[Windows Media - 5 minutes 2 seconds]
KOONS SCULPTURE SOLD FOR RECORD PRICE
A sculpture by United States artist Jeff Koons has sold for a record-breaking £12.9 million ($AU26.8 million) at auction in London.
More than 2.75-metre-tall, 'Balloon Flower (Magenta)', is a high chromium stainless steel sculpture, mimicking those imitation flowers fashioned from long balloons by party clowns or street artists.
At the same auction, Lucian Freud's 'Naked Portrait with Reflection' fetched £11.8 million ($AU24.5 million), compared to a pre-sale estimate of between £10 million and $US15 million ($AU20.7 million and $AU15.6 million).
In the week ending 28 June, Christie's and rival auction house Sotheby's, sold nearly £300 million ($AU623 million) worth of impressionist and modern art over just three days. Christie's and Sotheby's between them account for 90% of the global art auction market.
back to top
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL PIANO AWARD
The finalists in this year's Australian National Piano Award have been announced at government House in Melbourne.
There are three from NSW, seven from Victoria and one each from Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
Among the finalists is Aura Go, who was a guest on ARTS alive last year when she was selected to work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a workshop for young conductors.
The finals of Australian National Piano Award are held in the regional Victorian city of Shepparton, and this year will commence on September 8 with the finals on Saturday night, September 13.
back to top
LEDGER HONORED BY NEW THEATRE NAMING
A new performing arts centre in Perth is to be named after Australian actor Heath Ledger. The 570-seat theatre, with a 200-seat performance studio, will be built in Northbridge, near the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art.
West Australia Premier Alan Carpenter made the announcement accompanied by Ledger's father, Kim Ledger. Mr Carpenter said the decision was a fitting tribute to a talented actor who was totally dedicated to his craft and internationally respected.
Mr Ledger said the family felt honoured and intensely proud to know that the government and West Australian people were prepared to have his son's name attached to the new project.
Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose in a New York apartment in January. His final completed film, 'The Dark Knight', will premier this month.
His portrayal of the Joker has already earned critical praise, and talk of an Oscar nomination.
back to top
DALTON CALLS FOR WEB-BASED TV STANDARDS
The ABC's head of television, Kim Dalton, has called on the Federal Government to extend Australia's TV content standards to web-based video. Such a move would greatly increase government regulation of the internet.
Mr Dalton said that with more TV being delivered through broadband internet services there is a risk that our culture could be lost under a tide of cheap overseas programming. He warned that unless urgent moves are taken, Australian content could be wiped from the broadcasting landscape in as little as 5 or 10 years.
Almost a century ago, similar concerns were voiced about the US films that were displacing Australian film in the cinema. In the 1960, the same issue led to the Commonwealth government establishing quotas for Australian content on television and, in 1969, committing money to support Australian film and television production.
back to top
NEW NIN ALBUM RELEASED UNDER CC LICENCE
Rock group Nine Inch Nails has caused a sensation in the music world with online release of their current album under a Creative Commons licence.
The Creative Commons licence allows other people to share, burn, even remix NIN's songs without the need to obtain specific copyright approval.
This is just the latest example of artists allowing their fans to use their creative output, typically music. These kind of engagements between fans and artists are only possible in cyberspace, but the move also undermines the control that major media corporations have traditionally held over distribution.
Australia is leading the way in this digital revolution. As a major arm of the Australian Research Council-supported Centre of Excellence for the Creative Industries and Innovation, Creative Commons Australia researchers have been active in identifying solutions to the legal, regulatory and policy issues raised by new communication technologies like online games, and social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.
back to top
ZINEWEST 2008
As Australian cities grow larger, regional identity become more important. So ZineWest 2008 is offering emerging Western Sydney writers an opportunity for publication and prizes in a multi-genre, regional zine.
And the zine is open to any word-based genres: prose, poetry, lyrics, cartoon, or drama.
However if you are professionally published in the genre you submit, you will not be recognised as an emerging writer and hence ineligible for publication.
Entries close on 31 July. There is no entry fee and writers selected for publication will not receive any payment.
More information can be found at http://zinewest.blogspot.com.
back to top
