“French police seized a number of works by the Ukrainian performance artist Oleg Kulik on the stand of Moscow’s XL gallery during Fiac (Foire international d’art contemporain)…. The police were acting on a complaint of pornography brought by the French customs against photographs from the 1990s depicting Kulik performances, sometimes naked and sometimes simulating sexual acts with animals.”
Tag: 11.17.08
Great News! Wii Won’t Turn Your Kid Into A Killer!
“A new study suggests that games that feature motion-controlled violent actions, like the Wii version of Manhunt 2 …, don’t affect players any differently than traditional violent games. Phew!” Critics had claimed “that young children would be rehearsing violent moves, and converting them into real physical violence.”
About Those Sign-Language Interpreters On TV …
“So, there I was, idling late at night in front of the telly, when on came the late film: John Schlesinger’s 1967 work, Far from the Madding Crowd.” Then up popped the on-screen sign-language interpreter, inescapably covering a substantial chunk of the picture. “Please, someone, answer me this: what the hell is wrong with subtitles?”
Restoring Chekhov’s Dacha (Not Just Wallpaper, Please!)
The Yalta dacha where Chekhov wrote “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard” is plagued by mold and a leaky roof. A campaign to save it is under way, sans state aid. As the head of the campaign explained, “The Russian government didn’t want to fund the restoration because the house is in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government didn’t want to pay to promote a Russian author.”
On His Way Out The Door, LA Phil Fetes Salonen
“If any city knows how to hype someone, it’s LA. But it says something that even in a place more internationally famous for its silicon implants than its orchestral music, they can really put out the bunting – literally, since Salonen’s mugshot is all over downtown LA – for their music director.”
With Jobs Scarce, Architects Will Tone Down The Glamour
Work for architects dries up in recessions; in the last one, 40 percent of architects lost their jobs. As for what does get built, it won’t be the sort of thing we’ve seen in recent years. “Indeed, what we may see is a swing towards a less showy architecture, with invention squeezed into pint pots. “
Losses Pile Up For Art Auction Houses
“Each time the hammer fell, it seemed to signal a new era in sales, one that featured the return of the seasoned collector and more-sober business practices. Still, given the depth of the global economic crisis, auction house experts were expecting worse. Late Friday afternoon Sotheby’s reported that it had lost $28.2 million from guarantees at its contemporary art auctions last week. That brought its total losses to about $52 million this fall, all from guarantees.”
LA Gets Its First Arts High School
“Unlike New York City, whose original Fiorello H. LaGuardia high school for the arts dates back to 1936, Los Angeles has never had such a school even though it’s home to the Hollywood film, television and music industries. Students at High School No. 9 will specialize in dance, music, theater or visual arts, with separate buildings for each discipline.
So Who Needs Editors Anyway? (We’re Finding Out)
Editors are the invisible heroes of the publishing industry, and as publishing companies cut corners, they cut editors. On the most basic level, that means more typos, grammatical errors and factual contradictions.
Parsing Andre
Violinist/showman Andre Rieu “insists that musical categorisation is meaningless; that there is no difference between classical and non-classical music, or high art and low art… He depicts his critics as members of a stuffy musical elite with narrow aesthetic tastes, yet regularly demeans in interviews music that is not to his taste and classical musicians who choose not to perform in his manner.” But then, Rieu isn’t as much a musician as a profit-driven industry.