Vivian Duffield – Britain’s best and most flamboyant fundraiser for the arts shares some of her secrets (and the news that she will soon be leaving her job). – The Telegraph (UK)
Author: Douglas McLennan
NEW YORK TO ARCHITECTURE – DROP DEAD
The new zoning rule overhaul put forward by NY mayor Rudy Giuliani amounts to a direct attack on the creativity of architects. Just how far can a government go with restrictions on building design before it violates constitutional principles? – New York Times
NEW CITY ARTS ENDOWMENT
At the end of a nine-day arts festival, city leaders in Charleston announce that the city will create a $5 million arts endowment. – The Post and Courier (Charleston)
ART BY ANY OTHER NAME
Why must the cards labeling works of art be so vacuous? “Now, though, even the most venerable institutions have succumbed to the pull of populism: exhibitions have been dumbed down. And for this, I blame the curators and the catalogues and wall labels they provide. It is not the artists chosen that are at fault but rather the commentaries on them and quality of information supplied in the galleries.” – The Telegraph (UK)
INVENTING A PHENOMENON
It’s “Sound of Music” meets “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and it’s the hottest new thing in high camp at the movies in London. Audiences are massing to sing along with the Von Trapps and dress up for the parts. Meet the man who invented a phenomenon. – Los Angeles Times
THE BREAK BETWEEN ARCHITECTS AND THE REAL WORLD
Los Angeles is booming. But architects aren’t smiling. “The reason is that once again the profession’s creative elite has been relegated to the sidelines, designing scattered landmark residences while the majority of new housing remains in the hands of corporate developers. The break between the worlds of first-rate architecture and conventional home building – never close in the first place – is now a chasm.” – Los Angeles Times
NEW IRISH ARCHITECTURE
Ireland didn’t produce much in the way of decent architecture in the 1980s. Most of the large civic projects were roads and bridges. “Disengaged from the infrastructural process, architects felt envious and threatened. One prominent architect nominated for an award remarked that he would hate his building to be ‘beaten by a runway’ at Dublin airport.” Now some new signs of life. – The Sunday Times (UK)
KEEPING THE MOVIE EXPERIENCE VIABLE
How will movie houses survive? “First TV, then the VCR had struck major blows to the viability of large cinemas, and by the early ’90s it was clear that if cinemas were to be viable they were going to have to change.” But there’s a sameness to the big mega-screen complexes today that makes one long for the individuality of yesteryear. – The Age (Melbourne) 05/14/00
WHAT’S THE ENDING?
The latest digital movie producers have a new way of involving their audience – as collaborators. “So far, only the first five minutes of Running Time – an “edgy, contemporary thriller” – have been shot. What happens next in the 10-week series is up to the viewer. After the first broadcast on Wednesday, they will have 48 hours to make their decisions known.” – The Independent (UK) 05/14/00
INVENTING A PHENOMENON
It’s “Sound of Music” meets “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and it’s the hottest new thing in high camp at the movies in London. Audiences are massing to sing along with the Von Trapps and dress up for the parts. Meet the man who invented a phenomenon. – Los Angeles Times 05/14/00