DBC Pierre is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But the notoriety brought by the Booker has brought to life some of the author’s unsavory past. “The reformed drug addict and gambler admitted to selling his best friend’s home and pocketing the proceeds as well as working up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a scheme to find Montezuma’s gold in Mexico. Pierre is the nom de plume of an enigmatic Mexican-Australian called Peter Finlay, 42, whose chequered past began to catch up with him last month when he was shortlisted for the prize, arguably the world’s most prestigious book award.”
Tag: 10.11.03
Painting Is Dead, Long Live Painting!
A recent survey suggested Britons know next to nothing about fine art. But how can this be true, really? “If half the population can’t remember who painted the ‘Mona Lisa’ — or never knew in the first place — the other half seem anxious to travel to Paris and stand in front of it. In fact it is an excellent example of a work of art so popular that no one has had a chance to see it properly for decades. There is a constant, jostling throng in front of the picture, so only the staff of the Louvre and those lucky enough to be let in after hours ever get a chance to look at it as a painting should be looked at, slowly and tranquilly. “
Things Are So Great In Denmark, There Is No Great Theatre
Things are alomst Utopian for the theatre in Denmark. “Here, the preference is overwhelmingly for word-bound, well-made plays. These are supported by per-capita funding levels significantly higher than Britain’s and a peerless children’s theatre network, totalling 50 companies, which grooms audiences early. A lavishly funded playwriting course in the city of Aarhus supplies a steady stream of playwrights. And because of strict union rules, actors enjoy astonishing luxuries, including a minimum term of employment of 75 days. The Danes have created something that other countries don’t dare dream about: an all-encompassing cradle-to-grave theatrical welfare state.” So where are the great Danish plays and theatre companies?
Making Movies, Co-op Style
A group of some of the best and brightest film stars in Canada have come together to form a movie co-op production company. “In lieu of their (on average) $250,000-to-$1-million-per-picture salaries, these Canadian actors are going to work free of charge on the upcoming comedy, Mozart Loves Me, written and directed by George Bloomfield. And in exchange, they and the other stakeholders in the Movie Co-op will own a share of the production and any potential payout. Why, you may ask, would these successful people stick their necks out in a decidedly high-risk venture? Because they say they believe feature filmmaking – at least in English Canada – is broken and urgently in need of fixing.”
Artist Recreates American Prison In Inner City Manchester
A performance artist recreates the American prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, in the inner city of Manchester. It’s a bit of a shock. And why do it? “There is nothing complicated about it. This is a fully-operational miniature version of the US internment camp at Guantanamo Bay. What is the point of painting a picture of it or showing photographs or a video of it? People have seen those and are immune to them.”
Explaining Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is so easy in her dispensation of wisdom, she’s like a “Dial-an-Oracle” “Asked about the popularization of her poetry, she has a quick answer to any suggestion of criticism. ‘A friend of mine responded negatively when I told him that I was going to write greeting cards for Hallmark. He said, ‘Oh, I hope not. You are the people’s poet in this country and you don’t want to trivialize that.’ But I thought about that. ‘What am I doing? What am I talking about?’ I asked myself. If I can say something on a card that can reach somebody’s heart and mind, let me try. And I found that that is almost the most difficult writing that I have done. It might take me three pages of prose to write an epigram that is two or three sentences’.”
Christo Wraps Doghouse
Christo has wrapped a dog house – “Wrapped Snoopy House” in honor of his friend and Charlie Brown creator Charles M. Schulz. “In 1978, the cartoonist memorialized Christo’s work in his daily strip, with the beagle pondering what the Bulgarian artist would do next. The final panel on the strip has Snoopy standing before his wrapped doghouse – a prediction of the latest sculpture.”