Daniel Libeskind’s design for the World Trade Center site, which he calls ‘Memory Foundations’, “epitomises American society’s current morbid preoccupation with death and conflict. Several architecture commentators have pointed out that the subjective nature of Libeskind’s work is something new among architects, who rarely express their own feelings and tend to be more comfortable talking about the functional and technical aspects of buildings. The difference between Libeskind and a cool, rational architect such as Norman Foster is something like the difference between Princess Diana and a regal head of state.”
Tag: 03.11.03
Barry On Keillor
So what’s Garrison Keillor really like? Don’t ask Dave Barry: “I do know that he’s a generous host, and very smart, and he can be funny as hell even when he’s not on the radio. But he’s not an easy guy to get close to.” But Barry says that Keillor is one of the great comic geniuses of the age, and that his ‘Humor Processor’ is always running. Keillor has had his critics in recent days, but how many comics can produce two full hours of original material a week, every week for almost three decades, and perform it live without a hint of the arduousness of the process?
Dangerous Dig
“Indian archaeologists prepared on Tuesday to start digging in search of a lost temple whose disputed existence lies at the heart of India’s tense and often violent Hindu-Muslim divide. Archaeologists put up tents at three places at the site in the northern holy town of Ayodhya to maintain secrecy as they search for remains of a temple which some Hindus say was buried under a 16th-century mosque. Hindu zealots razed the mosque in 1992, triggering nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots in which some 3,000 people died.”
NY Artists Migrating Again
New York artists and arts spaces are on the move again, looking for less expensive space. This year’s target area – Hell’s Kitchen in the West 30s. “It isn’t news that artists get used like detergent—cleaning up a neighborhood, then flushed away. What does seem like a huge shift is that some artists spaces are trying to buck this trend by buying buildings.”
Proposed New York Non-Profit Rules May Prove Difficult For Arts Groups
New York’s attorney general has proposed accounting reforms for non-profits. The legislation “would require many New York-based nonprofits to certify financial statements, create audit committees to scrutinize accounting practices, and ensure a sufficient number of independent board members.” Some arts people are wary. Depending on how the legislation is written, arts groups – particularly mid-size arts groups – could have difficulty complying.
Ambitions, Circumstances Helped Sink Seattle’s ACT Theatre
How did Seattle’s ACT Theatre go from a $5 million annual budget and 60+ employees to a $1.7 million deficit and laying off most of its staff? Misha Berson writes that “a confluence of difficult circumstances and dubious internal decisions, including ACT’s 1996 move to a new facility, swelling artistic ambitions, shifts of leadership, overdependence on credit and the post-9/11 recession” conspired to sink the theatre’s fortunes.
A Concerto About Me – And It’s Good!
Toronto Star music critic William Littler was surprised to get an announcement of a performance of a new concerto dedicated to…him. So he had to go and see why an Edmonton-based composer was honoring a Toronto-based music writer. “It turned out that he had been reading my reviews on the Star’s Web site. The concerto, he explained before its world premiere, represented his way of thanking me.” Naturally Littler stayed for the performance, and reports that “the 24-minute concerto turned out to be a piece worth hearing, with a distinctive musical character and an emotional communicativeness.”
Public TV’s Bait-And-Switch
When American public TV hods pledge drives, it abandons regular programming and spews out entertainment or special-interest shows calculated to grab more viewers to watch and make a contribution. But “all this pledge-time stunt-programming is enough to make a longtime public-TV booster wonder if somebody has lost sight of its mission. It seems disingenuous, if not dishonest, like a bait and switch. Meanwhile, people who appreciate public-TV’s staple programming have the option of griping through stress tips or another Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute for a week or more or slip-sliding over to the History Channel and C-SPAN, from which they may never return. Apart from being aggravating, this strategy seems self-defeating in the long run.”
Settlement In Broadway Strike
Sources say a settlement has been made in the Broadway musicians strike. Producers and musicians bargained for nearly 12 hours through the night at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s mansion. “The settlement, the terms of which were not immediately announced, will presumably allow most Broadway musicals that have been closed since Friday night to reopen tonight.”
Pair Quits Boston Ballet
After a couple of tumultuous years, things were supposed to settle down at Boston Ballet with the arrival of new artistic director Mikko Nissinen. But two dancers who have quit mid-season suggest that the controversies aren’t over yet.