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Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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issues
New Appreciation For Ancient American Culture "Prior to modern archaeological research, the ancient history of the Americas was framed within a greatly foreshortened and unrealistic timescale; only recently have we learned to appreciate that the rise of civilisation on this side of the globe broadly parallels advances elsewhere in the world, albeit with its own distinctive character."
The Guardian (UK) 11/09/10
dance
A Culture Of Ballet In Havana (And A Cultural Exchange) "The audience here is extremely well versed in ballet, people are knowledgeable, and they know the individual dancers, and they have their favorites, and you walk into the theater and there's already a hum, people know ballets. It's really wonderful because you have this engagement you don't get in the United States."
NPR 11/08/10
ideas
Do We Need Real Laws In Virtual Worlds? "Virtual law is interesting because these environments are in one sense fictional, in another very real. People invest real money and time and create real relationships. So, the question is: to what extent should the things that are happening in these environments be treated as if they were happening in physical space or in conventional online forums, email or blogs?"
New Scientist 11/08/10
publishing
Study: My Favorite Device On Which To Read An eBook Is... "Laptops only slightly trump the Kindle, 35 percent to 32 percent. Coming in third was the iPhone, with 15 percent, followed by a Sony e-reader (12 percent), netbooks (10 percent) and the Barnes & Noble Nook (9 percent). Also at 9 percent was the iPad."
Wired 11/09/10
people
The Art Of Being Peter Sellars Now aged 53, Sellars's trademark rapid-fire intensity and enthusiasm remains intact from his days as a wunderkind, as do the lurid shirts, the beads, that distinctive haircut and the hugs for anyone who comes within his orbit. His scattergun fluency is still punctuated by almost comically exaggerated displays of admiration or indignation: "Puh-leeze!"
The Guardian (UK) 11/09/10
publishing
Which Section Of The Bookstore Should George Bush's Book Be In? Inspired by a British campaign which saw Tony Blair's autobiography, A Journey, appearing under crime, horror and even fantasy in UK bookshops, the protest blog Waging Nonviolence is urging its supporters to "Move Bush's Book Where It Belongs", and post pictures of the autobiography in its new location.
The Guardian (UK) 11/09/10
media
issues
The Arts - Threatened By Corporate Ownership? The arts are being challenged by "the corporation, and in particular the corporate ownership of culture, enforced by a copyright regime that has grown steadily since its eighteenth-century inception from fourteen years, to twenty-eight, to fifty and presently to seventy years after death for individuals and ninety-five for corporations."
The Nation 11/08/10
issues
The Performing Arts Go High Def (And Change Forever) "Opera houses, ballet companies, even the National Theater in London, are competing to lure audiences to live high-definition broadcasts in movie theaters, many of which are then shown again. It is the HD-ification of the arts, and it is already affecting programming decisions along with costume and set design, lighting choices and even ticket prices."
The New York Times 11/09/10
visual
The New Billionaires Pumping Up the Art Market "They tend to start by collecting art of their own nations, whether Middle Eastern, Russian or Chinese. But - perhaps as their own businesses become global businesses - their predilections shift towards contemporary art."
The Guardian (UK) 11/08/10
theatre
Univ. of Texas Acquires Spalding Gray Archives "On Monday the Harry Ransom Center, a humanities library at the university, said it had acquired Gray's archives, comprising more than 40 years of work dating to the 1970s. Among the materials in the archive, the center said, are more than 90 performance notebooks and more than 100 diaries."
New York Times 11/08/10
people
Actress Jill Clayburgh, 66 "Ms. Clayburgh, who began her career in films and on Broadway in the late 1960s, was among the first generation of young actresses - including Ellen Burstyn, Carrie Snodgress and Marsha Mason - who regularly portrayed characters sprung from the new feminist ethos: smart, capable and gritty, sometimes neurotic, but no less glamorous for all that."
New York Times 11/06/10
music
The Dude, Movie Star: Dudamel and LA Phil to Start Hi-Def Cinema Broadcasts "[The] orchestra next year will transmit live performances of three of its concerts to more than 450 high-definition-equipped movie theaters throughout the United States and Canada." However, "the orchestra faces an inherently greater challenge than an opera company in making its productions visually - as well as aurally - compelling."
Los Angeles Times 11/09/10
ideas
What Gives Slurs Their Power to Offend? "We may at times convince ourselves, as Dr. Laura may have, that there are inoffensive ways to use slurs. But a closer look at the matter shows us that those ways are very rare. … [But how] How do words become prohibited? What's the relationship between prohibition and a word's power to offend? And why is it sometimes appropriate to flout such prohibitions?"
New York Times 11/07/10
dance
What Makes Cuban Ballet Cuban? "What is it about the Cuban training that makes its take on ballet, and especially
Giselle, so distinctive? There are many ways of approaching the question, and here are just a few." Alicia Alonso, José Manuel Carreño, Xiomara Reyes and two colleagues weigh in.
Wall Street Journal 11/06/10
dance
Why Fancy Free Wasn't a Hit in Havana "One easy answer is that
Fancy Free doesn't boast the pyrotechnics and bravura that go a long way here, no matter the dance genre. … [And for] American audiences,
Fancy Free can call to mind the history of World War II and an era of vigor. It is a healthy dose of New York nostalgia," which Cubans wouldn't share.
Wall Street Journal 11/08/10
dance
ABT Dancers on Class in Cuba "At the school, the visiting dancers said they were awed and humbled by the beautiful but dilapidated conditions in which Cuba's most talented young performers study. 'It's stunning, but at the same time it makes you feel horrible about how much money we throw around in New York'," said one corps member.
New York Times 11/05/10
ideas
Munchhausen Syndrome Breaks Out Online The pathology of inventing illnesses in order to gain attention and sympathy - named for the 18th-century nobleman once said to be the world's most notorious liar - has found a new outlet: Internet support groups for the terminally ill, which are occasionally infiltrated by hoaxsters.
Obit Mag 11/08/10
media
Euthanasia Comedy (Yes) Wins at Rome Film Festival "
Kill Me Please, a black comedy about euthanasia by Belgian director Olias Barco, won the top prize at the Rome Film Festival on Friday. … The film is set in a clinic run by a doctor whose mission is to organize the 'perfect suicide,' tailored to the needs of an eclectic group of clients."
CBC 11/05/10
music
A 'Missing Link' in Symphonic History Gets Its Modern Premiere "The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment will perform Méhul's Fourth Symphony - and herald it as a long-lost prototype for the 19th-century romantic cyclic symphony, but written 20 years before Berlioz took up the form in his
Symphonie Fantastique."
The Guardian (UK) 11/08/10
people
Artist Ai Weiwei Publicly Calls for Western Support of Human Rights in China "Now all the nations of the developed world are trying to do business with China. Of course, it's an arrangement in which both sides profit. But on the Chinese side it means more unfairness to labourers and damage to the environment. This kind of business is done through the sacrifice of basic values and human dignity. … China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people's rights."
The Guardian (UK) 11/07/10
people
publishing
Ian Fleming Estate Takes James Bond eBook Rights From Penguin "Last week, in a highly significant move whose implications will have repercussions throughout the industry, the Fleming estate announced it was licensing the ebook rights to the Bond books not to Penguin (which distributes the paperbacks) but to Ian Fleming Publications."
The Guardian (UK) 11/08/10
visual
Sculptors Design New Water Fountains for London's Parks Two designs won an international competition to create new water fountains for London's eight royal parks: "
Trumpet, a slender bronze by Ben Addy intended to be cast in one piece at a traditional bell foundry, and
Watering Holes, a pierced Cornish granite standing stone created by Rome-born Robin Monotti and Mark Titman."
The Guardian (UK) 11/08/10
theatre
The Brits Figure Out That Chekhov Is Funny "Since his death in 1904, the Russian has certainly ascended to the pantheon of great writers, but he would be dismayed to see that his plays are still widely thought of as forbidding chronicles of human misery. Yet now, 150 years after his birth, a group of comedians, including Steve Coogan and Johnny Vegas, are appearing in productions of his short comedies - to prove Chekhov can be funny after all."
The Guardian (UK) 11/07/10
media
Governing Body Tells BBC It Should Take More Risks The BBC Trust's review of BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4 found that the channels have been performing well overall, but said BBC1 should "harness its scale and size by becoming more ambitious and taking more creative risks in peak time".
The Stage 11/08/10
theatre
The Humana Festival At 35 Every year, nearly 1,000 scripts vie for the privilege of being included in what the New York Times called "the nation's best-known new-play festival."
Louisville Courier-Journal 11/08/10
issues
Studies Of The Humanities Are Down. What Can Colleges Do? "If, because of cutbacks and lack of support from the federal government, literature and the arts and other aspects of the humanities become just parlor musings of the wealthy, we would have made a huge mistake."
Boston Globe 11/08/10
visual
Harvard Tries To Diversify The Paintings On Its Walls "Of the approximately 750 oil portraits that grace the libraries, dining commons, and undergraduate residences of the nation's oldest university, roughly 690 were of white men, as of a 2002 inventory by the curator of the university's portrait collection."
Boston Globe 11/07/10
music
visual
publishing
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