‘Land Art’ at risk of extinction

By Justus Flair

The Huffington Post had a recent article by Katherine Brooks that discussed the current state of land art. According to Brooks, land art is work by artists that includes natural features like bodies of water or mountains in aesthetic creations. Land art faces issues like weather and declining budgets, as many cities are no longer paying to maintain the works.

Brooks did a fantastic job including photographs of each artwork she discussed, which is crucial to the success of an article so heavily focused on art. It was especially important to this topic, as many readers will likely not be familiar with land art.

By dividing the article into sections devoted to one piece, Brooks is able to capture the unique problems surrounding each work. Saying water damage was a complication for land art when some are located in the desert would have been too general and misleading, ruining Brooks’s credibility with some readers. I also enjoyed that she picked geographically diverse pieces to allow readers across the country to understand how land art functions in their area.

The article could have benefited from a few quotes from city officials or artist who had created land art. Brooks states that funding for public art is down in recent years, but did not speak to any city officials from areas with the selected land art to find why the funding had been cut or decreased. It also would have enriched her story to include insight from artists on why they create works using the landscape, which they know is more fragile and changing than a painting or sketch.

Nazi-seized art leads to lawsuit

By Justus Flair

When the Nazis seized power in Germany, Ludwig and Margret Kainer, German Jews, were forced to flee, losing much of their vast art collection. The Nazis confiscated countless pieces from the Kainers. Patricia Cohen wrote an article in The New York Times discussing the lawsuit filed by the Kainers’ heirs against the Swiss Bank responsible for the sale of several historic art pieces previously owned by the family, for which they received no money.

Cohen linked to a few other pieces in her story, including one previously written by the NY Times about one of the key paintings and a story written about the corporation assisting the Kainer heirs.

With a story so heavily focused on art, I had hoped for more visual elements. The story includes only a few noteworthy images: a large print of Edgar Degas’s “Danseuses,” one of the paintings the lawsuit names, to the right of the article; older images of Ludwig and Margret Kainer from the 1850s placed further down in the story. Cohen makes multiple mentions of the Kainers’ vast art collection before is was stolen, so, as a reader, I would have loved to see more of the work to better understand the magnitude of wealth taken from the Kainer heirs. I would also have enjoyed seeing the heirs, as there were over a dozen listed, most now residing in the United States.

The page’s advertisements were very distracting — large, full color images placed directly next to the images accompanying the story, causing them to blend together in a confusing mix. Of course websites have to run ads, but the story would have greatly benefited from a way to separate the advertisements from the text and images of the article.

“Dance & Fashion” exhibit opens in NY

By Justus Flair

Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post covered the opening of a new exhibit, “Dance & Fashion,” at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Museum. The exhibit examines the historical relationship between dance and fashion. For example, the classic image of ballerinas tying criss-crossing lace ribbons up their legs originated with a ballerina in the 1800s who was simply designing her dance shoes to fit the popular daily style. The exhibit includes costumes from the New York City Ballet, a pair of Lady Gaga‘s shoes and elegant couture gowns.

Kaufman adequately explains the intent of the exhibit, but does so without quotes from anyone connected to the project until nearly the end of her article. For the majority of the piece she is simply summarizing what others have told her, oftentimes without citing from where the information came. For example, she discussed somewhat obscure historical figures in the dance world and gave details about their performances without saying how she came to know such information.

The headline of the piece, “Lady Gaga’s pointe shoes, punk-ballet tutus in ‘Dance & Fashion’ exhibit” was very catchy and the primary reason I clicked on the article, but Kaufman’s lead was rather dull and almost led me to quit reading before I had finished. Kaufman completed two hefty paragraphs before explaining why Gaga’s shoes and punk tutus were on display together. The intro contained nothing that grabbed my attention — it had too many names and not enough punch.

I was struck by the fact the article contained only one link, to another article Kaufman had written, this one about a dance briefly mentioned in the article. This seemed to be an act of self-promotion rather than an effort to help the reader gather more information and gain a deeper understanding of the topic. At the very least I expected to find a link to FIT’s website, as they are hosting the exhibit, but I was left disappointed.

Tall ballerinas tower over competition

By Justus Flair

Rebecca Ritzel, a freelance writer, wrote an intriguing story for The Washington Post about taller ballerinas and the struggle they face in a field dominated by short women.

Courtney Henry, a 6-foot tall African American ballet dancer who just may be the tallest professional female dancer in the United States, is profiled in the beginning of the piece. Ritzel described how Henry discovered ballet and the ensuing demand for her to be better than the other dancers; as a tall, African American girl surrounded by short, Caucasian dancers, she said she stuck out a bit.

The story expanded into an in-depth look at an upcoming performance of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, a company that features a variety of tall dancers. Many other companies only accept taller dancers in their principal roles, Ritzel said, as they will stick out too much from the chorus.

In concluding the story, Ritzel describes King’s method of choreography and how it differs from creating dances for ballerinas of typical height.

By giving readers a specific person to connect with, Ritzel draws the audience into the story and keeps them engaged. As they read about Henry’s struggle as an awkward, gangly child, they wish for her to find a place to belong. When she finally finds a sport she enjoys in dance, she still feels like an outcast, which compels the reader to continue with the article, to determine how she came to be a professional dancer.

The story features quotes from Henry and Meredith Webster, a 5-foot-10-inch dancer with LINES, as well as Alonzo King, head of the dance company. Ritzel used their quotes effectively to move the story and explain the nature of tall dancers’ plights, but she only spoke to people within LINES, making it seem a bit too much like an advertisement. She mentioned two primary dancers with the New York City Ballet who are both 5-foot-9, but did not speak to either woman or mention the challenges they faced on their journey to their elite positions.

Ritzels fails to mention anything about height or height expectations for male dancers. She mentions that King first paired Henry with a male dance partner who was shorter than her, but does not clarify if his height is average among his profession. The focus of the story is the towering height of some female ballerinas, but background information of the height of male ballet dancers would have given readers more perspective. By ignoring the question, Ritzel closes a whole list of other potential story ideas. For example, is it harder for male dancers to dance with taller ballerinas? Are male dancers intimidated by dancing with taller partners? What is the height of their ideal partner? Do very tall male dancers experience any of the same struggles? What about shorter than average males?

Despite these few flaws, Ritzel chose an interesting topic that had not been covered by many publications and covered it in an uplifting way, making it easy for readers to comprehend and intriguing to read. Overall, the story was well-written and well reported, if a bit narrow.

Racially charged exhibit canceled in London

By Justus Flair

Doreen Carvajal published an article in The New York Times describing the cancellation of artist Brett Bailey’s “Exhibit B” at the Barbican Theatre in London. Protestors claimed the exhibition, which features black actors caged and chained in imitation of human zoos from the 1800s, was racist, offensive and unnecessary.

Carvajal utilized hyperlinks to allow readers to see images of the work to understand the racial elements, find information on human zoos and their place in history, and read statements released by the protesters, the theatre and the artist. She contributed an abundance of information to help readers comprehend the background of the story and, thus, the ensuing controversy.

In discussing the protesters, Carvajal explained their stance well, neither defending nor condemning it. Both sides of the disagreement – those involved with the exhibit and those protesting – were given coverage and allowed to combat the other’s points in the piece. Carvajal gave very factual information to allow readers to form their own opinion. However, she had very poor sources, giving readers nothing they could not have already found online. She relied solely on statements released by Barbican Theatre and published on their website, a Facebook post from Bailey, and the online petition stating the claims of the protesters. There were no unique or individualized quotes from the sources, which made the article seem hastily put together and ill-informed. It was clear Carvajal had not had the opportunity to speak directly with those involved or ask them any questions. There were no quotes from any of the protesters, which made it difficult to comprehend why they felt a protest was necessary and what they wanted from the theater and artist besides the cancellation of the performance. Overall the article would have benefitted from more thorough reporting.