Paul Wells finds he never finishes books these days. “It is a dark burden to bear, this business of not finishing books. You start out with all the goodwill in the world. You flip the pages diligently. Your circle of acquaintances expands by a dozen or more as this cast of made-up people enters your life. And before you even find out how it all turns out for them, you set them aside. What’s your problem? You feel ungrateful, somehow. The author put his life into these people, and I can’t even stick around to see who lives or who dies? And yet, as I stare at the books in my library, I realize I have become a serial book-unfinisher.”
Tag: 03.09.05
The Google Artist
“Since 2000, Dennis Hwang has marked events and holidays–American and international–with drawings on, around and through the Google icon on the site’s home page. That’s five Valentine’s Days. Four Christmases. Four 4ths of July. Four Thanksgivings. The Olympics. The holidays repeat each year; Hwang’s drawings never do. His work has reached cult status. There are Web sites and blogs devoted to Hwang and his work.”
Dissing The Diana Ballet
The reviews are in on a new ballet based on the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. They’re not kind: “While Diana the Princess, created by Danish dance impresario Peter Schaufuss, is indeed pretty bad, it does have moments of comic genius. The problem is it’s hard to tell whether they’re intentional or not.”
Lining Up To Support D’Arcy
“David D’Arcy is one of only a few reporters who understand and have been covering the complex Nazi era art restitution story and he is a respected arts reporter. No print media have yet reported the story that appears below; Artnet News is the first to report publicly. You can read who has rallied in support of David, and it’s stunning that NPR has refused to reconsider its very weak and unsupportable position.”
Arts Funding? Why Not An Endowment?
Philadelphia is in need of some major new arts funding. But where to get it? Tom Ferrick Jr. has an idea: how about a three-year increase of one percent in the sales tax? It would generate about $600 million, which could be invested in an endowment for arts and culture over the next 20 years…
The New Jazz Labels (Musician-Led)
More and more jazz artists are taking the recording business into their own hands. “Artist-run independent labels are nothing new, especially in jazz. (Decades ago, bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach formed Debut Records; singer Betty Carter once founded her own BetCar imprint.) But established jazz musicians are going their own way in surprising numbers today, touching on age-old and new business issues.”
Art Fairs – The Game Of Getting In Early
With the art market cranking at full speed, the competition to buy desirable work is fierce. And getting into art fairs early to see what’s on offer has become a game. “From big machers on museum boards with millions to spend to relative nobodies with a few grand saved up, anyone who wants a leg up on the competition tries to see the merch first. Competition is so fierce because of a long-overheated art market in which nearly every gallery exhibition sells out and waiting lists are the norm. Since the Armory Show is arguably the most important contemporary art fair in North America, there’s a lot of work that collectors might not get a crack at otherwise.”
Is Philadelphia Museum’s Thai Mask Stolen Art?
Questions are being raised about a 22-karat gold, jewel-encrusted crown believed to have been made in Thailand in the 15th century, and owned for the past 23 years by the Philadelphia Museum. “The crown, which resembles a cylindrical helmet, is featured on the museum’s Web site and in its collections handbook. Now, with the opening of an exhibition of Siamese art in San Francisco that includes the crown, questions have been raised in Thailand as to whether this regal object was removed from that country illegally nearly half a century ago.”
A Home Of Its Own: Ailey Does It Right
The Alvin Ailey Company has moved into a beautiful new home. “Conventional wisdom holds that nonballet dance troupes lack the business savvy or community support to raise the kind of money needed for their own buildings, but the new Ailey home shines as a model of how it can be done.”
Government Report To Recommend Downsizing Tasmanian Orchestra?
A forthcoming Australian government report on orchestras is said to recommend downsizing the Tasmanian Symphony from a full orchestra to a chamber orchestra with just 38 full-time equivalent musicians.
“It further recommends that governments provide $1.1 million in one-off funding to assist the TSO to meet redundancy costs. The shock recommendations are contained in a national review of orchestras headed by former Qantas boss James Strong. The final report is due to be handed down in Canberra in two weeks.”