philosophy – criticismism ii

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021

Book: After Lockdown – A Metamorphosis, by Bruno Latour

After Lockdown is a slim analysis of life under covid, against the ongoing backdrop of the climate emergency. Latour offers us the possibility that this experience of remote working and super spreading could all offer a lasting change in our mentalities. It could be so radical we swap our human…

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

A history of madness

I remember reading Derrida take issue with Foucault. It was about madness, funnily, and the founder of deconstruction asked how it was possible to bear witness to insanity, The essay was â€˜Cogito and the history of madnessâ€™, and while much flew over my head, I was struck by the humility…

May 27, 2011May 27, 2011

Plastique Fantastique, Impossible Diagrams

What to make of a flicker between a bandaged head and a face carved in a brieze block. Or an unshaven mouth which hi-jacks a news report. Or self-immolation illustrated as if for a kids’ book. Quite a bit happens in the Plastique Fantastique show at Grey Area. Not all…

March 21, 2011

Nancy Spero, Maypole: Take No Prisoners II (2008)

Antonin Artaud only wrote one play, said to be impossible to restage. So we might now find the best example of the writer’s so-called Theatre of Cruelty at a Nancy Spero show Certainly, the only performance of Spurt of Blood which this blogger ever witnessed would be difficult to review.…

September 19, 2010

Alfredo Jaar, The Marx Lounge (2010)

You won’t find a more accommodating piece of art than The Marx Lounge. The sofas are as comfortable as they look. The walls are a warm shade of red. The light is perfect for reading. Then there are books. Some 1,500 paperbacks are stacked on a central table, which means…

February 25, 2010

Preview: Tom Pope – The Escapades of the Higher Man

Exhibition: Tom Pope â€“ The Escapades of the Higher Man, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, until April 18 2010 Having foreseen the coming of the Higher Man, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had, surely, grand deeds in mind. He could not have predicted a photographer from Bristol would come along and try…

February 11, 2010

Review: JoÃ£o Maria GusmÃ£o and Pedro Paiva – On the Movement of the Fried Egg and Other Astronomical Bodies

Exhibition: JoÃ£o Maria GusmÃ£o and Pedro Paiva – On the Movement of the Fried Egg and Other Astronomical Bodies, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, until March 21 2010 After representing Portugal in Venice at the 2009 Biennale, JoÃ£o Maria GusmÃ£o and Pedro Paiva have pitched up in Birmingham for their first UK…