Revving up marketing machinery raises some uncomfortable questions: Why should donors give funds to a theater if their money is going to pay for focus groups and demographic studies rather than to support the work of artists?
Commentary
Arts Criticism Commentary: In Defense of Negative Book Reviews
“Criticism will always have the force of the child in the story about the emperor’s new clothes, because there will always be naked emperors who everybody says are wearing today’s Crown Jewels.” — Eric Bentley
Arts Commentary: The Virtual Arts Center
By Bill Marx On June 21, the Boston Foundation announced that the Citi Performing Arts Center (CPAC, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts) would be receiving $225,000. This is not only the largest single grant given to any institution for the quarter; it is the most money (by a long shot) the Wang/CPAC […]
Arts Commentary: Squandered Tears for Criticism?
By Bill Marx Criticism of the fine arts is dying in regional newspapers, but don’t waste too much time mourning the loss. Arts blogger and Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout’s recent article on how arts criticism is vanishing in regional newspapers hits the nail on the head, though he is either too considerate […]
Critical Homage: A. Alvarez — Beyond Fiddling Away
By Bill Marx Al Alvarez’s new book of essays provides an opportunity to also strongly recommend his first collection of literary commentary and reviews, 1969’s Beyond All This Fiddle, one of the most invigorating collections of cultural commentary from that period. The latest issue of the TLS features an irritatingly short review of Risky Business, […]
Book Commentary: The Scam of Mobster Memoirs
Crime memoirs about Irish mobster Whitey Bulger have become a corrupt and pathetic cottage industry. By Jay Atkinson A large, jowly, humorless man of 49, Kevin Weeks, the one-time go-fer and strong arm for the notorious Boston crime boss, James Whitey Bulger, hurt and maimed people for a living. While his boss ran most of […]
Dance Commentary: Dance Giant Martha Graham — Genius at Risk
Years of bitter and expensive litigation as well as the challenging nature of her work have put the artistic legacy of dance giant Martha Graham in crisis. By Debra Cash Imagine, for a moment, that the only people who could experience Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings were those who had lived during his lifetime. Future generations […]
The Floundering State of Film Criticism
Ana Rivas sent in this piece on a recent confab at Boston University featuring two film critics – Renata Adler, who for a short time in the ’60s was a film critic for The New York Times and A.O. Scott, who is the current chief film critic for the paper. The conversation contained some interesting […]
Film Commentary: A Touch of Awe
At a time when special effects in films are increasingly computerized, it is inspiring to be reminded that images can be more than surfaces that thrill. A festival of movies by the master of the silent cinema, F.W. Murnau, will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard Film Archive (with support from the […]
Arts Commentary: Classical Musical Chairs
The controversy over the appointment of a woman to become the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra boils down to issues of power and gender. By Mark Kroll It’s been a tough year for conductors. In February, David Miller was in southern France conducting “Don Giovanni” with his Bulgarian orchestra when French police burst in […]