“This decision to scuttle the Google Books settlement marks a turning point in Google’s ambitions. Between being slapped around by China in the past year and now getting its rather creative class-action settlement rejected, Google might finally learn some humility.”
Tag: 03.22.11
Art Walk Helps Revive L.A.’s Black Arts Enclave
“Leimert Park Village, the historical enclave of black culture and arts, has been showing signs of new life lately, and not a moment too soon. … The only thing missing was foot traffic, a longstanding problem in Leimert. Enter another addition geared to the Internet generation: the Leimert Park Art Walk.”
What If The Music World Were Like The Art World?
“The art world today doesn’t much resemble today’s musical world. If it did, it would look very different.”
Has The Bolshoi Ballet Become A Cesspool?
“The surprise departure last week of Gennady Yanin, deputy director of the Bolshoi ballet company, is the latest scandal to rock the institution. Critics speak of a theatre lacking vision and even morals, threatening to derail the Bolshoi’s history as a bedrock of Russian dramatic arts.”
The Maestro Mystique (And What It Overlooks)
“[The] mystique surrounding conductors is so strong that it remains tantamount to heresy to suggest that [James] Levine’s conducting, in particular, is ever anything less than breathtaking. … But the conductor retains an ineffable sense of authority, of connection to something greater than mere mortals, in part because what he or she does is so difficult to define, yet so evident in its results.”
Julian Schnabel’s New Lightning-Rod Movie
In Miral, Schnabel (who is Jewish) “tells the interlinked stories of four Arab women living in Israel, from the state’s creation in 1948 through the Oslo peace process in the mid-’90s.” In a Q&A, he talks about his reasons for approaching the situation from a Palestinian viewpoint and what he makes of all the flack he has gotten over the film.
Judge Throws Out Google Books Deal
“The company’s plan to digitize every book ever published and make them widely available was derailed on Tuesday when a federal judge in New York rejected a sweeping $125 million legal settlement the company had worked out with groups representing authors and publishers.”
Extra Arts Funding In Britain (!): Scotland’s Arts Organizations Get ‘Big Freeze’ Payments
“Scotland’s culture minister Fiona Hyslop has announced severe weather payments totalling £362,000 to arts organisations.
It was, of course, a particularly bad winter. The idea of going to the theatre last December was one of the last things on people’s minds, just getting out the house was more of a priority.”
England’s Regional Theatres Mustn’t Hunker Down Amidst The Classics
Lyn Gardner: “Perhaps it’s hardly surprising: just as hemlines go down in a recession, maybe artistic directors are inclined to look backwards rather than forwards. Perhaps even more importantly, it is a reminder how much confidence and psychology plays a part in creating the conditions necessary for a theatre to take risks, then reap the rewards.”
A New Ballet From Twyla Tharp
“Renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp will create a new full-length ballet jointly commissioned by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Georgia’s Atlanta Ballet … The story ballet will be created in Atlanta and have its world premiere by the Georgia troupe in February, 2012. Tharp will come to Winnipeg to prepare RWB to perform the Canadian premiere in the fall of 2012.”