Oh production, production, production. While most of the rats running the race round Soho and Noho may have the grandest hopes of fulfilling their "visual destiny", the best most of them can expect is a pop at a commercial for kitchen towels, some novelty confectionary or cheese. Now if you wanna start talking Bjork's Olympic opening ceremony visuals, the most brilliant promos and commercials for Hugo Boss, Yohji Yamamoto, Audi, Boots and like tons of international awards you've gotta start doing a little less running round Soho and just stop and listen to the guys from LynnFox. Former Bartlett students (and ex General Lighting and Power pals) Christian McKenzie, Patrick Chen and Bastian Glassner talk about the theory and practise of making your visual mark.

Tom Hunter conjures his pictures from headlines in his local paper, the Hackney Gazette. Styled as modern counterparts to famous Old Masters, his photos mimic their light, composition and narrative, swapping a stripper for The Rokeby Venus and staging a Vermeer-esque shot of a woman reading a possession order in north London. These are the first ever photographs exhibited in the National Gallery, and though indebted to the surrounding Rubens, Velasquezs and Vermeers, Hunter's photographs refresh their work as much as they illuminate his. Tracy Chevalier does a masterful job of bringing old paintings to life in Girl With A Pearl Earring, an art-historical novel that reads like a romance. Chevalier has written an essay on Hunter for the exhibition catalogue; both are story-tellers who use historic images for their art.

NB: Tom Hunter: Living In Hell And Other Stories runs till 12/03.

Is the mystique of our daily intravenous dose of media hyped reality wearing just a little thin? Cue this week's aversion therapy. This talk, entitled Fantasy, part of the British Art Talks series at Tate Britain, offers a space for conversation between three practicing British artists, working in the dialogue of the fantastical; carving a space between artifice and the imagination, as the touchstone of the creative endeavour. Through the contrasting language of Brian Griffiths' sculptural constructs, Chad McCail's graphic code and Beck's Futures 2004 winner Saskia Olde Wolber's narrative videos, a provocative synthesis emerges, of a socially active art practice driven by utopian promise, far beyond mere escapism.

NB: this event will be webcast.

The last time guitarist Jack Rose paid us a visit -- with Cul de Sac's frontman Glenn Jones -- the outcome was quite delicate and neither artist was impressed by the welcoming. The venue included passionate listeners yet a minority talkative crowd unfortunately ruined the beauty of the raw sound and made Rose roar with rage. Now, for his third live appearance in London, the fingerpicking Americana-bluesman -- aka Dr Ragtime and member of trio Pelt -- brings his latest work Kensington Blues, an LP of acoustic steel-stringed guitar music. Having been originally tagged as one of the few disciples of legendary John Fahey or Robbie Basho, Rose has set a trend of his own attracting new listeners from standard noise-rock or avant-folk crowds. Joining him on his UK tour, is one of the most impressive drummers around. Young Chris Corsano made his reputation in an improv-noise duo with saxophonist Paul Flaherty and collaborated with Sunburned Hand of the Man. They will play solo and might just collaborate. The show will be supported by San-Francisco's duo Yellow Swans mixing "cheap Casio beats and digital hardcore"... a strange yet most exciting blend.

NB: Jack Rose and Chris Corsano will also perform at LSE on Fri 10/02 (1pm).

The familiar themes of kidnap, imprisonment, self-mutilation and a quest for revenge return in the final instalment of Chan-wook Park's acclaimed vengeance trilogy. Following Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and Oldboy, Lady Vengeance traces the beautiful Geum-ja (Young-ae Lee), released from 13 years in prison after confessing to kidnapping and killing a five year old boy, as she begins to execute a plan to extract revenge upon the person she blames for her misfortune. Where part of Oldboy's appeal was sharing in its protagonist's quest to discover the reasons for his incarceration, with Lady Vengeance the real mysteries lie within the heart of the heroine and her capacities for angelic acts of kindness and terrible acts of retribution. By centring on a heroine, Park has created a subtler, though no less elegant film than the previous revenge films. Exploring whether vengeance can be a form of atonement as well as a path to self-destruction, the result is a beautiful, twisted narrative that both captivates and shocks.

NB: Lady Vengeance is released in London on 10/02. Another film of note released on the same day is Song Of Songs. Chan-wook Park who won the Grand Prix award at Cannes 2004 for Oldboy is one of the most stylish voices in international cinema. After this special screening he discusses the film, his career and how the changing politics of South Korea have allowed a renaissance in Korean cinema.

As part of their 5th anniversary celebrations, the Buffalo Bar, alongside excellent indie magazine Loose Lips Sink Ships, hosts The Gossip for an secret-intimate gig to fete the release of their new album Standing In The Way Of Control. Released on hipster label Kill Rock Stars (Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, The Decemberists), their sound is built around the raw and soulful vocals of Beth Ditto, which is wholly complemented by jagged waves of garage rock. Produced by Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, admired by Sonic Youth and guests of Sleater Kinney at All Tomorrow's Parties next May, everything seems set for them to engage a wider audience. Yet their manifesto proclaims: "We are interested in art, change, the underground, dancing, fashion, punk history, crime and movements. We will never die. We are artists, poets, cooks, writers, feminists, designers, musicians and DJs." These sterling words suggest they are not content to be regarded as merely another fashionable band. This intimate gig will be an ideal opportunity to gauge whether their live show matches their ambition.

NB: The Gossip also play the more spacious confines of Cargo on Sat 11/02.

A logical symptom of our increased voyeuristic culture may be the need to see the body from inside as well as out. Add technological innovation to the equation and the will of inter-disciplinary artist Phillip Warnell to transcend the barrier of flesh -- often seen as absolute in contemporary performance -- and you might end up with Endo/Ecto. As a live capsule endoscopy negotiates the gastro-intestinal tract, a gathering of specialists in seemingly disparate fields offer accompanying dialogue to underpin the journey. Facilitators Arts Catalyst are dedicated to initiating arts/science collaborations. The area of interest runs deep, beyond the simple notion of the aesthetically pleasing and, rather, preferring to interrogate the ways in which the contemporary arts can offer frameworks of reference to scientific developments (and vice versa, one imagines).

Songs Of Songs is a stylish, atmospheric and intense film about a north London Jewish family about to implode. The story concentrates on the relationship between the estranged brother, David (Joel Chalfen), who has turned his back on his family and religion, and his devout sister, Ruth (Natalie Press of My Summer Of Love fame), who tries to make him return home to visit their dying mother. David's hatred of his family and the religion he renounces, and Ruth's utter submission to it, drives the plot towards increasingly violent encounters between them. As well as exploring how religion can support extremism, Josh Appignanesi's first feature also deals with familial sexual tension, violence, mysticism and religious gender roles. The excellent cinematography, editing and minimal electronica score make Song Of Songs very slick. However, a combination of unconvincing performances from the supporting actors, clunky dialogue as well as a sense of the script being stretched out to fulfil feature-length criteria, give away the low budget.

NB: Songs Of Songs is released in London on 10/02 and screens at the ICA till 23/02. Another film of note released on the same day is Lady Vengeance.

This is a unique retrospective of the films of independent Russian filmmaker Alexei Gherman, and his son, Alexei Gherman Jr. The retrospective opens with Gherman Jr's The Last Train (2003), ­shot in black and white and inspired by the true story of how in WWII his mother and grandmother were saved by a German soldier who disobeyed orders. Official disapproval and censorship marred Gherman's career, and the agonies of life in Soviet Russia provided the subjects for his films. Gherman Sr will be interviewed after The Last Train (8pm). This is a rare opportunity to meet him as it is his first visit to London. His first film Checkpoint (1971) will be shown afterwards. The title says it all. See four of his films made between 1971-1998 during this three-day retrospective.

NB: this retrospective has been organised by KINO KINO! and runs for three days from 10/02 till 12/02.

In London we run through crazes and phases quicker than you can say "Sushi anyone?" Dance being one of the longest suffering of our playthings as we trivialise and homogenise (and basically turn into a glorified dating service) the Salsa (2000 - 2002), Jive (2002 - 2004), "Street" (2004 - 2005) and weren't we all Krumping a minute ago (2005-2006)?! So, let's be nice to Flamenco as it comes full force, for the third and grandest time, to town. There are workshops, screenings, music and of course sexy people, dancing sexily in sexy ruffles on tippy toes! Highlights include; 2003 Premio Nacional de Danza winner Sara Baras (10/02 to 13/02), Grammy winning Latin-guitarist Vicente Amigo and Gala de Andalucia -- a tribute to the home of flamenco directed by Manolo Marin, featuring National Ballet of Spain star Merche Esmeralda, Giraldillo prize-winning Javier Baron and brother/sister Rafael and Adela Campallo (20/02). Plus pianist Diego Amador, from flamenco-rock outfit Pata Negra, is a must with his own special piano method (12/02). There's lots more, and for those of you who love to try something new and are gluttons for new crazes -- free dance classes!

NB: the festival runs till 25/02.

Usually we try and avoid Classic FM with its "music for relaxing" (rather than listening to) and Daily Mail ads so we didn't expect Christian Forshaw to be turning up in their 2005 Hall of Fame. Previously known for his work in ensembles such as the Delta Sax Quintet, Icebreaker and the London Sinfonietta, often playing complex minimalist music, Forshaw has gone to the opposite end of the musical timeline with his Sanctuary project, making arrangements based on plainchant for his solo saxophone, soprano, choir and percussion. Here the sound of the saxophone over a choir sits perfectly in the reverberant acoustic of a church, quite clean and clear. Forshaw is being accompanied by the Sanctuary Voices, directed by the contemporary composer James Weeks, also director of EXAUDI, who has been greatly influenced by early music. Is it a sell-out or are more radical ideas breaking into the mainstream? Whatever you think, listen to it, rather than relax to it.

Leave it to Mark-Anthony Turnage, the enfant terrible of composers, to team up with the sober New York jazz guitarist John Scofield. The product? Scofield's Scorched, a clever title that alliterates the performer's name, but leaves us curious for the experience of the live gig. Its recording on Deutsche Grammophon was nominated for two 2005 Grammy awards. Both men are adored on their respective sides of the Atlantic, and this one performance should remind all that jazz was once a unifying force in Anglo-American relations. In the past, Turnage drew inspiration from Francis Bacon's charged triptychs and his music thrills symphonic lovers of his infamous "Blood On The Floor". This performance will also see American saxophonist Joe Lovano play alongside the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Giveaway: we have one pair of tickets to give away. They'll go to one randomly picked Flasher who can tell us who left the blood on the floor in Bacon's painting.

Mat Fraser makes it well worth travelling to BAC. Starting the evening with Thalidomide!! A Musical, Fraser and Anna Winslet (yes, that's her sister!) give the DDA a good ride and make us laugh and/or cringe with an all non-PC show about disability and love. Watch out for "I Can Be His Arms" sung by Winslet! If the love story has turned you on, stay for the Sex Cabaret, billed as an extravaganza of unrivalled variety, buttock wobbling, mime and punishment, nipple tassels, hilarity, and beauteous melodies from around the world. As well as being a good actor and singer Fraser is also a very witty compere and will bring eclectic entertainment ranging from Burlesque to Music Hall -- think of Whoopee, Bethnal Green Working Man's Club or Hoxton Bark (for those who remember it!). Whatever you do, don't keep BAC at arm's length!

NB: Thalidomide!! A Musical runs till 12/02 and Sex Cabaret till 11/02.

Themed, conceptual club nights are pretty thin on the ground in London. In a town where creativity is continually turned into action (witness all the events in these very pages), it seems that most music/club events play it safe. Craft Night is one welcome exception to the rule, housed in the cosy confines of the Notting Hill Arts Club. The rules are simple: pay your ticket entry for a craft kit. Fabric, knitting materials, buttons... that sort of thing. And create with cloth whilst selected artists do their thing. Tonight's tailored guests include Planet Mu's breakcore bully-boy Shitmat and Warp's Mira Calix who'll concoct an organic, wholesome mix of electronic eclecticism. Joining them both will be Littlebig's DJ Ned.

Are you seeking a new travel experience? Do you yearn for a unique holiday destination, a place where no one else goes? A solution may be at hand... and nope, it's not outer space. Everlandia, which may sound like a brand of Swedish vodka, is a virtual travel agency designed by Slovenian digital artist Martin Bricelj. Everlandia enables its participants to create a tailor made location composed entirely from their own imagination by challenging the user to construct the landscape, complete with flowers, foliage and wildlife, which most accurately illustrates their own personal nirvana. Like all good holidays it incorporates reflection and discovery, via an interactive journey intended to stimulate the exploration of desire. Remaining the property of its creator, the Everlandia fantasy world is saved as a web page, and can be mailed to far off loved ones in postcard form. Bonuses include souvenirs like Everlandia wallpaper to embellish your home -- just don't forget your toothbrush. (Runs till 30/03)

NB: on Valentine's Day take your date to experience Everlandia and then enjoy a special meal. On 16/02 (6:30pm) catch Martin Bricelj as he discusses this show and his practice.

Valentine's Day at the Cine Lumiere sees the start of the Eugene Green two-day retrospective, Blue Jeans Baroque. One of France's most interesting directors and also an acclaimed poet, his oeuvre is small yet he has been compared to Rohmer and Bresson. He started directing films aged 50 after a career in theatre, particularly baroque theatre. His most recent film, Le pont des arts, is a story of impossible young love between a singer and a philosophy student. Afterward the screening of Le pont des arts there's a free candlelit event, just for Valentine's Day, where Green will read (in French) selected poems from his collection, Le Present de la Parole (9pm). On the 15/02 (6:15pm) there's the British premiere of Toutes les nuits, chosen by Jean-Luc Godard as one of his top 100 films, followed by Le monde vivant (8:45pm) ­-- a low-budget fairy tale with the young hero and heroine clad in jeans. This film debuted at Cannes and won the International Critics Prize at London Film Festival in 2003. There's also a talk before the film: Gareth Evans, editor of Vertigo magazine, and Green will discuss the current climate for low-budget arthouse filmmaking in France and Britain and the links between cinema, poetry and theatre.

NB: this retrospective runs for two days on 14/02 and 15/02.

There is an instant at some point on your first date with Mr or Ms X when you realise that it is just not going to happen. For many young, goal-oriented professionals out there, this moment is not at the end, or even in the middle of the date, but somewhere between the first round of drinks and the arrival of the first course. So why is it that we are often able to judge in 20 minutes whether we are intrigued or indifferent? Dr Harry Witchel would chalk it up to a kind of "mind-reading" that is made possible by the physical signals we send to our date. Speed Dating is a new technique that neatly disposes of all of those awkward niceties that most of us have had to endure when attempting unsuccessfully to date at normal speed. So, in the instance where you do meet someone who grabs your attention, how do you communicate in a few short minutes that you might be interested in more than just the intro? Dr Witchel will guide you through an evening of speed dating, and teach you all the subtleties of the high-speed mating dance that is the physiological language of love.

Valentine's, and every half-arsed bar, restaurant and old duffer's pub shovel in some candles, hoist in a "jazz" band and charge, well, what's it like in your area -- £25, £50, £75? Is it your turn to pay, and are you feeling the pressure on your purse, and the stress of finding something half decent? Tate Modern has come to our rescue, and apparently you won't feel out of place even if your 14th is a Singles Awareness Day! David Lean's Brief Encounter heads a line-up of short films of the romantic ilk curated by onedotzero, there's risque cabaret from Christopher Green as Ida Barr, video and performance on gender and dating stereotypes in George Chakravarthi's Bar Flies, art tours and the kitsch work of Martin Kippenberger. Phew, and all for £15, with a glass of champers thrown in -- perfect! But if you do have money burning a hole in your pocket, reserve a table at the top floor restaurant and impress your partner with the spectacular view, and the towering bill!

In 1905, Albert Einstein declared that the faster one moves, the slower time passes. To an outside observer, it may seem that the RIBA are trying to prove this theory as they puts together Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas (famous not only for his murderous looks, but also for his studies of urban problems in large metropolitan areas), Wolf D Prix from Coop Himmelb(l)au (famous for deconstructing just about anything, and burning some architecture in the process) and Bernard Tschumi (famous for claiming that "to truly appreciate a work of architecture, you may have to commit a murder"), in order to have a one-and-a-half-hour debate. The issues to be discussed? Oh, nothing more than "architectural education, the role of the architect, and the future of cities in the Age of Post-Globalisation". In 90 minutes? Let's all synchronise our watches at the beginning of this one.

Giveaway: we have one pair of tickets to give away. They'll go to one randomly picked Flasher who can tell us the name of the architect that will design the structure housing the fourth annual Frieze Art Fair.

Five white, glass-topped cases, filled with neatly laid out sets of pen and ink drawings on white paper take on amphitheatre-like formation in the Chisenhale's main gallery space. Each drawing is a fragmented composite of lines placed out of apparent sequence and in varying states of completion, where lines are added and removed in increasing intensity as if there should, amongst the ghostly chaos, be a final and conclusive end vision. This display is the partner to Dryden Goodwin's latest film Flight and it is within this film that the drawing begins to make a new sense. Each fragmentary line is delicately animated to look as if it is whispering through the surface of landscapes, both urban and natural. The lines of Goodwin's visual interventions swarm around the sprawl of buildings and trees alike, while the camera drags the viewer ever backwards until eventually it pans above a wind rippled sea. This constant movement of the camera creates a tension between what is real and what Goodwin suggests as the ultimate destination. Both the drawing and the film sit in almost counter balance of one another; each vying to claim reality where Goodwin deliberately leaves the viewer ever searching.

NB: runs till 05/03.

An interview can often be the finest way to distill an artist's work into comprehensible terms, revealing the inspirations, shapes and ideas that inform their work. As with our Artworker of the Week series, it can be an opportunity to present highly readable concepts and approaches within a conversational framework. Expanding upon this idea, pressPLAY draws upon the analogy of recording and storage of these words on cassette tape, bringing together key thinkers and artists in conversation. It's a rare chance to listen in on Christian Marclay riffing with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Raymond Pettibon chatting with deathtripping novelist Dennis Cooper, Wolfgang Tillmans confessing to Peter Halley and countless others. Richard Prince, Mike Kelley, Pipilotti Rist, Maurizio Cattelan, Mark Dion, Mona Hatoum, this reads like a survey of late 21st century art, yet maintains a highly intelligent, engaging and revealing quality and offers a refreshing look at how art and artists are developing and engaging with contemporary culture today. Release the pause button and read.

To buy pressPLAY online click here or buy it through Walther Koenig Books at the Serpentine Gallery (020.7706.4907).

KultureFlash is a free, weekly newsletter covering contemporary culture in and around London. Each week we track down some of the more unusual and interesting events taking place in the Capital and deliver them straight to your inbox. Featuring art, gigs, films, talks, clubs and more -- we are committed to bringing you an eclectic mix of the most stimulating events in London.

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