Some are dubious of the so-called Vine Art Movement. “Equating wine with art flatters the people who buy wine into thinking they’re participating in something larger than they are,” said James Conaway, the author of “Napa at Last Light.” And there have been some spectacular busts: Copia, an ambitious museum dedicated to wine, food and the arts, opened to much fanfare in 2001 then closed in 2008. – The New York Times
Tag: 09.15.19
How Rich People Like Jeffrey Epstein Are Corrupting Science
“Money corrupts—which, duh—but the Epstein episode tells an even bigger story. The entire system for metabolizing philanthropic gifts, particularly private ones, into academic research is a poorly illuminated pile of broken guardrails. Even if most institutions and foundations are cautious internally, even if the unfolding scandal with Epstein and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an outlier, the system is essentially a pool of dark money.” – Wired
Nature Calls: Blenheim Palace Gives Thieves a Golden Opportunity to Steal Cattelan’s Toilet
Q: How do you invite thieves to steal a famous, expensive, publicly exhibited artwork? A: Publicly announce that no guards are protecting it. – Lee Rosenbaum
Phyllis Newman, Tony Award-Winning Broadway Star, Has Died At 86
Newman starting acting as a child and grew up to win a Tony in 1962, and to become the first woman to host The Tonight Show. After dealing with breast cancer, she also turned into a fierce fundraiser for the health of women in entertainment. – The New York Times
Joyce DiDonato On Opera And Activism, And Saving Lives
DiDonato works with inmates at Sing Sing and tours with a project aiming to bring harmony and peace through music. And right now, she’s singing the title role in Agrippina, the scheming wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, with one eye on Robin Wright’s character in House of Cards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Veep and the other on Handel’s “genius.” How does she mix it all? “I’m a musician, a performer, but I’m a citizen. I’m in a privileged position. I understand that. I’m trying to find the right balance.” – The Observer (UK)
The Artist Who Created The Gold Toilet Denies Having A Role In Stealing It
Maurizio Cattelan, whose gold toilet called America was ripped from its pipes in Blenheim Palace, flooding the palace and causing rather a lot of damage, says that he didn’t steal it, despite his history of pranks (including stealing artwork). “Some sceptics have been slow to accept the theft at face value, with the memory of Banksy shredding his famous Girl With a Balloon still fresh in the mind of the art world.” – The Guardian (UK)
Hollywood Is Assisting In The Death Of Freedom Of Expression In Hong Kong
Soft diplomacy? Or government control and censorship? “Beijing has a very clear idea of how a film industry should operate—namely, as an essential part of the effort to bring public opinion in alignment with the party’s ideological worldview. To that end, Beijing has been using Hollywood’s insatiable need for investment, and its vaulting ambition to reach a potential audience of 1.4 billion people, to draw it into China’s orbit.” – The Atlantic
Ric Ocasek Of The Cars, Who Fused New Wave And Pop, Has Died At 75
Ocasek wrote and was lead singer on nearly every song The Cars recorded, including hits like “Best Friend’s Girl” and “Shake It Up,” and after the group broke up, he had a second career as a producer, “helping sculpt blockbuster hits like Weezer’s blue and green albums and cult favorites like Bad Brains’ Rock for Light.” – Rolling Stone
The New Light Art Of California Lives In Wine Country
Of course it does. “With its time-sequence ticketing and Sensorio-branded hoodies for sale, Field of Light joins a coterie of art entertainments at wineries and related establishments seeking to infuse culture into viticulture — what has been called the Vine Art Movement.” – The New York Times
Australia Has A Crisis In Its School Libraries
The crisis is this: As in the U.S., the number of teacher-librarians or librarians in schools has declined precipitously. Why? “Many principals opt to replace them with cheaper ‘library officers’ and ‘library assistants,’ often with no qualifications or educational training.” – ABC (Australia)