performance – criticismism ii

October 25, 2013October 25, 2013

ASCO, Asco (1975)

Patti Smith, writing in her memoir Just Kids, says that by walking a city you can come to own the very streets. She and lover Robert Mapplethorpe attempted and achieved as much in New York City. But that was Manhattan and, to point out by way of a clichÃ©, nobody…

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…

August 6, 2010

Giorgio Sadotti, Went To America Didn’t Say A Word (1999)

A 24-hour recording of ambient city noise is, on the face of it, boring. Few people will ever sit through all of the 1999 Giorgio Sadotti piece currently on show at Milton Keynes Gallery. Behind the soundtrack, however, is an amazing story. Sadotti flew from London to New York, stayed…

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…

July 11, 2010

Diane Arbus/Chicks on Speed/Arabicity/July must-sees

Here’s another round up of stories written in the past week for Culture24: Preview: Diane Arbus – Artist Rooms, Nottingham Contemporary Preview: Chicks on Speed – Don’t Art, Fashion, Music, Dundee Contemporary Arts Preview: Arabicity: Such a Near East, the Bluecoat Culture24’s art must sees for July

June 26, 2010

Whitstable Biennale/Persistence of Vision/Wolfgang Tillmans

Here’s another round up of my week’s output for Culture24. Happy reading… Review: Lucienne Cole, Karen Mirza & Ruth Beale, Phil Coy and Alex Pearl at Whitstable Biennale Preview: Persistence of Vision at FACT, Liverpool Preview: Wolfgang Tillmans at Serpentine, London

June 20, 2010

Francis AlÃ¿s/James White/Clare Twomey/Surreal Friends

Here’s a round up of the pieces I wrote for Culture24 last week. Enjoy! Review: Surreal Friends: Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Kati Horne at Pallant House Review: James White: New Paintings, Max Wigram Gallery Review: Clare Twomey: A Dark Day in Paradise, Brighton Pavilion Review: Francis AlÃ¿s: A Story…

June 2, 2010

Preview: A Horse Walks Into A Bar at Castlefield Gallery

Exhibition: A Horse Walks Into A Bar, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, June 18 â€“ August 8 2010 That a non-domestic animal in a pub should occasion hilarity tells us something about our relationship with nature. The proverbial horse in a bar is an old joke. Perhaps the nine artists in this…