“The museum of the 21st century should be based on encounters with the unfamiliar and on exchange and debate rather than only on an idea of the perfect muse…. It has to have some anchors or fixed points for orientation and stability, but it also has to be a dynamic space for ideas, conversations and debate about new and historic art within a global context.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
William Styron Is Tweeting. No Matter That He’s Dead.
“Last week at the Wharton School’s Future of Publishing conference in Manhattan, Brendan Cahill, VP and publisher of Open Road, mentioned that the e-book publisher has set up a Twitter account for William Styron. The author of ‘Sophie’s Choice’ and ‘Lie Down in Darkness’ has been tweeting (and re-tweeting) for more than a week.”
Through Fund, Artists Are Investing In Their Future
“APT is an art investment fund with a twist–the artists contribute the works themselves, and the trust is structured to provide future income for the artists. Now in its seventh year, it has a global portfolio of 1,100 artists and a collection of more than 4,500 works, which it values at $45m.”
Um, Grown-Ups? Teenagers Don’t Bother With Twitter.
“I hate it when they say, ‘Follow me on Twitter,’ as if we’re interested in every little thing they have to say,” one 17-year-old explained. “It’s just an adult thing. Our music teacher kept saying that she would put stuff up for us to follow on Twitter until one day she said, ‘OK, who’s following me on Twitter?’ And no one raised their hand.”
How The Critic Vs. Cleveland Orchestra Battle Got So Ugly
“The Plain Dealer and the Musical Arts Association — the group that manages the Cleveland Orchestra — are ensnared in a civil lawsuit brought by [music critic Donald] Rosenberg seemingly because an internationally renowned conductor couldn’t stomach a steady diet of criticism throughout his eight-year tenure here.” Well, also because Rosenberg’s editor didn’t back him.
Since When Do Bestsellers Have A Price Tag Of Zero?
“To find a bestselling Kindle e-book that costs more than $0.00, you have to look to No. 14, Steig Larsson’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ — a book that’s spent more than 18 months in the top 100, and has the fairly low e-book price of $5.50.” Every title ranked higher than that on the list costs nothing to download.
Williamstown Theatre Festival Taps New Artistic Director
“The WTF has chosen Jenny Gersten to succeed Nicholas Martin, who will leave the position after the upcoming 2010 summer season.” A former associate producer at Williamstown, Gersten has since worked “in New York City: She was artistic director for The Naked Angels … and currently serves as associate producer for The Public Theatre.”
Racing To Be The Biggest Spender On A Middling Picasso
“Let’s imagine, for a minute, that this picture truly was a great cultural landmark. Would Tuesday night’s record deserve celebration, even then? What would a Martian anthropologist make of a society that produces a roomful of bidders with such vast reserves of surplus cash that they can drop more than $100 million on a fancy picture — while millions of their fellow citizens have their homes repossessed?”
As Auction Record Breaks, It Feels Ho-Hum
“Two, three, four million extra? Worth it. After all, if you’re the evening’s big spender, you not only get to own an object you’ve just helped to make fantastically valuable, but your extravagance, with your name attached or not, also buys a mention in the news. You could lay out the same bucks for a hospital wing, but it wouldn’t be the same.”
Ruling: Milwaukee Symphony Concert Tix Subject To Tax
“Trying to resolve a dispute that dates back to the mid-1990s, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled today the orchestra’s concerts are entertainment events and therefore are subject to the tax.”