Archive for October, 2010

THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Lunchtime cafe rushes The inexplicable unaffordability of daily coffee Not being in Europe The fascism of Hiphop People who can’t tell the difference between Political Correctness and good manners Te Radar Ukulele Orchestras (build the bonfire high) Sanctimonious Evangelical Christians (being born once is quite enough, thank you) People who yell abuse at strangers on the street Having abuse ...

Matthew Collings

Monday, October 25th, 2010

You will know of Matthew Collings. He’s still quite famous as a ‘critic’ in the UK and among other places he writes irrelevant reviews of British exhibitions I cannot see in Artnews NZ. I have tried to like Collings. Really I have. I have read Blimey! and It Hurts and aside ...

Gene Pitney

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa Only one day away from your arms . . . I saw a welcoming light and stopped to rest for the night And that is when I saw her . . . Gene Pitney is an enigma and difficult to categorise. He was many things, a ...

NEW ZEALAND: GROWING UP MULTICULTURAL

Monday, October 25th, 2010

To be kiwi is to believe in the right to call bullshit on anyone, regardless of culture, ethnicity or creed. Recently while contemplated the proposed French law to ban the head scarf from being worn, I was struck by the absurd irony of it all. For the record, I regard the ...

AND DAN ARPS WINS THE WALTERS (SHOCK, HORROR)

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Ye Gods and little fishes! Imagine my surprise, nay, shock to see Dan Arps has won the Walters Prize for 2010. Below is the text from the Auckland Art Gallery Blog. As per usual I will add my notes in bold. Note how they, all familiar and chummy, refer to ...

ART THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Can art really be interactive? I suppose it can up to a point, but I think one of  the real tests of whether something is art or not is whether the audience is still forced to submit to the vision or idea communicated by the artist. Hence a movie can ...

PAGES FROM CTHULHU’S SECRET DIARY

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Day 109500 Million Dear Diary, I have to admit, R’lyeh was a bloody stupid place to build a house. If I’d known it was going to be under water less than a million years later, I wouldn’t have bothered. But that’s global warming for you, I suppose. Not that I knew the ...