Wednesday's Art Notes

_South African sculptor Angus Taylor's new work of art 'Dialoog met grond' at the Botanical Gardens in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The title of his work means 'Dialogue with Ground' in Afrikaans. His art work is mainly made from natural materials, making use of compressed ground, rocks, grass and metals. Photo by Foto24/ Gallo Images/ Getty Images_ * Film director Arthur Penn, whose groundbreaking 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde" permanently influenced American cinema, has died at age 88, via "The New York Times":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/movies/30penn.html?_r=1&hp. His other films included "The Miracle Worker," "Little Big Man" and "Alice's Restaurant."   * Sally Menke, an Academy award-nominated film editor who worked on all of Quentin Tarantino's feature films, was found dead on Tuesday at age 56 in at park in Los Angeles, via "Entertainment Weekly":http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/09/28/sally-menke-tribute/. * In a study completed by the book publisher Scholastic, children say they think they'd be more likely to read more for fun if they had access to ebooks, via "The New York Times":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/books/29kids.html. The Wall Street Journal "does the math":http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703369704575461542987870022.html on how digital publishing has changed the economics of publishing and the payoff for authors. * Organizers of the Sao Paulo Biennial say they won't remove charcoal drawings by artist Gil Vicente after complaints from political and legal groups about the works that depict violent assassinations of many of the world's most famous leaders, via "ARTINFO":http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/35871/drawings-of-imagined-assassinations-stoke-controversy-at-the-sao-paulo-biennial/. * Placido Domingo will not renew his contract as head of the Washington National Opera, via "The Washington Post":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/27/AR2010092706891.html.   **Editor's Note:** _This article was updated to add the death of director Arthur Penn._