“Clearly, poems and novels and paintings were not produced as objects for future academic study; there is no a priori reason to think that they could be suitable objects of ‘research.’ … But just as clearly, the teaching of literature in universities – especially after the 19th-century research model of Humboldt University of Berlin was widely copied – needed a justification consistent with the aims of that academic setting.”
Tag: 10.10.10
Montaigne, the Great-Granddaddy of All Bloggers
The inventor of the personal essay “confesses that he is lazy and dilatory, the very opposite of self-disciplined: ‘What I do easily and naturally I can no longer do if I order myself to do it by strict command.’ … And even back in the day, people complained that he shared too much trivial detail, such as his preference for white wine over red.”
Fisk University Has New Plans To Sell Stieglitz Collection
“Fisk University has drafted a new plan to sell a $30 million share in its art collection to an Arkansas museum, hoping that this time the court will sign off on the deal.”
US Government Buys Books, Destroys Them (Why This Isn’t Censorship)
“Here’s why this is visionary and not simply stupid. Getting rid of a lot of books may sound uncomfortably like censorship — a kinder, gentler version of that preacher in Florida threatening to burn copies of the Koran. While destroying a holy book is a desecration, buying 10,000 copies of a war memoir is economic stimulus.”
Change Agents – The Men Who Led The LA Philharmonic
“The last four (straight- or wavy-haired) music directors of the last half century — Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, André Previn and Esa-Pekka Salonen — are the ones who molded the modern L.A. Philharmonic.”
The Tea Party Movement – Latter-Day Beatniks?
Lee Siegel: “[E]verywhere around us, the streets and airwaves hum with attacks on government authority, celebrations of radical individualism, inflammatory rhetoric, political theatrics. In other words, the spirit of Beat dissent is alive (though some might say not well) in the character of Tea Party protest.”
Mark Morris on Dance Cos. That Don’t Use Live Music
“If you don’t have enough money to use gigantic orchestral music with a giant orchestra, don’t choreograph to it. There’s always a pianist who’s eager and maybe you can afford. … A recording of a performance is a recording of a performance. It’s not the performance. … And, you know, I’m not saying, ‘Shame on everybody for not doing that, doing what I do,’ ’cause it’s of course expensive and complicated.”
A Practical Reason Not To Slash UK Arts Funding? It’s Obvious
“The creative industries in the UK are now as large as the financial sector, and unlike the City whiz-kids, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the Tate galleries, along with flourishing film, advertising, fashion and publishing businesses, haven’t brought the country to its knees.”
Cable TV Reaches Parity With Broadcast Networks
“The channels are all delivered through the same portal; the key distinguishing factor is the quality of the content itself. I’d argue we’ve truly reached parity (with the broadcast networks). Sometimes there’s great television on both — sometimes, not so good.”
Dallas’s Gleaming New Arts Complex Faces Lots of Red Ink
“The AT&T Performing Arts Center faces a first-year operating deficit of more than $2million that could climb as high as $3million, its new board president said last week. He said the bath of red ink will wash into the second year and possibly the third.”