Art dealers are rushing to the web, and some are even claiming to be making money at it already. The Art Newspaper talks to art dealers about the experience so far. – The Art Newspaper
Author: Douglas McLennan
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Plenty of historians have taken director Oliver Stone to task for mixing history with fiction. They scoffed at Kevin Costner’s accent in JFK and wrote off his depiction of Nixon as “a foulmouthed, pill-popping drunk guilty of trying to have Fidel Castro assassinated. None of these details are confirmed by the historical record.” Stone declares he is a filmmaker, not a historian. But where do you draw the line between accuracy and entertainment, evidence and imagination? “What do they want – footnotes? Do they want a closed caption that says ‘This is dubious’ or ‘Please see endnotes for that’?” – Lingua Franca 04/00
NOT ONE OF OURS YOU DON’T
Filmmakers making a big new WWII movie about Pearl Harbor needed a Japanese aircraft carrier. So they propose pressing an old American warship as a stand-in. That’s got veterans’ groups up in arms complaining. – BBC 04/21/00
SHOWING A LITTLE FLESH
What does it take to shock people in the theater these days? Nudity? Certainly not. But celebrity nudity? That’s another matter, as Kathleen Turner’s brief turn in “The Graduate” in London is proving. “It is mystifying that, with the amount of public nudity there is, so many people would really think it worth their time and money for a quick glimpse of unclothed flesh glimmering out from the wings.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
UNCERTAIN GRAHAM FUTURE
The Martha Graham Company has been floundering in recent years. Earlier this month the company’s board asked for the resignation of Ronald Protas, the group’s artistic director. But “the major complication is that, after Graham’s death in 1991 at the age of 96, Protas became her sole artistic heir and continues to control the rights to her dances through the Martha Graham Trust.” – San Francisco Examiner
A WAY TO EASE YOUR GUILT FOR STEALING
Metal band Metallica has been suing universities (for $10 million) for allowing students to pirate the band’s music off the internet with the Napster program. Now a website has been set up that allows fans to donate money to Metallica to compensate the band for its monetary losses from digital piracy. Just in case you were feeling sorry for the poor lads. – Wired
A MOMENT WITH THE MAESTRO
Daniel Barenboim has been hailed as a “phenomenon” since the age of 12, when his piano playing was compared to Mozart. Now just a few months from the 50th anniversary of his stage debut, the maestro reflects on his career and the sad demise of classical music’s audience. “It is beginning to look as endangered as the Siberian tiger. There is no music education now in the schools. The crossover business, and all the other trivialisations of classical music, is a result of this basically unhealthy state of affairs.” – The Telegraph (UK)
WHEN POP MUSIC CRITICS GET OLD
Was Washington Post pop music critic Richard Harrington demoted because, at age 53, he was too old for the job? Harrington thinks so, and he’s suing. – Washington City Paper
PREMATURE RETURN
Hawaii’s Bishop Museum apologizes for turning over ancient Island artifacts over to one native custodial group when others had a claim also. The museum’s actions have damaged its credibility among island groups. – Honolulu Star Bulletin
BOSTON ARTS INITIATIVE
- Boston has long lagged behind other cities in public funding for the arts. Now its mayor announces a major arts initiative to try to aid the arts. But the plan is long on goals and somewhat short of substance.- Boston Globe
- Where’s the money? – Boston Herald
- After a year of study, mayor’s finding is that the arts need more money and better facilities? Now there’s a real shocker. – Boston Herald
- Where’s the money? – Boston Herald