“I got very interested in Magritte after my son died … when that happens to you, you focus on people whose lives had been influenced by suicide. Magritte’s mother walked into the sea when he was young and drowned herself. There was a big Magritte show at the Met shortly after Clark’s death – and I could see it. I could see it all.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
After 23 Years, Cliburn Foundation Head Retires
“Richard Rodzinski, president of the Van Cliburn Foundation, announced his retirement Tuesday. He led the foundation for 23 years and six competitions, bringing the prestigious Cliburn piano contest into the world of live webcasts. Rodzinski turns 65 in January and his current contract with the Cliburn expires in February.”
Nelson Mandela Disowns Lithographs Of Robben Island
“In 2002 Mandela attempted to record his feelings about Robben Island in [five] limited edition, individually signed prints. … This week, London’s Belgravia Gallery opens an exhibition of Mandela’s lithographs – against his wishes. He ‘strongly dissociates himself’ from the event; his lawyer insists, ‘He did not sign those artworks.’ The gallery claims its video of him signing artworks proves its sale authentic.”
Where False Memories Come From
“Individuals often recall the same events differently or report memories of things they should have been too young to recall. … Brain connections that encourage the formation of false memories have been identified. Such memories appear to be more likely in people with high-quality links between neurons in a particular brain area.”
Clay Shirky On Journalism: ‘Chaos Is Our Lot’ (But We Can Find Some Guideposts)
“The hard truth about the future of journalism is that nobody knows for sure what will happen; the current system is so brittle, and the alternatives are so speculative, that there’s no hope for a simple and orderly transition from State A to State B. Chaos is our lot; the best we can do is identify the various forces at work shaping various possible futures. Two of the most important are the changing natures of the public, and of subsidy.”
Robert Wilson Pays Final Homage To Pioneering Japanese Dancer
“During the 1960s, Suzushi Hanayagi ventured alone to New York, in an unusual act of courage for a Japanese woman of her generation, armed with training in traditional dance to forge a new form of Western-style modern dance. … Avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson, who worked with Hanayagi in the U.S., has created what he calls their ‘last collaboration’ titled – KOOL – Dancing in My Mind.”
Steven Soderbergh Says He Regrets Making Che
“You know, for a year after we finished shooting I would still wake up in the morning thinking, ‘Thank God I’m not shooting that film.’ … Literally I’d wake up and think, ‘At least I’m not doing that today.'” He’s even contemplating retirement: “In terms of my career, I can see the end of it … I’ve got a list of stuff that I want to do – that I hope I can do – and once that’s all finished I may just disappear.”
Careful, Book Publishers, Or You’ll Get Napstered
“So far, few consumers think books should be free – a fact that I attribute to the klugy Kindle and its affordable Amazon store. … But that could change in a matter of months if the book industry insists on 1) jacking up the price of e-books and 2) withholding potential best-sellers from the e-book market.”
British Teachers Warn: No More School Trips To Theatre
“Producers are bracing themselves to face a ‘catastrophic’ series of school theatre trip cancellations, due to government guidelines that will make it significantly more expensive for colleges to organise days out for pupils.”
Rufus Wainwright’s Opera Gets (Surprisingly) Mixed Reviews
“The Globe and Mail was complimentary, giving Prima Donna three stars out of four and calling the premiere ‘a thoroughly entertaining, if slightly barmy, evening.’ … In a more mixed review, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times agrees: ‘The opera ends with a tender aria for Regine, a long-spun melody with a gentle accompaniment riff: in other words, a Wainwright song. Would that there had been more of them.’ [But] Lynne Walker of the Independent gave Prima Donna two stars out of five, and described it as a ‘flimsy plot … spun out into a cheesy piece of full-length musical theatre’.”