The Filter^

Jon Snow

Treat: The Guardian is printing extracts from the autobiography of broadcaster Jon Snow. It's called "Shooting History". From Part One:

I won election to the executive of the students' union as first-year representative. Politically, Liverpool was a sea of red, well beyond the wilting rouge of old Labour. There were anarchists, Trotskyites, Maoists and assorted communists.

The university was awash with issues that fought daily pitched battles with the sheer fun of simply being there. Where else in a year could you see the Who, the Animals, Georgie Fame, George Harrison, the Supremes and the Stones live in concert? The raves were all staged in the capacious Mountford Hall. And there, amid the detritus of the Who's guitars, smashed the night before, we would gather in political solidarity and protest over a gamut of disparate causes......

I left Liverpool with a heavy heart

And here for Part Two. I'm sure all fellow Liverpool graduates, political extremists and liberal media devotees will find it a must read.

Aside from being the best newscaster in the world, Jon Snow possesses a famous collection of ties, as highlighted in the portrait at the top of this post, by Mania Row. The ties come from Jane Keith Designs, and in The Scotsman Snow says:

"I was lucky enough to discover her and her ties at the Chelsea Craft show and have been a convert ever since.

"It would not be an exaggeration to describe her as a star in the tie firmament, because what she produces are so beautiful and strident.

"My particular favourite is one that is electric pinky purple and blue but I can’t get enough of them and shall probably buy some more.

Other devotees include Friends' Chandler Bing (aka Matthew Perry), David Dimbleby and Lenny Henry. Jon sports a wonderful tie here, and demonstrates a simultaneous passion for socks here. (Incidentally, this is my favourite tie.)

Mersey Redivivus

This week's Economist surveys Liverpool's mix of culture and commerce.
Article here.

The jist, is that the City should permit commerce to fuel the cultural aspirations, rather than devoting resources to titles such as World Heritage Site or City of Culture.

Downtown Liverpool's aim is to encourage a more dynamic city centre, one that will help Liverpool to “regain commercial power and cultural richness.” In that order. If the city's history teaches anything, it is that art follows money, not the other way round. The neo-classical Walker Art Gallery, with its Corinthian columns and exceptional collection of high Victorian art; the Anglican cathedral, which celebrates its centenary this year, with its shimmering west window by Carl Edwards; and the magnificent town hall, designed by John Wood and James Wyatt, two of Britain's greatest 18th-century architects: all are testament to the generous industrial patronage responsible for most of the city's heritage.

The two go hand in hand. The Capital of Culture title has clearly played a role in current cultural resurgence, for example Henry IV once more deserves a mention. I think that the Council is looking ahead, and attempting to create a platform for culture to flourish. As long as they don't stifle the actual innovation, that seems fine.

"My Mummy was Beautiful"

Yoko Ono's "My Mummy was Beautiful" has caused a bit of a stir. A part of the Liverpool Biennial, Ono's work displays a woman's breast and nipple, and her pubic region ("front bum"...???) on huge vinyl posters across the city's main shopping district. The BBC's message board is filled with gems like:

- Will not shop in Church Street, untill these posters are removed.
- It's natural maybe. But you don't have pictures of people urinating which is also natural do you?
- I think this kind of "art" might be more at home in amsterdams red light area
- Liverpool, listen to the majority of the people and bin the lot.
- No it's not Art, a photograph of a womans n***le is not artistic, I'm not saying photography is not artistic because it can be,just very definately Not on this occasion.
- Once again people with talent are ignored to accomodate someone whose only claim is that she was married to Lennon.

I can understand their outcries - they come from a deep sense of envy. When an average person is valued so little and their opinion and creativity often ignored, it is shocking to them that an idea that is as "simple" as photographed human parts can get an airing at all, let alone a high profile airing. If they turn around and tell their bosses and colleagues that they are going to start an art project involving tits and bums, they will be ridiculed.

I am all in favour of direct and provocative art. And Ono's "My Mummy was Beautiful" is no different. Let this work stir up people's envy, and ignite their creativity! Or just drag their arses out of the sofa and go check out the Walker or the Tate for once!

PS: Stay tuned for more coverage of the Biennial at the Filter^!

Jack Vettriano

'Mad Dogs' sold for £330,400 yesterday. When I first heard, I assumed Bill (Liar? too Fuc)Kenwright had let Tommy Graveson go in another disgraceful sale. Fortunately, it was only "controversial" artist Jack Vettriano adding to his immense wealth by setting records at Scottish auctions. Why "controversial?". Well, he's roundly condemned by the art world, yet is ridiculously popular. The People's Artist, belongs to an all too familiar paradox, where commercial success is necessarily "selling out". I'm grateful to Vettriano because it got me into Hopper, and that can't be a bad thing.

Good luck to him, he deserves his wealth and fame. Although 300k is a bit steep considering that you can get one here for about $15 and it's framed.....

Henry IV at the Everyman

I went to the opening night of Pirandello's 'Henry IV', at the Everyman.

Before going, all I knew was that it was a 'new version' by Sir Tom Stoppard. Which was all I needed to know.

Aware that some Filter^ readers are considering going: I urge you to. I've written a review, which you can read here, but it also explains the plot, so i'll post it on The Filter^ once the run is over.

After the performance the Director Michael Grandage was joined by most of the cast, and answered questions from the audience. Unfortunately I didn't get an exclusive - the only thing on my mind was "why don't you sell copies of the play". I'm sure it'd be profitable for theatres to do this, and now I have to trawl through Amazon.

For evidence as to the influence Sir Tom has had over me (alas, not literarily), click here

Quality theatre choosing Liverpool. Superb!

FreeFoto.com

Is there a greater view than that of the Liver Building, whilst emerging from the Dock exit of the Birkenhead Tunnel? This photo comes under a commons license, from FreeFoto.com amongst a trove of others.

Aside from glimpses of Liverpool it's a fantastic resource for projects and pleasure.

Brutalist Beauty

An Architecture Week event has discussed the merits of the National Theatre, under the title "Brutalist Beauty?"

From The Guardian

The National Theatre's Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner and actor Fiona Shaw square up to architect Mark Foley to debate the merits and misfortunes of Sir Denys Lasdun's National Theatre building, whose brutalist concrete form inspires love and loathing in equal measure.

An article on BBC Online following the death of the architect, Sir Denys Lasdun offers examples of such opinion:

The building:
"a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting"
-Prince Charles

And the man:
"a pioneer, a world-class architect who had tremendous influence".
- Sir Norman Foster

I adore the NT for it's functoionality, and the staggered verandas that decorate the exterior; an interval overlooking the Thames can be breathtaking. It reminds me greatly of the Royal Sun Alliance Building in Liverpool, it too generating extemes of feeling. The Daily Post lambasted the "sandbox".

And whilst I'm on the subject, here's one of my favourite buildings on the Wirral. My local Sainsbury's.

(The photo of the NT comes from www.isaphoto.co.uk/ pages/exteriors2.htm).

Nicholas Archer, Tales from Bath II: Life

Maybe I was a little sickly in rejoicing over the news of so much balderdash Britart being burnt in a blaze but what made it even sweeter was a sense of replacement: two inspiring displays in Bath. Firstly, Kurt Jackson’s “Two Woods” at the Victoria Gallery. I’m all for merging boundaries between the gallery and life (I still have photos sat out on the three seat sofa in Greenbank Park) but am offended by artists who force the issue. Recreating a branch of Tesco in Tate Liverpool just doesn’t cut it – it’s patronising to claim credit for the lesson that art lies all around us. Jackson truly does blur life and art; his natural landscapes are created on location, the giant canvass laid out on the ground as he strolls barefoot across the page, treading in the seasons. The forest scenes painted directly onto local newspapers demonstrate rawness, and technical accomplishment triumphs over farce.

More unexpectedly, I paid my first visit to the charming and unpretentious Beaux Arts Gallery, hosting an exhibition by Nicholas Archer. Archer won the prestigious Hunting Prize in 2002, and according to the press release his paintings:

are in part a reaction to the notion that England is somehow ‘grey’.

His equestrian works are bold and vivid – the one pictured caught my attention for its motion and palette. Aside from haunting portraits, and horseracing, he uses a fascinating technique of Gold dust on sandpaper to depict grand buildings. Again, the press release:

The sepia-like monochromatic quality evokes nostalgia, whilst the materials themselves hint at the decadence and excess of the subject matter.

The images here are photos I took thanks to the kind permission of Beaux Arts, so please credit them, and the artist, if you wish to borrow.

Singed Saatchi

Poor old Charles Saatchi. A fire in East London has probably destroyed millions of pounds worth of his art collection, including some of his more famous ones: Emin's 'tent', Hirst's 'dots', and The Chapman Brothers' 'Hell'. Shame.

I recollect a tale regarding Marc Quinn's 'Self' (pictured) which Saatchi bought, and kept at home. The sculpture, filled with Quinn's own blood required an icey temperature, and was housed in it's own freezer, in the kitchen. Rumour has it that house staff unplugged it, thinking it was a normal freezer, and the blood defrosted over the kitchen floor.

One wonders what Nigella thought of that!

I keep waiting for the inevitable saturation point of Britart, or "Sensation", or "SaatchiArt", or whatever it's called.... and the time when things artists like Birtwhistle and Stuart Pearson Wright are as famous as Emin and Hirst. Perhaps Hirst's new bar will be his bridge too far, or maybe Saatchi's latest glitch will convince him to pack it in. Make no mistake, the only reason we're aware of these works of tedium is because of one man's dubious judgement and paternal ego.

Correction I've just been told that "Self" was on display in County Hall when it opened, in 2003. Therefore, the rumour seems to be false.

'Photography is crumbling'

Yesterday's Daily Telegraph (not linked out of spite for their registration policy) contained a hospitable interview with David Hockney, regarding the role of photography as a medium of truth.

"People don't know how to look at pictures anymore..... Piers Morgan... argued that these may be reconstructions, but they are still showing you something true.
Well, you can't actually quite take that line. You might as well say that Piero della Francesca's 15th-century fresco of the risen Christ is evidence of the Resurrection"

Hockney sees photographs as even less reliable than paintings, and uses evidence from his popular thesis to explain why he thought the Mirror ones were false

"the photographer is so close to whatever is going on that he has to have been a participant."

As the interviewer points out, the photos showed evidence of a dramatic device used since Caravaggio - to go in close.

The Filter^ has previously questioned the media's fetish for using a photo for every story (it started here and was majestically continued here), and it strikes me as remarkable how this entire war is being decided by one or two photographs. As an ironic gesture, I've included a portrait of Hockney by Adam Birtwistle.

Back to the Telegraph, and Hockney also expressed interesting opinions on Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ, (note: it's not "The Passion", which is registered by Jeanette Winterson for a coming project), and the representation of pain.

"There are lots and lots of pictures of the Crucifixion. But it was an unusual form of execution. There's no action in it. In fact, you die becasue you can't move.... Gibson's is a movie, not a still picture, so it has to have movement, which makes it even more difficult."

His reputation as a creator and a theorist means that Hockney will always be listened to, and the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition, which he co-organises, will be popular and successful. It is true, however, that by exposing and discussing truth Hockney can't escape from the judgements and scrutiny he advocates on others.

David Storks comment on Steve's "Caravaggio's Leica" underline this point, and demonstrate why I believe Hockney is a great man - for prompting the debate. Ultimately, the truth will out, and art will be in a better place having had the debate, no matter who wins.