“The fact is that, whether or not we like it, critics are not, in fact, consumer advocates. … And in fact, such advocacy has never been the role of great critics. Virgil Thomson, Pauline Kael, Andrew Porter: they’re still read, and still valuable, because they were writing about a lot more than whether or not their readers should bother to buy tickets.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
On Destroying A (Decrepit) Gem Of Japanese Metabolism
Kisho Kurokawa’s 1972 Nakagin Capsule Tower, in Tokyo, is likely to be demolished, undervalued like so much postwar architecture. “[F]or many of us who believe that the way we treat our cultural patrimony is a fair measure of how enlightened we are as a society, the building’s demolition would be a bitter loss. The Capsule Tower is not only gorgeous architecture; like all great buildings, it is the crystallization of a far-reaching cultural ideal.”
Russian Avant-Garde Market Is Awash In Fakes
“A six-month ARTnews investigation and interviews with scholars, dealers, and other sources in the United States, Russia, Germany, France, and Spain reveals that the number of Russian avant-garde fakes on the market is so high that they far outnumber the authentic works. … It’s impossible to put a number on them, said Natalia Kournikova of Kournikova Gallery in Moscow, but ‘we can say that almost every artist whose prices have risen has become the victim of fake makers.'”
Through Science, Building Glass Castles In The Air
“Engineers, architects and fabricators, aided by materials scientists and software designers, are building soaring facades, arching canopies and delicate cubes, footbridges and staircases, almost entirely of glass. They’re laminating glass with polymers to make beams and other components stronger and safer…. And they are experimenting with new materials and methods that could someday lead to glass structures that are unmarked by metal or other materials.”
Financially Strained Ballet BC Taps Dancer As Interim A.D.
“Emily Molnar, a principal dancer with Ballet BC who is also an emerging choreographer, has been appointed interim artistic director of the financially troubled Vancouver ballet company. Molnar has been given the task of steering Ballet BC over the next year as the company struggles to regain its financial footing and build audiences.”
Gormley’s Fourth Plinth: The Public As Dead Man Walking
“[T]he spooky and shocking aspect is the march to the scaffold. … It reminded me of nothing so much as Dickens’ great account in A Tale of Two Cities of Sydney Carton being led through the streets to the guillotine in a tumbril during the French Revolution. Did Gormley intend to evoke anything so gruesome, I wonder?”
When Plastic Art Breaks Down, What’s A Museum To Do?
“Plastics hold up well for the decade or so during which a consumer uses most products. But museums, unlike consumers, are in it for the long haul, and when plastics crash, they crash precipitously. … A whole generation of irreplaceable items that are as representative of our culture as pottery or flintheads were of ancient ones are dying–and many people charged with their care have no idea how to stop further damage.”
Drabinsky, Gottlieb Face Sentencing For Livent Fraud
“The sentencing hearing for former Broadway producers Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb got under way Monday in Toronto, with the prosecution calling for a sentence of eight to 10 years for each defendant. … Charged in October 2002 with cooking the books at Livent, the now-defunct legit production company they co-founded, the two men were convicted March 25 on two counts of fraud and one of forgery, bilking investors of about C$500 million ($430 million). “
Funding Is Great, But How ‘Bout A Federal Arts Policy, Too?
Michael Kaiser: “What we really need is a debate over federal arts policy. Most people do not know that no fewer than nine government agencies provide support to arts in this nation. That is not a typo. … The problem is not that federal funding for the arts is unwarranted; the problem is that we need to be assured, as citizens, that we are getting the most value for our money.”
Mezzo Joyce DiDonato Breaks Leg Onstage, Keeps Singing
“Fans arriving at the Royal Opera House in London for tomorrow’s performance of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville are in for a surprise when the curtain goes up. In addition to the expected star cast, headed by the great Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, they will see an unexpected performance by a star in a cast, after the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato decided to go ahead with her performance, despite fracturing her leg during Saturday’s first night.”