News

Bruce Nauman at the Venice Biennale

lrenz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:06:16 +0000

Over the last four decades, American artist Bruce Nauman has been hugely influential on artists all around the world.
Now, Nauman is the subject of this year’s American pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale.
Of the 33 Naumans on view at the Biennale, there’s only one that captures Nauman at his most disruptive. First shown in 1993, it consists of two stacked video monitors with the artist’s head shown bouncing up and down in each, sometimes upside-down, sometimes right-side-up, and all the while screaming “Think! Think! Think! Think!” The effect is hardly cogitative. It numbs the senses and the mind. Yet “think” may be the most important command that art has ever given. We’ve come up with “classic” notions such as “beauty,” “good taste,” “high skill” — maybe even “fine art” and “old master” — to help to damp its force. Nauman restores it.

North Korea Sentences 2 US Journalists to 12 Years

lrenz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:01:22 +0000

The Korean Central News Agency said Monday that the court found the two women guilty of committing an unspecified “grave crime” and illegally crossing into North Korea.

Last Thursday, North Korean state media announced the start of the trial of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for the U.S. media company Current TV.

Obama’s Inauguration Rocks the Web

lrenz — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:47:27 +0000

As the early numbers pour in, the inauguration of President Barack Obama is shaping up to be a Web video event like no other.

On Jan. 20 CNN.com Live served more than 18.8 million live video streams globally from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST, at which time Obama had been sworn in and had delivered his inaugural address. According to CNN’s internal data, that’s more than triple the previous record of 5.3 million live streams set on Election Day last year, which at the time was record breaking.

Though total audience numbers are not yet available, CNN.com Live, which allowed users to select among four different live cameras during the inauguration, served a whopping 1.3 million concurrent live streams just before Obama’s address.

‘Hulk’s’ Heavy on Action, Light on Humor