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Issue 268
Reflecting the current economic climate, tongue in cheek logos turn the Ferrari stallion into an old nag. And when you thought it couldn't get any worse, along comes Bernard Madoff. At least there's new life being spawned by the Sims creator. Drug addiction doesn't seem so bad, especially when you can check yourself into luxury rehab and drinking too much water can kill you. Dave Hickey muses on the future of the art world while Hirst appears to have lost his sense of humour despite artists ruling the roost. The Guggenheim Bilbao row rumbles on, fashion and art make worthy bedfellows and art bargains make happy for Xmas shopping. Meanwhile has the new BMW Z4 ad ripped-off Aaron Young? Peter Brook quits his Paris theatre. Musicians unite against their music being played at war, Bach begat techno and independent music is on the skids. Can a gadget really save the industry? Bernie Katz takes a walk on Soho's wild side, Dejan Sudjic becomes a modern day Barthes and Sontag's diaries shed light on her sexuality.
Is the end nigh for the NY Times? The writing's on the wall when it comes to digital media. Obama's "Yes we can" man was influenced by Bush, but Dubya sneaks in a few last minute laws, while Cheney lives on in his fantasy world. Perhaps he's neighbours with Robert Mugabe? Who wrote the Koran: man or god? Why do men lie about what they've read and what constitutes modern slang? A new book brings architecture into the 21st century, while assisted suicide is still outlawed in the UK. Faulty genes make aggressive drunks, Facebook gets legal, but even they can't follow Scientology's paper trail. Can the mind live on after the body dies? Perhaps the scientist who became the "world's most dangerous woman" might know. Give us a crazy cat lady over Elton John when he's got his claws out any day and let's raise a toast to Kingsley Amis.
Finally, continuing with our animal theme of last week our cover image this week is by Andrea Galvani. And as per usual we take a break for Christmas but normal service resumes on 14/01/09. Happy Holidays!
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Headlines
Art:
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2008;
Cildo Meireles;
Dogtooth & Tessellate;
Francis Bacon;
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller;
Michael Snow;
Richard Hughes;
Robert Capa;
Thomas Demand
Club:
Ben Watt + Justin Martin + Justus Justus Kohncke (live/DJ)...;
Horse Meat Disco: Daniele Baldelli + Tim Sweeney...;
RA Xmas Party: Modeselektor + DJ Koze + Move D + Lawrence (live) + Shackleton (live)...;
secretsundaze: Omar-S + Jonny D (live)...;
Wang: Squarepusher (DJ) + Radioactive Man (live) + A Robotnick (live/DJ)...;
White Heat + No Pain In Pop: Banjo Or Freakout...
Concert:
Animal Collective;
White Heat + No Pain In Pop: Banjo Or Freakout...
Design:
Cold War Modern: Design 1945 - 1970;
Super Christmas Market
DJ:
Ben Watt + Justin Martin + Justus Justus Kohncke (live/DJ)...;
Horse Meat Disco: Daniele Baldelli + Tim Sweeney...;
RA Xmas Party: Modeselektor + DJ Koze + Move D + Lawrence (live) + Shackleton (live)...;
secretsundaze: Omar-S + Jonny D (live)...;
Wang: Squarepusher (DJ) + Radioactive Man (live) + A Robotnick (live/DJ)...
Festival:
Mime Festival 2009
Film:
Asif Kapadia: Far North;
Bicycle Thieves;
Che: Part One;
Cildo Meireles;
Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire;
Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson;
John Cassavetes;
Michael Snow;
The Reader
Q&A:
Asif Kapadia: Far North;
Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire
Retrospective:
John Cassavetes
Talk:
Simon Reid-Henry: Fidel and Che
Theatre:
1927: Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea;
Cinderella;
Mime Festival 2009
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FILM BICYCLE THIEVES
Friday 19 December
various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices |
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Links
moviebeat.co.uk Review Another One One More
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Restored and re-released in a new 35mm version, director Vittorio De Sica's totally faultless Bicycle Thieves is universally acknowledged as one of the finest movies ever made. Written by Italian Communist Party member Cesare Zavattini it stars first-time actor Lamberto Maggiorani as Ricci, an impoverished Roman who sells the family bed linen to buy a bicycle and get a job to feed his starving family. One of the greatest achievements of the Italian Neo Realist school, much has been written about this remarkable tour de force, but in short it is basically a Marxist parable that looks at post-war Italy through the eyes of a man who, just like his country, has drifted into despair and tragically loses every ounce of self-dignity he once had. Filmed on the streets of Rome in 1948, this film will take your breath away.
NB: Bicycle Thieves is re-released in London on 19/12. Other new films of note are Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01). |
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CLUB / DJ RA XMAS PARTY: MODESELEKTOR + DJ KOZE + MOVE D + LAWRENCE (LIVE) + SHACKLETON (LIVE)...
matter
Saturday 20 December [10pm - 7am]
The O2, Peninsula Sq., Greenwich, SE10 T:0207.549.6686 Tube: North Greenwich
general £12 (advance) | concessions £8 (advance) |
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matter Event Info L Interview DJK Interview
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There hasn't really been that much to capture our collective attention since matter, Fabric's larger O2-based cousin, opened in September, but this party looks excellent and is a definite contender for one of the best line-ups of the year. Resident Advisor have established quite a position for themselves in contemporary electronic music culture, with their website acting as a comprehensive online hub for the mnml generation. There's a sense that they've aligned themselves well with current trends, and this event demonstrates their savviness. It's been advertised as a Christmas party but such a tag is neither here nor there with such a heavyweight line-up: Modeselektor featuring Pfadfinderei (live A/V set), Move D (who recently played an excellent set at Fabric), DJ Koze, Trus' me, dOP (live), Lawrence (live), Thomas Melchior, Shackleton (live), Motor City Drum Ensemble and Jozif. Apparently, there are more names still to be added. At only 8 quid a ticket (direct from the RA site), not many would argue. |
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FILM GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR HUNTER S THOMPSON
Monday 22 December
various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices |
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Links
moviebeat.co.uk Reviews AG Interview Another One TW On HST RS On HST
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Alex Gibney's (Oscar nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and Oscar winning Taxi To The Dark Side) latest documentary Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Hunter S Thompson, looks at one of America's great malcontents via an intoxicating montage of rare interviews, archive footage, taped interviews and testimony from those who knew him best -- including former president Jimmy Carter, writer Tom Wolfe and legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman. A description of a man larger than life, living in an age less hectored, this fascinating and funny film, narrated by one Johnny Depp, is an intriguing portrait of a man who was one of the most individual voices of the 20th Century, did more drugs than God himself, and created a persona that inspired legions of ne'er do well scribes but still, after a period of creative angst, felt the need to shoot himself through the head outside his house in Aspen on February 20th 2005.
NB: Gonzo is released in London 19/12. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01). |
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FILM / Q&A ASIF KAPADIA: FAR NORTH
Curzon Soho
Monday 29 December [6:30pm]
93-107 Shaftesbury Ave., W1 T:0871.703.3988 Tube: Leicester Sq./Piccadilly
general £12 | concessions £9 |
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Links
Curzon Soho Event Info Review Another One One More AK Interview Another One
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Asif Kapadia, North London's homegrown filmmaker, has often seemed quite unnoticed. Although Hackney born and bred, his films are (literally) thousands of miles apart from the ever-popular Cockney geezer/football hooligan/housing-estate-hell stories beloved by new British filmmakers. Instead, Kapadia's films are beautifully shot, epic tales set in indeterminate time periods and uncertain locations. The Warrior, winner of the 2002 BAFTA for Best British Film, was a samurai-inspired Hindi-language fable set in India and the Himalayas. Far North is the second of four films loosely covering the points of the compass. Shot in the Artic, an outcast native woman (Michelle Yeoh) and her adopted daughter scrape out a bare existence on the icecap as they roam to escape outsiders. However the precarious balance of their relationship is irredeemably upset when they rescue a dying man (Sean Bean). Concluding with an unexpected twist, it's a tragic story of a beautiful but harsh and unforgiving place.
NB: Far North is released in London on 26/12. Also at the Curzon Soho but on 05/01 (6:30pm) is a special preview screening of The Wrestler with a Mickey Rourke Q&A. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01). |
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CLUB / DJ SECRETSUNDAZE: OMAR-S + JONNY D (LIVE)...
Village Underground
Wednesday 31 December [10pm - 6am]
54 Holywell Lane, EC2 T:020.7422.7505 Tube: Old St./Liverpool St.
£29.50 |
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Event Info OS Interview JD Interview
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Ah, New Years' Eve clubbing... remember the days? Inflated ticket prices, stuck in the cloakroom queue at midnight, extortionate taxi ride home... yes. If we were going to put ourselves through all that this year, our top pick would be secretsundaze, who've got a particularly solid line-up in the shape of Omar-S and Johnny D (live) -- we've bigged-up Omar-S here before. It's true to say that he's no stranger to London DJ booths, but he's got the capacity to be different each time and he's always ace. Johnny D's very much the hot young thang at the moment, but this will be his debut UK appearance, owing to pesky visa troubles. He's immensely popular with people who think they like deep house but don't really know what it is, and his approach condenses the soul of the former style into a more mnml-friendly, linear format. Enjoy. |
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CLUB / DJ HORSE MEAT DISCO: DANIELE BALDELLI + TIM SWEENEY...
Cargo
Wednesday 31 December [9pm - 6am]
Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington St., EC2 T:020.7739.3440 Tube: Old St./Liverpool St.
£35 (advance) |
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Cargo Event Info DB Interview
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The price tag and the venue are often deterrents on the dreaded NYE,
but this particular shindig looks set to defy both. Although admittedly Cargo has played host to some interesting disco names this year -- Crazy P and Thomas Bullock for instance -- it's more the fact that those good fellows from Horse Meat Disco are running the show that suggests it might manage intimacy and friendliness, both rare commodities on the 31st. HMD rarely disappoints on the talent front, and this time they've secured the services of cosmic disco godfather Daniele Baldelli, a mix pioneer who easily belongs in the same bracket as Larry Levan or Francois K. Plus, at the other end of technological history, the man the kids are all podcasting right now is the ever-likeable Tim Sweeney and his long-running Beats In Space radio show. This promises to be seriously uplifting stuff. |
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CLUB / DJ WANG: SQUAREPUSHER (DJ) + RADIOACTIVE MAN (LIVE) + A ROBOTNICK (LIVE/DJ)...
Corsica Studios
Wednesday 31 December [8pm - 6am]
Unit 5, Farrell Court, Elephant Rd., SE17 T:020.7703.4760 Tube: Elephant and Castle
£20 (advance) |
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Corsica Studios Event Info
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Those wishing to avoid any chance of hearing Auld Lang Syne this year would be well advised to head south to the grimy but oh so fun Corsica Studios for Wang's new year's eve party. Not that it will be a joyless, beard-stroking affair mind you. The Wang crew have always prided themselves, with good reason, on throwing nights more like out of control very noisy house parties than club nights. Joining hosts Electro Elvis and Lula and Lula is an all star cast that ranges from the bleep street jungle rave of Squarepusher and no nonsense electro of Radioactive Man to the inspired italo theatrics of Heartbreak and original electro disco pioneer Alexander Robotnick. Tickets are just 20 quid, a snip for this time of year, so if you fancy something a little different this hogmanny get yours now. |
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WEEK 3 01/01/09 to 07/01/09
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FILM THE READER
Friday 2 January
various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices |
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Links
moviebeat.co.uk Review Another One SD Interview More On KW D Hare On TR
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Having stirred up fiery controversy across the pond before Christmas, here The Reader hits screens just as 2009 takes its first breath. It's not hard to see why it got blood pumping stateside -- the story, an adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's novel by Stephen Daldry, explores the relationship between a young German boy and an older woman, later put on trial for Nazi war crimes. Kate Winslet is exceptional, perfectly crafting her shadowy character, the crystalline complexity of whom inspires passion, love, loathing, repugnance, protectiveness and sympathy from the painfully conflicted hero flailing about in treacherously murky moral waters. At once a love story and horror ridden, the film will leave your emotions desperately twisted, your mind whirring, your palms sweaty, and your moral compass spinning. Is the world ready for the issues raised in the film? Jury's out, but it's a must see.
NB: The Reader is released in London 02/01/09. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01). |
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FILM / RETROSPECTIVE JOHN CASSAVETES
Barbican Centre
Sunday 4 January [04/01 till 25/01]
Barbican Centre, EC2 T:020.7638.8891 Tube: Barbican
general £9.50 (per film) | concessions £7.50 (per film) |
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Barbican Centre Event Info More On JC Artforum: JC Article BFI: S JC Interview
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John Cassavetes viewed cinema as a systemic whole, an organism of great magnitude capable of taking virtually any shape. Known for acting in mainstream film and TV (Rosemary's Baby, The Dirty Dozen, Columbo) as a fund raising venture for his own work, Cassavetes was relentless in his approach to directing character driven realist cinema. His films pull eviscerating realism both from his cast and audience, carving out his stylistic turf between the unknowable and the unwatchable facets of the human condition. Often directing his family and friends, and using his own house as a film set, his characters were frequently completely submerged in the madness and discomfort he drew from them on film. The selection of films are his most notable: Shadows, Cassavetes' first feature film: Woman Under The Influence, a portrait of a family undone by mental illness; the shady film noir fusion Killing of a Chinese Bookie; and Opening Night, a portrait of a troubled marriage in the spotlight.
NB: runs from 04/01 till 25/01/09. Also of note is the Sam Peckinpah season (along with the re-release of Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia) at the BFI Southbank which runs from 01/01 till 31/01/09. |
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FILM / Q&A DANNY BOYLE: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
BFI Southbank
Monday 5 January [6:15pm]
South Bank, SE1 T:020.7928.3232 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
general £12.50 | concessions £9.25 |
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Links
BFI Southbank Event Info Reviews More On SM DB Interview Another One One More
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Slumdog Millionaire is the Juno of 2009 -- the left-of-field oddity that shouldn't make sense, but which everyone can't get enough of. In this case the cynical, smart talking teenage pregnant girl is swapped for an uneducated urchin from Mumbai's slums who is on the love quest of his life. The film is a sweeping romantic epic rather curiously hung on the scaffolding of the hero's participation in the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Weird on paper, maybe, but brilliant on screen. The colours and craziness of India form the perfect backdrop for a story of such lavish and wild improbability and adventure. Could Danny Boyle have made anything more different from either Trainspotting or The Beach? Unlikely, but, God damn it, he pulls it off -- 'it' being the grand passions of a Bollywood melodrama mixed with the gaudy tension of a prime time gameshow. How? Well, you ask him...
NB: Slumdog Millionaire is released in London on 09/01/09. Also of note but at the Curzon Soho on 05/01 (6:30pm) is a special preview screening of The Wrestler with a Mickey Rourke Q&A. Other new releases are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01) and Che: Part One (02/01). |
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WEEK 4 08/01/09 to 14/01/09
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ART / FILM CILDO MEIRELES
Tate Modern
Friday 9 January [09/01 at 7pm and 11/01 at 3pm]
Bankside, SE1 T:020.7887.8888 Tube: Southwark/Blackfriars
FREE |
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Links
Tate Modern Film Info Show Info Show Review Interview Another One
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A new film exploring the work and daily routine of leading Latin American conceptual artist Cildo Meireles, will be premiered at Tate Modern in the new year. Cildo (directed by Gustavo Moura) provides a rare glimpse into the home and atelier of Meireles, as well as an insight into his challenging practice. An extensive selection of his work is currently on display at Tate Modern. Meireles gained recognition in the '70s with politically charged pieces and installations, which protested against Brazil's military dictatorship. Included in the Tate show is Mission/ Missions (How To build Cathedrals) -- a visual feast with religious undertones -- and Volatile, a sealed chamber infused with a smell of gas that gives the feeling of an impending explosion. Such incendiary works are typical of Meireles, and the physicality of the experience provides food for thought after the more sedentary Tate blockbuster exhibitions of Rothko and Bacon.
NB: Cildo screens on both 09/01 (7pm) and 11/01/09 (3pm) and the exhibition runs till 11/01/09. Rothko runs at Tate Modern till 01/02/09 and Francis Bacon runs at Tate Britain till 04/01/09. |
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FESTIVAL / THEATRE MIME FESTIVAL 2009
Barbican Centre + Southbank Centre + Shunt Vaults...
Saturday 10 January [10/01 till 25/01]
check programme for times and ticket prices |
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Programme
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Celebrating 31 years of performance in January 2009, the London International Mime Festival offers the best in international contemporary visual theatre. Highlights include a danse macabre of puppetry in Figurentheater Tuebingen's Salto.Lamento; Faust, presented in 2,360 words in Plug'n'Play by Russian group Akhe, and a wordless Oedipus myth in Seeking Oedipus by Ex Machina. LIMF also features Paris Calling, a commemoration of contemporary French performance aiming to unite French and British professionals at 25 venues across the UK. From circus arts and acrobatics to cabaret and vaudeville, a fusion of puppetry, mask work, kinetic sculptures and chemical experiments promises to ensure that the LIMF remains an unforgettable montage of unconventional theatrical expression.
NB: runs from 10/01 till 25/01/09 at Barbican Centre, ROH, Southbank Centre, Shunt Vaults, ICA and other venues. |
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CONCERT ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
KOKO
Monday 12 January [7pm]
1A Camden High St., NW1 T:0870.432.5527 Tube: Mornington Crescent/Camden Town
£16 (advance) £18 (door) |
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KOKO Event Info Album Review
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If you're looking for a musical antidote to mid-January gloom, you could do worse than check out Animal Collective at KOKO. They've got a new album about to drop on Domino later the same month, so expect plenty of new material. Apparently, the new album (entitled Merriweather Post Pavillion) furthers the heavily sampleadelic approach of more recent recorded work, which took on the form of a much more rhythmic and electronic live beast on their last tour. For a band that appears constantly in flux, their live appearances seem to be consistently thrilling -- managing to encapsulate the madcap energy of their music and retaining a sense of unpredictability. Despite their off-kilter nature (or because of it?), Animal Collective are a wildly popular band, so make sure you add a ticket to your Xmas list or you'll be left out in the cold. |
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ART FRANCIS BACON
Tate Britain
Ends Friday 4 January [Daily 10am - 5:50pm and Fri until 9pm]
Millbank, SW1 T:020.7887.8008 Tube: Pimlico
general £12.20 | concessions £10.30 |
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Tate Britain Event Info Review ASearle On FB JJones Podcast
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Firmly ensconced as a modern master whose works can be relied on to draw in a pretty packet at auction, it might be easy to get complacent about Francis Bacon -- a trip to Tate Britain's monster retrospective, however, proves there's plenty to get excited about in the old dog's legacy yet. Canvases seared with virulent oranges and reds, bisected by cruel caging forms, and menaced by absolute blackness, set the stage for Bacon's remorseless deconstruction and distortion of the human form. Everything is covered here; early works in which the human is already grappling with the animal and losing the fight, the vacant horror of the Man In Blue series, the screaming popes, and the ambitious crucifixion triptychs. The Archive Room contains secondary material -- photographs, magazine pictures -- painstakingly salvaged from the cataclysm of Bacon's studio after his death, which allow fascinating insight into his working methods.
NB: runs till 04/01/09. |
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THEATRE 1927: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
BAC
Ends Thursday 10 January [now till 03/01]
Lavender Hill, SW11 T:020.7326.8200 Tube: Clapham Common/Stockwell
£10 - £16 |
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BAC Event Info Review Another One One More
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A wonderful evening's entertainment lies in store if you visit this cabaret by 1927. You'll see the sun and moon enjoy a Sapphic relationship, a cat die nine times, gingerbread men come to life and a pianist turn into a monkey. These are among the sketches on screen, as two cheerful flappers regale fairy tales in a stylish vaudeville show that was a hit at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe. The animated motifs of the silent movie, produced by Paul Barritt, seamlessly complement the musical actions of the girls (played by Esme Appleton and Suzanne Andrade). Wearing prim tea dresses and with white-painted faces, these shocking sisters describe how their parents died in a strange "wishing-well accident". Having lost their grandmother, they invite a hapless member of the audience to become their playmate. The result is an interactive and enchanting piece of theatre, where the devil is in the detail.
NB: runs till 10/01/09. |
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ART RICHARD HUGHES
Sadie Coles HQ
Ends Saturday 10 January [Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm]
35 Heddon St., W1 T:020.7434.2227 Tube: Piccadilly Circus
FREE |
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Sadie Coles HQ Press Release Review Tate B: RH
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Taking it easy? The simple way to do this show would be to trawl a few skips in the burbs and drag in what you found. Each sad object looks like it was once someone's favourite something and then, after 15 years forgotten under a privet hedge, was disinterred by an art student looking for some gritty Arte Povera chic. But Richard Hughes is taking the piss with this title (One Man's Struggle To Take it Easy); each piece is actually painstakingly conjured from traditional sculptural materials -- resin, fibreglass, plaster. A drab cinderblock wall reads "Why Do I Do This Every Day?" taken from some soul crushing bridge graffiti on the M40. Very Christmassy. It's deeply ennui-ish and utterly compelling. Sadly our favourite art piss-bottle Road-Sider: First Of The Morning (road-cider, geddit?) is not here.
NB: runs till 10/01/09. |
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DESIGN COLD WAR MODERN: DESIGN 1945 - 1970
V&A Museum
Ends Sunday 11 January [Daily 10am - 6pm and Tue + Wed until 8pm]
Cromwell Rd., SW7 T:020.7942.2000 Tube: South Kensington
general £9 | concessions £7 | students £5 |
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V&A Museum Event Info Review Another One
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If you are interested in seeing what the future used to look like, hurry to the V&A before this superb exhibition finishes. Here you can see how "frontiers" were re-imagined, after the destruction of WW2, from the Space Race to the design of domestic spaces (especially kitchen appliances!). As the utopias of consumerism and communism, underwritten by the "military-industrial complexes" of both East and West competed for public allegiance, design was visionary as much as instrumental. However, the ambivalence felt towards these political futures is already evident in many of the works shown. The prototypes of space suits, for instance, are displayed alongside Lucio Fontana's wonderful Spatial Conception, End of God -- an egg-shaped homage to punctured rust.
NB: runs till 11/01/09. |
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ART BLOOMBERG NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2008
A Foundation
Ends Sunday 11 January [now till 11/01]
Rochelle School and Club Row, Arnold Circus, E2 T:020.7033.3539 Tube: Old St.
FREE |
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A Foundation Event Info Review
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It's always worrying walking in to a show like this -- what if the best UK art graduates are all rubbish? It would be so depressing. But never fear, some are really quite ambitious; Nicholas Tayler's cowboy themed web project is a detailed piss-take of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, and Tyler Bright Hilton's storyboard etchings seem from a whole new aesthetic; unafraid of linear story telling, they borrow from fantasy and porn. High gloss photography is back, notably by Rita Soromenho and Sarah Michael. There are the obligatory crap video loops and trashy assemblage sculptures, but these are tolerable padding around a select few real gems. This year's panel, Ceal Floyer, Richard Billingham and Ken Lum, cut down a record 1,400 entries to 57 and have stuffed the Rochelle School with an enjoyably argy-bargy spread.
NB: runs till 11/01/09. |
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ART THOMAS DEMAND
Sprueth Magers
Ends Saturday 17 January [Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm]
7A Grafton St., W1 T:020.7408.1613 Tube: Green Park
FREE |
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Sprueth Magers Press Release Review More On TD Interview
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All change at the White House now that this new chap is measuring the drapes, so take some timely reflection on the outgoing president's interior design choices, and other less significant legacies. Thomas Demand's photographs, commissioned by the New York Times, depict the Oval Office, one of the world's most recognisable interiors -- but one that most of us will never set foot in. Demand's images, however, are illusory constructions -- life-sized sets made entirely of paper and cardboard. Photographing this theatre of power from odd angles, such as from under the chair, Demand reveals its power as a house of cards, drawing our attention to the removal of idiosyncrasy -- blank faces in photograph frames on the desk, and memos of blank paper. Demand claims to destroy the paper sets once he has photographed them, which, if it hasn't been done already, sounds like a great idea for a party on 20th January.
NB: runs till 17/01/09. |
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ART JANET CARDIFF AND GEORGE BURES MILLER
Modern Art Oxford
Ends Sunday 18 January [Tue to Sat 10am - 5pm and Sun 12 - 5pm]
30 Pembroke St., Oxford T:01865.722.733
FREE |
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MAO Event Info Review Interview Old Interview
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Canadian husband and wife duo Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have won international recognition for their multi-media installations at events such as the 2001 Venice Biennale, yet their work has not often been exhibited in the UK. This show surveys their career, from their first formal collaboration Dark Pool (1995), an assemblage of curios that plumbs the depths of memory, to The Muriel Lake Incident (1999), a film noir using the realistic binaural recording that is behind Cardiff's walks, and the cross-Canada slide show of the Road Trip (2004). It also features the theatrical Opera For A Small Room (2005), inspired by the sounds of rural British Columbia, and the chillingly beautiful installation, partly based on a Franz Kafka story, The Killing Machine (2007). It then returns the visitor to a structure composed of layers of memories, which in all shapes and forms make up the content of the exhibition: The House Of Books Has No Windows.
NB: runs till 18/01/09. |
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ART ROBERT CAPA
Barbican Centre
Ends Sunday 25 January [Daily 11am - 8pm, Tue + Wed until 6pm and Thu until 10pm]
Barbican Centre, EC2 T:020.7638.8891 Tube: Barbican
general £8 | concessions £6 |
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Barbican Centre Event Info Review Book Review RC Interview RC + GT
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Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it: war photographer Robert Capa's tragic death in the field when he stood on an anti-personnel mine is all of a piece with his dramatic images of violence and conflict from around the globe. One of the co-founders of the Magnum agency, Capa documented just about every conflict going, including the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War and the liberation of Leipzig, all of which feature in this extensive exhibition of over 150 photographs. Although Capa may now be most famous for his contested and controversial image The Falling Soldier, there is plenty here to settle any doubts about his ability to capture the grit of war, from troops charging through the frothing Normandy waters at D-Day, to the bleak stillness of an American soldier pooled in his own blood at the window of a Leipzig room.
NB: runs till 25/01/09. Showing alongside this exhibition is a retrospective on Gerda Taro, Capa's collaborator and lover during the Spanish Civil War, and On the Subject of War, which features contemporary work by Omer Fast, Geert ven Kesteren, Paul Chan and An-My Le. |
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ART / FILM MICHAEL SNOW
BFI Southbank
Ends Sunday 1 February [now till 01/02]
South Bank, SE1 T:020.7928.3232 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
FREE |
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BFI Southbank Event Info Guardian: MS Essay frieze: MS
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There's no question about it: Michael Snow is a quietly dazzling film and video artist. To watch even this teeny selection of film works at the BFI Southbank Gallery is to witness an artist who has spent his career unravelling film as medium, stretching it, breaking it, and most importantly caring for it. An "x" made in tape on the gallery floor is filmed by a video camera and projected through a live feed next to the real cross. Stand on this, and realise that X = you are here = you are observed. The intellectually charming silent film That / Cela / Dat consists of single white words flashed up on a black screen for different durations, creating the effect of someone talking to you -- just you, you special thing -- in your head. Wonderful. So, in his honour, sing altogether now: let it Snow, let it Snow, let it Snow.
NB: runs till 01/02/09. The BFI Southbank is hosting several special Michael Snow events in January click here for more details. |
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ART DOGTOOTH & TESSELLATE
The approach E2
Ends Sunday 1 February [Wed to Sun 12pm - 6pm]
47 Approach Rd., E2 T:020.8983.3878 Tube: Bethnal Green
FREE |
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TA E2 Press Release
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This group exhibition, as its sharp title suggests, is about pattern as provocation -- how it has been codified and re-branded by artists of the past century. The curators (Michelle Cotton and Emma Robertson) have chosen very specifically from this large and ever-shifting classification to explore the frayed edges between art, nature, commerce and politics. It's a surprisingly light, yet textile-heavy installation that pays little heed to an historical timeline, dipping in and out of territories as diverse as vorticist tug-boats courtesy of the late Edward Wadsworth, who designed "dazzle camouflage" for allied war ships in WWI, to Alice Channer's sculptural fusion of art and fashion methods and motifs. Despite the many famous names in evidence (Dufy, Dali, Delaunay, Riley) the contemporary works hold their own, such as Sebastian Hammwoehner's doily reconfigured in chalk, and Matthew Harrison's floorboard customised with wood sourced from around the globe.
NB: runs till 01/02/09. |
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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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