Topic: Well, let’s be generous, and say I’m using a specific recent example to talk about controversial art. So, where is everybody on Aliza Shvarts, then? In case you’ve missed it, Ms Shvarts is an Art Student at Yale, and her latest piece includes blood from 9 months of self-induced miscarriages. Well, maybe. There was [...]
Entries Tagged as 'opinion'
To Justify God’s Ways To Man
April 8th, 2008 No Comments
Topic: “Alasdair!” I hear you cry, “What happened to your minimum of 800 words a week plan?” Fear not, I haven’t forgotten, it’s just that I wrote this lot, a basic summary of supermarket whiskies, for the excellent food and drink blog Very Good Taste, and wanted to give them a chance to run it [...]
Malt Does More Than Milton Can
March 14th, 2008 No Comments
Topic: Hugh Hancock asks What’s So Good About Whisky, Then? “I like the little things. The way a glass feels in your hand, a good glass – thick, with a heavy base. I love the sound an ice cube makes when you drop it from just the right height. Too high, and it will chip [...]
Tags: Food And Drink · opinion · Whisky
Choose Your Own Comics Company
March 8th, 2008 1 Comment
Topic: Alasdair Stuart has very generously given me an unlimited budget, and access to every comic creator on the planet, and the remit to build a company that publishes comics and OGNs, and asked what I would do. Obvious answer #1: embezzle the budget, live out the rest of my days in luxury. Clearly, what [...]
Two Hundred Quid?
February 29th, 2008 No Comments
Topic: Hugh Hancock amongst other suggestions, gave me this one: “I’d never pay 200 quid for a meal. Discuss.” I’ll state my position from the off: I have already paid over 200 quid for a meal. Twice. I hope to do it many times more. Having had three-Michelin-star food once, I want to do it [...]
Tags: fat duck · Food And Drink · opinion
A Moment Of Design
January 17th, 2007 1 Comment
So having explained what I think Art is I also want to talk a little about design. Design is very obviously allied to Art – they’re often mentioned in the same breath as a subject of study, and that’s not really terribly surprising – it’s more or less the same range of techniques and materials [...]
Turner
December 6th, 2006 No Comments
So, the Turner prize this year goes to Tomma Abts. Personally, I preferred Mark Titchner’s work – his themes and his general approach are things I have a lot of personal sympathy with, but hers were a close second favourite. I thought Phil Collins (not that one) documentary was interesting, but I think I’d rather [...]
Invisible Cities
December 3rd, 2006 No Comments
I have spent the last several days reading, and falling head over heels in love with “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino. There is absolutely nothing I don’t love about this book. The concept, the execution (I adore the form of the short monologue), the language and rhythm are absolutely sublime things, but past all that, [...]
