film – criticismism ii

February 15, 2016February 15, 2016

Å½elimir Å½ilnik, Black Film (1971)

Some say, â€œFrom each according to their means to each according to their needsâ€. Some say, â€œDo as you would be done byâ€. But very few live up to either of those incontrovertible principles. And though I have witnessed several decent people buy sandwiches for homeless individuals in Brighton where…

January 2, 2015

Cathedrals of Culture (2014)

Of course, buildings cannot have souls. We are cannot evenÂ install them in computers. But a new 3D film by six directors, which began life as a TV series, sets out to demonstrate the improbable. You have to admitÂ these are personable buildings. The roving cameras are accompanied by first person voiceovers…

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012

Agnes Meyer-Brandis, The Moon Goose Analogue: Lunar Bird Migration (2011)

The ideal place to relate this piece of art might be in a pub. You could try a dinner party, but you may not get the requisite howls of disbelief. â€œThereâ€™s this German artist, see, who wants to fly to the moon. No sheâ€™s not in a space training programme.…

March 3, 2011

Marcus Coates, The Trip (2011)

Towards the end of this 35 minute film, a horrible thought occurred to me. Maybe Marcus Coates is making the whole thing up and playing an unethical trick on a terminally ill man. In voiceover, with a view from a hospice room, he describes a trip up the Amazon in…

August 27, 2010

Liverpool Biennial/Manchester Weekender

Two long-ish previews written this week for Culture24 and I’m looking forward to both: Preview: Liverpool Biennial 2010 Preview: Manchester Weekender 2010

July 25, 2010July 27, 2010

Ignacio Uriarte, The History of the Typewriter Recited by Michael Winslow (2009)

Skill and accomplishment are at the forefront of this unusual work. But instead of technique with a brush or a chisel, we are treated to the novel and maybe useless vocal imitation of 32 typewriters. This is representational art of the highest order. Each sequence of hammer strikes does sound,…

July 24, 2010

Artist's Statement: Oliver Beer on Deep and Meaningful

Here’s the first of a series of new features in which artists talk about their own work. This is what Oliver Beer had to say about his film Deep and Meaningful: “For some time I had been quite fascinated by the structure of hidden architectural spaces, but also I read…

July 12, 2010July 27, 2010

Oliver Beer, Deep and Meaningful (2009)

Three locations are evoked by the film Deep and Meaningful by Oliver Beer: the sewer in which the original choral performance was filmed; the type of church where you might expect to hear such a thing; and the gallery environment in which it might end up. The correspondence between church…

June 2, 2010

Review: Mark Leckey and Martin McGeown – The Life and Times of Milton Keynes Gallery

Exhibition: Mark Leckey and Martin McGeown: Life and Times of Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, until June 27 2010 900 Midsummer Boulevard does not sound like an address for a provincial English gallery. But then again, Milton Keynes is not just any other provincial English town. Conceived…

April 30, 2010

House Festival 2010 offers city-wide gallery in Brighton and Hove

Cities without an established home for contemporary art might well look with interest at a solution found by artists in Brighton and Hove this May. House Festival 2010 is a temporary gallery with nine rooms spread around the twin coastal resorts, in venues as diverse as a Regency townhouse, a…