“The latest evidence comes from Bilbao, Spain. where another tournament pitting world-class grandmasters against state-of-the-art computers ended in a semi-rout. The machines won five games, drew six and lost only once against the likes of Ruslan Ponomariev, Alexander Khalifman and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.”
Tag: 12.11.05
On Broadway – Where Are The Women Directors?
“Of the 39 plays and musicals that opened on Broadway this year, 3 were directed by women. Of the 34 new shows in 2004, women directed 2. These are not particularly encouraging figures for those looking for the new female directorial voices. Many women can be found directing shows off Broadway and running regional theaters, but the best-known and biggest-budget venue has not been all that welcoming.”
Hollywood Banks On Expanding Distribution
Movie box office is down about 6 percent this year. But that doesn’t mean the movie business is down overall. “Yes, in an age of hundreds of cable channels, video games and other distractions, the domestic box office so far this year is down about 6 percent from the same time period in 2004, and off from 2003 and 2002 levels. But the money flowing into the coffers of movie studios is greater than ever.”
Spain’s Architectural Revolution
“Powered by a democratic awakening after decades of Fascist rule and by the dividends of European Union membership, Spain is clearly outpacing its European siblings in the breadth and daring of its new architecture.”
What Basel Miami Is All About
“If Venice is about the artists, and discreet Basel about dealers and collectors, brash Miami is about money. It is money that you can not only taste in the air; you can hear it discussed, and see it being spent all day long. The effect is strangely distorting. Twenty-four hours in, and you feel a touch under-dressed. Forty-eight hours in, and you wonder WHY you don’t own any Chanel couture. Thirty-six hours in, and you no longer turn clammy when you’re told the price of things. ‘It’s $68,000,’ the bald guy in the Prada suit will tell you. “Hmm, not bad,” you think, aware that the woman with the stretched face to your left has just written a cheque for six times as much.”
Audubon: A String Quartet’s Ugly Story
“The feud pits the cellist, violist and second violinist against the first violinist, whom they ousted from the quartet in early 2000. He sued and won a $611,000 judgment, sending the other three to bankruptcy court. Now, after nearly six years of legal battling, what may be the last chapter is playing out in a Virginia courthouse. A bankruptcy trustee is seeking to liquidate the assets of the violist and the cellist, a married couple.”
New Jersey – Too many Performing Arts Centers?
Some say there aren’t enough audiences and artists to support the 45 arts centers already in operation in New Jersey. Still others point to the competitive fund-raising climate and worry if there are enough donors and dollars to support both the new and existing venues. people think the arts are this great economic engine for your community, and they can be. But can they all be?”
An Impending Jobs Crisis?
“Today, America’s work force is divided into three parts: about 25 percent are the ‘smart people’ who are educated and also have special career skills; another 25 percent are the ‘walking dead,’ victims of mergers or technological change and [who] need to acquire new skills in order to change jobs or even careers… and up to 50 percent are the ‘techno-peasants,’ poorly educated adults with few if any special career skills.”
TV’s Building SmackDown
“Modern architects have always been sensitive about the public’s ambivalence towards their buildings, and the last thing they wanted was a programme highlighting their dislike of a string of high-profile modern buildings and clamouring for their demolition. The critics need not have been so nervous. What the poll showed was the public’s remarkably sanguine attitude towards modern buildings, despite numerous Lottery-funded projects that might have been expected to generate controversy.”
Needed: A Turner Prize For Music?
“The idea is taking root that contemporary music really ought to come out of its shell and tell the world it exists. ‘We need a Turner Prize for Music’ is the cry often heard. Which isn’t to say that the composing world lacks prizes. Some of them, such as the Grawemeyer Award, awarded by the University of Louisville, have far larger prizes than the Turner. But they’re invisible. There’s no awards ceremony, no party, no TV cameras. The annual Royal Philharmonic Society Awards is a glitzy affair, but composers are only one category among many.”