The new Saatchi Gallery is provoking discussion of what all that art of the 90s meant. “In the past 10 years, as never before, art has been seeking attention, getting itself noticed, making it big. Once it was an elevated but hardly obtrusive feature of the landscape, dropping the occasional branch in the public road (those bricks, etc). But since the early 1990s art has arrived with a crash, become one of the fallen trees that block our streets, suddenly massive and unavoidable. Yes, it may have come down in the world a little. But heck, look at the visibility. We all know the names carved in the bark. Damien Hirst. Young British Artists. Sensation. The Turner prize. Tracey Emin. Tate Modern. Serota. Saatchi. What happened? What caused this spectacular arrival, that turned art into one of those things that are understood to be newsworthy with no further explanation, like pop, sport, soaps, supermodels?”
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Iraq’s Treasures – Inevitable Destruction
Those hoping Iraq’s archaeological treasures won’t be destroyed By the American invasion will be disappointed. “There are so many archaeological sites in Iraq that it’s like a dart game – wherever you throw a dart, you’ll hit a site. Frankly, at this point, wherever the war’s soldiers move, they will be doing damage to archaeological terrain.”
A Record Of Destruction
From the Acropolis to the Bamiyan Buddhas – the list of cultural wonders destroyed by war is a long one…
Paris Opera Pulls Newspaper Ads Over Bad Reviews
The Paris Opera has been getting bad reviews from critics of the newspaper Le Monde. So the company has pulled its advertising from the paper. “Le Monde appreciates almost none of our productions, with its critics describing the Opera’s current productions as ‘old-fashioned’ and lacking all spirit of innovation. In these conditions it would be inhuman to impose paid advertisements on Le Monde inviting the public to see shows it condemns so forcefully.”
Classics: Where The Money Is
“Measured against a best seller in its first flush, sales of any classic book are piddling, of course (unless the classic has just been made into a blockbuster movie, in which case all bets are off). But the overall sales picture resembles the proverbial tortoise-and-hare scenario: As the race goes on, the classics win out. This may seem intuitive; but what’s surprising is that often the race doesn’t have to go on long at all.”
The Arts – Where We Go From Here?
Challenges for the performing arts are everywhere. Musical America talks with notable figures in the arts world to get a view of the future…
From Apolitical To Artistic Activism
“For the past decade, the New York art world seemed to have retreated into an exceptionally apolitical version of postmodernism, convinced by a combination of theory and action movies that a digitally enhanced future would favor spectacle over reality. Now, with the advent of an all-too-real war presented as mere spectacle by television, artists are suddenly faced with the very surrealistic task of making reality real. So it’s not surprising to see—both in works on view at galleries and in the strategies of the burgeoning anti-war activists — a reprisal of the imagery and the sincerity of earlier periods of art history.”
A Marketplace of Reputation
Of what are artistic fortunes made? Why do some artists’ reputations move up, while others fall? “Beethoven has definitely slumped as Mozart has soared. Is this because we prefer humane elegance to transcendental striving – or is the potent myth-making of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus to blame? When I was a student 25 years ago, E M Forster was considered among the most profound and influential of 20th-century novelists. Now that homosexuality is no longer much of a battleground, his liberal humanism holds little appeal, and we have become mesmerised by the more aggressive complexities of Kipling instead.”
New Funding For UK Dance Education
The British government has decided to inject new funding for dance education. “The £3 million package for music and dance announced by the education secretary, Charles Clarke, will make sure that hip-hop and street dance are promoted alongside jazz, tap and ballet. Although dancing is a compulsory part of the primary school curriculum it is rarely taught by specialists and lags far behind music in popularity.”
Margaret Atwood: What’s With America?
Margaret Atwood is a a great admirer of America. Or at least she used to be. “You were Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront, you were Humphrey Bogart in Key Largo, you were Lillian Gish in Night of the Hunter. You stood up for freedom, honesty and justice; you protected the innocent. I believed most of that. I think you did, too. It seemed true at the time. You are not only our neighbours: In many cases – mine, for instance – you are also our blood relations, our colleagues, and our personal friends. But although we’ve had a ringside seat, we’ve never understood you completely, up here north of the 49th parallel.”