Open source is the free distribution of software or information. But why give it away? “The characteristics of information — be it software, text or even biotech research—make it an economically obvious thing to share. It is a “non-rival” good: ie, your use of it does not interfere with my use. Better still, there are network effects: ie, the more people who use it, the more useful it is to any individual user. Best of all, the existence of the internet means that the costs of sharing are remarkably low. The cost of distribution is negligible, and co-ordination is easy because people can easily find others with similar goals and can contribute when convenient. The question is, can sharing be used to supply more than just information?”
Tag: 02.04.05
Study: Fewer Kids Taking Up Ballet In UK
“New research from the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has found fewer children over the age of 10 are attending ballet classes and taking exams in the discipline. The organisation blames the growing popularity of computer games and other changes in lifestyle. And there are fears that if the trend is not reversed, there could be fewer British ballet stars in the future.”
Brooklyn Gets A New Theatre
The $38 million building “will be the first permanent home for the Theater for a New Audience, a troupe known for its productions of Shakespeare and classical drama. The theater is the first linchpin of the new BAM Cultural District, a $650 million effort to convert vacant and underused properties in the area into space for arts organizations.”
China Asks US For Art Import Restrictions
The Chinese government has asked the US to restrict import of Chinese art predating 1912. “The request, made last September under the 1970 Unesco Convention, seeks assistance in protecting Chinese cultural heritage, which China says is increasingly subject to pillage and smuggling. It has elicited objections from both the US market and scholars, and faces an uphill battle to gain approval.”
Hirst’s Shark Deteriorating
Damien Hirst’s shark floating in a tank of formaldehyde was recently sold for $12 million. But “the shark has deteriorated noticeably to the naked eye since it was first unveiled at the Saatchi Gallery in 1992. The formaldehyde solution in which it is suspended is murky while the skin of the animal is showing signs of wear and tear.”
Sotheby’s To Auction Off Versace Collection
“The art collection of murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace could fetch up to $17m when it is auctioned in New York and London later this year. Among the pictures for sale are works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Henri Matisse… The auction, at Sotheby’s, will feature 45 contemporary, impressionist and 19th Century paintings. One of the highlights of the sale is Roy Lichtenstein’s Blue Nude which has been given an estimate of $3.4m.”
Is The Met Opera’s Hunt Over?
It’s looking very much as if the Metropolitan Opera’s interim chairwoman, Christine Hunter, is in line to become the permanent replacement for Beverly Sills when the Met’s board meets later this spring. Hunter was previously a well-known trustee at the Washington National Opera, and served as that company’s president for the better part of two decades.
The Worst Musical… Ever?
The production company known as Dodger Stage Holdings has become notorious for a string of high-profile Broadway flops, leading critic Michael Riedel to suggest that the company has “done more damage to Western civilization than the Visigoths.” And it appears that Dodger’s unbroken streak of futility is continuing this season with Good Vibrations, the Beach Boys-inspired musical meant to draw in nostalgic baby boomers and pop-loving tourists. Instead, the show has been vilified in the press, and is so hated by Broadway insiders that other producers are openly rooting for it to fold. The best review the show has received so far is one that declared it to be “not quite the history-making train wreck trumpeted in advance.”
A Distinctly American Rage
Robert deNiro’s performance as boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull stands as the defining cinematic portrait of pure human rage, and the film may be the perfect representation of the strength and weakness of the American character ideal. “The violence that defines [LaMotta] — and that part of the American character he represents — emerges as simultaneously the source of his great success and the agent of his pathetic undoing… Violence is his path to freedom (sound familiar?) and the means by which he liberates himself from the violent dictates of others, from the despotic gangsters who run his neighbourhood and control his sport. Yet, the same violence is a manifestation of his self-hatred and his sexual insecurity and his paranoid jealousy.”
Dallas’s Arts District To Expand
A proposed expansion of Dallas’s Arts District got a big boost this week when a developer who had been balking at the zoning changes required for the expansion changed course and signed on as a supporter of the plan. “Despite vocal opposition from at least three property owners, City Plan Commission members on Thursday unanimously voted to lengthen the district.” The Arts District has become one of downtown Dallas’s most desirably urban areas, and the expansion is designed in part to force the owners of some of the dilapidated gas stations and vacant lots on the area’s outskirts to conform to the new high standard set by the district.