Tag: 02.01.05

Seattle Gallery Owners Upset Over “Conceptual” Art Thefts

Art stolen from Seattle galleries that was presumably going to be part of a conceptual show has gallery owners unhappy. “There’s real money involved and real reputations. We reconfigured our space to make sure the front room is always visible to staff and spent a lot of time worrying if we needed a better security system. We felt like saps who couldn’t keep an eye on the art.”

Turkey’s Case To The EU: Our Culture

Turkey is trying to join the European Union. How to get member countries to vote yes on admittance? Through traveling shows of Turkish culture. “Before Europeans hold referendums on whether to admit Turkey, they must better know a people whose popular image is still largely shaped by the clichés of warriors, harems and immigrants. Certainly, few Europeans today recognize Turkey as a modern secular state with a rich and sophisticated past. So, yes, if “Turks” travels around Europe, as proposed, it should prove something of a revelation.”

Is There Still A Role For Art Criticism?

Get a group of critics together today and they’re as likely to talk about the sad shape of criticism as they are about art. “The arguments today are no longer over whether one view of art is better than any other. Rather, the argument has turned on what should be the most ‘appropriate’ relationship between a writer, his writing and the work of art. Instead of a discussion about the desirable future of art and culture, we’re presented with the cautious ethics of the responsible critic.”

The Oscar-Nominated Films The Rest Of The World Hasn’t Seen

Why does it often take so long for Oscar-nominated movies to play in countries outside the US? “The delay between US release and the rest of the world is often to the frustration of movie buffs keen to see the latest films before Oscar nominations are revealed. But it is the tactics adopted during the fierce competition of film festival season that determine when and where a movie will make its mark. The studios vying for cinema’s most prestigious prize know that when it comes to taking home the goods, timing is everything.”

The Language Of Music (Forget The Mechanics)

Today, however, the teaching of music—even at the great conservatories—is often a more mechanical affair. The problem, Bob Abramson says, lies in what these students have been taught about what matters musically—not experimentation, but repetition; not invention, but perfection. His students come to Juilliard knowing how to decode the symbols of music but not knowing how to infuse them with meaning. “We teach reading without literacy,” he says.

Stealing Art As Art

Last summer artwork began disappearing out of galleries and houses in Seattle. Some of it was reported stolen, some not. But it turns out the thefts were part of an art project, an “art show that never happened. The proposed show—called the Repo Show—was to include works by more than a dozen artists, all stolen from galleries and homes by an art collective called Fillistine. The idea, as they described it to us, was to steal the work, then invite the artists to come retrieve it from a local gallery at a one-night, public ‘opening’.”