Wow. I just learned via Tyler Green (Modern Art Notes) that Adam Weinberg, the new director of the Whitney, gave an interview to The Art Newspaper in which he throws into doubt a 2006 Biennial.
While Mr Weinberg has not decided how to organise the 2006 biennial, he is giving serious thought to an installation of the entire museum top-to-bottom with the collection.
Later on in the article, after talking about the museum's lack of space, we also read this:
Mr Anderson had investigated the possibility of mounting the Biennial and other exhibitions in the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, but Mr Weinberg has not formally explored that possibility as yet. Meanwhile, he intends to reclaim for exhibitions part of the indoor/outdoor gallery on the lower floor of the building which currently houses the restaurant and shop.
I just noticed the use of "Mr" (no period) rather than "Mr." Is that a new trend? Are periods passé?
Thanks for the plug. I noticed the lack of a period too. Maybe it's a Euro thing -- they spell some words in The Third Way ("organise") too... (Or is that Third Way stuff only a political thing?)
I wonder if the "tree falling in a forest" lack of outcry over this isn't related to either Bloggy or Modern Art Notes, but to the story's original source: The Art Newspaper. Does anyone actually read that thing?
I've heard (and sometimes follow) the rule that you don't use a . when the abbreviation's last letter is also the word's last letter. e.g., Cont. vs Cont'd or Rev. vs Dr (Of course, I just call them Al and Howard...)
No period after abbreviations is British practice. See the BBC or Guardian websites.
BBC on Mr David Kay:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3442313.stm
The standard practice in Australia, like in the UK, is not to put a period (which we call a full stop) after "Mr". There is a reason.
A full stop only belongs after an abbreviation ("para.", "Mon.", "fig."), not after a contraction ("Rd", "dept", "Bros").
The shortened forms for Street ("St.") and Saint ("St") illustrate the difference.
The national Style Manual (we actually have such a thing, and it is wonderful) spells out the rules in some detail, not just for abbreviations and contractions, but also acronyms ("NATO"), initialisms ("USA") and symbols ("km"), none of which get full stops.