What is bad art? A Melbourne collector thinks she knows. “After a decade of ferreting in dusty op shops, she has nailed the criteria: a complete lack of technical skill; unusual, poor or tasteless subject matter; and an asking price of $2 or less. Round’s collection of 200 original canvases, dubbed The Museum of Particularly Bad Art, is being unleashed on the public. Like a B-grade movie or a lovers’ public spat, you can’t look away. This is art so bad it’s downright good.”
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Guthrie Theatre’s Blow-out Good Year
“Buoyed by popular plays and musicals the theater increased the total audience for its main stage, Lab and touring productions by nearly 30 percent, drawing 417,528 patrons compared with 319,888 last year. It was the theater’s highest overall attendance figure since 2000. The attendance news, announced Monday at the annual meeting, was compounded by an upbeat financial report that included balanced books, improved revenues and increased fundraising.”
The Diaghilev Legacy
“It is 75 years since the death of Serge Diaghilev, the founder director of the Ballets Russes. Though not himself a dancer, choreographer, musician or designer, Diaghilev had as great an influence on the arts of his time as any primarily creative person. He was a true artistic director, not just an impresario as he is often called. Through his knowledge and ambition, he pushed the frontiers of taste towards a new and untried world.”
Reconstructing Petipa
The Bolshoi Ballet has taken five years to “reconstruct” an early Petipa ballet. “The Bolshoi Ballet’s project to recover this fascinating curiosity started five years ago, paralleling the attempted reconstruction by Russia’s other great company, the Kirov, of two Petipa masterpieces, The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadere, as he produced them. But is reconstruction of such old ballets possible? And what are its consequences for the art? Revolutionary, potentially.”
Renewing The Bolshoi
The Bolshoi Ballet has had a tough few years. Long-time director Yuri Grigorovich was forced out in 1995. Four artistic directors in five years, a “disintegrating theatre, slipping artistic standards, appalling financial worries, and the rise and rise of St Petersburg’s Kirov under the dynamic leadership of Valery Gergiev. Then there was the Affair of the Overweight Ballerina. “Now things look brighter. The Moscow theatre is undergoing a massive redevelopment. The government has upped its funding, providing 55% of the Bolshoi’s £18m budget. And on January 1 a new artistic director took up his post: the 35-year-old St Petersburg-born, Moscow-trained dancer and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky.”
Looking For Ethnic Ambiguity
Talent agents, casting directors, and talent management firms are receiving more requests for actors who are ‘ethnically ambiguous,’ of ‘mixed ethnicity,’ or have a ‘global look,’ especially for commercials, films, and television shows. “There is more opportunity for actors who are ethnically mixed than ever before. I often get requests for actors who are biracial. Sometimes it’s very specific, like African-American and Caucasian; other times, the request for biracial is broadly nonspecific, leaving it wide open. The breakdowns for many musicals now include ‘all ethnicities, unless otherwise noted.’ “
Arts & Science – A Clash Of Cultures
Why are arts people so wary when scientists tread into arts territory? “Humanists are trained to make judgments and support them with a range of qualitative evidence and arguments; scientists are trained to test arguments with empirical, replicable evidence and to use quantification as a tool. Interdisciplinary work will flourish when both sides realize that scientific questions about art do not replace humanistic ones. They are simply different. The disciplines of the sciences and art history ought to trade insights rather than insults.”
UK’s Blockbuster Cinema
The UK film industry posted a record level of production last year, while admissions at UK cinemas reached their second highest level in 30 years. “About £742m was taken at the UK box office. The box office tally marks an increase of 136% on the previous decade, with one in four people now attending the cinema once every month.”
Conductor Carlos Kleiber, 74
According to this German website, the renowned conductor Carlos Kleiber has died at the age of 74.
Summer Concert Ticket Sales Die
Summer concert tickets aren’t selling in the US. “People aren’t buying tickets. For whatever reason, ticket sales dried up around the middle of April. According to a Pollstar analysis of the top 50 shows through June, gross revenue was up 11 percent to $753.5 million, but ticket sales were down 2 percent to 12.8 million, with prices up 13 percent. The average price of a ticket shot up from $26.05 in 1995 to $50.35 om 2003, according to Pollstar. Ticket prices have gone crazy — very, very, very high, and nobody knows how to change that tide.”