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October 7, 2008
Thinking caps will be tugged tightly onto heads this evening at the Vibe bar: as the first in a series of warm-ups for November's Battle of Ideas, the Institute of Ideas presents a discussion on the subject of Poetry and radicalism. Is poetry "reclaiming its radical roots and confronting contemporary apathy", or are modern bards guilty of "mouthing insubstantial political platitudes"? Debate comes from, among others, Spiked editor Brendan O'Neill, Royal Society of Arts fellow...
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Rivane Neuenschwander, 'Suspension Point', 2008, drilled holes, dust, installation view. Photo by Andy Keate Walking into Rivane Neuenschwander's Suspension Point, the South London Gallery's bright, spacious interior is obscured by gloom. Allowing your eyes to adjust to the murk, the reason becomes clear: a wooden mezzanine has been constructed at roughly the midway point of the gallery's height, covering the entire space, with the only illumination coming through a staircase that leads up to the...
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The "100 concerts in 5 days" that launched London's latest and most apostrophe free arts venue, Kings Place, have impressed us with the range of events presented. Sunday afternoon saw a concert that might be lost among the glitzier names on display, but deserves mention. Composers have to start somewhere, and here the spnm provided an opportunity for two composers from their shortlist to present works for string quartet, performed by the Brodsky Quartet....
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In yet another 'amazing band play the apple store shocker', Bloc Party are the latest to sign up to one of these tiny gigs. Kele, Matt & co are celebrating the physical release of 3rd album 'Intimacy' and scaling down their act from Alexandra Palace level to something suitable for competition winners in a shop! The band will hold back 50 pairs of tickets for first come first served on the door but we've...
Continue Reading "Win: Bloc Party @ Apple Store Tickets"October 6, 2008
Kids in rehearsal with Royston Maldoom by Camilla Panufnik Dance Umbrella is well underway and fittingly the skies caved in over the weekend but the diverse programme is making splashes of its own. Amid the professional programme lies the obligatory nod to the Olympic Games. Overture 2012 is one for the kids and the Arts Council (increasing accessibility, participation: tick) but funded from a plethora of sources and donors. 120 young Londoners, some experiencing contemporary...
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October 6, 2008
In this series, we look at films with one thing in common: London. Our only rule is that the films must have either the word London or a London place name in the title. Other than that, any film is fair game. The London Nobody Knows (1967) Director: Norman Cohen Starring: James Mason Delving beneath the surface of tourist London, based on a book of the same name by Geoffrey Fletcher, this is both a...
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Hoxton Square was taken over last week by an alien species. Not by crowds of patent-heeled, artfully styled students and designers - though they were there too, in record numbers - but by the weird and fantastic creations of the Kinetica Museum's artists. Held in the Rove Gallery and part of the East London Concrete and Glass festival, Creatures Great and Small features what must surely be some of the quirkiest offerings of the...
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Not content with celebrating our fourth birthday, October also sees the sixth in our popular series of guided walks. When: Friday 24 October - walk leaves at 7pm. What: Don't you want to go to Chelsea? Dogs on sticks, ghost bears, lavatory humour, satanic sports venues, secret agents, vampires, phantom Eskimos, wombats, ultra violence and suicidal sea captains. More bonkers tales than you can shake a stick (with or without a dog attached) at....
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In 2007, a Southbank Centre project "Aftershock London" harnessed the raw energy and fresh talent of local musicians and performers to collaborate under the artistic leadership of Nitin Sawhney and stage an event at the Royal Festival Hall. The 16 artists involved are now being nurtured by the Southbank Centre as Emerging Artists in Residence in what they're styling an "eclectic hub for music and performance". Keeping you ahead of the curve, we're getting closer...
Continue Reading "EAR Interview: Yemisi Blake"October 4, 2008
Tomorrow sees London's first proper half-marathon, and this Londonista will be plodding around the new route in the east of our fair city. The capital has of course always boasted a world-beating marathon course, and earlier this year we acquired our very own dedicated 10k. So it makes sense that we get a half-marathon too. Tomorrow's 'Run To The Beat' course will snake around no less then three olympic/paralympic venues. The weather looks as...
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There's an argument that the rituals of classical concerts make them seem closer to church-going than entertainment, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra's opening concert of its 2008-9 season at the Barbican addressed this problem head on. Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is a piece born of an intense and personal religious conviction, but it's difficult to imagine it as part of any conventional church service. If classical music has become something akin to a substitute for...
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Looking at the highlights of Friday's experimental offering at Concrete and Glass - Lykke Li, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Telepathe, TV On the Radio - the latter stood out tenfold in terms of grandeur and sweaty adoration, which probably explained why the population of E1 trudged in a steady stream towards Cargo from early evening. A pleasant buzz was around the creative hub that is Shoreditch, people drifting from venue to venue in the crisp...
Continue Reading "Review: Friday at Concrete and Glass"October 3, 2008
To round off this photo heavy day: James Nachtwey is planning to unveil his coverage of a "shocking and underreported global crisis" this evening. The photojournalist is projecting images from this top-secret story onto buildings across seven continents, and in London, the National Theatre's Lyttleton flytower is the venue. Could be interesting, or it could be an forgettable gimmick: in any case, if you're around the South Bank at 7.30 tonight, it may be worth...
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Not ones to let seasonal occasions pass by unremarked - any excuse to dress up - Bring Stuff have teamed up with fellow fancy dressers, Celebrity Murder Party and the Harlots to bring you a post-Halloween extravaganza Bring Dreams and Nightmares. Think good and evil, naughty and nice, righteous and disgusting. We know you can. This is carte blanche to go out looking horrific and, even though it's a charity fundraiser at just £10...
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Image from Caul by Dryden Goodwin For the last show at its Newport Street location, the Photographer's Gallery is hosting Cast, a solo exhibition by street snapper Dryden Goodwin, who - in the manner of Garry Winogrand, or more contemporaneously, Philip-Lorca diCorcia - takes apparently candid shots of unwitting passers-by. In the gallery's first piece, Cradle, five black and white photographs of Londoners taken around the West End are blown up to large scale. On...
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October 3, 2008
Rag & Bone Man, by Chris Clunn For those interested in London's photographic history, there's much of interest showing right now. In addition to London Through A Lens at Getty, Shutting Up Shop at Museum of London, the Soho Archives at Photographer's Gallery, a new exhibition at Rathbone Gallery reveals a city on the cusp of tradition and modernity. A Lost London features the work of Chris Clunn, who in the late Eighties began hulking...
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Plans have been cancelled for Take That musical 'Never Forget' to move to the Lyric Theatre at the end of the year. Currently showing at the Savoy, the show will now close on 15 November meaning you've got about 6 weeks to go and see if Everything Changes is still an amazing song when Robbie isn't singing it. Salary disputes have plagued the production recently and are rumoured to be the reason for the...
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Two weeks to go till the big day! We're very excited at the offers of cake making so far and can't wait to see you at our birthday party in 2 weeks time. We now have a venue: The Kings Head, Stafford Street, W1. We'll be downstairs wearing Londonist badges and big grins from 6.30pm. There is space reserved but it would be good to get an idea of numbers so there's enough cake...
Continue Reading "Drinking and Cake - Not Long Now"October 2, 2008
Who would have thought that fish embryos could be so hypnotic? Under the microscope, they tumble and turn like marbles, executing the occasional piscine wriggle at camera. These dainty roe are zebrafish, whose unusual transparency is a boon for medical research. Scientists intensely breed the fish and tweak their genes in pursuit of knowledge about disease. Artist Kathleen Rogers wants us to think about this manipulation of life, and certainly generates a meditative atmosphere...
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Fear not the brief absence: London on the Cheap now comes to you on Thursdays, so you'll be freshly equipped for the weekend. Let's do this thing. Friday: The Little Angel Theatre, Islington's home of miniature performance with some strings attached, continues their run of Sleeping Beauty with 50-year-old marionettes and Tchaikovsky on the mini-harpsichord. If you can make it to the 5:00 performance on a Friday, tickets are only £5. Saturday: Do you...
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Literally free tonight is Lyrical Late at the Museum of London. A mix of London’s finest "verbal veterans and up-and-coming poets" will be performing, stretching the boundaries of poetry. The Museum galleries will be staying open for you to have a wander round so you can take in the London Before London, Roman London and Medieval galleries and the London’s Burning exhibition. Magazine fans should note "Time Out Times" a exhibition celebrating the TO's...
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Deptford. Yes, that bit opposite the Isle of Dogs that isn't smart Greenwich. Borders Blackheath, yeah? Bet you didn't know it's a contemporary visual arts hotspot, did you? If you did, then you've clearly been to Deptford X at some point in its 10 year history. Describing itself as "an arts event born of Deptford’s creative community and based on a belief in the limitless potential of the area" the programme looks both baffling...
Continue Reading "Deptford X - A Really Top Notch Art Festival"October 1, 2008
ROX SINGING 'VALERIE' WITH MARK RONSON Now this is exciting – Londonist gets to interview the next big thing. If this young lady isn’t a phenomenal success any time soon we’ll eat our mouse mats. Rox isn’t yet signed to a label she’s that raw and fresh, although the ubiquitous Mark Ronson has taken her under his wing. Half Persian/half Jamaican, Rox manages to look both sultry and mignon at the same time, and that...
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