Cultural studies have yielded a great deal of understanding about the behaviors of those around us. “In this pervasive view, key aspects of life can best be understood by exploring the fundamental beliefs and assumptions of a culture and (in some formulations especially) the language in which they are expressed. Recently, however, the fascination with culture seems to be waning: Historians, for example, are conducting symposiums and editing volumes about “what comes next,” and erstwhile culturalists are publicly bemoaning the decline of interest in relevant theory. Aside from demonstrating that humanists are not immune to faddism, the transition invites some comment about the state of cultural research more generally.”
Tag: 04.28.03
The Disaster That Is The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
“Five years after it was enacted, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is living up to critics’ worst fears. The antipiracy law has become a broad legal cudgel that’s wielded against legitimate reapplications of intellectual property, from mix CDs to off-brand toner cartridges. Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) has written the Digital Media Consumer Rights Act (HR 107), which would make it legal to, among other things, create an archival copy of a CD or DVD. Good fix for a bad law – but why not just blow up the DMCA instead?”
Getting Iraq’s Stolen Art Online
“Working to locate those treasures – which reach back 7,000 years to the advent of civilization – archaeologists are building a comprehensive, searchable image database of the tens of thousands of objects that are missing and presumed to be in the hands of professional art thieves. The Lost Iraqi Heritage project is a joint effort of over 80 universities, museums and individuals working to create a tool that law enforcement, customs officials and art dealers can use to prevent the sale and export of stolen objects. The group, which is coordinated by professors at the University of Chicago, includes the Archaeological Institute of America, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan. Archaeologists say they are motivated by what they see as an unprecedented, incalculable loss.”
English National Opera Dismisses Exec Director
The Times reports that Caroline Felton, a financial expert brought in nine months ago to help turn the English National Opera’s fortunes around, has been sacked. Her term as acting head was “marked by strikes and walkouts backstage and controversy on it.”
Stolen Paintings Recovered, Damaged
Paintings stolen from a Manchester gallery were recovered damaged, but can be repaired. “The paintings – Van Gogh’s The Fortification of Paris with Houses, Picasso’s Poverty and Gauguin’s Tahitian Landscape – were found the next day crammed into a tube behind a public toilet. A spokeswoman for Manchester University, of which the gallery is a part, said the paintings had suffered weather damage, and the Van Gogh had suffered a tear in the fabric, but added that all could be repaired. A note was attached to the paintings claiming the motive of the thieves was to highlight poor security at the gallery.”
ENO Chief Not Fired Says Company
“A spokeswoman for ENO denied reports in Monday’s Times newspaper that Ms Felton had been sacked, saying she had been given a new advisory role. ‘Caroline Felton has been on a monthly contract and remains on a monthly contract. She will be still be working in a part-time capacity, probably until the end of the season’.”
Frank Gehry’s “Bionic Bunny”
Justin Davidson thinks Frank Gehry’s new performing arts center at Bard College looks “vaguely mammalian, a mound of muscled curves – slick and powerful like a sea lion, but also armored, robotic. Gehry has built a bionic bunny crouching at the edge of a field.” So how does it sound? “Fill the grape-colored stage with musicians, and they will make more sound than an audience can absorb. And yet, perhaps, that’s just the sort of surplus a small, arts-oriented school like Bard should have. There’s something terribly attractive about the notion of a house so full of music that notes try to bust through concrete walls.”
Give Me Some Of That Publishing Mojo
Everyone, it seems wants to publish a book. “The lines for ‘How to Get an Agent,’ a panel over the weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, had been rock-concert long. And it was pretty clear from the wildly waving hands that marked the beginning of the question-answer period that these folks wanted answers.”
Where’s The Diversity? Children’s Books Get An “F”
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has been tracking diversity in children’s books in America. “Of the 5,000 children’s books published in 2002, the center looked at 3,150. Of those, 235 were by and/or about African-Americans, 94 by and/or about Latinos, 91 by and/or about Asian/Pacific Americans and 64 by and/or about American Indians. While those numbers are really shockingly low, they are still higher than they were 15 years ago. In 1985, the center found that 18 books of the 2,500 published that year were created by African-Americans.”
Fans Sue Band For Inadequate Performance
Four fans of the band Creed are suing the band for $2 million in damages after a concert in Chicago, claiming that the band “failed to perform substantially” at the show. “Lead singer Scott Stapp is alleged to have been either so drunk or so stoned that he was unable to sing a single Creed song. Instead, he frequently left the stage, rolled around on the floor and appeared to pass out. On one hand, it’s difficult to hear this story without smirking. On the other hand, however, it sets a frankly terrifying precedent. If the lawsuit is successful, where will it lead? Every band has their off nights – will any dissatisfied fan then go rushing to court? Who will decide what constitutes a substandard show? How?”