“Damien Hirst, the British artist most famous for displaying sharks and sheep floating in formaldehyde, has just sold a platinum cast of a human skull, covered in 8,601 diamonds, for $100 million… It’s said that the only thing an auction record proves is the existence of two dumb rich guys, competing to pay more for something than anyone else on the planet has ever thought it was worth. [But] you could say that the price tag, with its nice round number trailing all those lovely zeros, is the most important and valuable art supply that went into the piece, and is what makes it work.”
Author: sbergman
Low Ratings? More Sex!
Will this be the season in which the line between mainstream TV sex and porn is finally blurred into irrelevance? It’s sure looking like it… “[The] escalating emphasis on explicit scenes as well as themes is the result of seismic changes already rocking Hollywood and the larger society, say culture watchers: the competition for market share in a spiraling world of entertainment choices, the mainstreaming of pornography, and the explosive growth of an unregulated Internet.”
Now That’s A Marketing Device!
So, what’s the hot ticket at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival? Um, we can’t tell you. Well, we can tell you, but we can’t tell you its name. Or more specifically, we can’t tell you one of the words of the title of the film that is making the first-time filmmakers who made it overnight sensations on the festival circuit. Oh, the hell with it: the flick is called Young People F***ing.
Chicagoans To Vote On What Landmark Gets $1m
“Historic preservation is a good cause, but, truth be told, it’s always been a little nerdy… But now, it seems, preservation is almost cool — or at least cool enough” for American Express to launch “an online vote that will let people pick a favorite [Chicago] landmark from a list of contenders vying for $1 million in rehab funds.”
Levine, Boston Impress In Europe
Some concertgoers in Boston may have their doubts about some of the programming decisions that Boston Symphony music director James Levine has made in his first two seasons in the Hub, but in Europe, where the BSO is currently touring, Levine and the Bostonians are making an impressive splash with some gems of the standard 20th century repertoire.
Nothing Gross About This Musical
In a move which is causing a stir in Broadway circles, producers of the new Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, have announced that they will not be releasing reports of “grosses” for public consumption. “These figures include attendance and average ticket prices, among other statistics, and are still the most reliable way to gauge what is selling and what is not… Reporting grosses is customary, not mandatory.”
Reidy To Take Over At Simon & Schuster
“Jack Romanos, the president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, the book publishing arm of CBS, yesterday said that he would retire at the end of this year and be succeeded by Carolyn Reidy, currently president of the company’s adult publishing group. Rumors of Mr. Romanos’s retirement had been circulating in publishing circles for several months.”
Abbado Ill, Cancels Performances
“Claudio Abbado, the Italian conductor, said yesterday he had canceled all engagements in the near future — including a much-anticipated visit to Carnegie Hall next month — because of poor health… Abbado, who is 74, gave no specifics about his condition but said he was following his doctors’ advice.”
Detroit Symphony Close To New Contract
“Representatives of musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
say they are close to finalizing a three-year contract that will avoid the first DSO strike in 20 years and ensure the season opens next week without a hitch.” The musicians are expected to agree to cuts in the first two years of the deal, but the third year should include a raise that will keep the ensemble in the top ten of American orchestra salaries.
The Pavarotti Phenomenon
Pavarotti was simultaneously a throwback and an innovator onstage, says Mark Swed, and regardless of what you thought of his career decisions, he changed the opera world forever. “The simple fact is that Pavarotti did own the stage, and when he opened his mouth, when that sound so fresh and alive and gorgeous, like nothing I have ever heard before or since, generously poured forth, there was no resisting the big, happy guy… Pavarotti was a phenomenon, and to behold it, to share in it, was wondrous.”