Features
theASHtray: Whitney, bin men, and the NPG's 'incautious' acquisitionsSaturday, 18 February 2012
Right, out with it: who else had their Valentine’s dinner-out ruined by 36 consecutive requests for Whitney Houston? Not even the entire back-catalogue, either: just “(And I-ee-I-ee-) I…”, over and over.I mean, the basic message is all right, I... Read more... |
Interview: Director Pawel PawlikowskiFriday, 17 February 2012
Pawel Pawlikowski was named BAFTA’s Most Promising Newcomer for his feature debut Last Resort (2000), then the follow-up, 2004’s My Summer of Love, won Outstanding British Film of the Year. But neither felt obviously British, reflecting border-zone... Read more... |
Whitney Houston: The Legacy of an R&B DivaThursday, 16 February 2012
Of the many statements and tributes coming from peers and fans following the death of Whitney Houston last Saturday, perhaps the most unlikely of all was the one from the website of Diamanda Galás. One mightn't have imagined the most fiercely... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Papa Westray: Art at the End of the WorldSunday, 12 February 2012
In the same way that some chase the thrills of extreme sport, extreme art fans can now take the challenge of visiting this small art festival, which is uncompromising in terms of location, climate and content. Orkney as a whole has natural beauty, a... Read more... |
theASHtray: Janáček, Carnage, and Seth MacFarlane v George ClooneySaturday, 11 February 2012
Mea culpa. I take it all back. Christoph Waltz can act, and like a dream. You know, that dream you have where Tarantino's favourite pantomime Nazi demonstrates his apparently incurable fixation on apple-based desserts, and then Kate Winslet yakks... Read more... |
Waiting for the first Black British GodotTuesday, 07 February 2012
When I lived in the Caribbean in my twenties, one of the books I found at the bottom of the remaindered bin of Kingston’s largest book shop was Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin. I read it without any real sense of its context but there was... Read more... |
Crooked Houses: Homes from HellMonday, 06 February 2012
This Friday sees the release of James Watkins’ bloodcurdling adaptation of The Woman in Black, produced by the recently resurrected Hammer Films, who have risen like one of their macabre creations to torment us once more. With its old dark house... Read more... |
From Foot to Foot, How Rhythm Travelled the WorldSunday, 05 February 2012
Two hundred years ago in Durham taverns you could find men in wooden clogs clattering on the tables, with their mates pressing their ears to the underside of the surface. Meanwhile, at the other end of the world, African slaves with bare feet were... Read more... |
The Excruciating Power of the Parental Legacy: My First Foray Into CuratingSaturday, 04 February 2012
Remember when you were out playing football with your mates, and your dad pulled up beside the pitch in a slightly too flashy car and told you it was time for tea or – even worse – tried to join in the game – and how you died inside. Actually, I don... Read more... |
theASHtray: Beyoncé, 'Bond', and Eddie Redmayne's lipsSaturday, 04 February 2012
So, Birdsong is over, and for all the arts-crit ink spilled upon it I am still none the wiser vis-à-vis my three main points of concern. First: it is a truth universally acknowledged (I asked around) that the most memorable episode in... Read more... |
John Martyn: Three-Year WakeSunday, 29 January 2012
Exactly three years ago, late in the morning of 29 January, 2009, the news began to circulate that John Martyn had died at the age of 60. I spent the following 24 hours or so talking to many of his cronies to help assemble a tribute feature for a... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Paris: The Oldest Film Star of AllSunday, 29 January 2012
The news that work is to begin in February on a major renovation of the 122-year-old Eiffel Tower reminds us that no other monument in the world, including the Statue of Liberty, the Houses of Parliament or the Coliseum, conjures up a city with such... Read more... |
