NEWSgrist - where spin is art

Chilling Effects: Off Off Broadway

via NYTimes:
Exit, Pursued by a Lawyer
By JESSE GREEN
Published: January 29, 2006

[...] In the time-honored way of the theater, Ms. McClernan and Mr. Flagg figured the show must go on. With the help of an assistant (who eventually received the program credit for direction), they supervised the remaining rehearsals, either largely restaging the play or retaining most of Mr. Einhorn's contributions, depending on whose side you believe. In any case, "Tam Lin" opened, ran for its scheduled 10 performances and closed. But the drama was not over. Soon playwright and producer were embroiled in a lawsuit that could ruin them personally and has huge implications for directors and playwrights everywhere.

The main interest of that suit, which Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan has scheduled for trial in April, is not whether an artist deserves to be paid for work his employers deem unsatisfactory. What's really at stake is something much larger, because Mr. Einhorn claims in his complaint that his staging contributions to "Tam Lin" — contributions that his former collaborators say they excised — constitute a copyrighted work of intellectual property, owned by him, and that the defendants must therefore pay for infringing the copyright. When the lawsuit was filed, in October 2005, a new run of the play was already in rehearsal, this time directed by Ms. McClernan herself, who had always intended to make "Tam Lin" an annual Halloween event. Because Mr. Einhorn says that even these new performances represented unauthorized use of his work, the potential tab, based on the maximum allowable statutory damage of $150,000 per infringement, is now up around $3 million, not including several other remedies he is requesting — along with his original $1,000 director's fee.

Under the circumstances, it seems questionable whether "Tam Lin," with its kidnapped prince, female hero and happy ending, will return in 2006. But many playwrights, including Ms. McClernan, feel that a more dangerous threat is lurking in Mr. Einhorn's copyright claim: the kidnapping of their plays. As a result, the famously collaborative process of theater-making is now shadowed by questions. Are directors engaged in anything akin to the kind of authorship protected by copyright laws? If so, what's to stop them from demanding payment whenever a play they once directed is revived? And what would that mean to the free flow of ideas in an art form that borrows heavily from all available sources? [read on...]

Rhythm Science @ The Studio Museum in Harlem

Ever Revolving Art World

via Artforum News:
Changes Announced at Serpentine, P.S. 1, and Revolver

01.27.06 - The Art Newspaper reports changes at London's Serpentine Gallery, which has created the post of Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programs and Director of International Projects for Swiss curator Hans Ulrich-Obrist. Meanwhile, the Serpentine says goodbye to Los Angeles native Rochelle Steiner, chief curator since 2001, who takes over as director of New York's Public Art Fund next month from Tom Eccles. Elsewhere, Artnet reports that freelance curator Eugenie Tsai has been named director of curatorial affairs at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center. Tsai served as curator at the Whitney from 1994 to 2000. And e-flux reports that Revolver founder Christoph Keller has left the Frankfurt-based art publishing house, handing the reins over to Ann Theobold.

Flux Factory Auction & Gala 2006

Flux Factory Auction & Gala 2006

February 4th, 2006
Lennon, Weinberg, Inc.
514 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
T 212.941.0012
F 212.929.3265
info@lennonweinberg.com

Lennon, Weinberg gallery in Chelsea will be hosting Flux Factory's first-ever Benefit Auction. Proceeds will go directly to 2006 programming. Works have been  donated by the following artists: Sol LeWitt, Royal Art Lodge, Cory Arcangel, Ian Burns, and Stephen Westfall, and others...

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online (PayPal) (tickets will be $35 at the door)

or by sending a $25 check to:
Flux Factory
ATTN: Benefit Auction38-38 43rd Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

WORKS WILL BE ON VIEW FROM JANUARY 31ST UNTIL THE GALA ON THE 4TH.
YOUR $25 TICKET TO THE GALA CAN BE USED TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF WORK

View works here

Flux Factory began as a collective living space in 1994, in an old spice factory in Williamsburg, New York City. Its original members were undergraduates at the New School For Social Research (now New School University). About four years later, with a new stage built and twice as many members, the Flux Factory living room evolved into a site for art events and performances of all kinds. Flux became an official 501 (c)(3) nonprofit in 1998 and moved to its present location in Long Island City, Queens in 2002.

more about Flux Factory

Haring exhibition will not be censored

Robin Holland: Keith Haring, photographed in 1981.

via Visual AIDS >blog (1/26/06):

Haring art exhibition will not be censored
Visitors to the Reading Public Museum show may find some of the works by the artist from Berks County controversial, the museum's director says. By Mary E. Young
Reading Eagle

An upcoming exhibit of the late Keith Haring's artwork in the Reading Public Museum will not be censored and will include some pieces that visitors could find offensive, the museum's chief executive said Wednesday.

Those pieces will be in a separate room along with other less controversial works, and a sign will warn people about the exhibit, Ronald C. Roth said.

"We don't have a lot of work that people might find troubling, but we have some pieces they might find controversial," he said. "It's not being censored. We want to be sensitive to the public. They can make their own decisions."

Roth said Berks County Commissioner Mark C. Scott is trying to characterize Haring's work as obscene, even though Haring, a Berks native, is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest artists of his time.

On Tuesday, Scott prevented Haring's Statue of Liberty mural from being hung on the side of the county services center to draw attention to the exhibit that opens Feb. 18.

Scott said the statue's thumb looks like male genitalia.

"Imagine what would have happened if we had hung the mural and some enterprising person researching Haring on the Internet would have come across all of his works replete with their depictions of forced deviant intercourse and sexual degradation of religious symbols," he said. "I did my homework. I anticipated the public's concern, and I acted on it.

"I'm not saying Keith Haring's work should be banished, but I don't believe it's appropriate for a public venue."

Scott, who said he received dozens of calls from supporters Wednesday, said he didn't mean to set off a communitywide debate on censorship.

"I'm a pretty tolerant guy," he said.

The county has an interest beyond the mural because it pays for the museum's security, he said.

County records show the payments totaled $144,686 in 2005.

Meanwhile, Haring's works are arriving from private collections and museums all over the country.

The exhibit is appropriate because Haring was born in Reading, raised in Kutztown and still has family in Berks, Roth said.

"He was a superstar of the 1980s," Roth said. "I was really struck by how many people in Berks County revered Keith Haring and what he had done.

"I thought it would be good to do a show."

Contact reporter Mary E. Young at 610-478-6292 or myoung@readingeagle.com.

Related articles:

Keith Haring exhibit spurs some objections
A few Reading School Board members oppose certain works in the upcoming art display at the museum, which the district owns. By Amy Anuszewski Reading Eagle correspondent

Commissioner blasts Keith Haring’s art
Mark C. Scott says the late Berks native’'s work, known around the world and scheduled for a show in the Reading Public Museum, is obscene. Some experts disagree.
©2006 Reading Eagle Company By Mary E. Young Reading Eagle

via ARTology with Tullio DeSantis:
January 26, 2006
Keith and us

[...]

As for Keith's feelings about the town of his birth and his home town of Kutztown, he told me on more than one occasion that he hated Kutztown and Berks County because they are homophobic, small-minded, and backwards. He left because he couldn't stand it here.

As for my opinion about publically funded art, In general, I'm not in favor of public funding for the arts.

The world of art is and has always been an elitist venture. Even though many artists endeavor to create popular and populist art during their lifetimes, their art ends up primarily in the possession of and under the control of the economic and cultural elite. [...]

In general, Keith was well aware of the ways in which his work would be misinterpreted and compromised via its assimilation into a culture he rejected.

He was not a radiant baby (a term invented by an art critic) he was a complex adult who endured a great deal of pain and suffering - especially in his hometown.

At every turn he opposed the society and culture into which he was born. He worked hard to create his own alternatives but alas, the strength of his vision has been diminished on a daily basis since the day he died - and most often it is his "supporters" who do the most harm to his legacy.

Haring art exhibition will not be censored
Visitors to the Reading Public Museum show may find some of the works by the artist from Berks County controversial, the museum's director says. By Mary E. Young
Reading Eagle

An upcoming exhibit of the late Keith Haring's artwork in the Reading Public Museum will not be censored and will include some pieces that visitors could find offensive, the museum's chief executive said Wednesday.

Those pieces will be in a separate room along with other less controversial works, and a sign will warn people about the exhibit, Ronald C. Roth said.

"We don't have a lot of work that people might find troubling, but we have some pieces they might find controversial," he said. "It's not being censored. We want to be sensitive to the public. They can make their own decisions."

Roth said Berks County Commissioner Mark C. Scott is trying to characterize Haring's work as obscene, even though Haring, a Berks native, is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest artists of his time.

On Tuesday, Scott prevented Haring's Statue of Liberty mural from being hung on the side of the county services center to draw attention to the exhibit that opens Feb. 18.

Scott said the statue's thumb looks like male genitalia.

"Imagine what would have happened if we had hung the mural and some enterprising person researching Haring on the Internet would have come across all of his works replete with their depictions of forced deviant intercourse and sexual degradation of religious symbols," he said. "I did my homework. I anticipated the public's concern, and I acted on it.

"I'm not saying Keith Haring's work should be banished, but I don't believe it's appropriate for a public venue."

Scott, who said he received dozens of calls from supporters Wednesday, said he didn't mean to set off a communitywide debate on censorship.

"I'm a pretty tolerant guy," he said.

The county has an interest beyond the mural because it pays for the museum's security, he said.

County records show the payments totaled $144,686 in 2005.

Meanwhile, Haring's works are arriving from private collections and museums all over the country.

The exhibit is appropriate because Haring was born in Reading, raised in Kutztown and still has family in Berks, Roth said.

"He was a superstar of the 1980s," Roth said. "I was really struck by how many people in Berks County revered Keith Haring and what he had done.

"I thought it would be good to do a show."

Contact reporter Mary E. Young at 610-478-6292 or myoung@readingeagle.com.

Related articles:

Keith Haring exhibit spurs some objections
A few Reading School Board members oppose certain works in the upcoming art display at the museum, which the district owns. By Amy Anuszewski Reading Eagle correspondent

Commissioner blasts Keith Haring’s art
Mark C. Scott says the late Berks native’'s work, known around the world and scheduled for a show in the Reading Public Museum, is obscene. Some experts disagree.
©2006 Reading Eagle Company By Mary E. Young Reading Eagle

via ARTology with Tullio DeSantis:
January 26, 2006
Keith and us

[...]

As for Keith's feelings about the town of his birth and his home town of Kutztown, he told me on more than one occasion that he hated Kutztown and Berks County because they are homophobic, small-minded, and backwards. He left because he couldn't stand it here.

As for my opinion about publically funded art, In general, I'm not in favor of public funding for the arts.

The world of art is and has always been an elitist venture. Even though many artists endeavor to create popular and populist art during their lifetimes, their art ends up primarily in the possession of and under the control of the economic and cultural elite. [...]

In general, Keith was well aware of the ways in which his work would be misinterpreted and compromised via its assimilation into a culture he rejected.

He was not a radiant baby (a term invented by an art critic) he was a complex adult who endured a great deal of pain and suffering - especially in his hometown.

At every turn he opposed the society and culture into which he was born. He worked hard to create his own alternatives but alas, the strength of his vision has been diminished on a daily basis since the day he died - and most often it is his "supporters" who do the most harm to his legacy.