We seem to be more and more fascinated by images of gore and mutilation. The raw aftermath of violence and death is increasingly captured in images that many people find both repelling and compelling. “The contemporary iconography of carnage is unprecedented and unique in its visceral force.”
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Tinkering With Edinburgh (It’s What Makes It Great)
Brian McMaster has been programming the Edinburgh Festival since 1992. He’s constantly tinkering with ways to bring in unlikely audiences. “It is this engagement with the audience that makes the International Festival seem so alive. McMaster’s tenure has coincided with increasing collaboration between all the festivals, so that there is growing self-assurance to the city. Once, almost every resident would meet August with a scowl, fleeing if they could, but now only the most curmudgeonly swears at the thesps on the high street. McMaster has brought us in, and without dumbing down.”
Emin Makes Up With 8-Year-Olds
Artist Tracey Emin has patched up things with the class of eight-year-olds she’s been battling with the past week. “After demanding the return of an artwork she made with a group of eight-year-old pupils, Ms Emin has now told the school it can keep it – and has offered to pay the cost of a frame.”
Journalist Charges Nabokov Plagiarized Lolita
Lolita is nothing if not controversial. Vladimir Nabokov’s “relatives and supporters have rejected a claim that her character was plagiarised from a 1916 novel by a German journalist who went on to support Hitler. Michael Marr, a German literary scholar, suggested that a novella, Lolita, written in 1916 by Heinz von Eschwege, may have provided the foundations for the 1955 Nabokov novel.”
Tale Of Two Awards Shows
Canada’s Junos and Quebec’s Felix Awards celebrate Canadian musicians. But where the Felix finds its winners from artists who make their careers almost entirely in Canada, the Junos have been increasingly dominated by Canadians who have struck it big south of the border.
Movies On Demand. Anytime. Anywhere.
New wireless technology allows people to download and watch movies wherever and whenever they want. “With an extended battery life that lasts about six hours, the software allows consumers to download movies at superfast speeds and then view them on a plane. It will be like having a Blockbuster video store in your laptop. You’ll be able to download your personal movie to your personal handheld video player while waiting in line for a coffee, then go home and either watch it on the small screen in bed or plug the computer cable into a large display screen in your living room.”
The Arabization Of Europe?
Europe’s population is getting older, more secular and smaller. It’s a model that cannot sustain its current level of social services such as retirement and health care. Where to get a flush of new blood? Neighboring Arab countries have rising propulations…
The Amateur Cliburn
Time once again for the Amateur Van Cliburn piano competition. It’s actuallt called the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and 75 pianists from eight countries and 27 states will compete in Fort Worth from May 31 through June 5. “The field of competitors, once again heavy on people from the medical professions, will perform in a three-part, elimination-style competition at Texas Christian University’s Ed Landreth Auditorium. The 75 were selected by the foundation from 110 recorded applications and written statements from amateur pianists age 35 and over.”
In Iraq: Destroying The History Of Civilization
“Protecting antiquities remains a low priority for both the Iraqi and the occupation authorities, according to Iraqis and foreigners involved. Archaeological sites in Iraq have been looted since the end of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, often with the involvement of the government of Saddam Hussein. But in the lawless aftermath of the current conflict, thieves invaded Iraq’s archaeological sites in large numbers and stole artifacts from the ancient buried cities of Mesopotamia. Almost a year later, thieves continue to plunder the sites and to erase the tangible record of the world’s earliest civilizations.”
The Source – Looking At The Business Of Succeeding Art
The first drafts of art history are written not by the art historians, but by those in the business of art – the dealers and collectors. But how is it that some artists/art works grab a toe-hold in this world, while others fail? The Getty is in the middle of a year-long exploration…