Artist Olafur Eliasson has “constructed a reversed waterfall in which the water shoots up rather than down; a massive disc which loomed low over the city of Malmo in Sweden, lit at night by yellow light so that it resembled a night-time sun; and a long, snaking slick of green dye in the waterways of Stockholm.” Now he’s taken on creating something for the giant turbine room at Tate Modern, which he hopes to tunr into a “microclimate.”
Blog
Do Book Reviews Matter?
Do book reviews matter one whit to anyone? Okay, maybe the author. But “I believe we are at best traffic wardens. It’s a free-for-all out there. I have seen books praised to the skies that have scarcely troubled the check-out clerks at Borders or Hatchards. I have watched books comprehensively ignored by The Observer, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph being lugged out of Waterstone’s, Books etc, Ottakars and Menzies by the bagload.”
Are The Blues Dead?
“The blues are a bore. Played currently by a well-meaning array of half-talents and schooled fakers, the music has taken on a bland, generic display, performed to audiences of doughy complexion by uninteresting players of minor status. The blues has lost its soul.”
Danish Ballet – Future In The Past
The Royal Danish Ballet’s history is inextricably linked with August Bournonville’s work. But how to keep the company pointed to the future while holding on to a grand tradition. Tobi Tobias checks out the company’s new Sylphide…
RIAA Settles With 64 Downloaders
“The Recording Industry Association of America says it has reached settlements with 64 people accused of downloading copyrighted music over the Internet as music companies try to combat piracy they say cost them $700 million.” Earlier this month the RIAA sued 261 people for file-trading.
Attack Dog – Why Must Critic Bloom Be So Negative?
Literary critic Harold Bloom has been quick to condemn awarding the National Book Award to Stephen King. While Steve Almond doesn’t necessarily disagree with Bloom about King, he is confused as to Bloom’s purpose in attacking: “What I don’t quite get—and maybe this is because I haven’t spent long enough in academia—is why Bloom feels it necessary to sound off against writers he deems inferior, as opposed to celebrating the writers (and the ideas) he admires. And, furthermore, why he chooses to do so in such a lazy manner.”
The Amazon Factor
Amazon’s book-selling rankings are becoming increasingly influential in promoting a book. “Amazon is an early indicator of consumer enthusiasm. It’s a place where you look to for early signals as to a book’s potential in the marketplace.’ Authors indeed are paying increasing heed to Amazon’s unique and influential role in publicizing and selling books. While the company doesn’t break out its books sales, it sold $1.7 billion worth of books, music, videos and DVDs for the first half of the year.”
US Congress Considers Tax Break For Donated Artwork
A change in the American tax law would allow artists to get tax deductions for the full value of artwork they donate to museums. “Now, for example, if a collector gives his Jasper Johns paintings to a museum, he can deduct their full market value. But if Jasper Johns gives the paintings he made himself, he can deduct only the cost of the materials used to make them. Ironically, when their creators die, these same items suddenly gain conventional market value for estate-tax purposes. Definitely out of whack!”
In Defense of Tough Criticism
After the Akron Beacon-Journal’s music critic blasted the Akron Symphony’s first concert of the season, readers wrote in to protest. Why so harsh, they wanted to know, particularly when the performance got a standing ovation? The Beacon-Journal’s public editor writes that the orchestra must be held to a standard: “If it wants to charge major league prices for tickets, it shouldn’t expect to deliver minor league performances and not be called on it. Readers deserve honest reviews from the music critic, not flattering boosterism.”
Connecting: Words In Translation
Will a new literary translation website “help reconnect America with the rest of the world?” At least it’s an attempt to expose uni-lingual Americans to words written elsewhere in the world. “Words Without Borders (www.wordswithoutborders.org), whose far-flung network of consulting litterateurs includes the Nigerian-born Chinua Achebe and the Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya, is predicated on the idea that translation is as thrill-charged as smuggling. ‘Not knowing what the rest of the world is thinking and writing is both dangerous and boring’.”