About Artslynx International
Theatre Resources
Mission:
As the web gets more and more cluttered, search engines become less
and less useful as means of quickly finding the best resources.
Curated directories of web information, though can cut through the
clutter, leading you quickly to the most valuable and informative web
resources. Artslynx is especially designed to provide the most
efficient navigation to valuable information for the student, scholar,
educator, and researcher in the arts. There is no advertising on
Artslynx, no pop-up windows; no mega-graphics to slow things down,
just information, organized in the most accessible way possible.
Artslynx also recognizes the many fine and comprehensive resources
already out there. Where possible, we try to link you directly with
these wonderful resources. Why reinvent work already done? At
the same time, Artslynx works to develop comprehensive guides in areas
not already well developed by others. In the theatre arena, Artslynx
thus worked to develop its own link library of Physical Theatre and
Fight Direction resources because at the time, there were no
comprehensive listings on the web.
History:
Artslynx was one of the pioneers. It started towards the beginning
of public access to the web. In fact it started before many people
were on the world-wide-web at all! Artslynx started as a stand-alone
"bulletin board system", or "BBS" operated from
the living room of Richard Finkelstein, then living on Long Island,
near New York City. People had to call in to Richard's home computer
by modem to gain access to the system.
The Genesis of the project is quite interesting, and as it is now a
part of theatre history, it is perhaps worth documenting here. At the
start of the 1990s Richard was facing unemployment as a university
theatre professor. During that period he received a call from Anne
Cattaneo, then Dramaturg for The Lincon Center Theatre Company, but
more importantly, President of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of
The Americas (LMDA).
In the 1980s, the Writers Guild of America had started its own
dial-in BBS so that they could strategize during the TV writers'
strike of that era. The site allowed them to negotiate well with the
more powerful producers. Clearly "networking" among writers
allowed them to be more empowered. The New York Times published
an article on this new use of technology and the article caught the
eye of Anne Cattaneo and other theatre dramaturgs. They wondered if
they too might begin to network using this new technology.
Somehow, Anne heard about Richard Finkelstein's work with computers
in the theatre. What she did not know is that his pioneering work was
not in computer networking but rather in the arena of Computer Aided
Design (CAD). Still, facing unemployment, he wasn't about to tell her
he had no experience in setting up computer networks. He said
"sure, I'll set up a network for the nation's dramaturgs".
Of course this did not help him with employment since he did this work
all for free as he too believed in the potential of this kind of
networking.
Thus what was first called "The LMDA Hotline" was born.
There was a problem though. Since the resource was ahead of its time,
only a tiny handful of dramaturgs had computers and modems! It was a
fun time though as the handful who did have the ability had wonderful
chats online! One by one though, with so few people to participate in
the discussions online interest waned. In the meantime, Richard F
moved to Boulder Colorado.
Eager to meet new artists in his new hometown Richard kept his BBS
going but re-naming it "Theatre Lynx". It was a great local
success in the Denver area but of course limited by the requirement of
folks to call in by modem.
Soon, the Web hit critical mass and the resource moved over to the
web as well. Richard had been hired to develop a link library of
Colorado Arts Resources, a project that grew into "Artslynx
Colorado". At the same time, he continued to develop Theatre
Lynx. While his Colorado online hosts were content to remain
Colorado-centric, Richard was eager to move to the new paradigm of a
WORLD - wide WEB. No longer was access limited by long-distance
charges! No longer was software limited to linear models.
Since Richard was active in multiple arts disciplines, he used this
opportunity to expand the project far beyond the specific discipline
of Theatre. Hence "Artslynx International Arts Resources"
was born, with link libraries dedicated to theatre, dance, visual art,
music, film, writing, and arts advocacy.
Link Philosophy:
In general, Artslynx links to non-profit resource libraries serving
as master sites themselves. It is pointless, for instance, for
Artslynx to link to the specific sites of theatre companies because
other web portals already do a great job with such link directories.
So, what Artslynx tries to do is to link to these other great
collections. In areas where Artslynx feels that there is no such
comprehensive listing, Artslynx creates its own. In many of these
areas, the Artslynx listings are still the most comprehensive.
Examples of such Artslynx generated master pages includes the pages
devoted to: Physical Theatre, Fight Direction, Journals,
Organizations, etc. Other than in the context of such
specialized pages, Artslynx does not link to specific companies or to
the pages of specific artists. If you operate a comprehensive
master-site or a site dealing with hard to find information, do feel
free to suggest that your site be reviewed. Final link choices are the
sole choice of the site proprietor though. [SUGGEST
A LINK]
Artslynx links are not reciprocal. Artslynx links to those sites it
finds valuable to web surfers. Artslynx does nor require any sort of
return link. In the same way, Artslynx welcomes the opportunity to be
linked from the sites of those who feel that Artslynx resources might
be of value to their own web clients.
Navigating the Site:
The design of Artslynx is undergoing a big re-vitalization -
largely to make navigation easier! From any page on the
re-designed part of Artslynx you can click on the Artslynx logo to
move to the Artslynx master home page. There you can choose any
discipline to explore.
Once in a discipline as in the Theatre section, you can select a
topic from that discipline's own home page.
From any discipline topic, you can navigate to other topics from
the menu on the left of the page. The navigation bar at the top of
each page can take you to the discipline's home page or to other major
navigation resources.
In the pages of some topics, you may elect to move to sub-topics.
In these pages the navigation menus on the left of the page will lead
you to similar sub pages, or click on the "UP" button to
return to the topic page. Clicking on "HOME" always takes
you to the specific discipline's home page.
Within the left page menu area, you may also find links to take you
directly to the pages of other major discipline areas.
At the bottom of each page, when fully implemented, you will find a
site search engine. It is a great way to find specific listings that
you may be looking for.
About the Proprietor
Artslynx is run as a service to all the arts and to artists, and
the public that they serve, by Richard Finkelstein, currently living
in Harrisonburg, Virginia. His professional life suits him well to run
such a comprehensive arts-related resource.
He has been a professor of theatre design for more than 25 years,
and working professionally in the arena of theatre scenery, lighting,
and projection design over that entire period. His work as a theatre
designer has been seen all over the world, as well as on Video and at
venues from The Kennedy Center to Off Broadway. If you want to
learn more about his theatre design work, visit Richard's
Portfolio.
As an academic, he of course works daily with scholars from
multiple disciplines inside and outside of the theatre, but as a
designer, he works regularly in collaboration with artists in the
arenas of theatre, dance, music, writing, film, and the visual arts.
Currently, Professor Finkelstein serves as a Professor of Theatre
Design at James Madison University.
In addition to his work in stage design, web design, and in the
arena of arts advocacy, Professor Finkelstein is also an accomplished
photographer with works exhibited in galleries and in such
publications
as Dance Magazine, Stage Directions, Theatre Design and
Application, The New York Times, Dance Spirit, and Dancer
Privacy Statement
This is an easy one. Artslynx uses no "cookies" or
other such pastries that could interfere with your privacy. The
only collection of data occurs through the use of a public counter
utility on the bottom of a few of the pages. This does record the name
of the page that referred you which allows Artslynx to understand
better who is linking to the resources. The tracking counter also
tracks other basic information but nothing about you as an individual.
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