What an extraordinary video…
Quite beautiful.
Category: Art
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A Plug for a Plug
Bloody brilliant. One of those "why didn’t I think of that?" moments. I hope Min-Kyu Choi makes a fortune. -
If A Building Could Dream…
Interesting art installation… -
Another Triumph For The Arts
Excuse me, but I’m having another Victor Meldrew moment about a dance artist who wants to induce an epileptic fit in herself in the name of art. The statement from an Arts Council spokesperson is indicative of the levels of fuck-wittery going on:"Rita is an important artist whose work deserves to be seen and the Arts Council both respects the creative decisions she makes in her work and supports her right as a disabled person to be heard."I’ll hand you over to David Thompson for the full Meldrew rant… -
Give Me Strength…
I’ve ranted on about Philippe Starck before in this blog. He does come up with the most pretentious shite when describing his work on a depressingly regular basis. The latest example is that LaCie, makers of external hard drives, have just paid Monsieur Starck to design some housing for a new series of drives. And according to Monsieur Starck:"Technological genius explodes exponentially, each time with incredible power whose limits are yet to be known. The power remains, never abating, symbolically characterized by the sculptural magma that one attempts to cleave, to master within this geometrically perfect strongbox. A symbol of strength mastered, of freedom guided, of incandescent magma heeding to the form of its cast. The interpretation is free. But the mystery remains."Gawd, give me strength… -
Gutsy, Snotty Tears
Alastair Appleton writes of the power of art to provoke a reaction – often when we least expect it. I know what he means. I remember visiting Tate Modern some years back and seeing Stanley Spencer’s The Resurrection – Port Glasgow and dissolving on the spot into floods of gutsy, snotty tears. -
Ridiculous Fashion
As I’ve mentioned before, the fashion industry is an area of human endeavour that I’ve never quite understood. Today’s exhibit from the Rijksmuseum demonstrates that the industry has a long history of being not entirely sane. It’s a wedding dress that is two metres wide. While presumably the bride could advance grandly down the aisle in the church, I have visions of her mincing sideways through the doors at home before the event, and I just wonder how she actually made it to the church…The Rijksmuseum bills the dress as "one of the most impressive items of clothing in the collection". I’d be inclined to call it one of the most ridiculous. And what’s with the piece of sacking over the head of the mannequin? That truly is a bizarre choice by the museum’s display staff. -
The Chronophage
I’m a bit late coming to the party, but I do want to draw your attention to the marvellous work of engineering art that is the new Corpus Christi clock: the Chronophage. It was unveiled last week by Stephen Hawking. The clock is a gift to the college from John Taylor, a fellow Manxman and inventor. He sounds a most interesting and unassuming individual; I’m sorry that I have never met him in person.Martin Kleppmann has an excellent entry on his blog about the clock and John Taylor, including a video of Taylor himself explaining some of the workings of the clock. Well worth looking at. -
Artists’ Passing
Today’s obituary columns in the Guardian contain two names that register with me: Vernon Handley and Algis Budrys. I have a number of Handley’s recordings of Vaughan Williams in my music collection, and have always liked them. As for Budrys, I remember taking out his book Who? from the public library in Douglas as a teenager, and being intrigued by its exploration of the question of identity. I’m pretty sure that it was a Gollancz publication, with its bright yellow cover. I don’t have a copy of it in my library, just a collection of his short stories: The Furious Future. I should make time today to read one of his stories and to listen to a piece of Vaughan Williams conducted by Handley. -
Art, What Is It For?
You may wish to view this piece of evidence before starting your answer.Thank you (I think) David Thompson. -
Headline of the Year
This story in today’s Guardian definitely has a headline that is a contender for the 2008 prize: Giant Dog Turd Wreaks Havoc at Swiss Museum. I think that the museum itself must also be in the running for a prize for the most fatuous description of an art show, describing it as containing "interweaving, diverse, not to say conflictive emphases and a broad spectrum of items to form a dynamic exchange of parallel and self-eclipsing spatial and temporal zones". -
Re-visualising Da Vinci
And on a lighter note, rather than dwelling on waterboarding, here’s news of Peter Greenaway’s attempt to cast Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in a new light – literally. The video is quite intriguing, although I can’t say I was taken by the music. I note that "Some of Greenaway’s more controversial plans had to be shelved, such as to depict Christ’s genitalia and show the apostles’ cups overflowing with blood". Well, there’s a surprise, then. -
Love Threatens
I see that the work of art in the Rijksmuseum displayed by today’s edition of the Rijkswidget is L’Amour Menaçant by Etienne-Maurice Falconet. I’ve always liked the expression on this Cupid’s face. It’s somewhat unsettling. Here’s a closeup.
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Typefaces
I see that Typographica has chosen their equivalent of the Oscars: their 25 favourite typefaces of 2007. -
The World’s Oldest Animation…
… is apparently 5,200 years old. It’s a goat leaping to eat leaves from a tree. -
21st Century Kitsch
Good art is difficult to do, great art even more so. Personally, despite the technical accomplishment, The Prophecy strikes me as kitsch of the highest order. It’s a pity, because the artist, Aymeric Giraudel, has some stunning digital photos on his site. But this work leaves me stone cold. It’s The Chinese Girl for the 21st Century gay male fashionista. And the accompanying video – complete with Madonna reading a bowdlerised version of Revelations – is even more toe-curling. Not for me. Give me Pierre et Gilles any day. -
David Shenton
This seems like a blast from the past – I’ve just been told that David Shenton is still producing his comics. And here he is! I remember his work from years ago in the old Gay News. Good to see that he’s still around. Here’s a typical example. His amateur artist has obviously never met Detective Inspector Twist (a private reference for those who knew me back in the 1970s)
Geoff Coupe's Blog 