“The broken glass from an attack by vandals on the National Museum here has been swept away, and the remnants of the Buddhist statues they destroyed — nearly 30 of them, some dating to the sixth century — have been locked away. But officials say the loss to this island nation’s archaeological legacy can never be recouped.”
Month: February 2012
Obama Proposes Five Percent Increase In Arts Funding
“Obama aims to boost outlays from $1.501 billion to $1.576 billion, encompassing the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities (NEA and NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Gallery of Art.”
Brainstorming – Effective Or Misguided?
“The fatal misconception behind brainstorming is that there is a particular script we should all follow in group interactions. The lesson of Building 20 is that when the composition of the group is right–enough people with different perspectives running into one another in unpredictable ways–the group dynamic will take care of itself. All these errant discussions add up. In fact, they may even be the most essential part of the creative process.”
100-Year-Old Athens Theatre Destroyed In Riots
“With lit candles in their hand and tears in their eyes, a crowd of sorrowful citizens gathered outside Attikon yesterday to mourn the cinema’s destruction. Among the Athenians in the crowd who had fond memories of watching movies at the Attikon since they were children, were a number of artists who came to commemorate the building’s significance for the arts in Greece.”
Ricardo Legorreta, 1931-2011, Mexico’s Essential Architect
“No discussion of contemporary architecture in Mexico could pretend to completeness without a discussion of the work of the Legorretas and their firm. Part of Legorreta’s legacy has been to show that there are many Modernisms, not solely a smooth narrative from LeCorbusier to Mies to Johnson.”
Computer To Recreate Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue With Live Orchestra
“George Gershwin’s part will be played by a Yamaha Disklavier PRO – a kind of super-computer player piano mechanism inside a classic, nine-foot concert grand. It’s essentially a “playback” instrument; what’s truly special here is what will guide the Disklavier: the Zenph Sound Innovations software that meticulously replicates a musician’s performance as computer data.”
How Nietzsche Turned Me Christian
Giles Fraser: “As a good communist, atheism had always been my unexamined default position. And because Nietzsche was so passionate an atheist, I had my defences down to his unusually intense religiosity and elliptical desire for salvation. Which, I suppose, is how the question of God crept under my intellectual radar.”
Joffrey Ballet Returns To Cutting-Edge Choreography
Says artistic director Ashley Wheater, “The Joffrey has a phenomenal history, and in my time” – he danced with the company in the 1980s – “there was an incredibly eclectic repertoire. We did Ashton and Fokine but also Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe. But in the last 20 years the company did very little new work.” Wheater has just changed that.
The Agony And Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs Now Available For Free – As Download Or Performing Script
“On Monday, after nearly 200 performances, the monologuist Mike Daisey was to release a theatrical transcript of his latest one-man show … through his Web site, mikedaisey.blogspot.com. It will be free to download and in a rare twist, if an aspiring performer should want to mount a production of the show, Mr. Daisey will not ask for payment.”
Lloyd Dykk, Admired And Feared Vancouver Critic, Dead At 67
“Dykk was one of the last of his breed, a classic old-style Critic, with a capital C. His reviews were impeccably written, incredibly witty, and often utterly withering.”