Keeping the Memory Alive (and Profitable): The problem of dead artists
There has never been a better or a worse time to be a dead celebrity. In 2012 the annual revenue generated in the USA by dead celebrities was estimated by Forbes at $2.25bn. Their work will remain; their profits are ensured but their legacies are not. After an adulatory obituary and a flurry of resu
The Ballad of Mohamed Bouazizi
“The Spring of Nations, for the second time, Turned out to be melodious bel canto.” – Czesław Miłosz, A Treatise on Poetry (1957). A time of schism, scandal, shock, dreams and killing drones, a whistleblower in the west, theocrats and thrones. Panic spurred a country’s qu
On Reading an Evil Book: Reflections on Mein Kampf
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf at the fortress-prison at Landsberg am Lech, a roughly Abingdon-sized town in the Bavarian countryside west of Munich. He had been incarcerated there for his ill-starred attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government in 1923, and, feeling the need to at once set his doctrine do
The ISIS Presents: “Is Art Dead? And Does it Matter?” A Panel Discussion
How do you define ‘art’? Should it be beautiful? Should it do something that no-one else has done before? Should it shape our understanding of ourselves and our society? Or does it just need to be in a gallery? With the rise of conceptual art, does there even need to be an ‘it’? Maybe you [&
The Return of the Prodigal Son? The Creative Potential of Violence Re-Examined.
The 20th century was the century of violence par excellence. People were killed on a larger scale between 1914 and 1990 than ever before. Treblinka and Kigali, Stalingrad and Sarajevo: the sites of these atrocities retain a dark and ominous prominence. Isaiah Berlin was moved to write: ‘I remember
“Go Home and Sit Still”: WWI and women’s colleges at Oxford
During the First World War, enrolment at Oxford plummeted. In 1914 Oriel had been home to 133 undergraduates; in 1917, only ten remained. Over the course of the war, 14,561 members of Oxford University enlisted and by 1918 approximately 20 per cent of those men were dead. As the town grew into a cen
Window-Shopping for Enlightenment: A Tour around London’s Church of Scientology
“Discover your true potential,” beckoned the golden, beatific faces on the screens lining the building. Rain dribbled, with the occasional whip of wind, as I looked up: “The Church of Scientology” emblazoned in gothic script over a shield. After some pirouetting indecision, and a furtive gla
The Man with the Backpack
The man with the backpack stands next to us on the train every morning pretending to read his book. We spend the seven minute journey to school trying to make him laugh or sigh, or, if we put on a really good show, glance up from his fake reading with an incredulous look. It’s an […]
Rebranding Boredom: How boredom can be a commercial venture
The patient cocks his thumbs out and draws his fists to his chest. Music tinkles in the back of the advert as the camera retreats and he turns, with his penis tucked between his legs, his hands performing a charade of nipples. Other patients flick at a light switch and a fountain of water is [&helli