Immune To Ads? Advertising is everywhere; it's hard to escape. "Advertisers will spend hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reach consumers this year. The result? Advertising clutter. Researchers guesstimate the average American is exposed to hundreds, or even thousands, of ads each day. But marketers may be losing ground. We've been sprayed so much that we've begun developing immunities." Wired 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 7:04 pm
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Yale Student Sues "Freedom Tower" Architect A Yale architecture student is suing architect David Childs, claiming that Childs stole his design and used it for the Freedom Tower at the site of the World Trade Center. "Thomas Shine says he created his "Olympic Tower" for a Yale architecture class and presented it in December 1999 to a panel of jurists that included Childs. Shine says Childs complimented the design in a Yale architecture magazine: "It is a very beautiful shape. You took the skin and developed it around the form - great." New York Daily News 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 6:42 am
The Met's Most Expensive Acquisition Ever The Metropolitan Museum has made its most expensive purchase ever - more than $45 million for a painting by the early Renaissance master Duccio di Buoninsegna no bigger than a sheet of typing paper. In reporting the acquisition, the Met would not discuss price beyond confirming that it was the most costly purchase in its history. (In such deals, buyers are often legally bound not to reveal the sale price.) But art experts familiar with the deal, insisting on anonymity for fear of jeopardizing the sale, said the price was $45 million to $50 million. That would top the Met's previous record purchase, of Jasper Johns's "White Flag'' (1955) for more than $20 million in 1998." The New York Times 11/10/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 7:11 pm
Sotheby's Posts Loss "Sotheby's says its third quarter losses were less than a year ago because of some high-profile sales. The "hammer price" of goods sold at auction was $194m (£105m) in the summer when sales were brisk. Auction and related revenue surged 48% to $42.9m. For the quarter, it reported a consolidated net loss for continuing operations of $28.3m, compared with a loss of $29.5m a year ago." The Guardian (UK) 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 5:18 pm
Italy Considers Privatizing Archaeological Treasures A plan proposed by Italian legislators would legalize private ownership of archaeological treasures. Archaeologists are horrified by the idea. "At present, all antiquities found in Italian soil are deemed to be the property of the state and are meant to be handed over to the authorities. But under the proposed legislation, treasure hunters who declare their finds can keep and own them if they pay the state 5% of the object's estimated value. Supporters have argued that it would bring to light previously hidden treasures." The Guardian (UK) 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 4:56 pm
Tiny Bubbles (But Will The Art Market Pop?) Prices for contemporary art have soared in the past year. Collectors are paying huge prices for art that only a few years ago was inexpensive. "Bubble? Did someone say bubble? In talking to over a dozen contemporary art world leaders, I heard wildly differing opinions as to whether one exists. Not everyone sees imminent danger, particularly those sellers currently managing the enviable problems of swelling client waiting lists and packed auction houses. From where I sit, though, a bubble looks real. When will it pop? Who knows?" Forbes.com 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 4:38 pm
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All-Music, All-The-Time - Are We Thee Poorer For It? In the era of the iPod, any music is available at any time, wherever you are. But Bernard Holland wonders if maybe this easy access doesn't cheapen the musical experience. "Is it all too easy? Any music critic will tell you that the eager anticipation of new recordings fades with their unsolicited, almost daily flow into the office. Would knowing a little less actually make us smarter, or at least hungrier? I do wonder if spiritual muscle tone is being softened." The New York Times 11/06/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 7:41 am
Long Lost Kapell Recordings Revealed A cache of privately recorings from pianist William Kapell's last tour (he died in a 1953 plane crash in Australia at the age of 31) has surfaced. "The emergence of these more than three hours of recorded music is a tale of serendipity, of a collector's passion and of a music lover's act of selflessness. And when the recordings, preserved on three 16-inch acetate discs, are turned over to Kapell's widow at a New York restaurant tomorrow, a new chapter will begin: the question of whether they will be commercially released." The New York Times 11/10/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 7:13 pm
Saturn - The Galaxy's Largest Musical Instrument? Scientists have discovered that Saturn's rings "play" musical notes. "The tones are short, typically lasting between one and three seconds, and unlike the ethereal sliding tones associated with other cosmic processes, every one is quite distinct. The evidence suggests that each tone is produced by the impact of a meteoroid on the icy chunks that make up the rings." New Scientist 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 6:53 pm
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Irish Arts Council Warns Government About Money The Irish Arts Council has warned that it needs more money this year to fund its obligations, and if it doesn't get it "arts centres around the country may be forced to close and theatres could go "dark" if the Government does not provide €68m to fund the arts sector next year. Irish Independent 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 6:31 am
Surprise! Chicago Arts Groups Lose Betting Income Traditionally, the state of Illinois has distributed some of its income from Off Track Betting operations to cultural institutions. But in closing a state budget deficit, the money was taken off the table. "The lack of OTB grants this year will mean a combined $1.1 million loss for Chicago attractions that include the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, attractions that officials say pump an estimated $500 million into the economy every year." Chicago Sun-Times 11/09/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 4:45 pm
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Heilpern To Non-Profits: Why The Sell-out? John Heilpern wonders what has happened to the spine of non-profit theatre. "I’ve no argument with bottom-line Broadway producers. Apart from the usual British import or star-driven revival, Broadway has more or less abandoned serious drama. But when the producers of nonprofit theater throw in the towel, we’re in real trouble. They represent the last bastion of the true artist, 'because it’s where the money isn’t.' Because their stages are the only places left in American theater where the commercial bottom line isn’t intended to rule." New York Observer 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 7:16 am
"Producers" A Hit In London The Producers opens in London to a noisy rapturous recepstion. Creator and director Mel Brooks told the Theatre Royal crowd: "So much for British reserve, you people should be arrested for disorderly conduct." BBC 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 6:36 am
Theatre Idol Pop Idol was a hit trying to find telegenic pop singers. Now a new TV series in the UK applies the format to the Broadway musical, attempting to find stars worthy of the West End. "Yet it is the very difficulty of performing musical theatre to anything approximating a competent standard that, the makers claim, elevates Musicality above the level of your bog-standard TV talent show." The Independent (UK) 11/03/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 6:16 pm
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Meet The Giller Finalists Who will win this week's Giller Prize for Canadian fiction (it will be announced this week)? Rebecca Caldwell talks with the six finalists... The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 7:29 am
Hollinghurst's Booker Win Breeds Bestseller Alan Hollinghurst's win of this year's Booker Prize has propelled his fourth book "The Line of Beauty," close to the top of best-seller lists and into the awareness of a vastly wider audience. Yahoo! (AP) 11/10/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 9:23 pm
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Lion's Gate Profitable On Moore Film Lion's Gate is back in the black again. The movie company saw a 205% increase in its motion picture revenue to $202.8 million thanks in large part to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which it co-distribbed. The picture brought in about two-thirds of its $119 million domestic box office take during the second quarter starting July 1. Yahoo! (AP) 11/10/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 9:33 pm
A Peek Inside The Screenwriter Mill "Every year, about 50,000 screenplays are registered with the western division of the Writers Guild of America, with nonmembers paying $20 and members paying $10. Only a few hundred of those are bought or optioned by studios, producers and production companies - usually for relatively paltry sums. Of the screenplays that find a home, a mere fraction end up as finished motion pictures and then, more often than not, only after they have been eviscerated and rewritten by a succession of writers known as script doctors. Nevertheless, an industry has blossomed around the notion that anyone with a good idea and the right skills can rack up a hit." The New York Times 11/10/04
Posted: 11/09/2004 9:10 pm
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ABT On The Move American Ballet Theatre has developed such a strong corps of dancers, writes Robert Gottleib, that the company is a pleasure to follow. "We’re beginning to be able to watch A.B.T. the way we spent decades watching New York City Ballet—that is, tracking talented young dancers as they make their way through the company. And for serious ballet lovers, there’s no greater satisfaction." New York Observer 11/10/04
Posted: 11/10/2004 7:08 am
