As many of you know, the art market really slows down in the summer – especially August, but picks up again in September with important auction sales usually in October then Basel/Miami in December, etc. I have really been struggling to find interesting material.
So thank you New York Times “Arts, Briefly” for this (please beware – it’s very upsetting):
Tough Guy Faces Stern Reality
After revelations that Bear Grylls the star of its survival show “Man vs. Wild,” was staying in comfortable resorts and dining on prepared cuisine when the camera was turned off, the Discovery Channel says it will re-edit previous episodes and in the future inform viewers about any off-camera help. “We have learned that isolated elements of the show in some episodes were not natural to the environment and that the crew and host received some assistance while in the field mainly for health and safety concerns,” said a statement from David C. Leavy, executive vice president of Discovery Communications. “Moving forward, the program will be completely transparent in its promotion and all elements of the filming will be explained to our viewers.”
The show follows Mr. Grylls as he is deposited in wilderness areas without much more than a flint, water bottle and knife; he must find his way out, sometimes eating the heads of live frogs or sleeping in freezing temperatures. But The Sunday Times of London reported this week that a consultant on the show, Mark Weinert, said that Mr. Grylls spent nights in a motel in Hawaii instead of on a deserted island, as depicted on the series, and that for an episode filmed in the Sierra Nevada, Mr. Grylls stayed at a resort. When interviewed in June by The New York Times, Mr. Grylls said the conditions did not change regardless of whether the cameras were on or off. Mr. Leavy said Mr. Grylls, who did not respond to e-mail requests for an interview, was on vacation. (by Patricia Cohen)
My favorite episode from what was my favorite show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKpnkX99z0
