There is much to praise from Ghana, India, France, and a stunning international pavilion. Less admirable is a true horror on the Arsenale…
Category: English edition
Banksy and the tradition of destroying art
Preminda Jacob, University of Maryland, Baltimore County When the British street artist Banksy shredded his “Girl With Balloon” after it was purchased for US$1.4 million at Sotheby’s, did he know how the art world would react? Did he anticipate that the critics would claim that the work, in its partially shredded state, would climb in […]
How the apartheid regime burnt books — in their tens of thousands
Historical examples show that books are banned and destroyed because they offend the politics, morals, or religion of the day.
Even Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (which, ironically, is the temperature at which book paper starts burning) was burned.
Eurythmics: how we made Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
‘We put a cow in the video, to signify reality. It peed everywhere’
A sacred union
You see, you cannot intervene and lead love and desire when you feel them with such power and clarity. They come effortlessly, unexpectedly, from the depths of the soul to the surface. All these moments are rare, almost sacred, for human existence
Voluntary taxation: a lesson from the Ancient Greeks
In this age of the super-rich, perhaps it’s time to revive liturgy. It worked for the ancient Athenians, and perhaps it could work for us
Friday essay: from the Great Wave to Starry Night, how a blue pigment changed the world
The most immediate and attractive aspect of Hokusai’s wave is its colour. At 70 years old, Hokusai was a master and created the image using four printing blocks. The astounding power of the work belies its restrictive palette – it’s essentially a study in blue
Paul Nash painted in the trenches – and I did the same in Afghanistan
A new Paul Nash show, “the largest … for a generation”, is now open at London’s Tate Britain. It is appropriate timing in this period of World War I memorialising – Paul Nash is one of the UK’s best-known modern artists, an illustrator who turned to oils to produce some of the most iconic images of the world wars.
Pritzker prize for architecture won by little known Catalan trio
The most prestigious award in architecture goes to three-person Spanish company who avoid the international limelight and ‘flee from fashions’
Five award-winning short films made by researchers that you should watch
The art of storytelling through film is a powerful tool for understanding the world we live in, from its mind-boggling complexities to simple tales that lift the soul
Getting to the High
The High Museum of Art. Built in the 80s, it boasts a celebrated collection of classic to contemporary art, as well as celebrated architecture by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano