Category Archives: Art

Inspiration: Nigel Peake

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

I have been following the work of illustrator Nigel Peake since I published his student thesis in the Scottish architecture magazine Prospect just before he won a Silver Commendation in the RIBA President’s Medal in 2005.  Since then he has … Continue reading →

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Taste And The Tower

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

I want to say something about the history of the relationship between towers and the Olympic Games, leading to a few comments on the outpourings of disgust around the ArcelorMittal Orbit. It is often forgotten that this began with the … Continue reading →

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Postmodernism: It’s History

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

It is entirely possible to love the current exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion at the V&A and find in it a sign of why Post-Modernism is at a dead end.

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You’re Worse Than Crystal Palace

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

The strange British genius for turning media production into a prolonged spectacle, which we have seen during the hackgate scandal, dates back at least to the Great Exhibition of 1851 I would say. Reading through the huge profusion of books … Continue reading →

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Reaching for My Revolver

Posted on June 21, 2011 by

Will Gompertz on the Today programme this morning said that the arts has “always been embedded in the idea of hosting the Olympics.’ As portions of the £80m Cultural Olympiad were officially announced – a group of artists to create … Continue reading →

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Gratuitous Beauty Pageant Post

Posted on October 21, 2010 by

Giovanna Mazotti was voted Miss Italy in 1952 winning the right to represent her country at that year’s Miss Universe competition, which was eventually won by Miss Finland. Upon returning home, Miss Italy  told a Rome newspaper that the Miss Universe … Continue reading →

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Architecture and Ai Wei Wei

Posted on August 21, 2009 by

Transcription of an interview with Ai Wei Wei. He’s doing the answers. Pictures are by me.  What is the method of construction of your latest exhibition? This is Chinese household furniture that folks have been using for thousands of years. … Continue reading →

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A True Commonwealth

Posted on August 12, 2009 by

Jordan Baseman’s excellent art piece which was displayed at the Collective Gallery in Edinburgh earlier this year tiptoes cleverly around some of the aesthetic and political issues that surround Britain’s civic modernist heritage.

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The Town Hall That They Had To Move

Posted on July 28, 2009 by

The mining town of Kiruna is not a normal place. For a start its 145km north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden and for another the mine that it was built to serve is thriving. It costs about four times … Continue reading →

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The High-heeled Psychogeographer

Posted on July 18, 2009 by

This is the transcript of a discussion with Laura Oldfield Ford, artist, publisher of Savage Messiah and citizen of Dalston, London. It took place during an 11 mile walk around the Olympics Site undertaken in early 2009, around the time of … Continue reading →

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