New School philosophy professor Simon Critchley argues that Dick’s worldview not only “gives us what has arguably become the dominant mode of understanding of fiction in our time” (i.e., “the idea that reality is a pernicious illusion”), it also elucidates the doctrine of original sin, the movies of Lars von Trier, the paranoid style in American politics, and the roots of the modern culture wars.
Month: May 2012
Artist Does Guerrilla ‘I ♥ NY’ Installation, Gets Arrested For Planting Fake Bombs
“Perhaps proving that nothing incites suspicion among New Yorkers quite like a public display of affection, artist and furniture designer Takeshi Miyakawa was placed under arrest this weekend for setting up illuminated ‘I Love New York’ displays in a Brooklyn neighborhood.”
Peter Gelb Backs Down After One Day: Opera News Will Continue Reviewing Met Performances
“The Met said an ‘outpouring of reaction’ from opera fans on the Internet caused it to change course a day after The New York Times reported that Met officials and the publishers of Opera News had decided to stop reviewing Met shows. ‘I think I made a mistake,’ said Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager.”
Philadelphia Orchestra And Kimmel Center Agree On Reduced Rent
“In further progress toward a new lease agreement, leaders of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association and Kimmel Center Inc. have signed an amendment to their existing lease that reduces the base rent … the orchestra pays to the Kimmel, from about $2.5 million to $1.5 million annually. The rent will increase each year through 2017, to $1.74 million.”
UK’s Sky Arts Is The Real Thing – A Serious Arts Channel
Over the past 16 months or so, the satellite channel has revived The South Bank Show and aired live performances from English National Opera and the Royal Albert Hall as well as Simon Callow’s one-man show Being Shakespeare. “Coming up are Shakespeare plays from The Globe, without fear of getting rained on.” The channel has even engaged the likes of Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm to do literary adaptations.
Michael Kaiser On Watching A Good Turnaround Plan Stall
“There is no disagreement among senior staff; they all agree that these steps are critical and should be pursued. But nothing has happened. Every time I meet with them they raise questions about the wording of the plan, the timing for involving more staff and board members in the planning process, and the need for further discussion.”
Why’s It So Hard To Get Good New Broadway Musicals?
Scott Brown identifies a few particular problems, but ultimately says: “Musicals today – mindful of long odds, high costs, and the general precariousness of the form – are, I think, resisting their inner madness, and that’s a little like hating one’s own flesh. What basis besides madness can there possibly be for a form that’s as shapeless, idiosyncratic, and painstakingly artisanal as the novel yet as vastly collaborative and consensus-dependent as a Hollywood film?”
Bill To Protect Loaned Artwork From Seizure In US Runs Into Trouble In Senate
Loans to American museums have begun drying up (Russia has banned them altogether) because of fears that (despite existing law to the contrary) the loaned work could be seized pursuant to a lawsuit over whether the work was stolen or looted. The US House of Representatives quickly passed a law to clearly exempt museum loans from such seizure – except in Holocaust-related cases – but unanticipated objections have stalled the bill in the upper house.
England’s Northern Ballet In BBC Arts Troubleshooter Documentary
“The programme follows Michael Lynch, former Chief Executive of the Southbank Centre in London & the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, as he works with Northern Ballet’s dancers and staff to discover what’s going wrong and how they can prevent the impending loss of dancers following a 15% cut in Arts Council funding.”
What Doing Literary Translation Is Really Like
“The work can be dull and stressful but it is rarely unpleasant: you can do it in bed, for a start, and it often has the same sort of compulsive fascination as a crossword puzzle.”