art at two removes
Rachel Kushner writes literary fiction that has almost turns the pages for you. It is that engrossing. Her latest novel, Creation Lake, revolves around a reclusive intellectual who, having left civilisation behind to live in a cave, emerges now and again to send philosophical emails to a group of nearby…
Urban nature is my favourite kind. Parks where ice cream is sold. Botanical gardens serving good coffee. Flower shows curated like art festivals. Tree lined streets leading to civic amenities. And, of course, residential gardens which allow metropolitan types to contemplate collections of plants, ready and to hand, like the…
Carleton Watkins made photographs that secured business deals for industrialists. He made photographs that offered conclusive scientific proof to geologists. He made photographs that were both commodities and souvenirs. And he even made photographs in order to give evidence in corporate law. Dominated thus by clients, Watkins is presented, in…