Author: Douglas McLennan

PIANO PRESTO

Renzo Piano just might be the world’s busiest architect: For Hermès he is designing a Far East headquarters in Tokyo. In America, he is working on the Harvard Art Museum, the Chicago Art Institute, an art campus in Atlanta and a sculpture gallery in Dallas. There is a telecom HQ in Rotterdam, a Paul Klee museum in Switzerland, a trio of new concert halls in Rome, an elegant tower in Sydney nearing completion, and a pilgrimage church in southern Italy which looks set to be the religious masterpiece of millennium year. In Berlin his Potsdamer Platz, a vast development spanning a blighted area on either side of the Wall, is nearly complete. – The Times (UK)

ONE SICK PUPPY

Even his admirers call Gottfried Helnwein that. “He earned his first gallery show in the ’70s by driving around his native Vienna dressed in Nazi uniform, his head bandaged, fake blood trickling from his mouth. It caught the eye of an art dealer who signed him up and has remained faithful to Austria’s enfant terrible ever since.” – The Guardian

THE ARTS IN NEW ENGLAND

A new study of the economic impact of the arts in New England has been released. “The ‘creative industry’ makes up 3.5 percent of New England’s total job base – more than our software or medical technology industries. It is growing at a remarkable rate of 14 percent each year – nearly twice as fast as the average rate of job growth in New England.”-  Boston Globe

  • MANY BENEFITS: “An investment in the arts and culture generates remarkable returns in the form of successful enterprises, a superior work force, high quality of life and New England’s competitiveness.” – Boston Herald

GET THEE TO A NOVEL

“It’s said that art can heal, whether it’s fiction, poetry, music, painting, theatre or some other happy obsession. People for whom art matters tend to agree. However cynical we are, on some level we imagine that a Schubert quartet or a Chekhov story or an afternoon looking at Renaissance painting will improve us. We’ll be more serene, and with luck we’ll be intellectually broader. And in some way, art will elevate us morally. Art is made, after all, by superior creatures.” But is it true? – National Post (Canada)

RIGHT OF COPY

Copyright laws have been out of date for years. “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 was supposed to clear up copyright issues in the Internet era. That hasn’t exactly happened. Instead, there have been a series of lawsuits between the recording and motion picture industries, private companies and individual users, seeking clarification on how intellectual property is protected as music and video moves to the digital world.” – Wired

GOING GLOBAL

Film schools in the UK, US, and Australia have joined forces to launch The Global Film School, an online film school which will open later this year. Courses in directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, design and cinematography will all rely on digital technology to provide internet-based lessons. – BBC 05/16/00

THE GRAND BAZAAR

When most people think of Cannes, they think art and movies. “When the world’s more than 2,000 film buyers come to Cannes, by contrast, they think purely about commerce. And while many of them believe the work of auteur directors will sell tickets back home, many others have simpler needs better met by titles like ‘Spiders 2’ or ‘Turbulence 3’ (a hijacking saga on sale here with the tagline: ‘One killer. Forty hostages. Ten million Internet viewers.’).” – Los Angeles Times 05/16/00

HOOKED ON CHAPTERS

The introduction of the book superstore in Canada has been great for publishers, who have seen their orders rise. Chapters says it only represents 21% of the Canadian industry (including all retail venues), but it comprises 50%-60% of sales for many publishers. Some worry on that dependence. “If Chapters goes down, everyone will go with them. It would take down every publisher in Canada.” – Publishers Weekly