“In terms of culture and meaning, Tate Modern’s influence has probably been a disaster. Not because there is anything wrong with having fun looking at art — there isn’t — but because the greatest art is only rarely fun to look at. The Sistine ceiling is not fun. Guernica is not fun. Rembrandt’s Blinding of Samson is not fun.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Quidditch On College Campuses, Minus The Flying
“Hula hoops hung from tree branches are the goals; the brooms are standard straw versions. The red and blue balls (bludgers and quaffles) are from the toy aisle. And the most creative modification of all: The snitch is a distance runner clad in a yellow shirt, gold leggings and a sweatband.”
A Crash Course On Choreographer Robert Cohan
“Once the mainstay of Britain’s premier modern dance company, his works are now rarely seen. His model was Martha Graham, and both his choreography and his teaching were founded on her dance technique: weighted, expressive, driven by the spine and pelvis. But they are less expressionistic, and often based around a social situation rather than a psychodrama….”
How Online Culture Is Harmful To Creativity
Robert McCrum: “How many ‘real books’ enjoy ‘darkness and silence’ today? Not many. In 2010, the world of books, and the arts generally, is a bright, raucous and populist place. The internet – and blogs like this – expose everything to scrutiny and discussion. There’s a lot of self-expression, but not necessarily much creativity.”
In Oxford Poetry Race, Candidates Use Their Words
“‘I thought it might be oh-so hip / to win me a professorship, / and so I thought I’d write this note / to woo, to wow, to win your vote,’ writes Robert P Lacey, a medic who says if he were to be voted in by Oxford graduates, he’d write a poem a week and post it online, and also ‘form another, smallish prize / for poetry that please my eyes’.”
Labour Needs To Rethink Its Worship Of Contemporary Chic
“This is what Labour needs to learn about culture: the modern does not equal the radical. Nor do history, tradition and achievement equal conservatism. Rembrandt is not a conservative…. The narrow desire to be the party of Tate Modern (and leave the National Gallery to the rightwingers) was a dry and self-diminishing discipline.”
Testimony: Prince Charles Derailed Qataris’ Design Plans
“The court heard on Monday that during a face-to-face exchange over tea at Clarence House, the prince ‘pissed in [the emir’s] ear about how awful the scheme was’, causing him to order aides to withdraw the designs” for a housing development that would have put “more than 500 apartments on the former site of the Chelsea Barracks by Lord Rogers.”
Jazz Pianist Hank Jones Dies At 91
“Praised for the feather-soft precision of his touch, Jones was equally adept at unleashing the piano’s full, orchestral gamut of sounds. Rhythmic lift and propulsive swing were inherent to his playing…. And his deep understanding of harmony was the foundation for a skilled mastery of the diverse material in the Great American Songbook.”
Lawsuit Over Variety Movie Review Is Tossed Out
“A Los Angeles Superior Court last week dismissed a lawsuit that said Variety illegally damaged the movie [‘Iron Cross’] by luring it into last year’s awards race with the offer of an expensive advertising package, then savaging it with a bad review. The court dismissed the suit based on First Amendment grounds.”
Studios’ Video-On-Demand Dreams Confront Reality
“Hollywood cleared a legal hurdle when the [FCC approved] ‘selectable output control,’ which can reach into a customer’s home video player and turn off its video outputs while a pay-per-view program is being watched, to prevent the program from being copied.” But so far, cinema owners’ opposition has kept studios from releasing films for home viewing before they’re on DVD.