Category: visual

WTC Memorial – The Impossible Dream

Everyone want the memorial at the World Trade Center site to be special, writes Martin C. Pedersen. “Unfortunately, the more I studied the designs, the less promising I found them. None are fully realized. They all feel provisional, like ambitious first drafts. Still I am reluctant to condemn them, because the designers were handed a near-impossible brief.”

Greek Parliament Considering Parthenon Museum Approval

The Greek parliament is considering a bill that would legalize construction of a new museum at the Parthenon. Backers of the museum are trying to build the 50-million-euro museum to try to pressure the British Museum into returning the fifth-century-BC Elgin, or Parthenon, Marbles before the 2004 Olympics. “But critics who argue that important ancient ruins found on the museum plot will be destroyed during construction have successfully challenged parts of the project before the Council of State.”

Ivan and Dinos and Jake Bat About Conceptual Art

Ivan Massow and the Chapman brothers debate conceptual art. But the exchange gets off to a rocky start, with the Chapmans firing back a dismissive shot: “We must apologise for agreeing to collaborate in a discussion on the merits and downfalls of modern art, since we now find ourselves forced to decline further participation. The first point of contact with Mr Massow has baffled us with so many negatives that any productive exchange seems doomed…”

This Rubens Is Mediocre? Hmphhh!

It’s easy to disparage great art, comparing it to other works. That’s not a reason not to collect it though, writes James Fenton. “Don’t imagine, when you read that some declared expert has spoken out rather forcefully against this Rubens or that Raphael, that this is the first time in history that this daft game of disparagement has been played. Whenever a strong claim is made on behalf of a work of art, there are plenty of dim individuals (inside and outside the art world) who are simply provoked into opposition – offended that something should be admired when they have had no say in the matter.”

Toronto’s Fly-In Art – Where Are The Canadians?

The expansion of Toronto’s airport has generated some major new public art by some of the biggest names in contemporary sculpture. But. “Costing approximately $30-million, less than 1 per cent of the total budget, it will no doubt still be perceived as wild extravagance in a country where the idea of tourism promotion through the arts is still a weakly flickering light bulb. But the controversy should not be about the money; it should be about the heavy emphasis on non-Canadian artists.”

Art Basel, Miami Branch

Art Basel converges on Miami Beach after a successful first outing last year. “The Art Basel people have utilized the Miami location to make it a fun event, creating something of the same atmosphere that they have in Basel. It becomes the event. Equally important is that museum directors, curators and patrons are coming. So it’s not just a place for sales. It’s a meeting place.”

Lasting Memories – What’s It Take?

“As we move into the final stages of the World Trade Center memorial competition, it’s worth recalling this city’s forgetfulness about tragedy. Perhaps if we make the monument sufficiently majestic – and devote enough resources to change the light bulbs, clean the pumps and scrub the glass – we can prolong the event’s resonance, but we must also build for the future ebbing of emotions.”

Out Of Nature

Can you make art about nature anymore? “I still find my hackles rising at the glibness with which nature, according to ancient wisdom our nourishing mother, has been dismissed from the scene. In particular, I wonder whether artists, for whom, since the time of the cave-painters, nature has been the chief fount of inspiration, have been too hastily complicit in this dismissal.”