Eccentric Englishman Eadweard Muybridge discovered the photographic system that would revolutionize scientific understanding and the process for naturalist art. Was this dedicated craftsmen “a mad scientist, promoting his lab experiments as photographic art? Or was he an artistic opportunist, using science to gratify his flair for fantasy?” – Civilization
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“WE NEED YOU TO HELP SELL THE TICKETS”
Nina Simone sits for an interview and answers every question with a plea to help sell tickets. The tour “hasn’t been doing too good. We need you to help sell the tickets.” – Boston Herald
DEATH STAR
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos predicts that “the advent of computer e-books would likely spell doom for independent booksellers since customers would not be coming to their stores to download reading material.” But Bezos’ dire prediction was made at a news conference and was different from the speech he had given earlier to the BookExpo convention reassuring booksellers that their business was safe from the likes of him. – Seattle Post-Intelligencer
GOOD BOOKS ARE HERE TO STAY
That’s the message from this year’s BookExpo America (though there’s still plenty of worrying about the e-business) – Seattle Times
BRITS HONOR HOLOCAUST
London’s first permanent Holocaust exhibition opened Tuesday at the Imperial War Museum. The $27 million exhibition is the largest Holocaust memorial display outside Israel and the U.S. – BBC
MGM SELLS BELLAGIO ART
The MGM sells off eleven of the paintings it inherited with its purchase of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, taking in $124 million. Three of the paintings were bought by Steve Wynn, former Bellagio owner. – DigitalCity
MAKING THE ART-SITE DANCE
Thomas Hoving, art-world showman and former Met Museum director, has signed on to direct the considerable editorial content of Artnet.com. He calls himself “just another Internet hack trying to break some stories.” – BusinessWeek
FLASH OF INSPIRATION
Architect Norman Foster’s Millennium Bridge, linking Tate Modern with the north bank of the Thames, opens Saturday. The positive buzz about his design and its potential to transform London’s waterfront has been mounting. So what was Foster’s inspiration for the project? “The blade of light that used to shoot out across the canyon and so save Flash Gordon from his evil pursuers in the Saturday-morning cinema that was such a feature of his youth. For Foster, the Millennium Bridge is that blade of light, leaping across the Thames.” – The Telegraph (UK)
A BUSINESS DECISION, NOT A CURIOSITY
After five months in operation Sotheby’s online auction operation is doing about $1 million in sales a week. Now the company is selling a copy of the Declaration of Independence online without a “flesh-and-blood auctioneer drumming up excitement and coaxing bids from collectors.” – Los Angeles Times
WOMEN’S WORK
An unprecedented number of women artists, filmmakers, and writers in Korea have been creating work that directly confronts gender-identity issues and sexism. Three upcoming exhibits will feature the work of 489 women artists – the largest number to ever exhibit in Korea. – Korea Herald