Category
Art & Architecture
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12.04.07On Art and Advertising[or: Haven't We Seen This Somewhere Before?] I've been noticing recently a number of ad campaigns which seem to have "taken inspiration from" (which is a polite way of saying "copied wholesale from") works of art. In recent years there's been controversy over the origin of Sony Bravia's Bunnies ad (was it ripped off from LA based art due kozyndan?), the Honda Cog ad (did it borrow extensively from a 1987 art film?) and (while the original doesn't really count as art, perhaps), even the Bravia's Bouncing Balls commercial (was it all Letterman's idea?) While there's always been a liberal approach to ...
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01.01.03On Public ArtIn the great, grim, glorious days of the GLC in eighties london, the South Bank frequently played host to great works of public art, towering over the murky thames, often contrasting starkly with the grey paved and concrete-clad terraces which surround the National Theatre, SBC and Royal Festival Hall. When conceived the terraces were supposed to be public spaces - for meeting and mingling, seeing and being seen, much like the great piazzas of Italy, and grand moorish plazas of Southern Spain. Unfortunately, London on a wet Saturday afternoon could not be further from these distant, sunny ideals, and the terraces ...
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01.01.03FieldWith a day off and London on the doorstop, one of my goals was to head over to see Antony Gormley's Field for the British Isles at the British Museum. I managed to haul myself out of bed early and get down there for the gallery opening to miss the crowds, but before I go any further describing it, let me just make a tangential point. I find it sad that I no longer feel that I can mention my future plans in specific detail, without worrying that this lays me open to potentially threatening situations or interactions with strangers - people ...
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09.22.02Open HouseOnce a year, London flings open the doors to hundreds of privately-owned buildings and closed institutions across the boroughs. P and I headed out early to make the most of the good weather and the lack of queues, and visited the Midland Grand Hotel (St Pancras Chambers) and Marble Arch - both of which I've wanted to get inside for years. The Midland Grand is disused and dusty - though not quite derelict - and on the edge of a major refit, to bring it in line with the new Eurostar terminal which the station it sits on top of ...
recent posts
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- The sound of silence
- Here it goes again
- As You Like It
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