|
|
|
londonlostandfound.com The Selection |
| Getting distracted |
||
|
For one, the city is polluted, and there are just so many people. Most of the time the streets are too crowded to run on. Even the big parks are a hazard on a hot day. But I have come to conclude that this is not the main problem. The problem is that there are too many distractions. I was recently asked what I do to have fun. Drinking, dinner, and running were my first thoughts. It's hard to do well at one, without ruining the others. I can give up for a while, but I'm a Croydon girl at heart, and the G&Ts are calling. There are also all of the other exotic, wonderful distractions of the city - galleries, gigs, festivals, films, dancing, museums, talks, shows... When it comes to training, the competition is just too tough. I love this city, but it is my downfall on the road to sports superstardom. chris
/ editor |
|
|
Trackers - Ahlam
Shibil Amidst the vulgarity of Bond Street's 'loadsamoney' shops and snooty rich people there is currently something of greater importance, richly contrasting with its surroundings and all the more outstanding therefore. Trackers is an exhibition of 85 photographic prints, some colour, some black and white, which serve to document the lives of young Palestinian men. Or at least Palestinian is what cartographic geography would call them. More specifically they are Palestinians of Bedouin decent who live in Israel, who are not Jewish and who have joined the Israeli Army's boarder patrol units voluntarily. Some of the photographs encompass middle and long distance while others are close ups. Shibil is not the first person to use this technique but that doesn't diminish from its effectiveness - the distance shots show soldiers, armed manifestations of sides of a political conflict, while the close-ups show people; someone's son, brother, friend. In the 1970's a Rabbi whose name I have no chance of remembering (I cut out a newspaper article so that I would be able to cite him for this point but I can't even remember where I've put the cutting) gave a lecture at the International Hebrew University in which he suggested that the cause of the continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and of most conflicts for that matter, is that people have been culturally conditioned to see other people as physical manifestations of a trans-personal concept rather than as individual people; people therefore become political ideals with arms and legs instead of another person, potentially your friend. Shibil's contrasting distance shots emphasising uniform and military mechanism contrast strongly with the details of humanity, like catching a nap, smoking a cigarette, writing to family, being photographed next to a picture of loved ones. While this might not be the cheeriest of exhibitions, it is, to some degree, a reminder that our time is not a particularly cheery one. Sadly, I can't imagine that the exhibition will be seen by anyone who is in a position to effect a cease fire (Israeli or Hesbullah military commanders) but Tracker is a contribution, on whatever scale, to public opinion and a contribution in the direction of peacefulness.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - The Stone in
Art Some shows are collections of work in a similar style, others are collections of work around a similar theme. Rather than the theme being portraiture, politics or landscapes, the theme of this show is stone. Sounds straight forward enough and seeing the exhibition made me wonder why more exhibitions don't examine the substance from which our earth is made. Something that can't go un-mentioned is the scale of this show - both physically and metaphorically we are invited to travel (quite literally, Kenny Schachter Rove is a very big space) both to other parts of the earth and to different times. The first piece in this show is the documentation of a carving which straight away reminds the viewer that stone carving and symbolism are very ancient. Olafur Eliasson gives us a different take - a desert scene printed on glass. What we first see is in colour and more or less unremarkable. It is only when we walk past it, en route to the next part of the exhibition, that we see that the back of the image is in black and white. While simple, the effect is like stained glass windows in churches - in the daytime they are dark from the outside and seem illuminated from inside, at night time, they are dark from inside but glow from outside. There is also an Andy Goldsworthy piece and for those impressed by big names, the show also contains work by Damien Hirst, Richard Long and David Hockney. What is also notable about this exhibition is the number and depth of references to rocks and stones in Chinese history and mythology, which give the show a sense of history and, dare I say, weight. Dark Matter Are art exhibitions going to start wearing uniforms? It doesn't seem like very long ago that group shows were literally exhibitions of work that more than one or two artists had made, without any overly pressing need to have a particular theme. Enter the curators, when about six or seven years ago the Curating course at the Royal College of Art, amongst other places, became fashionable, and now seemingly every exhibition which contains the work of more than one person has been 'curated' by someone who calls themselves a 'curator'. This isn't all bad, as a number or responses to a common theme can be enriching and positive. Between a Rock and a Hard Place at Kenny Schachter Rove is a good example of a large number of works which are all connected by one common physical starting point - stone. Dark Matter, however, seems to have taken that a little bit further. There are a large number of different works by different artists in this show, but they all have one, rather noticeable thing in common. They're all black. Every print is black. Every painting is black. Every sculpture is black. A Cerith Wyn Evans piece is made of neon light tubing, and the neon light tubing is, naturally, black. I don't wish to sound in any way Daily Mail about this. The Cerith Wyn Evans piece is actually a very nice thing. It is the words "And if I don't meet you no more in this world, then I'll meet you in the next one and don't be late, don't be late" from Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. The neon tubing itself emits no 'light' as such but the back of the wording, not painted black, emits what effectively looks like light's shadow, or a shadow of light. I think it is probably helpful to remember that all of the pieces in their appropriate context are interesting works. What arguably does all of the works a collective injustice is being put together by someone calling him or herself a curator on no grounds other than they are all the same colour. But although the risibility of the exhibition's 'curatorial concept' makes it harder work for the viewer to take each piece seriously, I would suggest that it is still worth the effort as there are some interesting pieces by Gary Hume, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol and Richard Serra. 60th Anniversary Exhibition Its nice to know that a (relatively) small gallery can last for 60 years, isn't it? Or is it? On the one hand, an organisation which enables the public to look at original works of art for free is a good thing you'd think. But what if its shows are very, very mediocre? Any thinking person would guess that New Labour should be an improvement on the relics of Thatcher's government (or perhaps they were better at PR), but 60 years of Tony Blair? When so much of our world seems increasingly hard nosed, isn't it appropriate that galleries, even the posh ones in places like Davies Street, are only as good as their current exhibition? If so, being 60 is something that Gimple Fils might have preferred to keep quiet. There isn't anything in this at best full, some might say crowded, exhibition which is in any particular way bad - in whatever way value judgments such as good and bad may come across. It's just really quite dull. Katrina, our enchanting and illustrious writer of book reviews, has a rating system for books which considers their readability on the tube. Perhaps this might be the time to introduce something for exhibitions which considers how much of a trek it is worth making to see this exhibition. While some exhibitions are worth travelling to from abroad, some would only fall into a category: 'if you happen to be in town'. Gimple Fils 60th Anniversary Exhibition, I regret to say, falls into a category: 'if you're passing and you're early and could do with killing five minutes'. Karl Musson is a London based artist. |
|
Screenings, events and must-see movies, with a handful of reviews thrown in. London cinema at its best. Don't miss... Three Times The Wind that Shakes the Barley Brick Coming up... To Wed 23 Aug To Sun 6 Aug @ midday Sun 6 Aug Thu 10 Aug @ 6.30pm Thu 10 to Sat 19 Aug @ 9pm (doors 6.30pm) Sun 13 Aug @ 8pm Tue 15 Aug @ 6.15pm Fri 18 Aug At the NFT in August…. Anna is a working class hero, I tell thee. |
|
DJ LORD ANT B’S TOP 5 THINK FLOYD Pink Floyd are a British progressive rock band famed for their philosophical lyrics, classic rock compositions, sonic experimentation, amazing album cover art and mind blowing live shows. Here are a series of club nights inspired by them with a particular nod to Syd Barrett - who bless his ‘rainbow’ coloured socks - died recently... The Secret Door @ The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton
Street, N1 / Fri 4 Aug, 8pm - 2am / £5 Magic Fingers @ The Spread Eagle, 3
Kingsland Road, E2 / Fri 4 Aug, 10pm - 4am / Monthly / £ree The Acid Gallery @ The Pleasure Unit,
359 Bethnal Green Road, E2 / Sat 5th Aug, 8pm - 2am / £5 Cock 'N' Balls @ Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone
Street, W1 / Sat 5 August, 8pm - 2am / £3 (including a free shot
of Tequila) Our Man Syd @ The Social, 5 Little Portland
Street, W1/ Tue 8 Aug, 6pm - 12am / £ree Pink Floyd London land music marks include: Camberwell College of Art / 65 Peckham
Road, SE5 The UFO Club / 31 Tottenham Court Road,
W1(now an Odeon cinema) The Round House / Chalk Farm Road, NW1
Egerton Court / South Kensington, SW7 DJ Lord Ant B is a self proclaimed music phenomenon, a hosting ’n’ a roasting at a variety of different club nights across the capital. |
art
|
|
Fruitstock Carnaval de Pueblo Finfest Chris is full of it (she comes from Croydon). |
art
|
|
THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN BANGFACE XXXV: SL2 / DURAN DURAN DURAN / PISSTANK * Ticket prices shown don't include booking fee. Conor can't stop picking at it metaphorically. Damon wishes Conor would stop picking at it literally. |
art
|
|
Got a question about London? Ask away by emailing - editor@londonlostandfound.com. Q A Q A Chris is full of it (she comes from Croydon). |
art
|
|
|
For those of you who were hoping that we had given up on the public transport theme, I'm sorry to disappoint. Each of the londonlostandfound team has their specialised subject when it comes to transport. None of us are car owners (yippee!), and everyone has their own secret shortcuts, favourite journeys, and particular grievances. This week we're hoping that some of you, like us, get teary eyed when thinking about the London Routemaster bus. You remember the ones - the hop on, hop off buses that were put out of service last December (see The Selection 63 for details). So in order to indulge our memories of the good ol' days, when we could jump with gay abandon from the back of a moving bus, risking life, limb and dignity, the West End Lane bookshop is holding a transport themed evening of readings. The authors of Cross River Traffic (a history of London's bridges) and The Bus We Loved (a history of the Routemaster buses) will be reading from their books, to celebrate publication in paperback. Travis Elborough's The Bus We Loved holds a special place in our hearts, as winner of the Lost in London Book Award 2005, and what better topic to accompany a book about buses, than a book about bridges? Tickets are only £2.50, and can be booked by going into the shop or phoning: 020 7431 3770. Thu 7 Sep @ 7.30pm / West End Lane Bookshop, 277 West End Lane, NW6 / West Hampstead tube Chris is full of it (she comes from Croydon). |
art
|
|
The Selection To subscribe or unsubscribe, for more information, or to contribute e-mail editor@londonlostandfound.com |
|
The boring bit We take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information on the londonlostandfound.com website or in The Selection magazine. We’ve done our best to get the details right, but if the organiser changes things at the last minute, or got the information wrong, we can’t help it. It’s also not our fault if you don’t like the content of events and websites we feature. That’s not our problem; we’re just telling you things are there, we’re not forcing you to go to them. Everything on this website belongs to the Editor and her writers. Every word and every picture. If you pinch any of it I’ll come round and wag my finger at you, you cheeky monkey. You remember what this: © stands for don’t you? You might be a bit concerned about me having your email address. Don’t be. I could sell it to a parasitic e-marketing company who would send you tonnes of spam about rubbish grooming products or not-to-be-missed insurance offers that you’ll never need. I’d make a quick buck and treat myself to a night out at your expense. I could do that, but I won’t. What’s the point? I’ll never make enough to retire on and you’ll never sign up to anything from me again. I’m in it for the long haul and I believe in things like integrity, honesty and fair-dealing. Trust me, I won’t let you down. Finally, if you want to moan at me, praise me, hang out online or invite me out for a date email me at editor@londonlostandfound.com. Or just ignore me. I’m used to being overlooked, so it won’t make much difference. Whatever. Oh go on, just a little one. It’ll only take a couple of minutes and it’s in a good cause. It could be the start of a beautiful friendship. I’m not a stalker, by the way – unless you’re Clive Owen, in which case I’m not responsible for my actions, so you’d best not get in touch. Oh please. No. Please. No. You fool, Chris, you fool, you gave it away again. Chris / Editor |