It was the soothing melodies of the Cocteau Twins flowing from the speakers in Shoreditch Town Hall that calmed my nerves last week. Frazzled by travelling in a blustery rain storm and weighed down by grief I felt strangely connected to the night’s event before the speaker had even taken to the stage. The space … Continue reading Cosmic Comfort
Art
The Library is Open
I was trying to remember the last time I trekked out to Wembley for a show, was it Roxette or Eddie Izzard? Clearly it was an age ago since I didn’t remember all the development that’s since occurred around the stadium and arena. Flats, a library and almost ubiquitous Boxpark have all sprung up making … Continue reading The Library is Open
The Story of An Artist
I think I saw it in an article, perhaps a sidebar or maybe even TV listing somewhere; it was the title that grabbed me: The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It took me months to get around to watching this 2006 documentary directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, back in the days of renting DVDs through the post, … Continue reading The Story of An Artist
A Unique Showcase
Living in London means I am fully spoiled when it comes to the opportunity of seeing some fantastic and famous art. It's not crossed my mind that most of it, if not all, has been produced by European or American artists. The first time I started to realise how skewed my exposure was, was seeing … Continue reading A Unique Showcase
People Have The Power
Camden felt oddly quiet last Friday evening. Nestled into my seat I could hear my neighbour softly singing along to Under Pressure and I admonished myself for stifling that same urge. I was in a surprisingly comfy seat behind mixing desks (oddly with images of Napoleon Dynamite on their screens) with a soft blue light washing … Continue reading People Have The Power
Adrift
Over four decades ago, a Mexican anthropologist was returning from a conference when his plane was hijacked. Although a harrowing experience, the incident fuelled Santiago Genovés to further investigate aggression and violence in human behaviour. What resulted has been called one of the strangest experiments ever conducted. Genovés constructed a raft measuring 12 x 7m … Continue reading Adrift
A Very Close Encounter
Easing back into the regular routine has been slow going. After the merriment of Christmas come those few in-between days before New Year where the avalanche of celebrations have tumbled you down a slope of good wine and food leaving you not knowing which day of the week it is, or what you’re supposed to … Continue reading A Very Close Encounter
It’s Alive!
I can’t remember exactly how old I was; I assume around 11. I was standing in the foyer of a theatre somewhere in the small university town of Grahamstown (in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa) during the annual two week arts festival. This adventure was to become something of a family holiday pilgrimage during winter school breaks … Continue reading It’s Alive!
One night in Dalston
It was exactly how I imagined it. Queueing outside an East London location, walking down a claustrophobic corridor decorated with what could be described as 'anatomical art', and lit with flashes of bright clashing colours, and then descending worn wooden stairs into a tiny basement space. It felt a bit of a blur as I was sick with … Continue reading One night in Dalston
On the Buses
Before travelling last month I asked friends and colleagues for any recommendations when visiting Berlin. Museums, attractions and restaurants were added to my list of holiday possibilities, but one excellent suggestion I'd not considered was the Hop On Hop Off bus network. Ubiquitous in London, I think of these buses as a purely tourist notion which I didn't think … Continue reading On the Buses
Redhead Ramblings 