This year’s edition of the Arts Electronica festival, which focuses on the connection between technology and art, is taking a hard look at all the technological innovations of the last 25 years, and asking the question: are we actually any smarter or more creative as a result of the digital revolution? Or is it possible that all the instantly available information is only making us more confused and polarizing our society?
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Broadway Box Office Takes A Dive
“Broadway’s biz went into the Dumper on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Twenty-six shows brought in a trampled $12,595,294, down $1,751,057, 12.21%, from the previous lackluster session. Paid attendance came to 190,370, which is off about 35,000 from the bumper August of 2002.”
Venice Opens With Americans
The Venice Film Festival opens this week with a definite American accent. “At this year’s festival, the 61st, there are a score of American films in various categories, only a couple fewer than those made in Italy. Three films from each country have made it into competition…”
Editor: The End Of Books?
“Collectively we may stand—as Marshall McLuhan suggested years ago—at an exit from the time when the book, with its writing, its publication, and its reception, was central to human flourishing. We owe it to ourselves, then, to figure out what it was we, as members of the human species, most valued about the book, so we can try to preserve it. The humanities must now take steps to preserve and protect the independence of their activities, such as the writing of books and articles, before the market becomes our prison and the value of the book becomes undermined.”
Plundering Iraqi Art
Iraq’s cultural heritage is being plundered under American occupation. “Ironically, the bombing campaign of 2003 had not damaged archeological sites. It was only in the aftermath, during the occupation, that the most extensive cultural destruction took place. At first there was the looting of the museums under the watch of coalition troops, but that was to be followed by more extensive and active destruction. Active damage of the historical record is ongoing at several archeological sites occupied as military camps.”
The Secret Of the Mummy’s Tomb?
The mummy of King Cheops, resident of the Great Pyramid has never been found. But now, a new theory of a secret passage within the pyramid. “Using architectural analysis and ground-penetrating radar, two amateur French Egyptologists claim to have discovered a previously unknown corridor inside the pyramid. They believe it leads directly to Khufu’s burial chamber, a room which – if it exists – is unlikely ever to have been violated, and probably still contains the king’s remains.”
Does France Need A Second Louvre?
The French government wants to build a “second Louvre” museum in the north of France. “Louvre II, conceived to display some of the main gallery’s vast unseen collection while bringing some of the nation’s finest heritage to one of its more dilapidated provinces, epitomises the French government’s drive towards decentralisation. For many, it is an absurd and amateur proposal born more out of political correctness than common sense.”
Popular Choice To Head Australia’s National Gallery
Ron Radford is a popular choice as new director of Australia’s National Gallery of Art. Radford is “known in Adelaide, where he has been director of the Art Gallery of South Australia for 13 years, as a boisterous, larger than life bon vivant with a wicked sense of humour and an easy ability to dissolve potential conflict with light-heartedness.”
Books As Dating Aid?
“The London-based arm of the venerable Penguin publishing house has begun to advertise its books as dating aids. According to Penguin, you’re not good looking—or Good Booking—unless you’re holding a book. ‘What women really want is a man with a Penguin. You may not even need to read it, just bend the covers, let it stick out of your pocket and the book will do the talking’!”
African Dance Crew Vies For Longest Dance Party
A Zimbabwean dance crew – The Neighbourhood Crew – has set a world record for the longest dance party after dancing non-stop for 56 hours – nearly four hours longer than the current record of 52 hours and three minutes. “The group of about 57 youths took to the dance floor last Thursday hoping to dance non-stop for 100 hours, but had to settle for the 56 hours when fatigue finally caught up with them on Sunday morning.”