Tag: 02.25.03

Freezing Time In A Memorial – Is It Such A Good Idea?

Like many critics, Christopher Hawthorne was impressed with the emotional punch of Daniel Libeskind’s plans for the World Trade Center site. But like some others, he’s cooled to the idea with time. “What’s really happened is that the passing of time has offered the chance to imagine how the various schemes first unveiled months ago might strike us in 2013 or 2053, rather than 2003. And in that test, Libeskind’s doesn’t fare so well. The ruling above-ground gesture of Libeskind’s plan, seen especially in the towers that would ring the site, is that of the shard, the sharp fragment unleashed by shattering or explosion. Combined with the idea of keeping the pit as open as a fresh wound, the shards seem to aestheticize the violence of Sept. 11. And the further we get from that day, the more misguided it seems to fix the site’s violent history in glass and steel.”

How Not To Sell Public Art To The Masses

In Milwaukee, plans for a major work of public art by sculptor Dennis Oppenheim have been shelved after a public outcry against the decidedly modernist piece. James Auer is disappointed by the plan’s defeat, but thinks he knows what the problem was – lack of proper salesmanship. “Perhaps we can retreat, regroup and give some thought to a few general rules about introducing a major work of art by a top talent to a public that is wary of modernism in general and conceptualism in particular.” Auer specifically suggests involving the local media early on in the process, rather than making formal announcements about new artworks which have already been approved.

NY Mayor Reinvents So-Called “Decency Council”

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is reinventing former mayor Rudy Giuliani’s so-called “Decency Council” – the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission. “The commission, largely ignored in recent years, was reconstituted by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a decency panel in April 2001 after the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibited works he found offensive. But Bloomberg apparently has another model in mind: a ‘working board’ full of established art enthusiasts, some of whom just might write out a hefty check in a pinch.”

London Success But Bombing In New York (Ah Yes, The Tradition…)

London critics loved Sam Mendes’ Donmar Theatre productions. Yet when he brought them to New York, the critics piled up their complaints. “There is a long tradition of New York critics resisting productions that have been successful in London. But there is more to the failure of Mendes’s productions to win them over than sniping.”

Actors Unions Discuss Merger

America’s two major actors unions are seriously discussing a merger. “A merger of the two unions has been discussed and rejected in the past. But in recent years, the consolidation of firms like America Online and Time Warner and the creation of Vivendi Universal have concentrated industry power in fewer hands. ‘What we found is that instead of just being a good idea or a convenience, this kind of unity is more and more becoming an absolute necessity’.”

Theatres Against War

On Monday some 700 readings of Aristophanes’ anti-war satire “Lysistrata,” written in 411 B.C., will be presented around the world to protest a war in Iraq. “It’s all part of the Lysistrata Project, the brainchild of New York writer-actress Kathryn Blume. Blume said she had been working on a screenplay based on “Lysistrata” when she heard about Theaters Against War (THAW), a group planning an ‘action day’ to protest a potential United States war against Iraq.”

NJ Arts Groups Organizing Protests Against Eliminating Arts Funding

New Jersey arts groups are mobilizing protests in response to Governor James McGreevey’s proposal to eliminate state arts funding. Arts supporters plan a big rally for May 15 – about the time the state legislature is expected to vote on the budget. “A vocal supporter of the arts in the past, McGreevey has expressed regret about the need for his proposal to slash arts funding. He has urged arts leaders to come up with alternatives.”