“After years of toe-to-toe battling with a small band of critics and a fellow billionaire, Barry Diller said Wednesday that he was pulling the plug on his family’s commitment to build and operate a $250 million performance center on an undulating pier 186 feet off the Hudson River shoreline. It was a fizzling end to a grand scheme that aimed to create a bold new landmark along the Manhattan waterfront on par with the nearby High Line, which has become one of the top tourist draws in the city.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Documenta Runs €7 Million Deficit, Seeks City/State Bailout
“The local Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine newspaper said [the state of] Hesse and [the city of] Kassel had each agreed to take over loan guarantees of €3.5m. … The local newspaper said the cost overruns for the current edition of Documenta were partly owing to miscalculations by the management team” – particularly concerning the costs of running part of the event in Athens.
2017 Booker Prize Shortlist Includes George Saunders, Paul Auster, Ali Smith, Mohsin Hamid
“But a host of award-winning writers failed to make the cut, with former Booker winner Arundhati Roy missing out on a place, as well as Sebastian Barry, Kamila Shamsie and Mike McCormack. British authors Zadie Smith and Jon McGregor also dropped out. American author Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad was another high-profile casualty.”
Actor Frank Vincent, Of ‘The Sopranos’ And Scorsese Films, Dies During Open-Heart Surgery
“Vincent played Tony Soprano’s archenemy Phil Leotardo in The Sopranos, one of his many wiseguy roles. He was Billy Batts in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas – the ‘made man’ who famously told Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito to ‘Go home and get your f*ckin’ shinebox’ – and Frank Marino in the director’s Casino. His performance with Pesci in 1976’s The Death Collector caught the attention of Robert De Niro and Scorsese, and the director offered Vincent a supporting role in Raging Bull.”
In ‘Humiliating Decision’, Chief Conductor Of Malta Philharmonic Fired After Feuding With Board Chairman
One source says, “the management felt it could not tolerate a situation where the conductor refuses to attend a schedule event he is contractually obliged to attend. He also skipped a number of rehearsals.” The conductor himself, Brian Schembri, thundered, “Never in my life [have I] been treated so basely and disrespectfully by persons in authority who were supposed to support me in the job they themselves engaged me to do, that is to develop the orchestra to the levels that, by common consent, were hardly imaginable before.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.13.17
Defusing beauty
My previous post suggested a multi-layered view of our work in arts organizations, including attention to the nouns of our ‘products’ or ‘outcomes,’ the verbs of our ‘processes’ or ‘practices,’ but also the core ‘source’ … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2017-09-13
Why Engage?
I am frequently asked about the rationales for community engagement. I have spent so much time with my head in the weeds about the subject that my responses have a tendency to go on for … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-09-12
Breaking: Metropolitan Museum’s Job Description for Its Next Director (contrasted with its last one)
This just in — the memo sent today to the Metropolitan Museum’s staff by president and CEO Dan Weiss, followed by the text of the job description for the new director. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-09-13
“The Difference Between Quality Art and Crap” Take Two
My exchange with Vladimir Feltsman about “quality art” versus “crap” was posted on youtube and elicited this response: “Two oldies bemoaning that they have had their day and are confined to the dust bin … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-09-12
Recent Listening: Rigby And Eckemoff
Jason Rigby Detroit-Cleveland Trio, ONE (Fresh Sound New Talent)
The simplicity of the Rigby Trio’s cover design matches the uncomplicated instrumentation—saxophone, bass and drums. It is a configuration used to great effect … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-09-13
A History Of Time Capsules And What They Say About Us
Slate history maven Rebecca Onion: “Over the 19th and 20th centuries, American time capsules went from containers for civic virtue, to carefully curated museums of popular culture, to catch-alls, capturing the overwhelming amount of stuff that drifts through a consumer society. Looking at the evolution of time capsule contents, it becomes clear that our ideas about which items future historians could use in order to figure out how we lived have changed drastically. But through it all, we’ve retained a touching faith in our own interestingness.”
An HBO Cinematographer Talks About How To Properly Light The Faces Of Black Actors
“Any brown person who’s taken a selfie in the club can tell you cameras aren’t made for us. Yet in Insecure‘s club scenes, dark-skinned protagonists like Yvonne Orji’s Molly continue to impress. You can thank Ava Berkofsky, the show’s director of photography, for that. … So how do you make a show look like a piece of art while also doing justice to black faces? The answer is a special whiteboard and a light dab of shiny makeup.”
Preparing The Intricate, Ornate Artwork To Be Burned On The King Of Thailand’s Funeral Pyre
“Nine steel pavilions, rising several stories high, have already been erected at the centre of the royal cremation park, or Sanam Luang. The skeletal thrones that stood bare just weeks ago have now been adorned with gilded and carved cedar, teak and timber. … When it comes to crafting a royal funeral pyre the devil is in the detail. Every carving, flick of the paint brush, or wooden strut has been designed, excoriated and redesigned multiple times.”
David Hockney At 80: Still Stylish, Sunny, And Stubborn (Especially About Smoking)
Deborah Solomon goes to visit the artist in California: “Hockney is still a dapper, vigorous presence. His conversation is wide-ranging and larded with literary references, and his manner is so genial and confiding that at first you do not notice how stubborn he can be. He delights in espousing contrary opinions, some of which come at you with the force of aesthetic revelation, while others seem perverse and largely indefensible.”