Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code was based on Leonardo’s Last Supper fresco. Now “authorities in Milan have banned a billboard featuring an all-female version of the 15th Century fresco, which the fashion house itself says was inspired by the hotly debated book. The campaign has run without controversy in both Paris and New York. But its use of religious symbols could offend Milan, the town hall ruled.”
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The Words Of Reality
“For literary theoreticians, it is axiomatic that language is unequal to the task of encompassing reality. Its failure is inevitable, a given.” But this is patently not true, writes Craig Raine. Just look at Kipling…
Melbourne’s Opera Options
Should Melbourne get a new state opera company? The government commissioned a study to find out. “The consultant’s final report, handed to the Government shortly after Christmas, outlines five options. They range from increasing Opera Australia’s state government funding and asking it to perform 10 to 11 operas at the Arts Centre (up from the current seven) to setting up a new state opera company that would also perform at the Arts Centre. It is estimated the latter would cost $5 million to $7 million a year. Neither of these options is expected to be taken up by the Government. The option emerging as the most favoured is to fund a new smaller-scale company whose primary focus would be to create innovative new work pitched at a youngish audience. It is believed this would cost the Government up to $3 million a year.”
The Great Neon Way?
Is Broadway being eclipsed by an even glitzier and more glamorous new center of American theater? In a word, yup. “Las Vegas has taken over for New York — certainly for a generation, perhaps for good. This is a seismic shift in the American cultural landscape that has yet to be fully realized. Led by the constantly self-reinventing Cirque du Soleil, which has taken over the high-end entertainment world here and moved light-years away from its street-circus roots, Las Vegas is running full-tilt toward experimental, high-end art created by figures from the opera and performance worlds, even as Broadway drowns in a sea of movie knockoffs, retreads of rock-music catalogs and other forms of cheap pastiche.”
China Asks US For Art Import Restrictions
The Chinese government has asked the US to restrict import of Chinese art predating 1912. “The request, made last September under the 1970 Unesco Convention, seeks assistance in protecting Chinese cultural heritage, which China says is increasingly subject to pillage and smuggling. It has elicited objections from both the US market and scholars, and faces an uphill battle to gain approval.”
Swank, Foxx Score At SAG
“Jamie Foxx was named best lead male movie actor for his portrayal of the late R&B legend Ray Charles in Ray, and Hilary Swank won best female lead actor for playing a scrappy boxer in Million Dollar Baby on Saturday night at the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Foxx and Swank both won acting awards three weeks ago at the Golden Globes, and both are nominated for Oscars. It remains to be seen whether the SAG awards will live up to their reputation as a prognosticator of the Academy Awards.”
Hirst’s Shark Deteriorating
Damien Hirst’s shark floating in a tank of formaldehyde was recently sold for $12 million. But “the shark has deteriorated noticeably to the naked eye since it was first unveiled at the Saatchi Gallery in 1992. The formaldehyde solution in which it is suspended is murky while the skin of the animal is showing signs of wear and tear.”
Yo, Theatuh in Brooklyn, What!
“The industrial corner of Brooklyn located about five minutes from the East Village by L train is known as a haven for Orthodox Jews and art school hipsters. In the 1990’s, it became home to an alternative gallery district. But over the past few years, Williamsburg, Brooklyn has also evolved into something else: a full-fledged theater district. Call it Off Off Off Broadway.”
Montreal – The Next Big Thing?
“The American pop music scene has frequently depended on cities at the edges of the cultural map to provide a much-needed shot of originality. Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin, Tex., and Athens, Ga., have all served as temporary pivot points, churning out bands and defining the sound of the moment. Even Omaha had its 15 minutes not so long ago. The momentary consensus seems to come out of nowhere – as if someone blows a whistle only those in the know can hear, and suddenly record executives and journalists are crawling all over what had previously been an obscure locale. So which American city is the next stop on this fickle, itinerant history? It’s a trick question for the time being, because the answer seems to be Montreal.”
Playing Hardball In St. Louis
The St. Louis Symphony strike is proving to be a power struggle between two competing philosophies, with no victor in sight. The musicians of the orchestra are courting public opinion with free concerts and media-savvy public events, in the hope that public pressure will force the SLSO management to back off their demands for pay cuts. But orchestra president Randy Adams is taking a decidedly corporate approach to the stoppage, “[putting] aside the gentlemanly conventions of most orchestra disputes. That has left the musicians in a state of shock, scrambling to come up with strategies… that will help them in this new game.”