Tony Kushner has a knack for being ready with a play that fits the time. “Six years ago, he began writing a play about a remote Central Asian nation; by the time Homebody/Kabul opened in December 2001, the United States was fighting a war there. Now, amid the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, his 2003 musical Caroline, or Change seems even more eerily prescient. ‘There ain’t no under ground in Louisiana,’ run its newly harrowing opening lines. ‘There is only under water’.”
Tag: 09.19.05
What Kinds Of Buildings Win The Stirling Prize?
“Certain sorts of building have always been doomed: specifically, private houses (too self-indulgent) and (other than one exceptional case) commercial buildings. Architects are still shot through with a certain moralism and remain uncomfortable with buildings celebrating capitalism. The ideal winner is still a public building. But moralism goes only so far. Architects are also seduced by glamour. Worthy buildings never win the Stirling. If you want worthy, follow the Prime Minister’s Better Buildings Award.”
Montreal’s Cultural Malaise
Is Montreal starving its cultural life? “Montrealers love to mock Toronto’s obsession with becoming a ‘world-class’ city, but they also hate to acknowledge signs that their city is being left behind. Montreal had access to the same kind of funding, and what did it use the money for? New pipes and sewers. The big capital projects in Montreal these days are a pair of hospitals and several academic buildings. Like the sewers, they’re needed, but they’re also draining money away from the city’s cultural base.”
The Order We Want To Impose On Randomness
Okay, so you love the shuffle music feature on your MP3 player. But, like many people, you’ve grown to suspect that the shuffle isn’t very random at all. Turns out it’s difficult “for a PC, which is designed to do things in predictable ways, to generate a string of numbers that are statistically random. Try as they might to compile a list of numbers at random, computers frequently spit out digits that have discernible patterns to them.” The problem, it turns out, isn’t that the programs aren’t randomizing my playlists. They are. But our expectations of randomness are statistically inconsistent.
The Da Vinci Code’s Real Detective
Maurizio Seracini is what Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown calls an “art diagnostician”, which is “not a bad description for someone who probes paintings with state-of-the-art-technology, often to advise museums, dealers and collectors on their restoration. One question raised by Mr Seracini’s painstaking investigation is why Da Vinci wanted to include such a bloody scene in a nativity painting, and why he – or someone else – thought better of it. But another question, and the one that will fascinate the Dan Brown fans, is what Da Vinci was up to on the other side of the painting in the last area of the panel to be fully rendered by Mr Seracini’s technicians.
Springer Gets Backing To Tour
Jerry Springer, The Opera, will make its UK tour after all. “The show seemed doomed when 30% of theatres pulled out after Christian Voice said it would picket venues. The Arts Council of Britain then refused a request to fund the tour. But the theatres have agreed to pool marketing costs and producers Avalon will put £650,000 into the tour.”
Wilkins To Lead Orlando Phil
Chris Wilkins has been named music director of the Orlando Philharmonic. “For 10 seasons, Wilkins served as music director of the San Antonio Symphony. For the past five years, he has guest-conducted orchestras around the country — including two stints at the Orlando Philharmonic. Wilkins, 48, will replace much-lauded maestro Hal France, who is leaving the orchestra after this season to pursue other interests.”
The National’s New Artist-In-Residence
London’s National Gallery has a new artist-in-residence – Chris Ofili. “It is a surprising step for the National Gallery, an unshakable bastion of traditional high culture, to be employing the services of an artist who symbolises, perhaps more than any other, Britart cool. ‘Some people will no doubt regard it as a sell-out. But it’s about engaging with contemporary culture rather than adopting an aloof view’.”
Phillips Powers Into Bigger, Better
Washington DC’s Phillips Collection is heading into expansion in the fast lane. “The Phillips has raised $29 million in its first-ever capital campaign — $2 million more than the goal and two years ahead of schedule. In December, the museum receives the keys to its new building, next door to its intimate Dupont Circle home, which will add 3,000 square feet of gallery space and an auditorium.”
New Orleans Museum – An Oasis Of Calm
The New Orleans Museum survived Katrina intact. It “opened in 1911 and is one of the central cultural institutions of New Orleans, and is an oasis of calm and beauty in a city of despair and ruin. But it is an empty oasis. Wind and water have driven away its 150,000 annual visitors, its 10,000 members, and many members of its staff and board of trustees. ‘My first priority to the staff and trustees is to ensure that the museum opens up as soon as possible. I wouldn’t want to have our best pictures leave the museum right now’.”