This year’s Whitney Biennial was supposed to show that there’s good art outside the main art centers. But “the show has remarkably few surprises, and most of these aren’t that good. With several notable exceptions, too many of the under-known artists here turn out to be that way for a reason, which is the weakness of their work. This suggests two possible explanations. Either the centers are more permeable than we think—that is, ‘good art’ finds a way to get known—or the curators were too narrow. – Village Voice
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BACK FROM THE BRINK
After drifting into obscurity, and to the brink of closing down, due to financial woes over the last 14 years, the Detroit Institute of Arts is back in the black due to a new management structure, an infusion of cash from private donors, and a major exhibition of van Gogh’s paintings and drawings. “I haven’t seen it this crowded, the lines were terrific,” said one visitor. – New York Times
BUILDING POLITICS
When the government of Germany moved its capital back to Berlin, it faced a building problem. No one care much about the East German buildings thrown up in the last 55 years. But “the unique style of the Third Reich’s state architecture – huge, bleak geometrical structures with endless corridors are an impressive reminder of that terrible era. Both architects and the new tenants had to modernize these relics of totalitarian rule in a way filled their offices and halls with the spirit of a modern liberal democracy.” – Die Welt (Germany)
PONY UP OR THEY’LL LEAVE
Novelist Margaret Atwood tells the Toronto City Council they need to spend more on the arts or artists will leave the city. “Currently, the City of Toronto spends $11 per capita on arts and culture. Vancouver spends nearly twice that: $21 per capita annually. And New York City spends $63 per person per year on the arts” – CBC
REDO BEFORE THE REDO
On the eve of a major redevelopment of Lincoln Center, its president resigns. Norman Leventhal can’t take credit for all the artistic successes in his 17 years running America’s premiere arts campus, but he helped transform the institution into a year-round destination and helped diversify its programming. – New York Times
DON’T LIKE IT? BLAME THE AUDIENCE
A composer/scientist has undertaken a series of performance in Zurich with his computer-generated music. The computer “reads” the audience – fidgets, coughs, shifting in the chairs – and translates the variables into music. – New Scientist
DREAM TEAM
After watching its heavily favored “Saving Private Ryan” lose the Oscar for best picture last year, Dreamworks SKG enjoyed “sweet vindication” on Sunday when its “American Beauty” took home five awards-just six years after the studio was founded and only three years after its first release. “DreamWorks SKG had at last risen to the top of the pecking order, for one night, at least.” – New York Times 03/28/00
EDITORIAL SEX APPEAL
Salon and Slate, two of best political and cultural affairs sites on the Web, have had a healthy, erudite rivalry going for some time. But arguments turned personal in a recent volley of remarks between Salon editor, David Talbot, and Slate editor, Michael Kinsley. Talbot: “‘Mike Kinsley, if you’ve ever seen him, is not the sexiest guy in the world, and that’s reflected in his product.'” Kinsley (after calling Talbot’s remarks “moronic”): “‘How sexually appealing the editor of Salon finds the editor of Slate is of no practical interest to the editor of Slate — or, presumably, to the editor of Salon. The trouble with `editor’s sexiness’ as a metric is that it is hard to quantify objectively.'” – Chicago Tribune
ACCUSED
- Journalists in India, outraged that “The Sixth Sense” didn’t win a single Oscar, have accused the Academy of apartheid. “The country’s media claims the film’s lack of success in any of the six categories in which it was nominated was due to racism against its director, M. Night Shyamalan, who was born in India.” – BBC 03/28/00
ONCE AN ARTIST, ALWAYS AN ARTIST
An interview with German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who celebrates his 75th birthday-and five decades of recitals, concerts, and operas-next month with the release of a special Deutsche Grammophon Fischer-Dieskau Edition of 20 CDs. Retired from singing since 1992, Fischer-Dieskau has kept busy ever since reciting poetry, conducting, and painting. What keeps him hungry for artistic expression? “Goethe always said that life must be like art somehow. It is for him only bearable if it is art. Otherwise it cannot be lived.” – The Times (UK)