A woman’s dog poops in the subway and she refuses to clean it up. A fellow passenger takes her picture and posts it on the internet. Soon an internet mob forms, ferreting out details of her life, including where she lives and what she does… “Increasingly, the Internet also is a venue of so-called citizen journalism, in which swarms of surfers mobilize to gather information on what the traditional media isn’t covering, or is covering in a way that dissatisfies some people. But what happens when the two converge, and the Internet populace is stirred to action against individuals?”
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BBC Ratings Share Drops
The BBC has spent £100 million more on programs in the past year, but saw its debt reduced. “The reports suggest the BBC’s four main TV channels saw their combined viewing share drop from 36.5% to 34.6% in the last 12 months. The BBC said it would not comment until the report is published on 12 July.”
London Shows Canceled
Concerts and all of London’s West End theatres have been closed after the Thursday bombing as police advised residents not to travel to central London. “The theatre closures are thought to be unprecedented since World War II, apart from the days of state funerals.
Considering Robert Smithson
“In the realm of postminimalism, what happens when we compare Smithson to Eva Hesse, Richard Serra, and Ana Mendieta? Who wins? Richard Serra is, these days, way beyond postminimalism with his magnificent rolled-steel sculptures. Hesse, as much as we like her work, did not have Smithson’s cosmic ambition; only Mendieta did, but she was not as early in the game as Smithson. And the other so-called Earth Artists? They made a few good examples, here and there. But what are their ideas?”
How Museums Are Failing Artifacts
Heightened sensitivity to the cultural origins of artifacts is hurting museums, writes Tiffany Jenkins. “Public access, research possibilities and academic freedom are being curtailed and closed down. In the US, at the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, material is removed and segregated if the objects are sacred or have ceremonial status. Some may be seen only by certain privileged individuals in a specific tribe. The public may thus view only some of the material held in what is supposed to be a national collection.”
Charlotte Church Gone Wrong
Everyone loves the teenage singer. But her latest album of rock songs just plain doesn’t work. “She is obviously prodigiously gifted, but the rigours of classical training have left her unsure how to tackle a rock song. Eventually, she settles for a jarring mid-Atlantic accent. She keeps threatening to walk out of something she refers to as the “dowh”. The reason she is going to walk out the dowh is because she has been hurt befowh. She thus can’t take any mowh, a sentiment with which the listener may quickly concur: the whole thing is becoming a bit of a bowh.”
Afolabi Wins “African Booker”
“A Nigerian writer, SA Afolabi, has won the sixth annual Caine prize, known as the African Booker, with his story ‘Monday Morning’.”
Who Gets Victoria Opera Money?
Australia’s Victoria government has pledged $7.6 million to opera over the next four years. But who’s to get it? The independent Melbourne Opera believes it has a right to the money, but rumors have it going o Opera Australia’s educational and touring efforts…
Security Concerns Run Amok
It’s tough to get past the irony of calling a monolithic, fear-inspired fortress the Freedom Tower, and John King says that the revamped design is not only a disappointment, but a betrayal of the resilient spirit shown by New Yorkers in the days and weeks after the 9/11 attacks. “In the 45 months since terrorists slaughtered 2,749 people and toppled the tallest towers in New York, the 16-acre site has mirrored too closely the national response to the changed world scene. The first year brought a resilient courage that suggested New York and the United States might rise from the tragedy in stirring new ways. But since then, the original impulses that united people across cultural and political spectrums have been muddied beyond recognition.”
Price Hike In Philly
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is hiking its admission prices as much as 29%, beginning in August. The general admission fee will rise to $12, which puts the museum in the same range as the Art Institute of Chicago, but still well below higher fees at major museums in New York and Boston.