“Book reviews should inspire reading. They should excite, stimulate, agitate and empower readers to discover new books and avoid bad ones. They should turn you on to undiscovered authors, prompt you into finally reading the writer you have never quite got round to, and make you wonder at the world of delights that remain unread. But let’s be honest. They don’t, do they?”
Tag: 05.13.05
Light Out – How To Fix Your Flavin
“Collectors and museums are investing in Dan Flavin’s work like never before. So where exactly do they go when the bulbs in his installations blow? US companies such as General Electric and Mercury stopped producing the bulbs Flavin himself used for his works shortly after his death in 1996.”
WWII’s Enduring Hold On Us
Why does World War II endure as a topic of our imagination? “There are important cultural reasons for its persistence. This was, historically, the first continental war to be waged in the age of broadcasting. Radio and film conveyed its actuality and artists quickly converted its sounds and images into creative work. Art was a battlefront in itself. Dictators harnessed it to their propaganda machines while the democracies unintentionally inspired a spontaneous cultural renaissance.”
Turkish Dam Theatens Historical Sites
Turkey plans to go ahead with a controversial dam that theatens to submerge important historical sites. “If the dam goes ahead the whole town will be submerged with the exception of the citadel, perched on top of the cliffs. Among the losses will be the Sultan Suleiman Mosque, the minaret of which is one of the most outstanding examples of early 15th-century Ayyubid architecture; the cylindrical tomb of Zeynel Bey, a rare example of Central Asian style architecture in Anatolia; and the tomb of the holy Imam Abdullah, grandson of Cafer-i Tayyar, uncle of the prophet Mohammed, a shrine visited by about 30,000 Shia pilgrims each year.”
Brits Drop Stolen Art Database
“The British government has quietly dropped plans for a database of stolen art and antiquities, although this was a key element in helping to enforce a new law. The Dealing in Cultural Objects Act came into force at the beginning of 2004, and the government then advised dealers that consulting the projected database should be part of the “due diligence” process, to help establish that they were not knowingly handling tainted objects.”
Theatre Entrepreneur Still Going Strong At 91
Tony De Santis has opened a new theatre in Chicago – the Drury Lane at the Water Tower. This is the latest addition to the 91-year-old’s theatre empire. “Well, I don’t know anything about theater per se, so it’s fair to say that I’m not a theater person,” De Santis says with a chuckle from his office at Drury Lane Oak Brook. “But I am a very good businessman.”
Wasserman’s LA Times Legacy
The controversial Steve Wassserman is leaving as editor of the LA Times Book Review. “Steve hit his stride about 1998, and for a few years there, he put out some truly great sections. More provocative than speculating about whether he ultimately jumped or was pushed might now be to start a conversation about the precarious ledge he leaves behind.”
Ombud To Investigate CPB Chairman
The inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has agreed to investigate some of the activities of CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson, including the hiring of an outside consultant to monitor the political leanings of guests on the PBS public affairs program “Now.”