It wasn’t too terribly long ago that a German psychologist penned a best-selling book which announced as absolute fact that the comic books being devoured by America’s youth were turning our kids into a generation of delinquents, homosexuals, and worse. Such claims seem absurd and even quaint today, but in the 1950s, Dr. Fredric Wertham’s tome was taken very seriously, and the comic book industry fell all over itself to reassure the public that comics were wholesome. The unfortunate result of such obsequiousness was the Comics Code, with which the industry “castrated itself with a code that sent it into the dark ages for 10 years.”
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Going Beyond TiVo
“A Colorado startup, Interact-TV, has released a hacker-friendly digital entertainment center that plays, records and archives TV shows, DVDs, music and even digital photo albums. The Telly MC1000 Digital Entertainment Center, available now from the company’s website for $900, can also surf the Web and act as a home media server… Unlike TiVo or ReplayTV, the Telly is designed to be easily upgraded and expanded by the consumer and third-party software developers. Most other set-top boxes are expressly designed not to be hacked, and their warranties are voided if the owner opens them up to tinker. By contrast, the Telly is expandable like a PC.”
Mercury Shortlist Released
The shortlist for this year’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize is out, and it includes pop music acts from Radiohead and Coldplay to soul duo Floetry and club mixer Dizzee Rascal. Although most Americans are unaware of its existence, the Mercury Prize, which is judged by a panel of music industry experts, is often a springboard to mainstream success in both Europe and the U.S.
Oscars Are Only Worth A Dollar?
“A standoff over one of the most illustrious artifacts of American film, the Oscar won by Orson Welles in 1942 as the co-writer of Citizen Kane, ended yesterday when Christie’s withdrew it from sale. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood trade group that sponsors the Oscars, had objected to its sale, claiming the right to buy back the statue for $1.”
Could The Arts Pull Detroit Back To Respectability?
Detroit has been losing population for years, and the city’s image in the national consciousness is hardly a positive one. Everyone wants to see a turnaround, but where to begin? Other cities have harnessed to power of the “creative class” to make their urban core more attractive, more exciting, and therefore more attractive to homebuyers. Paul Horton writes that Detroit has plenty of artists, so why not see what a little unity can do? “A hip and happening atmosphere is a crucial element in a city that ‘works’ and is a key to prosperity… If the elements needed to draw new residents are not in place, Detroit and other urban cities will continue to lag behind.”
Lower Ticket Prices = More Butts In The Seats
The UK’s National Theatre has been trying a new strategy this summer to attract larger audiences to its performances: dropping ticket prices. Astonishingly enough, as it turns out, the public is in favor of spending less on tickets. “The gamble of slashing most seat prices to £10 in the National Theatre’s largest auditorium has filled the yawning spaces of the Olivier with new young theatre goers. In the past sweltering weeks, when other theatres were discounting frantically to keep their shows alive, the Olivier has been more than 90% full.”
It’s No ‘Orange Blossom Special,’ But It’ll Do
This week, Spiro Patanikolatos made his solo debut at the Hamptons Music Festival in upstate New York. His instrument of choice was a 10-car locomotive. “The westbound 8:05 p.m. train out of Bridgehampton and its 20-second-long roar have become something of a festival tradition, one that soloists… have tried to somehow ‘play around’ by adjusting their phrasing.” But this year, the festival held a competition in which composers wrote works specifically designed to feature the rumbling train. “The audience of several hundred watched the train go past and cheered. Mr. Patanikolatos sounded its long, loud whistle, and the featured instrument of the evening disappeared down the track.”
New Chairwoman, Familiar Problems
When Dame Judy Mayhew takes over the reins of London’s Royal Opera House, she will have her work cut out for her. The head job at Covent Garden has always been a notoriously tricky one politically, and the ROH is not exactly flush with cash at the moment, either. Mayhew is upbeat about the future, but realistic about the short and long-term challenges that lie ahead of her: “The reality is that we have to find a way of squeezing another £1.4m out of next year’s Covent Garden budget, and we have to find ways of doing it without damaging the core product.”
Hunt: We Must Never Negotiate With Art-Wielding Aristocrats
As the British public waits for the UK’s heritage lottery fund to make up its mind about whether it will try to purchase an important Raphael painting which is in danger of being sold to an American musuem, Tristram Hunt is wondering why exactly the government continues to play a game it can’t win. “There is a long, ignoble tradition in this country of wealthy aristocrats blackmailing the state for cultural funds… The priority for the NHMF must be to look after the broader public heritage – not just ‘British’ art, which could produce some very uninspiring galleries, but art which speaks to a national or regional identity.”
Dayton Remembered As Selfless Donor
Minneapolis philanthropist Ken Dayton, who died this past weekend, was one of the last of a dying breed of arts supporters: the generous donor who is content to watch his money do good things without expecting or even desiring a personal payback. Dayton, who gave well over $100 million to the Minnesota Orchestra and the Walker Art Center over the past half-century, never wanted his name on a building, and despised the trend towards such self-aggrandizement among younger donors, saying “They want – in giving as in everything else – a quick payout, an immediate return. Alas, in too many instances giving is becoming cause-related marketing.”