Toys get political
Very short plastic toys have been holding placards to protest over the recent Russian elections. Police in Barnaul, Siberia have asked prosecutors to check if the protest is illegal. Photograph: Sergey Teplyakov/vkontakte
Toys get political
Tickets on sale for new Fence Collective Festival
Much to be admired are those people who step around norms and pursue something with such thoroughness and devotion that it succeeds in the unlikeliest circumstances. Seventeen years ago singer songwriter Kenny Anderson launched Fence Records with what he calls ‘a healthy cynicism of all things music industry related’. He set up not in London but in the small coastal town of Anstruther and yet within five years the label
China in my hand: ceramic coasters to covet
Coasters have always been aggressive little items to my mind. There’s nothing like a beady hostess thrusting one between your coffee cup and her highly polished surfaces to put you off your social stride. There are lots of great ones about these days though and, now that we’re all about preserving our possessions properly, I guess it’s time to embrace the coaster. These brilliant polaroid ones from London based Just
Reach for the dizzy heights with Leandro Erlich
Ever had the urge to throw yourself off a tall building? Give it a go by lying down at le centquatre in Paris. Argentinian artist, Leandro Erlich has tested people’s perception of reality by recreating a facade of a building, laying it on the floor and putting the multi-storey mirror in front. Looks like more fun than ‘Man on a Ledge’ if the reviews are to be believed. ‘Batiment’ is
Robert Burns – catch the moments as they fly…
On this day in 1759 Robert Burns, one of Scotland’s flawed but freakishly able sons, was born. We mark the anniversary with a quote – not from his poems but from his letters. It’s a simple but beautifully put manifesto that reveals the warmth of Burns’ poet heart: *** ‘No doubt there is much I’ll have to answer for, yet my philosophy was simple enough. Whatever mitigates the woes or
Jesmond, Newcastle: studentville without the grunge
Avocado Sweet’s My Neighbourhood column comes from the north east of England over the next few months. Lesley Manners has lived in the area for over 20 years and will be recommending the places the locals go. Today’s piece highlights Jesmond, a smart area of Newcastle popular with students and only two stops on the metro from Newcastle city centre. The main street is Osborne Road which is lined with
Emily Barletta – seeing red
Artist Emily Barletta can’t see past red. In an interview for mrxstitch.com she says: ‘For years now, red has been the only colour that makes sense for me. Any other colour in an artwork is secondary. Usually if the object I’m making is red, then other colors present denote a secondary object or idea invading into the art, like a problem or a disease… Struggling with form and marks is a challenge
Celebrate Burns Night with our Happythought giveaway!
Next week is Burns Night, when the life and works of Scotland’s greatest poet Robert Burns will be celebrated around the world with formal gatherings, casual get togethers and perhaps the odd solitary armchair reading, glass of whisky in hand. To mark the occasion, we’re delighted to have copies of a brilliant downloadable Burns Night Companion to giveaway to three lucky readers. Worth £6.50 ($9.95), this fun and stylish guide has
David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture
David Hockney,Winter Timber, 2009, Oil on 15 canvases, 274 x 609.6 cm, Copyright David Hockney, Photo credit: Jonathan Wilkinson The biggest ever UK exhibition of landscape paintings by a living British artist opens 21 January 2012 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The exhibition includes David Hockney’s new and vivid paintings inspired by the Yorkshire landscape and some are huge in scale; the painting above is over 6 metres wide. David Hockney, Woldgate
Burnside on Brueghel: Fife poet wins TS Eliot Poetry Prize
Congratulations to Dunfermline born poet John Burnside who has won the TS Eliot Poetry Prize with his stunning latest work, Black Cat Bone. Here he ponders the lives behind the tiny skating figures in Pieter Bruegel’s Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap: We have to imagine the duties they leave behind for the thrill of the river, the kitchens and middens, the sheepfolds and clouded byres, the old folk