“There has always been a certain incommensurability between political activities that depend on mass mobilization and the idiosyncratic sensibility of the aesthete — even the public-spirited, politically active aesthete. For every argument that aesthetic concerns are a luxury in the face of political injustice, there is the rebuttal that aesthetic freedom is as necessary for the human spirit as any political right.”
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Spaulding – The Tightlipped Grinch Of Boston
When Wang Center director Josiah Spaulding announced he was kicking out Boston Ballet and its annual “Nutcracker” performances in favor of a traveling Radio City Rockettes tour, he provoked a storm of questions. But he refuses to talk to anyone further about the decision, especially the press. He “was happy to be front and center in the press during the Wang Center’s glory days when he spearheaded an enormous revival of the Theatre District, that, quite simply, made Boston a more vibrant more exciting place to live. Now he’s made a decision that causes consternation and anger about his eviction of an event that’s owned as much by the people of New England as it is by the Boston Ballet or the Wang Center.”
Will Fort Worth Repeal Public Art Allotment?
Voters in Fort Worth, Texas may get a chance to vote of whether they want to continue setting aside 2 percent of bond-issue construction projects for public art. The city’s mayor proposed slashing the public art share to one percent earlier this year, but dropped the plan when many protested.
Image-Geist – Can You Just Snap Pictures Of Anyone?
“Digital cameras in cell phones are a huge hit – more than 80 million have been sold so far. But with so many people snapping away pictures, “what are the rights of the person being photographed, and should controls be put into place to limit where and how camera cellphones may be used?”
The Great Turnoff – Viewers Abandon TV
Viewers are deserting broadcast TV in large numbers, particularly in the most desirable demographic. “Overall viewership is down nearly 10 percent from a year ago – a record low. (The decline is limited primarily to the six broadcast networks: basic and pay cable appear to be holding steady.) The new fall shows are being felled left and right.” What’s the big turnoff?
Pew To Change Status – Will Become A Public Charity
The Pew Charitable Trusts is changing its legal status and will become a public charity. “Pew would no longer be subject to a number of other legal and tax restrictions on private foundations, including self-dealing laws, restrictions on outside business holdings, and restrictions on making grants to government officials and individuals, to name a few. To maintain its status as a charity, Pew will have to raise outside money beyond the endowments of its trusts, which it has shown it can do for a number of Philadelphia civic projects, including the Barnes Foundation and the Independence Visitor Center.”
When Vandalism Is Art? (There’s A Tradition)
“The ‘comedy terrorist’ Aaron Barschak faces a possible jail sentence, after being convicted last week by Oxford magistrates of criminally damaging works in the Chapman brothers’ summer exhibition The Rape of Creativity. What makes the case unusual is that some of the artworks concerned, now part of the Chapmans’ Turner prize show, have themselves given rise to accusations of vandalism: they include an edition of 80 rare original impressions of Goya’s The Disasters of War, on which faces of clowns and puppies have been drawn.”
In Praise Of A Different Kind Of Poet Laureate
Louise Glück isn’t exactly a recluse. But not far from it. Just don’t expect her to be the kind of US Poet Laureate who evangelizes for her art. “Ms. Glück is an inspired choice because she excels in doing the kind of thing that only lyric poetry can do, which is among the most intimate, nonpublic things words can do: mimic the peculiar music of thought itself. Her appointment sheds interesting light on a private art’s public existence.”
Sing Out That Protest
Can classical music play a role in political proitest, wonders Kyle Gann. “No one can doubt that music has a big role to play in the world of political protest. The controversial musicians we read about in the papers, though, are mostly from the pop and folk genres. It’s not only that those musicians are more visible, though that’s certainly true as well. Classical music and jazz seem to have a more long-term, measured, even sublimated approach to political protest, slower to react and more deeply embedded in the structure of the music itself.”
Ibargüen Named Chairman Of PBS
Alberto Ibargüen, publisher of The Miami Herald, has been named chairman of the board at PBS, the governing body for the nation’s public broadcasting stations. As chairman, Ibargüen said, his challenge will be to draw on the PBS heritage while preparing for a rapidly changing future. ‘The issue is not so much PBS’ going out of business tomorrow, but, in a world of tightening budgets, finding ways to keep PBS as sharp as it needs to be.'”