“He loved music above all things, and because he cared so deeply about every aspect of it, he was greatly misunderstood.”
Tag: 01.31.11
What We’ve Gotten Wrong About Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly
The now-controversial 13-minute film (not video) is generally “regarded as an expression of the artist’s outrage and grief over the AIDS epidemic.” Yet “the people closest to the artist’s estate say the film and its creator have been too narrowly interpreted.” (For instance, Wojnarowicz completed Fire before he was diagnosed with AIDS.)
Is West End Theatre Really in Good Health, Or Do High Ticket Prices Just Make It Seem That Way?
Michael Billington: “If box-office revenues increase while attendances show a marginal dip, it can only be for one reason: higher ticket prices. … All the same I worry that we shall soon reach the point of no return, that the gap between the commercial and subsidised sector is growing ever wider.”
Rare Glimpse of Arabic Theater Now Available Online
The British Council and the company Digital Theatre (which offers online showings of performances by the RSC, Young Vic, Almeida and the like) have launched a website offering (with subtitles) six productions, from six Arab countries, recorded at a festival in Qatar last October.
Quoting/Appropriating/Stealing In The New Age Of Dance
“YouTube: It’s changed the dance landscape. So much of our dance past is posted on YouTube (and other sites, like dancemedia.com) that we are awash in our past. I think the reason visual artists started appropriating way before dancers did is that their past is out there, in galleries and museums, for anyone to snatch ideas from.”
Egyptian Museum Storage Is Looted
“Reports indicate that middle-class Egyptians, the tourism police and later the military secured the museum. But now it appears that many other museum’s and storehouses have been looted, along with archaeological sites.”
Duo Buys Historic Detroit Jazz Club, Vows To Keep It Going
“The new owners face stiff challenges in resurrecting Baker’s to its former glory — the difficulty of drawing patrons to a gritty location, the economics of turning a profit in a club that seats just 100 people, the graying of traditional jazz audiences, the club’s reputation for inconsistent service and an interior in desperate need of deep cleaning and renovations.”
Redesigning Print Atlases for the Digital Age
“By rethinking the kind of information a printed atlas should contain, and creating new ways of presenting it, [Joost] Grootens has reinvented the old-fashioned atlas to make it useful and relevant in an age when we can call up digital maps instantly on satellite navigation systems and the Internet.”
Smithsonian’s Regents Back Up Clough Following ‘Hide/Seek’ Censorship Fight
“Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, the point man in the controversy that has rocked the Smithsonian Institution for the last two months, received enthusiastic support from his board.”
Smithsonian Institutes New Procedures to Head Off Future Censorship Battles
“The Smithsonian Institution Monday recommended new procedures to preview and provide an opportunity for public comment about future exhibitions that could prove sensitive.”