Philadelphia is a city filled with historic architecture constantly on the verge of obsolecence, and preserving it without stunting the city’s growth has become quite a challenge. Case in point: the city’s array of old, outdated neighborhood hospitals: too small to be functional in a modern “health system,” yet of undeniable architectural import and aesthetic value. So what to do with the buildings? How about converting them to senior housing with federal money, thereby creating “the least antiseptic low-income housing project ever financed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.”
Tag: 05.05.06
Is Tate Modern Pointing The Way To The Future?
As Tate Modern overhauls the way it presents its collection to the public, critics are beginning to assess the impact of the changes, not just on the Tate, but museums in general. “The wow factor is important to Tate Modern and key to its success, most obviously through the giant works that have held court in the gallery’s Turbine Hall. This is the challenge facing the gallery: to continue to attract all those casual visitors whose imagination has been captured by some of the contemporary shows on display, while also providing for more regular users of art galleries who rightly demand rigour and a certain level of scholarship on their visits.”
Forsythe’s NY Debut Is Baffling
“William Forsythe has introduced his newly formed company to New York with a work oddly short on choreography. For those who have followed Forsythe’s successful, if lately turbulent, career in Germany, the choice was baffling. It may be prophetic, indicating Forsythe’s plans for the future.”
Lestat’s Fatal Bite?
The Broadway vampire music “Lestat” is on life support. “A week after opening to some of the worst reviews for any show this season, Elton John’s $10 million vampire fiasco finds itself on the critical list. Ticket sales are averaging about $50,000 a day, which simply is not enough to keep the show going for long. (Rule of thumb on Broadway: To stay in the black, a $10 million show has to take in about $90,000 a day.)”
Don’t Know Much About… Science
“It is easy to say Americans, even those graduating from elite universities, lack scientific knowledge. But it is hard to define what science literacy consists of-and harder still to know how universities can impart it to, say, English majors. Does science literacy mean knowing a roster of facts or concepts? Having a sense of the scientific method? Appreciating the history and philosophy of science? Being competent in math, the lingua franca of the sciences? All of the above?”
Reinventing the Public Library (shhh…It’s an “Idea Store”…)
to begin with, don’t call them libraries. “This is the Whitechapel Idea Store, the flagship of a $44 million project initiated by the London borough of Tower Hamlets. The council aims to replace the area’s century-old libraries-largely disused and falling into disrepair after decades of meager funding and neglect-with modernized venues. More than just rehabbing buildings, though, the mission of the Idea Stores is to rejuvenate, as well as rename, the very concept of the British public library, starting in one of London’s toughest neighborhoods.”
Congress Cuts Smithsonian Budget To Protest Film Deal
Congress cuts the Smithsonian’s budget by $5.3 million to protest an exclusive deal the Smithsonian made with Showtime Networks about filming the institution’s collections. “The Smithsonian says the contract requires commercial filmmakers who want to make extensive use of the institution’s collections to reach an agreement with Showtime. Smithsonian officials have refused to make the contract public, and members of Congress said they were surprised to learn of the deal through the media.”
university Faculty Protests Munitz Deal
California State University faculty are protesting a decision to take back former Getty director Barry Muintz back on the staff at a salary of $160,000. “Has the CSU administration been living under a rock the last eight months? They are using public money and playing with it like it’s Monopoly money. Fees at CSU have gone up 76 percent. … To pay him a salary that exceeds the highest salary at the university — and have him teach one class — offends everyone.”
Reconstructing The Books That Didn’t Survive
Most historians focus on works that actually existed. Stuart Kelly has gone in search of books which were “burned, misplaced, abandoned, suppressed, never finished, never started…”
Centuries Of Music In A Single Work (Caged, Of Course)
A piece by John Cage is being performed in a German church. Don’t worry about catching the performance though. It will continue over the next six centuries. It’s “a version of a composition by John Cage called ‘As Slow as Possible.’ A group of musicians and town boosters has given the title a ridiculously extreme interpretation, by stretching the performance to 639 years.”