Blog

Curating China

Contemporary art is booming in China. But who is choosing art to be shown? Before 1980, curators were unheard of in China. “Not until in 1993 when a curator from the famous Venice Biennial came to China, did we know that holding an exhibition needs a curator. From then on, as more and more contemporary artists went overseas to give shows, this word and this function became better understood.”

Dan Glickman, Anti-Pirate

Dan Glickman used to be a Congressman and Secretary of Agriculture. Now he’s fronting for the Motion Picture Association of America. “The overlying issue is piracy and how we fight it,” Mr. Glickman said, a day after announcing plans to sue people who illegally download movies off the Internet, a provocative way to begin his stewardship. “I still believe lawsuits are only one part of the strategy. Education and awareness and embracing new technologies is part of it. It’s important that we be seen embracing technology.”

MoMA Vs. Tate Modern

For the past few years Tate Modern has been the preeminent modern art museum. But the new Museum of Modern Art will reclaim the title soon. “As a theatre of contemporary art, Tate Modern is exceptional. But as a place where we can learn why Picasso matters, it fails – and wants to fail. A couple of weeks from now, Moma will once again be the place to learn about 20th-century art. Maybe Tate Modern can never tell the story of the modern world’s art as well as Moma; but it could try.”

All-Music, All-The-Time – Are We The Poorer For It?

In the era of the iPod, any music is available at any time, wherever you are. But Bernard Holland wonders if maybe this easy access doesn’t cheapen the musical experience. “Is it all too easy? Any music critic will tell you that the eager anticipation of new recordings fades with their unsolicited, almost daily flow into the office. Would knowing a little less actually make us smarter, or at least hungrier? I do wonder if spiritual muscle tone is being softened.”

Heilpern To Non-Profits: Why The Sell-out?

John Heilpern wonders what has happened to the spine of non-profit theatre. “I’ve no argument with bottom-line Broadway producers. Apart from the usual British import or star-driven revival, Broadway has more or less abandoned serious drama. But when the producers of nonprofit theater throw in the towel, we’re in real trouble. They represent the last bastion of the true artist, ‘because it’s where the money isn’t.’ Because their stages are the only places left in American theater where the commercial bottom line isn’t intended to rule.”

ABT On The Move

American Ballet Theatre has developed such a strong corps of dancers, writes Robert Gottlieb, that the company is a pleasure to follow. “We’re beginning to be able to watch A.B.T. the way we spent decades watching New York City Ballet—that is, tracking talented young dancers as they make their way through the company. And for serious ballet lovers, there’s no greater satisfaction.”

Yale Student Sues “Freedom Tower” Architect

A Yale architecture student is suing architect David Childs, claiming that Childs stole his design and used it for the Freedom Tower at the site of the World Trade Center. “Thomas Shine says he created his “Olympic Tower” for a Yale architecture class and presented it in December 1999 to a panel of jurists that included Childs. Shine says Childs complimented the design in a Yale architecture magazine: “It is a very beautiful shape. You took the skin and developed it around the form – great.”