intervention – criticismism ii

November 24, 2011November 24, 2011

Adolf Krischanitz, Barhocker (1986)

With its dark, stained and somewhat splayed feet this stool looks solid enough. But it was still not clear that sitting there was permitted. It was, after all, part of an exhibition. It had its own plaque on the wall and, indeed, I was reading the very details relating to…

April 12, 2011

James Turrell, Deer Shelter Skyspace (2006)

It was not a day you would think you might need protection. My recent visit here was on a mild Spring afternoon. But once inside the skyspace, the breeze up there carried the force of a roar. The clouds or perhaps the Earth appeared to be moving twice as fast.…

April 7, 2011April 9, 2011

Leo Fitzmaurice, Arcadia (2007)

This sign is at once ironic, illusory and completely superfluous. So it ticks a lot of boxes to signal that it really just labels itself. Arcadia is after all the name of this artwork. More irony comes from the introduction of roadside signage into such a wild, mythical realm. A…

August 10, 2010

12 pieces of conceptual art that would probably work as tweets

From the 20th century onwards, the beauty of much art is it has no need for the eye of a beholder. Conceptual works, in theory, place as much importance on the idea as the finished visual object. And while lots can be said about the dozen pieces below, the kernel…

May 18, 2010

Preview: Otto Zitko and Louise Bourgeois – Me, Myself and I

Exhibition: Otto Zitko and Louise Bourgeois â€“ Me, Myself and I, Arnolfini, Bristol, until July 4 2010 Born in 1911, Louise Bourgeois has been drawing for nearly a century. Her recent works are “about the marking of time while waiting for someone special to arrive”, according to the French artist…