielding power.
Erasing The Past By Demolition
Los Angeles issued 1,211 demolition permits in 2001. This ‘erase-atecture,’ as some architectural historians call it, gives builders room to press forward with their perpetual reinvention of the city, and it often protects the public from unsafe structures. But nobody knows just how much valuable history the wrecking balls obliterate each year, because in most cases, nobody’s keeping track. About 85% of the city’s standing structures have never been surveyed for historic or cultural significance.
Business Titan Quits Museum
George David has quit as president of the board of Connecticut’s Wadsworth Atheneum. “He is one of the corporate world’s top executives [CEO of United Technologies], running a business that has thousands of employees, tens of billions of dollars in assets and a global reach of staggering proportions. In short, David is a master of his universe who took a personal interest in a state arts treasure, wanting it to grow in profound ways, to be a major player in the world art arena. He put his money – and his company’s money – behind that vision. But David didn’t feel he had the unanimous support of the Atheneum board he led for the last four years, a leadership position that was seemingly his for as long as he wanted it…”
JK Rowling’s Kindness To A Dying Girl
JK Rowling is famously protective of her privacy. But when the mother of a little girl dying of cancer wrote to the author telling Rowling of her daughter’s love of Harry Potter, Rowling contected the girl and struck up a friendship, even revealing details of her next book to the girl before she died.
When Violins Are Played Only As “Investment Opportunities”
Owners of a 1718 Stradivarius violin have loaned it to the concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony. But only for two-and-a-half weeks. Then it’s back to the vault in which it lives. Why? The instrument is for sale, and it’s good publicity to get it played. But the instruments are so expensive – this one valued at about $3 million – that very few musicians could ever afford to play, let alone own one.