March 2011
2 posts
13 tags
China is growing fast... but is their culture?
On yet another ASW forum I was greeted with the following
Is China becoming not only the dominant economy, but the dominant culture as well? What does this mean for western art, culture, and well, everything else? Will history be re-written to include more influence from Chinese culture?
So I HAD to reply…
Heres my 5 Yuans worth!
Having lived in Macau, a rich and very Western...
10 tags
Comments on Libya
I have been a bit of a forum junkie lately and have contributed my share in comments etc.
I was interested in a comment on ASW (A SMALL WORLD) that was making comparisons between Libya and Iraq etc and decided to respond.
Libya is indeed an interesting development. The escalation of intervention could be interpreted as institutional hysteria. It seems that no nation wants to be seen as...
7 tags
The Rise of the Urban Inbetweener
Rebellion, anarchy, anti-establishment, anti-authority…this is the tone set by art of the street, an art form that, in it’s making creates famous yet anonymous personalities whilst making a formerly taboo art form mainstream.
Is there still a ‘kick’ in the soul of street Art and if so where does it go from here?
Recently there has been a definite focus on street art as...
February 2010
2 posts
9 tags
The Death of Knowing...
If knowledge is power then despite access to information being freer than it has ever been, why is there an overwhelming feeling that the average individual is even less inclined to make any difference in this world.
Has the ability to access unending knowledge created a generation of geniuses or has it simply deferred the need to know anything at all. If all knowledge can be acquired on an as...
“Everything starts with a dot!”
– Wassily Kandinsky
November 2009
7 posts
3 tags
“The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born,...”
– Auguste Rodin
11 tags
Laminate Kulture Magazine: Pulp Aesthetica, Tokyo...
Laminate Kulture magazine has just launched and it has been lovingly put together with a real attention to aesthetic detail. Being a flipsided magazine one side Art and the other Fashion, it has a real unique offering in terms of the cultural viewpoints of London and Tokyo…
“Laminate is a multi-platform project bridging cultures from around the world, comprising a sumptuous print...
8 tags
Sacred Decay: Beautiful Decomposition
Sacred |?s?krid|: Regarded with great respect and reverence by a particular religion, group, or individual.
Decay |di?k?|: The process of declining in quality, power, or vigor
Sacred Decay is the title of my upcoming photo essay.
At the very heart of Western Capitalists societies is the brand. Corporate brands have fuelled and encouraged the massive and somewhat unrealistic commercial growth...
Ron Mueck: Monstrous Reality
Ron Mueck, originally from Australia, started out life as a television and film model maker, creating models and figures for films such as the Jim Henson directed “Labyrinth” in 1986. With an obsession for detail and the minutiae of model making, Mueck’s models were the precursor to his later sculptures that would become described as the “Hyper-real”.
Mueck creates sculptures of people,...
8 tags
Banksy: Cultural Re-Evolution?
Banksy, perhaps one of the most infamous artists of the early 21st century, has brought attention to guerilla art giving rise to a love affair with everything street in some of the worlds premier art institutions.
Recognised and documented all over the world, Banksy’s work has become part of urban popular culture. Often taking the form of satire, his stencil art seeks to comment and reflect...
11 tags
Anish Kapoor: Fleshy, Reflective and Engaging.
Anish Kapoor is an artist at odds with the spaces his works are displayed in. Often either fitting awkwardly within a space, taking a whole space up or forcing the us to consider the space in a different and interesting way, ignoring an Anish Kapoor installation is simply not an option.
Works such as “Marsyas”, 2002, the behemoth of an installation housed within the turbine hall of Tate Modern...
The Taste Delusion
“Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art. ”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think Ralph Waldo Emerson was on to something when he said that the love of beauty is Taste and the the creation of beauty is Art.
It seems there is an implication that the two are in a polar relationship. Are there people with the innate talent to both understand and coherently structure beauty and create...