cultural blah blah.com

NYT: I Like Ur Art: Saatchi Creates an Online Hangout for Artists
A champion of emerging artists continues his fight and goes beyond...
NYT: In Houston, Art Is Where the Home Is
“We can approach our lives as artists, each and every one of us....It’s a choice people have. You don’t have to make houses the way people always have. If you choose to, you can make every action a creative act.”
IHT: Design in 2006: A year of innovation and utility
A look back at 2006 in Design

NYT: Black, White and Read All Over Over
An artist's desire to "turn things upside down.."
NYT: Ahmet Ertegun, Music Executive, Dies at 83
Legend of rock and roll whos passions lead him to the development of some of the greatest musicians in our history passes away
NYS: Blues in the White House
BB King will receive the highest honor one can get from the White House

NYS: The Whitney Plans Its Future, Downtown
Is the Whitney slowly phasing out the Breuer building?...
NYS: Light & Shapes, Enough for Everyone
Small exhibit of a master's work
IHT: Saudi filmmakers come out of the shadows
Something a little more "out of the box" for the Saudis...
NYT: Last Hurrah for Street Art, as Canvas Goes Condo
Ever walk by this building in Nolita, see how beautiful it was and wonder what was going to happen to it? Now you know...

Check out this new tower being built in Miami designed by Chad Oppenheim architecture + design. Have a look at Inhabitat.com for more information!

NYT: Mexican Architect Looks at Historic Rutgers With a Modern Eye
Rutgers selects TEN Arquitectos to rebuild their campus over time
NYT: Revisiting a Bleak Album to Plumb Its Dark Riches
Lou Reed performs for the next four nights at St Anne's Warehouse and revisits his darkest record with a little help from some artist friends

Yet another architectural project is surrounded by controversy. This time its the Atlantic Yards Project and Frank Gehry. Articles yesterday and today in AMNY and the Village Voice discuss how the community is now looking to Assemblyman Sheldon Silver to help delay the project until New York's new Governor, Eliot Spitzer, takes office. Silver is the one who was able to put an ax to the West Side Stadium last year and delay the building of the Moynihan Station. Gehry and co have a hard road ahead of them...

NYS: Sailing With Frank Gehry
Not a very favorable review from Mr. Gardner

A designer who marries practicality with a distinctive style
A great review in the IHT. Check ou the slide show - he is VERY talented

NYT: Restoring Kahn’s Gallery, and Reclaiming a Corner of Architectural History, at Yale
Great review of the restoration of Khan's building at Yale
NYT: More Than You Can See: Storm of Art Engulfs Miami
More Review from Miami
NYT: Dream Houses
A book review of "The Architecture of Happiness"
NYT: 2006, Brought to You by You
Words on User Generated content and how its changed the industry

I've been meaning to post this for a while!...Read on...
Growing up, Bob Dylan was definitely one of my idols. In High School I did a paper on Woody Guthrie (his idol) and protest music and when I first started to learn the guitar I learned how to play Knocking on Heaven’s Door and Blowing in the Wind. All along the watchtower came shortly after...
Last month marked the opening of Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966 at The Morgan Library & Museum. The exhibit, organized by the Experience Music Project from Seattle, is a collection of manuscripts, memorabilia, records, liner notes, unreleased songs, photographs and interviews of the rock legend. The exhibition traces Bob Dylan’s beginnings in Minnesota when he was still named Robert Zimmerman to his evolution to Bob Dylan, inspired by Woody Guthrie, in New York to his recordings and travels to London. Viewing and listening stations are included to listen and watch live and studio performances and interviews. The exhibition does an amazing job of taking you through the beginnings of one of the most important and influential song writers of our time and maybe ever. It is highly recommended to visit! The show goes on through January 6th, 2007.

Recently reopened and renovated by Renzo Piano the Pierpont Morgan Library was first opened to the public in 1924 by J.P. Morgan Jr. as a memorial to his father. For more information on the Morgan Library and its recent expansion read about it on the "Press" website.
For more information on the Dylan exhibit visit: The Morgan Libray

NYT: Expansive Vistas Both Inside and Out
DSR's newest masterpiece in Boston
NYT: Ambitious Theme in New Home for Modern Art
New collection unfortunately doesn't live up to its new home...
NYS: Lincoln Center Revitalized
Advise for Lincoln Center
NYS: Good for the Beach - and Afterward, Too
More to report from Miami Beach

I don't usually cover modern dance but since they are friends I had to post the reviews of Bill T Jones' latest work "Chapel/Chapter." Hopefully I will catch it on tour!!
NYT: Crossing Over a Thin Line From Sacred to Secular
NYS: For Bill T. Jones, A Bracing Return to Form

NYS: Exploring Nature With Great Imagination
A photographer's vision and ambition earns him kudos...
NYS: Sales Delight Dealers & Daughters
Report on the first day of Art Basel Miami

One of our favorite creators is featured in the Boston Globe - Bravo to Kazuko! Read on: BG: She wants her jewelry to make you happy

Check out what A Daily Does of Architecture calls the whale of Salzburg! Have a look at the website of the Kunsthaus Graz. Great stuff!

PND: United States Artists Awards First Fellowships
A group of American artists are awarded $50,000 a piece
NYT: In the Blogosphere, an Evolving Movement Brings Life to a Lost Era of Jazz
Remembering when Jazz musicians looked towards other forms because Jazz was loosing popularity
NYS: The Book Is Dead; Long Live the Book
The day the book died....be afraid...be very afraid...

Seeing films like this reminds me why I’m in this gig in the first place and not working in a bank or some big corporate institution, to inspire those who have no hope or passion, to do what an artist was meant to do or at least report what artists are doing. Bobby by Emilio Esteves wasn’t particularly good nor was it well directed but what it did have was an amazing cast, great music and at times in the film a great script. What movies like this do is to remind us that there were people like Bobby Kennedy, JFK and MLK who believed in the human spirit and all of its glories. They remind us that we need leaders and not warriors, people who believe in hope and passion and not fighting and money and that inspire people to be great. Movies like this remind us that we have a future and we need to cherish that future if we are to make a better place for my four-year-old sister to live and eventually for our kids. Our parents wanted a better future for us and that’s why they fought and still fight to put good people in the place where decisions are made. Don’t ever give up hope that we are heading into a good direction, just because we aren’t lead well doesn’t mean that the human spirit can’t survive. I urge you all to go see Bobby and get the soundtrack with an amazing track from Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige feat. The Harlem Boys Choir called "Never Gonna Break My Faith."

Wherever there is Aaron Sorkin there is always great music. Now I don’t know if it's because of Sorkin himself or of a great member of his staff but whether it was on West Wing or now on Studio 60 there is always tremendous music that goes along with the story. Last night on Studio 60 there was a very emotional part at the end of the show that involved musicians from New Orleans. As a music buff I can only say that the beauty of the music and the amazing talent of the musicians moved me. They were on the show benefiting the Tipitina’s Foundation. Please visit their site and see how you can help. Thank you

IHT: At Design Miami, a showcase for limited editions
Have a look at the slide show - good things
NYT: At Getty Trust, a New Chief With Solid Art Credentials
There's a new sheriff in town...
IHT: A futuristic mall is new Turkish playground
The title is pretty self explanatory
NYS: Reconsidering Louis Kahn's Boldness
Yale reopens its art gallery on Sunday but Mr. Gardner has a different opinion

Have a look at the review from Cool Hunting of the new Motorola phone called the MOTOFONE. Theme? Making cheap technology that works...gotta love it!

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has announced its new season and it looks amazing! It includes pieces by Bill Forsyth, John Neumeier, Mos Def and Matthew Bourne, William Kentridge's The Magic Flute and adaptations of Shakespeares Twelth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Cymberline and Ian McKellen in King Lear. For more information please visit BAM.org

Just another brilliant idea for discussion...enjoy
IHT: One Laptop per Child: Computer designed for those who can least afford them

NYT: Towers Will Change the Look of Two World Cities
Paris and St. Petersburg get new towers but where it is appropriate for one might not be for the other...
NYT: Leonard Freed, Photojournalist of Injustice, Is Dead at 77
Inflential member of Magnum passes on
NYT: Annie Leibovitz
Book Review

In recognition of Aids Day please visit Bloodline and see the incredible work of Kristen Ashburn. Please also look at the multimedia presentation on Mediastorm.

U.A. Walker, New York, 1978, private collection. Courtesy of the artist.
Born in Japan in 1948 Hiroshi Sugimoto represents a very special bread of person, one that realizes that the time we have is precious and needs to be documented. With his images of frozen time Sugimoto lets us look at the world in a whole new way, by analyzing the beauty of detail in a very different way then most photographers do. With his images of the oceans or of the theaters he asks us to forget the conventional and superficial and to look beyond the norm whether it be beyond our line of sight or beyond our perception of present time. When you learn what his images are about you start to think in a whole new way. For More information on Sugimoto's works have a look at the site that the Hirshhorn Museum did for a recent exhibit.

NYT: Crisp, Clean and Modern, Before Its Time
Ode to one of the inventors of Modern
NYS: Proud Music of the Academy
Great words about Brooklyn's jewel
IHT: In New York, photo galleries broaden their focus
Naturally my question is if galleries do so well with photography why feel the need to explore other mediums...are they really doing that well?