LOS ANGELES — As throngs of tourists swarm to Los Angeles’ revered Hollywood and Highland complex to check out the popular celebrity imprint and autograph attraction, one thing will be missing for them to do.

The TCL Chinese Theatre, formally known as Grauman’s, will be closed because it’s getting an overdo makeover.

The infamous LA hotspot for moviegoers is about to undergo an internal transformation that will turn the iconic auditorium into an updated modern theater with cutting-edge technology.

IMAX announced a partnership with the venue on Friday and revealed they will launch a redesign of the building for the first time in 85 years.

The theater will soon have 986 chairs, making it the world’s largest IMAX theater in terms of capacity.

“As we embark on our much-anticipated renovation of the TCL Chinese Theatre, IMAX will play a key role in rejuvenating this historical landmark,” Alwyn Hight Kushner, TCL Chinese Theatre President and C.O.O. stated in a press release.

“We believe that IMAX’s unparalleled entertainment technology, coupled with its blockbuster portfolio of films, will usher in a new era of movie-going at our famed theater that will strengthen our business by delivering a premium viewing experience for our guests,” he said.

The theater has long been celebrated by Hollywood’s elite since its grand opening in the late 1920s and is the home of the exclusive club known as the Forecourt to the stars. This is where a select few are invited to participate in the handprint and footprint ceremonies, which allows them to leave their mark on Tinseltown forever.

The revamp will begin May 1, and the theater will be closed during construction. However, it will reopen for business by late summer.  

Gianni Jetzer, director of the Swiss Institute in New York, will return in June to curate Art Basel’s Unlimited Sector for the second time. But this year, the section of the famous Swiss art fair dedicated to supersized art will be bigger than ever — in fact, the largest in its history.

The Unlimited Sector, which is devoted to large-scale artworks and projects, promises 79 works by such luminaries as Theaster Gates, Ai Weiwei, Antony Gormley, Walid Raad, and Adriana Varejao. The show has grown by more than a dozen projects; last year, it had only 62.

Thanks to an extension to the fair's space created by Herzog & De Meuron, Unlimited is also physically expanding. This year, Hall 1 has gotten an additional 2,500 square meters to work with. The auditorium for Art Basel Conversations will be moved from the original Hall 1 to the new extension, leaving Jetzer the chance to work with the entirety of the original 17,000-square-meter exhibition space of Hall 1.  

Consequently, Jetzer is thinking even bigger than usual. Among other things, this year, Unlimited will show Matt Mullican's “Two into One becomes Three” (2011), a 72-by-23-foot work comprised of 70 panels of oil stick and acrylic on canvas. Presented by Klosterfelde (Berlin), it is the largest painting that has ever been exhibited within the Sector. Huan Yon Ping, a Chinese-born artist living in France, will show his controversial installation “Abbottabad” (2012), a ceramic replica of the compound where Osama Bin Laden was assassinated in May 2011 transformed into a seedbed, presented by Gladstone Gallery. Indian-born artist L.N. Tallur brings his installation “Vendi, Vidi, Vici” (2013), an inverted roof structure created from tiles manufactured in South India by missionaries from Basel, Switzerland itself. His work, presented by Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, will be his first showing outside the Asian continent. At least one artist, Lygia Clark, won’t be there to see her work. The Brazilian artist known for her Bichos, or interactive foldable aluminum sculptures, had documented her wish to create a giant-sized Bicho called “Fantastic Architecture.” In collaboration with Clark’s estate, Alison Jacques, London will realize the installation as closely as possible to Clark's vision.

Jetzer has also attempted to keep it varied with a healthy dose of performance. Amalia Pica's “Strangers,” presented by Herald St., London, will have two strangers hold a string of colorful bunting for hours, while Martin Creed's “Work No. 850,” presented by Gavin Brown, will feature runners sprinting through the exhibition space every 30 seconds. 

Since its inception in 2000, the Unlimited sector has shaken things up, allowing well-known artists the opportunity to think beyond the dimensions of the standard gallery booth. At last year’s fair, Rudolph Stingel’s 11-by-15-foot portrait of legendary dealer Paula Cooper was the subject of much buzz. That work, which was created for the exhibition, sold to super-collector Francois Pinault.

As for which work will draw the most attention this year, we’ll have to wait and see.

To see promised highlights of Art Basel Unlimited 2013, click on the slideshow.

Below, the complete list of artists chosen by the show’s Selection Committee:

Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York


Ai Weiwei, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing – Lucerne, Beijing, Lucerne


David Altmejd, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Stuart Shave / Modern Art, London


He An, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris


Carl Andre,  Konrad Fischer Galerie, Dusseldorf, Berlin


Kutluğ Ataman, Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Sperone Westwater, New York


Kader Attia, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel


Miroslaw Balka, Gladstone Gallery, New York


Karla Black, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; Stuart Shave / Modern Art, London


Iñaki Bonillas, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Stockholm


Peter Buggenhout, Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf, Berlin


Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Cabinet, London


Chen Zhen, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel


Lygia Clark, Alison Jacques Gallery, London


Matt Connors, Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles; Herald St, London


Martin Creed, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York


François Curlet, Air de Paris, Paris; Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Antwerp


Aaron Curry, Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, Brussels


Thomas Demand, Sprüth Magers Berlin London, Berlin, London; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, Los Angeles

Willie Doherty, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin; Alexander and Bonin, New York; Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich


Latifa Echakhch, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; kamel mennour, Paris; kaufmann repetto, Milan


Lionel Estève, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, Hong Kong, New York; Albert Baronian, Brussels; Bernier/Eliades, Athens


Ceal Floyer, Lisson Gallery, London, Milan; 303 Gallery, New York; Esther Schipper, Berlin


Günther Förg, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York


Michel François, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; kamel mennour, Paris


Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, Marlborough Fine Art, London, New York, Barcelona, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Vitacura/Santiago


Dara Friedman, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York


Meschac Gaba, Stevenson, Cape Town, Johannesburg


Theaster Gates, White Cube, London, Hong Kong, São Paulo


Simryn Gill, Tracy Williams Ltd., New York


Antony Gormley, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel


Johan Grimonprez, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; kamel mennour, Paris


Noriyuki Haraguchi, McCaffrey Fine Art, New York


Susan Hiller, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London

Roni Horn, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, London, New York


Jonathan Horowitz, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York; Sadie Coles HQ, London; Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin


Huang Yong Ping, Gladstone Gallery, New York


Pierre Huyghe, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Esther Schipper, Berlin


Alfredo Jaar, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin; Galerie Lelong, Paris, New York, Zurich; kamel mennour, Paris; Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, Woodstock, Cape Town

Michael Joo, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, New York


Esther Kläs, Peter Blum Gallery, Blumarts Inc., New York, Zurich


Emil Michael Klein, Federico Vavassori, Milan


Norbert Kricke, Aurel Scheibler, Berlin


Shakuntala Kulkarni, Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai


Wolfgang Laib, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris


Sean Landers, Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York; greengrassi, London


Atelier van Lieshout, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna


Liu Wei, Long March Space, Beijing


Jorge Macchi, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Boissy-le-Châtel; Alexander and Bonin, New York; Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte, Buenos Aires; Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo; Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich


Michel Majerus, neugerriemschneider, Berlin


Teresa Margolles, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich


Justin Matherly, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; Johann König, Berlin


Mario Merz, Gladstone Gallery, New York


Matt Mullican, Klosterfelde, Berlin; Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich


Oscar Murillo, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin


Gina Pane, kamel mennour, Paris


Giulio Paolini, Yvon Lambert, Paris


Claudio Parmiggiani, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels; Simon Lee Gallery, London,
Hong Kong


Amalia Pica, Herald St, London; Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles


Rob Pruitt, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York


Florian Pumhösl, Lisson Gallery, London, Milan; Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York; Galerie Buchholz, Cologne, Berlin


Walid Raad, Sfeir-Semler, Beirut; Paula Cooper Gallery, New York


Willem de Rooij, Galerie Buchholz, Cologne, Berlin; Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris


Thomas Schütte, Bernier/Eliades, Athens


Sean Scully, Cheim & Read, New York


Nobuo Sekine, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles


Chiharu Shiota, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris


Dayanita Singh, Frith Street Gallery, London


John Stezaker, The Approach, London


Jessica Stockholder, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York; Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris

L.N. Tallur, Nature Morte, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Berlin; Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai


Oscar Tuazon, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Maccarone, New York


Tunga, Luhring Augustine, New York; Mendes Wood, São Paulo; Galleria Franco Noero, Torino; Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe, Berlin


Piotr Uklański, Gagosian Gallery, New York; Massimo De Carlo, Milan, London


Adriana Varejão, Victoria Miro, London; Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo


Marijke van Warmerdam, Galleri Riis, Oslo, Stockholm; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam


Betty Woodman, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin; Galerie Francesca Pia, Zurich
Yan Xing, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing – Lucerne, Beijing, Lucerne


David Zink Yi, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, London, New York

LONDON — A new play on the arrest and detention of Chinese artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei had its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre last week. “#aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei” is written by Howard Brenton and based on author BarnabyMartins’s interviews with the artist after his arrest in 2011, when he was detained for almost three months. The production, which is directed by James Macdonald, will run until May 18. ARTINFO UK had a chance to chat with Brenton to discuss the play, the artist, and the importance of the hash tag.

Do you think the play could pose a threat to Ai Weiwei’s safety?

It was Ai Weiwei’s idea. I was very aware that it’s not dangerous for me to write the play, but it could be very dangerous for him to have the play written. But it was his choice. He wanted it. 

How did the play come about?

Barnaby interviewed Ai Weiwei very soon after he came out of jail in 2011 and at the end of the long interview in which he described everything that had happened to him in prison, he said to Barnaby, “I’d like this to be made into a play.” Barnaby sent the manuscript of his book (“Hanging Man: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei”) to the Hampstead Theatre and they hired me to write the play.

What do you think the play reveals about the artist?

He has a huge strength of character. A strange thing happened with the interrogators. It was almost like Stockholm Syndrome [when hostages sympathize with their captors] in reverse. The interrogators became sympathetic towards him. He even ended up discussing art and they even went on the net to find out about Dada and Marcel Duchamp and began to discuss art with them. The first set of interrogators was withdrawn because the interrogation disintegrated. Indeed, they ended up arguing about how to make Beijing noodles with him. The old saying “you couldn’t make it up” certainly applies to this material. 

And about the Chinese system?

As for the system, it shows that it’s unstable and in a way, incoherent. Orders from the top are not liked at the bottom level. The police didn’t really like interrogating him. They were bored by it. They didn’t really understand why they had to do it. They were murder policemen, the first interrogators. And they even asked Ai Weiwei who he may have killed, assuming he was a murderer being thrown into their system. It’s both authoritarian and chaotic. I’m not saying it’s not dangerous and horrible — because it is — but it’s also chaotic. At the top level, it’s a very sophisticated government. It’s just very crude down on the ground.

The fight for freedom of expression isn’t a new battle for artists. What makes Ai Weiwei’s so intriguing and relevant? 

His drive for freedom of speech and free expression is a very simple demand. Just simply to be able to speak.... It’s this simple, almost naive drive, and it comes from this Zen feeling of “I will speak.”

What’s the significance of the hash tag in the title?

He used to blog, but his blog was closed down by the authorities in 2009, and since then he’s been tweeting (there’s a tweeting system in China) and the authorities find it very hard to stop. So he uses it a lot. He tweets all the time and will refer you to what he’s doing, articles that interest him, and send out news about himself. Just put the hash tag in and you can read what he’s up to. So it seemed a very good title.

How much of Barnaby Martin’s material did you incorporate into the play?

I just concentrated on the account of the interview in the book. I set myself some strict rules with Barnaby’s material in that I would only include actual lines said, straight quotations from Ai Weiwei. Even when I made lines up, there’d relate directly to content in Barnaby’s account.

Are there any scenes in the play that aren’t mentioned in the book?

I took the decision to write two scenes of my own invention which are debates between two high officials in Beijing in the government compound about what to do about Ai Weiwei’s imprisonment and how it’s going because he was caught in a power struggle at a high level in the Chinese government, [a fact] which accounted for some strange things in the interviews. They were disorderly. The interrogations didn’t involve him being beaten up, which was unusual, and he was suddenly released. And there was a reason behind that which I tried to get at in the play.

Why did you feel the play needed those scenes?

Barnaby introduced me to a journalist, a very distinguished commentator on Chinese politics, Jeremy Page, who writes for the Wall Street Journal and lives in Beijing and is a mandarin speaker. He said he’d done a lot of thinking about how the Chinese leadership thinks and that was a very useful conversation.

“#aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei,” until May 18, Hampstead Theatre, London

Follow @UK_ARTINFO

MEXICO CITY – Situated in downtown Mexico City, Chapultepec Castle– one of only two royal castles in the Americas – is amongst Mexico's richest and most beloved landmarks. Home to Mexican Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota during the French Occupation, the site has also served as a presidential home, military academy, and the set of Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet,” starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes. Currently, the restored neoclassical building seats the National History Museum and remains a must-see site in the Mexican capital.

Spring, however, brings a special treat for locals and foreigners alike.

For two-and-a-half weeks, the castle will play home to the Charles Perrault fairytale classic, “Sleeping Beauty,” brought to life by the National Dance Company and members of the Ballet Folkórico de México (México’s Folkloric Ballet Company). The season – in its ninth year – begins on April 10, with its last presentation taking place on April 28. With 150 dancers onstage, its current rendition was choreographed by Jorge Canoand is based on Rosemary Valaire’s adaptation of the original by Marius Petipa.

Ramón Castrejón, from the National History Museum’s press office, told ARTINFO that the castle “is an emblematic and historical building where several important decisions in Mexican history have been made,” and that it should be used as a “venue to broadcast cultural experiences, to impact Mexican audiences.”

With stunning costume design by Rene Durón, breathtaking performances by Iratxe Beorlegui, Mónica Barragán and José Luis González, and a new set design that takes advantage of the stately structure, this spring season promises to be a memorable one in Mexican ballet.   

Shows run from Wednesday to Saturday and tickets can be purchased here.

– Martin Scorsese Gets Chelsea Show: This week Bold Hype Gallery, an art space in Chelsea, will open "Scorsese: An Art Show Tribute," an exhibition commemorating the life and work of one of New York City's most beloved filmmakers. The show, which includes Scott Campbell's rendering of "Gangs of New York," a Scorsese portrait by Jayson Weidel, Rhys Cooper's homage to "Taxi Driver," and more, opens on April 19 and continues through April 21. [/Film]

– Art Critic Gets Pulitzer: The Washington Post's art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott is among this year's Pulitzer Prize recipients, singled out for major recent pieces like his reviews of a photography show at the Corcoran Gallery and an architecture exhibition at the National Building Museum, and his essay on violent imagery in photos, among other articles. He had been shortlisted last year. "It makes me especially happy to win at a time when arts criticism is not doing well," Kennicott said. "Sometimes you have an inkling about these things, but I absolutely had no clue I had made the final rung this time." [Washington Post]

– Baldessari's Corpse Art Concept Could Come True: A 1970 proposal by John Baldessari to exhibit a real human corpse in a gallery in a manner evocative of Mantegna's 1480 painting of Christ's body came closest to being realized in 2011, when super-curators Hans Ulrich Obrist and Klaus Biesenbach combined forces to make it happen but failed. In that case, Baldessari ended up displaying the 11 rooms of paperwork that came out of the process as "11 Rooms." "It’s not excluded that one day it will happen," said Obrist on the occasion of the installation's latest iteration, in Sydney. "You need the consent of the person obviously before they die. At the same time you need the consent of the family as well as legal authorisation." [TAN]

– LACMA Lands Major African Sculpture: At Friday's Collectors Committee event, LACMA announced the acquisition of a three-foot-tall "Gwan" wooden sculpture of a mother and her infant child dated from between the 15th and 17th centuries for $1 million. Another eight objects were acquired in the past year, including works by James Turrell and Thomas Demand, and in all the museum shelled out $3.2 million on new art. As for "Gwan," LACMA African art curator Polly Nooter Roberts said, "It's a very symbolic acquisition for the museum, as LACMA is conceiving and giving birth to a new area of collecting and display." [LAT]

– Sale to Save Paris's Haring Mural: Tomorrow Sotheby's Paris will sell 32 works including pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey, and others in an effort to raise the funds needed to restore a massive mural Keith Haring created on the exterior of a fire stairwell at the Necker Children's Hospital in 1987. The auction house has waived all fees and commissions for the sale. [Libération]

– Obama's Arts Budget Boost: President Barack Obama's budget proposal for 2013-14 includes a 10 percent increase in federal arts funding, bringing the total sum up to $1.58 billion, more than making up for the reductions caused by the recent sequester setbacks for most institutions. The National Endowments for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would see their federal funding surpass pre-sequester levels, boosted from $146 million to $154.5 million. The National Gallery of Art, meanwhile, would get an 11 percent boost to its pre-sequester funding, with $144 million for the next fiscal year. [LAT]

– Bette Midler Sells Scottish Painting: Star of stage and screen Bette Midler has sent a George Henry painting that she bought in Scotland for £45,000 in 2001 to Bonhams in Edinburgh, where it's expected to fetch between £60,000 and £80,000 when it hits the auction block on Wednesday. Though the cause for the sale is not known — cashing in an art investment or charity case? — Midler most recently auctioned selections from her collection of jewelry and costumes last year to benefit her organization, the New York Restoration Project. [Telegraph]

– Moscow's Innovation Prizes Awarded: The National Center for Contemporary Arts in Moscow announced the winners of the eighth annual Innovation Prizes, an award funded by the state and with prizes totaling some $100,000 given out to Russian artists and curators of exhibitions with Russian themes, with the director of Bulgaria's Institute of Contemproary Art Sofia, Iara Boubhova, taking the top curatorial honor for curating the second edition of the Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art last year. Some observers, however, were underwhelmed by the nominees and winners. "There is not enough healthy competition in the Russian art scene," said Red October Gallery director Elena Strygina. [AiA]

– Art Investments Pay Small, Steady Returns: According to data from Mei Moses Fine Art Indexes's analysis of figures from 2012, investing in art generally brings relatively modest profits, though works below $50,000 tended to generate higher returns (7.48 percent) than works between $500,000 and $1 million (5.51 percent). The tradeoff is that the more expensive works are a surer bet, with a standard deviation of 10.93 percent on works between $500,000 and $1 million, while returns on the works under $50,000 art subject to a standard deviation of 17.23 percent, making them a much riskier investment. [AdvisorOne]

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Philip Kennicott discusses his Pulizter Prize win

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Bringing Ai Weiwei's Detention Onstage: A Q&A With Playwright Howard Brenton

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Bright Lights, Big City: A Look Back at the Met Ball

MoMA Will Be Open Seven Days a Week Starting in May

Art Basel's Unlimited Section for Really Big Art Gets Even Bigger

For breaking news throughout the day, check out our blog In The Air.

On April 20, 2011, celebrated photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed in the city of Misrata, covering the Libyan civil war. A new HBO documentary, “Which Way is the Frontline From Here?” opens with footage of this day, the last chilling moments of the photographer’s life as he travels with a group of photographers deep into the war zone. Filmmaker Sebastian Junger, a well-regarded journalist, knows this moment, and its subject, well. Junger and Hetherington collaborated on “Restrepo,” the Sundance award-winning chronicle of a 15-month deployment of a platoon in the Korengal Valley of northeast Afghanistan, widely known as one of the most dangerous places on earth, and it’s clear that they developed a close working relationship and a deep friendship. Combining footage from Hetherington’s life as well as interviews with friends, family members, and loved ones, the film presents a moving portrait of an artist willing to take risks to explore the human side of war. ARTINFO’s Craig Hubert sat down with Junger to discuss the film, the compelling attraction of war, and what younger journalists can learn from Hetherington’s approach to his work.

As a writer and filmmaker, what do you think you can do with film that you can’t do with words?

Well, you know, they go to different parts of the brain. Like, if you’re reading a book about combat and something goes bang, you don’t jump. When you’re reading a book, your brain understands you’re in an armchair reading a book. When you’re in a movie theater watching a movie about combat, and something goes bang, you jump. Your brain doesn’t know you’re not there. So, books deliver information and understanding but not experience. Films are short on information but long on experience. Those are both really powerful things and they go together really well.

How soon after Tim’s death did you realize this was a film and not a written piece, that you wanted to share Tim’s experience instead of just passing on information about his life?

He was a good friend, a really admirable person and a really wonderful person. But, the most remarkable thing about Tim as a public person was his work. I think it would be very hard to make a film about a writer, and I think it would be very hard to write a book about a photographer. How do you show his photos with words? You can’t. But you can show them with film. It just made sense that he would be portrayed in a movie rather than in a book.

Where did you start?

The first thing we did – we didn’t really shoot anywhere, this is all existing footage – was interviews with people who knew and loved Tim, like his family, some of his friends. Also, I interviewed journalists who were with him during the attack and survived to tell that story. Then you start collecting footage – footage Tim shot on his last day, he was shooting footage up to several minutes before he was killed. You have footage from other journalists who were there – Liberia, Afghanistan. Then I have footage that I shot of Tim in Afghanistan. And then he did a lot of media, like I did, after “Restrepo” came out, so we were fortunate that we had dozens of hours of Tim, professionally shot, good interviews of Tim talking about his work. You get all that together and just start to shape it.

With the interviews you conducted, was there trepidation among his loved ones to discuss this on camera?

Oh, yeah. Because of the stories I’ve told, I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve suffered great losses, starting with my book “The Perfect Storm.” That’s one of the hardest things there is, to have an interview like that. So there was trepidation on my part, and probably on the part of his parents and loved ones. It’s hard to open up and talk about something like that. The film wouldn’t be a good film, it wouldn’t exist, if those people didn’t summon up enough courage, and enough trust in me. But it was hard.

As you were shaping all the material, what sort of questions were you asking yourself, about Tim, his life, the nature of combat journalism?

Well, I was trying to figure out what made Tim different, because he was different than a lot of photographers. I was trying to figure out what that was. I feel like you get glimpses of it, like in the scene in Sri Lanka, where he’s photographing those children, and he’s so lovely with them.

I wanted to bring that up, the moment when he’s with the children and he takes the photo of himself to show the children that the camera won’t hurt them.

It’s really nice, right? I wanted to identify that thing that made him really different. I wanted to bring a little bit of awareness to the risk journalists take in war zones, because I think people are ignorant of that a little bit. I wanted to create a platform where Tim’s work can live and be seen and appreciated. I also wanted to continue what interested Tim, about young men in war and, it’s kind of politically incorrect to say this, why war is so compelling and even attractive to young men. That is true in this society, in many societies around the world. It’s not just a massive manipulation by the military industrial complex, it really is a very ancient thing. I wanted to understand that and Tim did as well.

You mentioned the risks journalists take, but it was interesting to see, visually, how Tim’s interest went beyond violent images of a war.

He realized that combat is very dramatic, but it’s repetitive and uninteresting. The most interesting things that happen in combat are a little more subtle, they’re a little more emotional. He understood that. That was actually the true subject he was pursuing out of “Restrepo.”

Do you see other journalists, or photographers, seeing your film and thinking a little more deeply about what they do?

I hope so. I think there are probably a number of young photographers who rush out to war zones and think that the ultimate photo is of a guy shooting a gun. You know, I’ve fallen prey to that way of thinking. Hopefully this film will alter that a little bit. His story is so tragic and so poignant that, unfortunately, it became a perfect explanation for the necessity for having better medical training for journalists. He didn’t just get killed in a war zone – he died of a wound that didn’t have to be fatal. Chris Hondros, he was hit in the head with shrapnel. There’s nothing anyone could have done to save him. With Tim, he just bled out in the course of five minutes. There’s things that could have been done and nobody knew how to do them.

How has looking back on Tim’s life and work changed your own view of journalism?

I immediately decided to stop war reporting after he got killed. So that’s probably the most obvious change. He also opened my mind a little bit about how to be more engaged and open in the world.

“Which Way is the Frontline From Here?” airs on HBO on Thursday, April 18, at 8 p.m.   

This is the first of a three-part ARTINFO series on art patronage in Los Angeles.

In recent years, Los Angeles has received increased international attention as an important new center for contemporary art. In fact, the idea that L.A. art is the next great frontier has been repeated so many times that today it’s almost a cliché. The real question should be, in the face of all this buzz, what still holds it back?

The city’s virtues are many and well known: Strong art schools, affordable housing and studios, large expanses of space, and good weather have all contributed to a flourishing scene. In contrast to over-structured art centers like London and New York, Los Angeles still offers a fresh and nimble arts landscape. This flexibility has helped to create an environment conducive to innovative programming in contemporary art, at venues ranging from grassroots artist-run spaces such as Control Room and Public Fiction, to prominent nonprofits like LACE and LAXART and world-renowned institutions LACMA and the Hammer. Across this varied landscape, however, what all these institutions have in common is one thing: a need for increased support from the L.A.’s powerful patrons.

MOCA’s well-chronicled financial crisis might serve as an opportunity to open up a discussion on the current state of institutional patronage in Los Angeles. How does the city’s still-pioneering attitude affect the sustainability of its art institutions? Does Los Angeles have a culture of serious patronage, and if not, why not? How are institutions setting out to groom new patrons in Los Angeles? And does Hollywood — perhaps LA’s most visible set of potential benefactors — really care about the visual arts? If the city’s long-promised arrival at centerstage is ever really to come, these are questions that will need to be answered.

Growing Pains?

In contrast to London and New York, L.A. institutions are relatively young: London’s National Gallery opened in Trafalgar Square in 1838, the Tate opened its doors in 1897, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1880, MoMA in 1929 and the Whitney in 1931. LACMA has been an art museum since 1961, the Getty since 1974, MOCA since 1979, and the Hammer since 1990.

“Los Angeles has seen this extraordinary flowering of museums since the 1960s,” says Bruce Robertson, art history professor and acting director at UC-Santa Barbara’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum, and previously deputy director of programs at LACMA. “So, 50 years is actually not a long time. Though conversely you could say that what MOCA has achieved in 30 years is pretty significant.”

One possible way to think about the issues facing the L.A. art community is that it seems still to be experiencing a period of turbulent adolescence: identities are being formed, programming and collections are morphing and growing, and the audience is learning how to value its non-profits and museums. Since Los Angeles is a younger metropolis than most East Coast and European cities, its cultural fabric is less developed and its collector class is still learning what it means to be a true art patron.

“Los Angeles is in a very different phase of its legacy building,” acknowledges Andrea Fiucyznski, president of Christie’s Los Angeles. “If you’re looking at the Vanderbilts, the Astors, and the Rockefellers, comparatively Los Angeles is at a much earlier phase — though that’s not to say that it doesn’t have comparable figures. I’ve certainly seen families, individuals, and corporate entities select and choose which institutions to support.”

L.A.’s famous cultural institutions do indeed carry the names of its major donors such as the Annenbergs, the Disneys, the Fowlers, and the Huntingtons. However, the wider cultural ideal of placing importance on being a civic-minded art patron has still to take root in Los Angeles. “Only in the past decade have institutions become strong, and philanthropy is just now starting to catch up,” says Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum. “There is not a deep culture of patronage in Los Angeles yet, but it’s coming along — it’s still young.”

Adds Robertson, “L.A. has a history of acts of philanthropy rather than a culture of philanthropy.”  

Indeed, the reality that philanthropy here comes in fits and starts may help explain MOCA’s tumultuous history. As Philbin points out, “Acts of philanthropy founded [MOCA], but it wasn’t shored up enough for it to be sustained. Real philanthropy is not a short-term deal. Eli [Broad] isn't our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is that we don't have more Elis. We need more people to equalize his power, then he would be one among many heroes.”

Some institutions, of course, are in partnerships that help provide a safety net, notably the Hammer, which has been operated by UCLA since 1992, and LACMA, which has been under the aegis of Los Angeles County since its inception. But for those without the financial cushion of an endowment or partnership — and MOCA is only the most glaring and high-profile example — a patronage model based on sporadic giving makes it more difficult to reach long-term goals. This reality can damage the autonomy and integrity of programming.

Perhaps the problem is as much on the side of those asking for money as for those receiving it. Cesar Garcia, who plans to open the non-profit space the Mistake Room in early 2014, asserts that L.A. institutions aren’t engaging potential donors in a strategic way. “Often, you see patrons being handled on a project-by-project basis, meaning you’re not asking for an angel-based gift — which is huge to supporting an institution.”

When patrons are approached for one-off exhibitions, market trends can dictate institutional programming — it’s just easier to raise money for and draw attention to the artist du jour than for the lesser-known artist. By and large, this is the situation that L.A.’s art institutions find themselves in today. It's a perspective that will likely have to change for the scene to grow deeper roots.

Spanish-born, Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola is one of today’s most prolific design stars, thanks to a skill we can’t get enough of: making old-fashioned things look contemporary and cool again. A few such examples include her use of the classic geometric Vienna straw weave pattern for her now-famous Canesta outdoor range of furniture for B&B Italia; the Comback chair for Kartell, which is a plastic fantastic take on the Windsor chair; even traditional Uzbekistan patterns in the Fergana sofa for Moroso.

Urquiola’s knack for bold design blending influences from around the world can be seen in her work with “Objets Nomades” for French brand Louis Vuitton. Premiered during Design Miami, the exclusive travel line was presented at the recent Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, where she also launched new furniture for Moroso, fabrics for Kvadrat and patchwork marble designs for Budri. ARTINFO tracked down the designer to find out more about her new work, travels, and inspiration.

Your designs for Louis Vuitton are very much like handbags: the stool folds shut and can be carried like a clutch while the Swing Chair is hung by its handles. Are you interested in designing portable objects?

They have the playful metaphor of a bag, but it’s not about traveling. It’s about the mobility and flexibility of things, like the concept of voyage autour de ma chambre, or “traveling around the room”.

What are they inspired by, then?

One of the ideas came from an object we have had in the studio for a long time — the little fisherman’s stool. For me, this is one of the most interesting items designed by ‘no one’; there’s no father of that product. Normally, the fisherman’s stool is small and light, a delightful piece that to me [embodies] the sense of nomadism.

What does nomadism mean to you?

It’s a dimension of the way that we are living today: of communication, the digital era, the fluidity of the relationship between the concept of space and time — planning a conference call in the afternoon because we’re calling America. Life is more democratic, easy, and social. We are lighter in the way we choose to live and do things.

The works also show off different possibilities of leather working.

The Swing Chair is about handcrafting, and the Stool is an industrial design. We worked on it to make it a more technical, performance piece, with the savoir faire of leather to make it a Louis Vuitton product.

Handcrafting forms a big influence in your work. Where does that passion come from?

I like the memory of craft, which is part of our culture. To introduce this to the industrial world and mix the two concepts — that is something I find interesting.

Apart from the fisherman’s stool, do you collect other objects?

I am a collector of [similar] tools. From my last trip to Singapore, I found in a lovely little shop an old fishing accessory, a handcrafted work that I appreciated a lot. I know that something will come out of it.

What is it about these objects that attract you?

That they are a little bit rough or improbable.

What sparks your desire to redesign something that already exists?

It’s not exactly like that. You are a curious person, and go through the world and sometimes you come back from a place with a concept. The moment you do a project, it comes together inside your mind.

Tell us about your latest work inspired by travel.

I used to travel to Vieques in the Caribbean Islands to design the W Hotels Retreat & Spa. The island was little and poor, with a military airport that was protected by a fence done in the cheapest way. That project was done three years ago and the fence has been in my mind. I proposed that to Patrizia [Moroso] as a design for the Moroso stand [at the Salone del Mobile] this year — I like it because it’s very sustainable and not complicated.

Do you have a favorite object you always travel with?

I have a green military jacket for when I travel. It’s perfect for many conditions: not too cold or too warm; you can dirty it; and it has pockets. It was a lovely gift from an English designer in London and has been with me for more than 10 years. 

– Gallery's Pot-for-Donations Club Busted: The co-directors of 530 Art & Upcycle, Adam Zimmerli and Devon Hawk Hazard, are facing felony charges for hosting a club that gave away free marijuana in exchange for donations to the art space. Undercover police claim they received hundreds of dollars worth of weed in exchange for donations. "We didn’t sell marijuana to anyone, we never distributed marijuana, we did have a private marijuana club," said Zimmerli. "We never broke a law. We really were just there for the people, giving them a safe place to be," Hazard added. "We were abiding by the law that the state voted for." The Cannabis Club of Denver is asking for online donations to fight the charges, believing that the case could set a precedent. [CBS4, Cannabis Club of Denver]

– Sequester Hits Smithsonian: Due to the budget reductions resulting from sequestration, many of the Smithsonian Institute's art museums — which include the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Renwick Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery — will be forced to close selected galleries on a rolling basis, possibly beginning as early as next month. They will remain open seven days per week, though several museums will also cut back by foregoing the typically extended summer schedules in coming months. "The goal is to keep our museums open," said Smithsonian secretary G. Wayne Clough. [WaPo, WaPo]

– Kelley's Masterpiece Reaches Home Stretch: The late L.A.-based, Detroit-born artist Mike Kelley was preparing the ambitious and deeply personal "Mobile Homestead" — a full-scale replica of his childhood home — at the time of his death, and now the work has been installed on an empty downtown lot near the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), which will unveil it to the public on May 11. "He kept saying to me, 'This is never going to happen — it’s a joke,' because that’s the way he was," Marsha Miro, MOCAD's founding director, said of Kelley's attitude toward the project. "But he also said he thought it would be one of the most important things he ever did, partly because it would keep on being a living piece." [NYT]

– McCall's Olympic Art Megalith Lost: After more than a year of delays and over £500,000 in funding from Arts Council England, Anthony McCall's ambitious plan to create a six-mile-high column of vapor in Liverpool that was originally slated to be part of the cultural programming for the 2012 Olympics, has finally been called off. "It is with profound disappointment that we have decided to draw our project to a close," McCall said. "My team has worked long and hard but, due to the many regulatory and technical challenges, we have not been able to bring Column to completion." [BBC]

– Louvre Abu Dhabi Won't Be Censored: Yesterday, during a preview of some 130 works from the permanent collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which is slated to open in two years, curator Laurence Des Cars said that the new institution won't shy away from artworks engaging subjects like sexuality and religion, which have frequently been removed from exhibitions at galleries, museums, and fairs in the United Arab Emirates. The Louvre's outpost will show all types of work, Des Cars said, but it won't "shock just to be shocking," adding: "The idea is to create connections between different civilizations." [AFP, AP]

– Ceramic How-To Videos Go Viral: San Francisco sculptor Hien-Chuen Lin's elegantly shot but otherwise straightforward YouTube tutorials, shot in his backyard shed in which the ceramicist demonstrates techniques for working at a throwing wheel, have gathered a huge online following nearly on par with the woman who inspired him to start making them three years ago — Susan Boyle. "She sang and everybody went crazy and she got a lot of views. It pushed me into it," Lin says. "After I die, people can still learn from me. I say to my sons, next time when I'm not in this world they can see me online." [San Francisco Chronicle]

– Stolen Fabergé Egg Case Cracked: A jewel-covered, golden Fabergé egg worth €1 million that was stolen from a Kuwaiti firm based in Geneva in 2009 was recovered following a routine road stop in France near the Swiss border, French police revealed Monday. It was discovered in a "suspect" BMW, according to police, which was being driven by two Belarusian men who, along with a third in a trailing car, were arrested at the scene. [AFP]

– Louvre's German Exhibition the Wurst?: Two major German newspapers, the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and left-leaning Die Zeit have attacked the Louvre for the portrayal of Germany in its new exhibition "Germany (1800-1939), from Friedrich to Beckman," which they claim presents a cliché portrait of a nation with a "singular German voice" and a problematic narrative built up over the course of its more than 200 artworks leading inexorably towards the horrors of World War II. "National Socialism, with which the exhibition concludes, is presented as the inevitable destiny that was foreshadowed in art," a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung editorial says, "rather than as a political development among many others that never came to pass." [AFP]

– Curiger Goes for Van Gogh Job: The globe-trotting Swiss curator Bice Curiger has opted for an unexpected place to touch down: She is the new artistic director of the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation in Arles in the south of France. The curator of the 2011 Venice Biennale and co-founder of Parkett will oversee the 30-year-old Van Gogh Foundation's upcoming relocation to a historic hotel. [TAN]

– Chinese Gallerist Goes Back to Jail: The Chinese art dealer Gao Ping, who operates galleries in Madrid and Beijing and was arrested last October for his suspected connection to an international money-laundering scheme based in Spain, has been ordered back to prison for fear that he might flee while a possible trial is pending. Gao is one of several dozen suspects accused of laundering as much as €300,000 annually, bribing officials, dodging taxes, and falsifying documents. [AFP]

VIDEO OF THE DAY

One of San Francisco sculptor Hien-Chuen Lin's ceramics how-to vids

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For breaking news throughout the day, check our blog In The Air.

SALE: Modern and Contemporary art

LOCATION: Christie's, Palazzo Clerici, Milan

DATE: April 22-23

ABOUT: Next week, Christie's Milan will auction off a variety of hot works by Lucio Fontana, Alighiero Boetti, and Giorgio De Chirico.

Among the most anticipated are Fontana's brightly colored, characteristically distressed canvases. This series of works, which he entitled his "Concetti spaziali (Spatial Concepts)," was meant to suggest to the viewer a way of looking beyond the illusion of the canvas and into "free space," as he called it. Many works in the "Concetti spazialia" series were seen at the Fontana survey at Gagosian Gallery last summer, and these canvases will be some of the priciest items up for sale at next week's auction. "Concetto spaziale, Attese" (1964), a red canvas with three vertical slashes, has a high estimate of $930,000. Another in this series, a grey textured canvas that looks like the surface of the moon, is expected to bring in the same.

Tied with the aforementioned Fontanas for the top high-estimate spot is "Ettore e Andromaca" (1969), one of several colorful paintings by Surrealist master Giorgio De Chirico. Paintings by Giacomo Balla, Enrico Castellani, and Josef Albers's "Homage to the Square: Saturated" will also be up for sale.

BERLIN — Avant-garde director Robert Wilson returns to the Berliner Ensemble on April 17 with a production of James Matthew Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” In keeping with his successful collaborations with Rufus Wainwright and Lou Reed on “The Shakespeare Sonnets” and Frank Wedekind’s “Lulu,” respectively, Wilson chose Brooklyn-based musicians Sierra and Bianca Casady, aka CocoRosie, for his trip to Neverland.

ARTINFO Germany caught up with Wilson as rehearsals were coming to a close, to talk about the origins of this latest project, choosing CocoRosie, and the possible whereabouts of Neverland.

The choice of this play seems slightly atypical for you. How did it come about?

Claus Peymann [the director of the Berliner Ensemble] suggested it. We were trying to think of something that would be different from what I’ve done here before. I’ve done many works at the Berliner Ensemble: Shakespeare, Heiner Müller, Bertolt Brecht, Georg Büchner. I would have never expected to do “Peter Pan.” It was kind of a surprise.

Did you have a relationship to “Peter Pan” as a child?

I was a little aware of the story when I was a child. Much later, I was an assistant to Jerome Robbins, probably the most successful director and choreographer of Broadway theater; he did “Westside Story” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” Jerry had directed a very famous production of “Peter Pan” with Mary Martin on Broadway, and of all of his work, it was one of his favorite productions. So I became more familiar with the subject matter. Then, I saw the Disney version. And now, I am trying to find mine.

The introduction to this production begins with a quote: “To die will be an awfully big adventure.”

It came about developing this work. It’s curious: if you go back to the original “Peter Pan” it’s a very cruel, dark story, very different from the Disney world. I think that “Peter Pan” is a prism of very many personas, the dark sides of the character and the lighter sides, and how they somehow support each other. This is one of the failures of the Disney “Peter Pan.” It’s too light. Only when you’re in hell do you know where heaven is.

And where is Neverland?

It’s like what Tom Waits’s caterpillar says to Alice in our production of “Alice in Wonderland”: “Everything you can think of is true.”

In your early career, you worked with disabled children. In 1970 you created “Deafman Glance” with and for Raymond Andrews, a deaf boy. You said, at the time, that these children perceived differently, from a different space. Would you call that a kind of Neverland, too?

Do you know Christopher Knowles, the autistic poet? I did a performance with Chris, when he was 15, in Shiraz. We had been touring for almost eight months. It was the last performance, and it was for Farah Diba, then the empress of Iran. I said to Chris, “We want to do something special tonight, the queen is coming.” He didn’t really understand who the queen was, but he understood “something special.” So at the end of the performance, he said the word “tape recorder” for 10 minutes, very beautifully; it was like Satie, with a very delicate modulation of his voice. I was moved to tears. The audience was crying in the other way: “My God, how long is this kid going to say, ‘tape recorder,’ and when are we going to get out of here?” There was no applause at the end of the performance. When we were leaving the stage, Chris turned to me and said, “Who cares to have your mind be so smooth?” In a sense, that is Neverland for me.

CocoRosie are writing the music for “Peter Pan.” Was it clear from the start that you would be working with them?

No. I had originally asked Antony [Hegarty] from Antony and the Johnsons to do the music, I had just worked with him on [“The Life and Death of] Marina Abramovic,” and I thought that his music would be good for “Peter Pan.” He was considering it, but then he said he wanted to write an opera and felt he would be too slow. So he asked me to find someone else. I was devastated; I was about to give up the project. Then, it was a Thursday and I had to decide whether to do it or not. So I called Antony in the morning – my last chance to see if I could convince him to do it. He said no again, but he suggested I ask CocoRosie. I didn’t know them. I had a 6:30 flight to Sweden that day; I was in New York, and they came around at 3 o’clock. After about five minutes, I said, “Would you guys like to do this? I have to leave right now to the airport. I have a meeting on Sunday morning with the Berliner Ensemble, and I have to make a decision.” They said, “Oh yeah, we’d love to do it.” By Sunday morning, I had three songs. What’s fascinating is that they are not only brilliant songwriters and musicians, they also have a great visual sense. They really are visual artists too. It’s great to work with them.

How did you approach this production?

I usually start rehearsals with an empty space and try not to have any ideas. I used to, when I was younger, think if I didn’t know what I was going to do before I went to a rehearsal, I would be unprepared. But I’ve found, as I got older, that I was wasting a lot of time. I was trying to make ideas that were in my head. So now, it’s more, just looking at the room, looking at the people, and letting that talk to me.

Your sets are famous for their visual impact. Do you create them from what you see, too?

I usually start with some sort of formula. The first thing I do in rehearsal is light the space, and then I sketch something for how the space will look. Once that’s done, I can be much freer. When I started rehearsing yesterday morning with the Tiger Lily actor, I spent about an hour and a half lighting the space, arranging it. Then I said to Georgios [Tsivanoglou], the actor, “Do something.” It’s much easier for me to decide what to do once I know what the space looks like. It’s a dialogue.

Speaking of dialogue, how have you found communicating with actors whose language you don’t speak?

I did Ibsen in Korea, Chekhov in Japan, now I’m doing a play in São Paulo; I’ve worked in Russian, in Farsi, at the Comédie-Française with classically-trained actors, with the National Theatre in Athens, we did “The Odyssey” in Modern Greek — I’ve been doing it for a long time, working in a language I don’t speak. [Buckminster] Fuller, the architect, said, “If you think you don’t understand a language, you won’t. But if you don’t think about it, you’ll understand something.” Very often during rehearsals I will say to an actor, “I don’t believe you.” Somehow, I don’t have to know the language to know that.

British singer Sarah Brightman hopes to become the first professional artist to record a single in space.

Brightman, who rose to fame starring in the original London and New York casts of "The Phantom of the Opera", plans to be the next paying passenger to ride a Russian rocket to the International Space Station in 2015.

Russia has sent seven private passengers to the International Space Station, each of them reportedly paying at least $20 million.  American investment manager Dennis Tito was the first to make the journey in 2001.