John Stezaker: The Future of Photography
The Photographer’s Gallery is tucked away behind the bustle of Oxford Street, a converted warehouse hosting three floors of gallery space. It is, it proudly boasts, the largest public gallery in London dedicated entirely to photography, and an institution “instrumental in establishing photograph
Lighting up the City: Neon in Warsaw
Neon signs are experiencing a resurrection in Poland’s capital city. Riding the wave of vintage revival, neons that survived the Cold War are being restored and new pieces are cropping up throughout the city. Juxtaposed against the backdrop of a disordered commercial urban landscape, their time
McWeddings
Since 1 January this year, one branch of the fast food chain has been offering wives, as well as fries, with meals.
Painting for Bread – In conversation with Hockney, Utermohlen, Blake and Unsworth
“Him? Oh he’s an artist.” You switch off and find another drink if that’s the answer to your curiosity about the stranger in the corner. People do; like if he was a bankmanager or an adman or a poodle parlour proprietor they’d know him backwards down to the brand of his after-shave and fur
Kim Jong-il’s Cinema Club
On 26th December, 2010, North Korean state television showed Bend It Like Beckham. This tale of culture clashes in London ladies’ football team starring Keira Knightley had the dubious honour of being the first Western film to be shown anywhere in the notoriously secretive state. And what an odd c
Out of the Knesset and into the Wild West: Making light in Israeli Cinema
A man stands in a vast, dusty desert set against a sparsely clouded blue sky. He raises his eyes from beneath his hat. “Howdy,” he calls. “Howdy,” responds another man approaching. The director is unafraid of tense eye-level close-ups as the two stand opposite one another in strong stance.
The Freedom Bird: Storytelling at Campsfield detention centre
A hunter was walking in the woods when he saw a bird with feathers of gleaming gold. It began to sing, but instead of a beautiful tune it squawked: “nah nah na nah-naahh”. The huntsman was irritated that such a beautiful bird had such an ugly song, and he threatened to shoot if it were […
Glassy-Eyed: A polemic against glass buildings
The vogue for christening new additions to the London skyline with cheerful nicknames began with the “Gherkin” in 1999. Ever since, architectural practices seem to have taken these nicknames as an affirmation of their work, or rather a tool to secure affirmation. A panoply of skyscrapers with eq
The Spider: Is the internet becoming conscious?
Originally conceived between the 1960s and ’80s as a communications network for the disparate US defence agencies, the internet was later turned into a limited scheme for research institutes to communicate and collaborate with one another. Gradually, the TCP/IP protocol was developed and prolifera