When a bestselling author becomes a bestselling brand, does the quality of his/her work inevitably suffer as a result? “Publishers are asking ever more of their writers to get on to the bestseller lists, [and] as genre readers, we’re unfortunately complicit in this.”
Author: sbergman
Is Beijing’s Boom Creating An Identity Problem?
Beijing is growing at a dizzying pace, and while progress is presumably to be celebrated as a concept, some are asking whether architectural identity is being sacrificed in the name of speedy modernization. “Are we in danger of replacing one form of cultural imperialism with another?”
The Updating Of Dorian Gray
“Dorian Gray reimagined as a gay aftershave model for our times?” No, it’s not a performance art piece or a bad TV movie – it’s the latest project from star choreographer Matthew Bourne. “Bourne is toying with the possibility of giving Dorian a doppelganger, an evil twin, and is still working out how to avoid having a literal version of the novel’s notorious portrait in the attic.”
Architects In The Zoo
“Norman Foster, the world’s most celebrated hi-tech architect – the Sultan of Seamlessness, so to speak – has just completed an elephant house at Copenhagen Zoo that is not just low-tech but, to an almost shocking degree, earthy in its materiality… Foster’s team sought to deliver an architectural paradigm-shift in a genre that is utterly foreign to them.”
New Rule Of Thumb: If You’re Long, You’re Done
Gone With The Wind was supposed to be the show of the year in London’s West End. Instead, it flopped badly and will close this weekend. So what happened? Well, the thing was over four hours long when previews began, for one thing, and that doesn’t play in the fast-paced modern world in which “the days of a slow story build-up are gone.”
Arguing With The Critics
Last week, a London art critic panned a high-profile Klimt show at Tate Liverpool, and the museum’s director isn’t taking the shot lying down. “It is disappointing when a show’s gift shop receives more coverage than the show itself… What counts is the ambition and quality of the exhibition.”
UK Artist Albert Herbert Dies
“Albert Herbert, who has died aged 82, was probably the greatest of contemporary religious artists. [He] was a maverick, liked but seldom taken seriously by art establishments… His subject matter was looked upon with suspicion by those holding the public art purse-strings, and there is no Albert Herbert in the Tate.”
Drunk Driver Who Killed OR Musicians Found Guilty
“A Salem woman who drove her car with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit was convicted Tuesday on two counts of first-degree manslaughter, assault and drunken driving for a collision that killed two Eugene Symphony musicians and injured a third in February 2007.”
From Worse To Just Bad In Durham
“Arts supporters [in North Carolina’s Triangle region) won major victories Monday night when the Durham City Council restored funding that had been cut in its preliminary 2008-09 budget… Nonetheless, several venerable arts and culture organizations that the city has long funded [will] still suffer cuts. Most organizations will see a 30 percent drop in funding.”
Inserting A Middleman, To Musicians’ Benefit
“At the Sydney Conservatorium of Music yesterday, the Music Council of Australia launched a scheme to help musicians” who cannot afford to purchase top-quality instruments, but need them to advance in their careers. “The National Instrument Bank will offer wealthy individuals and corporations the chance to buy instruments as investments, then loan them to musicians.”