Architect Daniel Libeskind has been whisked into San Francisco to drum up interest in his design for the city’s new Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the PR process may be more interesting than the eventual result. “The Contemporary Jewish Museum is about something else: the way that building designs evolve in an era when so-called starchitects are public figures. An institution hiring an architect of Libeskind’s stature acquires a recognizable look; in this case, buildings that from some angles appear to have been carved by bolts of lightning… But in today’s world of powerful computers and constant travel, the gap has never been greater between how noted architects are perceived — and the design work they actually do.”
Tag: 05.05.05
Sweet Debut Hits Broadway, But How Long Can The Fairy Tale Last?
After months of toil, strife, and seemingly endless backstage drama, the Christina Applegate-led revival of Sweet Charity has opened on Broadway. “This production has generated theater news of a kind you supposed didn’t happen anymore, or perhaps never really happened except in old backstage movies. Star breaks leg (well, a bone in her foot) twirling off lamppost onstage in Chicago; talented understudy (Charlotte d’Amboise) opens for star in Boston; producers decide to close show; star insists that she will, will get better in time for a delayed New York opening and helps raise the extra money to ensure show’s arrival, just before the deadline for Tony nominations.” But a fairy-tale ending requires more than determination, and Charity may not make the cut.
Determination No Substitute For Talent
“Valiant behavior is no replacement for musical talent or the know-how acquired in years of stage experience. Applegate possesses neither. She has limited musical theater instincts — she wanders off-key rather often — and though she makes admirable attempts to move like a real dancer, you’re aware in every pivot that she isn’t one. (The character, after all, is supposed to dance for her supper.) These deficiencies are as fatal to the production as root rot is to a garden.”
Freedom Tower Gets Political Support, But May Lose Its Look
In what could be viewed as either an attempt to restore public confidence in New York’s massive Ground Zero reconstruction project, or the continuing erosion of said confidence, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki have publicly endorsed the security-based redesign of the proposed Freedom Tower. “People involved in the rebuilding processs say that the tower, unveiled 18 months ago as the product of a contentious collaboration between two world-famous architects, is likely to lose its signature twisting form, along with its distinctive spire – a conscious reflection and reply to the Statue of Liberty’s upraised arm in New York harbor. Mr. Pataki, his aides and others stressed, however, that the Freedom Tower would not be reduced to an unsightly, fortress-like bunker, and that it would be built on the same general location planners had long ago settled on.”
Poll: Americans Want Government Out Of Censorship Business
A new poll by the advocacy group TV Watch says that Americans are overwhelmingly against government regulation of on-air content. 75% of respondants “strongly agreed that they would rather decide what programs to watch instead of having government censors decide.” (It is worth noting that TV Watch was founded to combat the FCC’s recent crackdown on American broadcasters, so the questions asked in the survey may have been of the leading variety.)
Colossal Advertising MegaComplex: 8,342 – Moviegoing Public: 1
One of America’s largest cinema chains has bowed to public pressure and agreed to publish the actual start times of its films. You know, the time that the actual movie will begin showing, after the now-obligatory barrage of ads and previews. Loews Cineplex says that it will begin noting that feature presentations begin “10 to 15 minutes after the published showtime” in all its newspaper and online listings.
Linguistically Improbable Marketing Techniques
Statistically Improbable Phrases: the term sounds like a highfalutin’ way of describing nonsense prose, but in reality, it’s an innovative new feature of Amazon.com’s search utility. The SIP utility “compares the text of hundreds of thousands of books to reveal an author’s signature constructions,” and is only one of several new options available for prejudging literature. “Customers can also see how complicated the writing is (yes, post-structuralist Michel Foucault’s prose is foggier than Immanuel Kant’s), and how much education you need to understand a book. (To understand French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu, you’ll need a second Ph.D.)”
Brancusi Sculpture Breaks Auction Record
“A sculpture by Romanian Constantin Brancusi has broken the world auction record for a sculpture by fetching $27,456,000. Brancusi’s Bird in Space, a marble piece depicting a bird soaring into the sky, was sold by Christie’s New York to an anonymous buyer on Wednesday. The previous record was for another work by Brancusi called Danaide, which was sold for $18.1m in May 2002.”
Just Like That, Auction Season Back On Track
The Brancusi sale was only the main highlight of a stunning night of art sales at Christie’s in New York, as the auction season appeared to come to life on the back of a single event. The auction went a long way towards restoring the confidence of art insiders, who had blanched after a disappointing showing at Sotheby’s the previous night. “Compare the results: Christie’s sale totaled $142.8 million, far above its low estimate of $111.2 million but not quite reaching its high estimate, $149.6 million. Of the 59 lots offered, only 7 failed to sell. Sotheby’s sale totaled $91.2 million, after a low estimate of $127.3 million, with 20 of the 65 lots unsold.”
OSM Strike Not Really About The Money
Ask the musicians of l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal why they have called a strike, and they will describe the OSM’s management as unwilling to pay going market rates for a top-notch orchestra. “But the heart of the two-year-old contract dispute remains management’s desire to gain more control over working conditions. The two sides have spent over 40 bargaining sessions arguing about 100 workplace concessions demanded by executive director Madeleine Careau… Players said that some concessions on Careau’s list were either unprecedented in the industry or not in accordance with Quebec’s labour laws.”