bloggy

Republicans bad for show biz

Via Crain’s New York:

Broadway was hit hard last week when the Republican National Convention was in town.

Attendance for the week ending Sept. 5 dropped 18% to 163,977 compared with the same week last year. Box-office grosses plummeted 20%, to $10.9 million, despite the League of American Theatres and Producers’ “Unconventional Wisdom” discount ticket program. That promotion sold $215,000 worth of tickets.

Account of a Critical Mass rider

Christopher Ryan sent me a link to his account of being arrested during Critical Mass.

While I cringed a bit at his use of “flamer”, his politics seem to be in the right place generally, and I’m not quite sure what a straight ska-punk musician should call a homo these days…

Steffan Saffer @ müllerdechiara (Berlin)

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If I were in Berlin, I would not miss this show by Stefan Saffer at müllerdechiara. We saw his work at the Whitney ISP and loved it. The work in the above photo is made of cut paper. They look like they might be metal, but they are incredibly delicate.

The Secret Forest of Princess Knight: Fantastic Landscapes from Japan

Hurrah! An art post!

This looks like an interesting show from M.Y. Art Prospects:

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The Secret Forest of Princess Knight:
Fantastic Landscapes from Japan

September 9 – October 16, 2004
Reception: Thursday, Sept. 9, 6-8pm

Our exciting fall exhibition, curated by Taro Chiezo – the Tokyo & New York-based artist whose “neo-pop” work shaped Japan’s 1990’s art scene along with Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, sheds new light on Japanese landscape art. The exhibition will present works by six individual artists and two collaborative groups. International stars and up-and-coming artists, they all share a sensitivity influenced by the manga/animation subculture widely known as “Japanimation.”

The exhibition’s title “The Secret Forest of Princess Knight” originated from the popular manga series “Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight)” by Tezuka Osamu (1928-1989). His work, like Walt Disney’s, has made a profound impact on pop culture and contemporary art even outside Japan.