Month: June 2000

WALL TEXT FOR THE SMART SET?

An interview with Charles Esche, curator of Tate Britain’s upcoming “Intelligence” exhibit of contemporary British art. “Rather than fixing little wall plaques next to each exhibit containing the curator’s interpretation of the work, the smart thinking of this exhibition shows in its lack of reassurance over the works’ meaning. “With a lot of work, you know instantly what it has to say and you move on, but I think that good art is about a lack of clarity. The handle that you get on it is the handle that you choose; it is as much up to you as it is up to the artist.” – The Sunday Times (UK)

BALLERINA BACKLASH

Deborah Bull, a principal dancer with London’s Royal Ballet, has publicly criticized the controversial new book “The Student Dancer” and pulled out of her planned involvement in its launch. The result of a 15-year study, the book claims young dancers are mentally and physically damaged by their intensive training and are commonly pressured to become anorexic. – The Independent

MINNESOTA TAKES ON L.A.

  • Minnesota Public Radio has been moving into Southern California, taking over the public station in Pasadena, with plans to remake it into a dynamo news operation.  “What we’re interested in is content. And here you have a city where there’s no L.A.-based radio being produced for [a nationwide] public radio [audience], and we see that as a huge opportunity for us.” – New Times LA 06/29/00

AND IT STARTED SO PROMISINGLY

This summer’s movie season began so well – the “Mission Impossible” sequel raked in the bucks, and the schedule was full of promise. Then: “the horizon darkened. The engine began to make a funny pinging sound. Slowly, silently, the air went out of the tires. And the summer movie season of 2000 began to sink into the doldrums — at least compared with last year’s.” – New York Times 06/29/00 

WHO WANTS TO BE A MOVIE STAR

Some movie producers in Los Angeles had an idea – they would set up a website and auction off roles in their next movie project. But California authorities have ordered the site shut down because it violates state laws forbidding job applicants to pay for positions. – BBC 06/29/00

  • BIDDING FOR WORK: “The project, called ‘Who Wants to Be a Movie Star?’ was designed to sell off speaking roles and behind-the-scenes jobs for a specific, yet-unnamed film project to the highest online bidders.” – Backstage 06/29/00

ART OF THE CON

Michael Douglas has signed on for “Art Con of the Century,” a movie based on an investigative article written last year about John Drewe, “a charismatic con who in 1986 found painter-songwriter John Myatt, who had a knack for producing copies of paintings by master artists that regularly fooled art experts. Drewe paid Myatt to crank out purported originals that were sold all over the world for large sums, a nine-year escapade that put 200 forgeries into circulation.” – Variety 06/29/00

ALL HANDS ON DECK

The Boston Academy of Music is producing Gilbert & Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” in collaboration with the Boston National Historic Park and the U.S. Navy in front of the USS Constitution. “The ship is being incorporated wherever possible into the action. There will be some entrances and exits involving the ship, and we’ll be incorporating the evening colors ceremony, which involves the firing of the ship’s cannon.” – Boston Herald

UP THE AMAZON

Is Amazon.com in trouble? Some analysts think so. “Can you really imagine a world without Amazon? No purchase circles, an Amazon invention where you can learn that folks in Shepherdstown are reading ‘Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds’ and readers in Upper Marlboro prefer ‘A Setback Is a Setup for a Comeback’? What would life be like for obsessive authors without hourly updates on bestseller lists? And collaborative filtering software telling us that customers who ordered ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ are also clamoring for Seamus Heaney’s translation of ‘Beowulf’?” – Washington Post