The largest Buddha sculpture in the world is going on display outside Qongqing, China. “The sculpture is a copy of Afghanistan’s 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddha that was destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. China’s Ai Duo Group Company spent 16 months making the sculpture out of a giant piece of jade found in Myanmar. The 7-ton jade Buddha is nearly 2.6 metres high and 1.3 metres wide.”
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The Art Basel Dance
Looking at art at Art Basel is fun, but the real payoff is elsewhere. “The fair may offer the chance to see an array of post-1900 artworks that would put virtually any gallery in the world to shame, but it is the intricate, courtly dance of a thousand discreet business deals that makes the event so gripping.”
Looking Inside The Mummy
“Years ago, mummy “unrollings” were acts of archaeological vandalism, conducted like dramatic performances in front of high-society fee-paying audiences. Now, by a fusion of advanced computer technology and state-of-the-art medical scanning techniques, we can sit in a darkened, air-conditioned “immersive theatre” in the British Museum, put on a pair of 3D glasses and penetrate a mummy’s secret layers, one by one, without destroying a fibre of bandage, without even opening the spectacular painted coffin case. Wood, linen, tissue, bone… we can slice through them all like forensic scientists, like pathologists. It’s quite a project.”
Warning! Moron Alert!
What we need? A terrorism alert system for the arts, write Dominic Papatola. It could be administered by the NEA, he imagines: “At a press conference Friday in Washington, Gioia unveiled a Moron Alert System, under which all concerts, plays and recitals would be color-coded to identify what the chairman referred to as ‘heightened and specific’ threats to the integrity of a given performance.”
Artist Beats Barbie Copyright Claim
An artist who was sued by Mattel for using images of Barbie in his work, wins after the toy-maker sues for copyright infringement. “It’s enough to give corporations with brands they want to protect and expand pause to consider whether to simply reflexively unleash the hounds the minute they see somebody doing something that relates to their brand of which they don’t approve. It may send a signal that a ‘take no prisoner’ litigation strategy against the little guy has new risks for the plaintiff.”
Fahrenheit Soars At Box Office
Riding on waves of controversy, Fahrenheit 911 was a big hit at the American box office over the weekend. “If early estimates are correct, the movie instantly became the top-grossing documentary in the nation’s history. The film is believed to have earned $21.8 million on its opening weekend, a record for a documentary. Even more significantly, it managed to become the nation’s No. 1 movie attraction, despite playing on only 868 screens, about a third what a big blockbuster would have.”
Lord Of The Dance Performances Canceled After Murder
An unidentified man shot dead and robbed a member of the entourage performing Lord of the Dance at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre early on Sunday morning. Performances of the show have been canceled.
Wagner Is A Hit At Pop Festival
An abridged version of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle has been a hit at the Glastonbury Festival. “It was the first time opera had been performed at the festival, with thousands of fascinated revellers gathering in front of the main Pyramid stage for the event. The 75-minute long extract opened with the section of the opera familiar to fans of the film Apocalypse Now, its lyrics sung in English and subtitled at the side of the stage to make it widely accessible. The Valkyries were played with relish by the ENO singers, flame-haired and dressed in black, as members of the orchestra behind them were clearly enjoying the unique experience.”
Getting Educated – A New Paradigm
Helen Vendler proposes a new baseline of cultural education in this year’s NEH Jefferson Lecture. “The day of limiting cultural education to Western culture alone is over. There are losses here, of course–losses in depth of learning, losses in coherence–but these very changes have thrown open the question of how the humanities should now be conceived, and how the study of the humanities should, in this moment, be encouraged. I want to propose that the humanities should take, as their central objects of study, not the texts of historians or philosophers, but the products of aesthetic endeavor: architecture, art, dance, music, literature, theater, and so on.”
The End Of Reruns? Yeah, Right!
So American TV networks are abandoning reruns and going to a 52-week season. American TV execs, a curious species prone to hyperbole, are calling it an “epochal” change. A “revolution.” An “unprecedented” demolition of rules that have stood for decades. What they really mean is: “If this doesn’t work, we are so screwed.”