Democratizing The Selling Of Art

Artists ar taking to blogging to get the word out about their art. “In the process, artist/bloggers… are democratizing the art world, using the Internet to change the making and selling of art. Dealers and galleries, who command 50% commissions, no longer have exclusive control in defining who is emerging or successful. Now artists can sell directly to consumers, using blogs or auction sites at prices more affordable to would-be collectors. The result: More people are making a living as artists, more people are buying art, and more art is selling at a wider spectrum of prices.”

In Edinburgh – Free The Fringe!

The complaints have been flying in Edinburgh this summer about the inflated costs of performing in and attending Fringe venues. “But all across Edinburgh, just for August, in pubs from Bruntsfield to Leith, something really very exciting is happening. The Free Fringe is an inspirational example of what can be done with a dream, determination and a lot of wholehearted cooperation.”

Mark Morris Back On Track?

“There hasn’t been a new work to rank with his finest for a number of years now. His recent Sylvia got a mixed reception here (I was one of the doubters), and an even more recent King Arthur has been mauled by critics in London. Which explains the relief that many of us are feeling over his latest major effort, Mozart Dances, which just played to three sold-out houses at the New York State Theater as part of this summer’s Mostly Mozart Festival.”

Miami Schools Continue Fight To Ban Children’s Book

The Miami School Board has decided to continue to try to ban a children’s book on Cuba from school library shelves. “The board voted 5-2 to appeal a federal judge’s temporary order barring the district from removing the children’s book, along with 23 others in the series. The district wants to remove “Vamos a Cuba” (“A Visit to Cuba”) following a parent’s complaint that it failed to accurately depict the reality of life under Cuba’s communist government.”

American History In Space

“The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History closes next month for almost two years of renovations, but some of the museum’s most beloved artifacts — Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Kermit the Frog, ‘Star Wars’ droids — will reappear in the fall. Beginning Nov. 17, 150 objects from the shuttered museum will be part of the “Treasures of American History” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.”

Slatkin To Nashville

Outgoing National Symphony music director Leonard Slatkin has been appointed music adviser to the Nashville Symphony. “Slatkin, 61, is also principal guest conductor for both the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for its Hollywood Bowl summer series. It is unclear whether he will take another full-time music directorship when he leaves the NSO, although he was widely considered to be in pursuit of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra before the team of Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez were given interim directorship.”

Rebuilding The Tuileries

There is a plan in Paris to rebuild the Tuileries Palace. “No one has seen this handsome pile since it was torched by the Communards in 1871. For the past century and more the name ‘Tuileries’ has brought to mind not a building but a garden. Now, the French government is considering a project to put it back on the original site, opposite the Louvre, at an estimated cost of 300 million euros ($383 million). If the plan — which would be funded from private sources — goes ahead, it will by no means be unique. To a surprising extent, the monuments of Europe are not original, but reproduction.”

Was Pac-Man The High Water Mark Of Video Gaming?

Twenty-five years ago Pac-Man was a pop culture phenomenon. “There have been other pixilated paragons: the Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog. But none have had the cultural tunami effect of the Pac-meister. Pac-Man provided an entirely new way of interfacing with technology: an emotional one.” So why hasn’t the video game industry been able to replicate Pac-Man’s success?

Exposing Simon Rattle

“Seven years after being elected as music director and four after his triumphal entry to Berlin with his portrait plastered on bus stops, Rattle, 51, is facing an ocean of troubles that cannot be held back by lashings of charm and spin control. The question being asked is whether he has the intellect, the emotional strength and the clarity of purpose to develop the orchestra for a very different age of media dissemination. Setting aside for the moment the quality of performances, there is no denying that the Berlin Philharmonic is not what it was.”

A New Way To Test Drive Opera: College

“New operas are usually commissioned by one or two companies, often on different continents, and are more or less shot out of a cannon – with an opening production assembled without the benefit of a workshop or tryout. There are successes, but even among those, some parts are good, others not.” But new consortiums of educational institutions are banding together to commission opera. And from A-list composers…