“Five months after they made their first shocking appearance, the Abu Ghraib photographs have become a museum exhibition. Once ubiquitous on television and in newspapers, they now qualify as quasi-aesthetic artifacts, pictures you may choose to seek out – for edification, as a distraction, even… Placing these atrocious pictures in a sleek white room and inviting us to cogitate on their visual properties raises some interesting ethical questions. Why Abu Ghraib but not images of beheadings, which are also on the Web, floating in the digital ether, fragments from the same new photographic universe?”
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Truth Is Almost As Strange…
Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s classic political satire of the nuclear age, has aged well, and the hilarious yet terrifying premise of the film – that a wacky collection of incompetent statesmen and insane warmongers could destroy the world in a fit of pique – may be the most potent reminder we have of the uncertainty of Cold War reality. But a closer examination of what we now know about the film and its era reveals that it is more than a brilliant work of fiction. “In its own loopy way, the movie is a remarkably fact-based and specific guide to some of the oddest, most secretive chapters of the Cold War.”
Choreographer Without A Company
Eliot Feld is one of the dance world’s stars, and yet, he has been without a company since the Ballet Tech Foundation shut down last year. These days, he’s working with six young dancers in a collaboration that he refuses to call the beginnings of a company, and seems perfectly happy to be working outside the traditional realm of the choreographer.
Return Of The Protest Song
This election year has focused the entertainment industry like nothing since the Vietnam era, and after decades of staying out of such debates, pop musicians have penned a stunning number of protest songs and partisan anthems. From classic rocker John Fogerty to blues man Keb’ ‘Mo to a metal band called Lamb of God, everyone in the music biz seems to be getting political, and a lot of what’s out there is actually good music.
Voigt Pulls Out Of Vancouver
American soprano Deborah Voigt has withdrawn from a Vancouver Opera production, citing hurricane fatigue. Voigt lives in Vero Beach, Florida, which was hit hard by the recent series of hurricanes, and had been scheduled to be on the road until Christmas.
Joffrey: No Ownership Disputes Here
Recent high-profile legal disputes over the ownership of specific dances after the choreographer’s death have many top companies scrambling to insure their hold on the work produced by their employees. At Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, choreographer Gerald Arpino’s advanced age has caused such concerns, but “Arpino and the troupe’s response is unequivocal: The Joffrey Ballet here has the rights to all Arpino and Joffrey ballets ‘in perpetuity.'” The company is also stressing that, while Arpino is not scheduled to retire anytime soon, there is a succession plan in place.
Supreme Court To Decide Where File-Swapping Blame Lies
Several major Hollywood studios and record labels have filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court of a recent federal court decision which held that the makers of file-swapping software are not liable for the illegal actions of their customers. Free speech advocates are encouraging the high court not to review the case, saying that it represents a direct attempt to intimidate software makers and the public. There are also timing questions surrounding the petition, which was filed after the controversial Induce Act stalled in the U.S. Senate last week.
A Museum That Will Be All It Can Be
The U.S. Army is planning a $200 million museum in Virginia, to be funded entirely by the government. “After a competition among many elite architects, the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been chosen to design the 255,000-square-foot museum complex. Opening day is planned for June 14, 2009.” The Army insists that recruitment is not the aim of the museum, although the video-game aspect of warfare will apparently have a role, with plans including “a parade ground for simulated battles and an annex for 4-D simulators like those found on the most advanced new amusement park rides.”
The Odd Decline Of Raphael
In recent years, the art of Raphael seems to have fallen out of favor with the public. “While Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo leap out of the past as living men – their lives intense and fascinating, their works disturbingly immediate – Raphael has become remote. The recent fuss over the National Gallery’s bid to buy his Madonna of the Pinks revealed just how distant we are from him. No one could say why he is so special.” Could it be that Raphael’s embrace of a style which attempted to impose order on chaos is so foreign to us, in an age in which chaos is the accepted norm, that we have forgotten how to view it?
NY Phil Settles Contract, Sets Up Possible Domino Effect
The musicians of the New York Philharmonic have agreed to a new three-year contract, ending the speculation over which of the largest American orchestras would settle first. The new deal, which is expected to set the pace for bargaining at the other major orchestras, calls for weekly salary increases which will eventually raise the minimum weekly scale to $2,180, and improvements to the musicians’ benefit package.