Author: Douglas McLennan

NO EYE FOR ART

A Berlin thief named Krysztof stole a van and discovered the next day that he had pulled off one of the city’s biggest art thefts ever. Too bad. He’d gotten rid of most of it. “Chagall and Miro he had never heard of, so he sold them to a fence for the equivalent of a few hundred pounds. But some of the loot, estimated to be worth DM1.6m (£500,000), was thrown away, conscientiously sorted into the relevant bins at the city dump. A portfolio of drawings went into the paper recycling skip, the metal sculpture and engravings were discarded in the box marked ‘scrap’. Some paintings had to be cut up because they would not fit. But Krysztof enjoyed the task. He never did like post-modernism.” – The Independent (UK)

A BLOODY MESS

An exhibit in London seeks to confront its audience. The piece that provoked the strongest reaction was a punching bag filled with pig’s blood hanging in a boxing ring which, one of the curators explained was meant as a comment on the sport. “Unfortunately one of the guests ignored the ‘Do Not Touch’ signs and punched it so hard it burst. Blood went everywhere, spattering the floors, the walls and even the startled bystanders, many of whom started screaming.” – The Independent (UK)

WOODMAN CUSTODY

In a memorabilia dispute, the Detroit Institute of Arts is battling with the family of a Connecticut puppeteer over who gets custody of the original Howdy Doody puppet. The museum claims the puppet was promised to it, and wants to add it to its collection of puppets. The family claims the puppeteer made no such promise. – Detroit News

POET’S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD

At age 81, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still feisty as ever. A recording company recently put out a recording of him reading his work – with musical accompaniment that makes him furious. “I find that music is a complete bring-down of the poems. They went ahead with complete disregard of my wishes in the matter.” – New Zealand Herald

THE AFTERLIFE OF INDEPENDENTS

It’s been a year since Duthie Books, Vancouver’s largest independent bookstore, succumbed to the mega-store onslaught and went out of business. Owner Celia Duthie had to do something in her next life, so she started a book-lovers retreat on the Gulf Islands.  “Book clubs have taken off across the continent over the past decade, whether they’re small groups of friends who once studied English lit together or TV audiences turned on to reading by book-promoting celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey. Even the rise of megabookstores like Chapters and Indigo signal a new corporate awareness of the appetite for books and the rise of a so-called salon culture – people from all walks of life who remain interested in reading and ideas, despite the prevailing media obsession with movies, television and the Internet.” – National Post (Canada)

POET’S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD

At age 81, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still feisty as ever. A recording company recently put out a recording of him reading his work – with musical accompaniment that makes him furious. “I find that music is a complete bring-down of the poems. They went ahead with complete disregard of my wishes in the matter.” – New Zealand Herald

BROADWAY HAS RECORD WEEK

Broadway set an attendance record during  the week of April 17-23, when some 308,000 people saw the 36 plays and musicals currently playing Broadway houses. The League of American Theaters and Producers says the number “challenges both Shea and Yankee stadiums’ weekly in-season draws.” Gross receipts for the week were reported at $17 million, an increase of more than 25 percent over last year’s figure of $13.4 million. – Backstage