Light Show at the Hayward Gallery: My piece in Whitehot Magazine. [image]But beyond the pleasant, the main reason the use of light in these artworks is so effective is because it triggers something primal, something fundamental in how we are wired for survival. We are drawn to the light, like animals who instinctively know it is a source of life, and maybe that is why our reactions to these light shows come not from the brain, and maybe even not from the heart. Instead we fall back on our instincts, and we react with our guts.Also lately: Literary London: A beer-soaked history, written for Viator Travel. Katzenjammer: The British invasion, written for N by Norwegian in-flight magazine.

Light Show at the Hayward Gallery: My piece in Whitehot Magazine. [image]

But beyond the pleasant, the main reason the use of light in these artworks is so effective is because it triggers something primal, something fundamental in how we are wired for survival. We are drawn to the light, like animals who instinctively know it is a source of life, and maybe that is why our reactions to these light shows come not from the brain, and maybe even not from the heart. Instead we fall back on our instincts, and we react with our guts.

Also lately:

Literary London: A beer-soaked history, written for Viator Travel.

Katzenjammer: The British invasion, written for N by Norwegian in-flight magazine.

Bay Bridge becomes world’s largest light art installation; San Francisco kills me all over again.

“[…] it’s clear Ono wants us to be active participants in her art. This is what I’m thinking as I’m standing in front of ‘Ceiling Painting’, the stepladder leading up to the tiny word written on the ceiling. Apparently this is how Ono met John Lennon, when he stood at the foot of the very same ladder, before climbing up to read the word. Diligent staff at the Serpentine Gallery prevented me from following suit, however, but I know what it says on the ceiling: ‘Yes’. In every one of Ono’s wondrous concoctions, a smile is the key, and yes is the answer.” Yoko Ono: TO THE LIGHT, at The Serpentine Gallery. My review in Whitehot Magazine.

“[…] it’s clear Ono wants us to be active participants in her art. This is what I’m thinking as I’m standing in front of ‘Ceiling Painting’, the stepladder leading up to the tiny word written on the ceiling. Apparently this is how Ono met John Lennon, when he stood at the foot of the very same ladder, before climbing up to read the word. Diligent staff at the Serpentine Gallery prevented me from following suit, however, but I know what it says on the ceiling: ‘Yes’. In every one of Ono’s wondrous concoctions, a smile is the key, and yes is the answer.”

Yoko Ono: TO THE LIGHT, at The Serpentine Gallery. My review in Whitehot Magazine.

My words on ‘Art about the Unseen’ at the Hayward Gallery, in Whitehot Magazine. “‘Art about the unseen’ asks a lot from its audience, and it takes a lot out of you by leaving you no choice but to engage. The Hayward Gallery has created an extensive exploration of a fascinating subject: art which exists almost solely in our minds, and how this can be shared with others. This is not a visual experience, but one that is highly interactive, creating a strong connection between the audience and the individual artist. It is engaging and it is personal, and most of all, it is such a buzz.” Also: ‘Shapeshift’ at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, written for This Is Tomorrow. And: Interview with Noah Becker, founding editor of Whitehot Magazine, for noahbeckerart.com.

My words on ‘Art about the Unseen’ at the Hayward Gallery, in Whitehot Magazine.

“‘Art about the unseen’ asks a lot from its audience, and it takes a lot out of you by leaving you no choice but to engage. The Hayward Gallery has created an extensive exploration of a fascinating subject: art which exists almost solely in our minds, and how this can be shared with others. This is not a visual experience, but one that is highly interactive, creating a strong connection between the audience and the individual artist. It is engaging and it is personal, and most of all, it is such a buzz.”

Also: ‘Shapeshift’ at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, written for This Is Tomorrow.

And: Interview with Noah Becker, founding editor of Whitehot Magazine, for noahbeckerart.com.

i felt something last night that i wasn’t sure if i’d ever get back: i love this city. this is yoko ono and her ‘ceiling painting’. i went to the serpentine gallery yesterday to see her show, ‘to the light’. the tiny word on the ceiling over the ladder is too far away to see, but i know what it says: yes. yes is the answer.

i felt something last night that i wasn’t sure if i’d ever get back: i love this city.

this is yoko ono and her ‘ceiling painting’. i went to the serpentine gallery yesterday to see her show, ‘to the light’. the tiny word on the ceiling over the ladder is too far away to see, but i know what it says: yes. yes is the answer.

Radical idealist, technology futurist, renaissance man, artist and dreamer: My piece on the Buckminster Fuller exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Utopian Impulse, is in Whitehot Magazine. “If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference.” [BF]

Radical idealist, technology futurist, renaissance man, artist and dreamer: My piece on the Buckminster Fuller exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Utopian Impulse, is in Whitehot Magazine.

“If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference.” [BF]

Pop art legend Sir Peter Blake celebrates his 80th birthday this year, with a new version of his famous Sgt Pepper album image and a wide-ranging exhibition at The Mall Galleries. I went to the private view last night with Maggie, and found not just pop art but also some beautifully dreamy collage work. This one is my favourite, from the ‘Venice Fantasies’ series. On a good day, the world looks a little bit like this.

Pop art legend Sir Peter Blake celebrates his 80th birthday this year, with a new version of his famous Sgt Pepper album image and a wide-ranging exhibition at The Mall Galleries. I went to the private view last night with Maggie, and found not just pop art but also some beautifully dreamy collage work. This one is my favourite, from the ‘Venice Fantasies’ series. On a good day, the world looks a little bit like this.

“I am always looking for ways to activate a new kind of reality. It is a very physical thing for me, more than an intellectual pursuit.” Mark Bradford at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. My words on the exhibition in Whitehot Magazine.

“I am always looking for ways to activate a new kind of reality. It is a very physical thing for me, more than an intellectual pursuit.”

Mark Bradford at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. My words on the exhibition in Whitehot Magazine.

Lucian Freud: Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is pure genius. My piece in Whitehot Magazine is here. “I want paint to work as flesh, I know my idea of portraiture came from dissatisfaction with portraits that resembled people. I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having to look at the sitter, being them. As far as I am concerned, the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as the flesh does.”

Lucian Freud: Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is pure genius. My piece in Whitehot Magazine is here.

“I want paint to work as flesh, I know my idea of portraiture came from dissatisfaction with portraits that resembled people. I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having to look at the sitter, being them. As far as I am concerned, the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as the flesh does.”

“My concern is always invention. I always want to invent a new language that’s different for me and for others, too… I want to discover new things. Because, to me, art is a way of knowing the world… to see how the world is… of getting to know the world.” Lygia Pape: Magnetized Space. My review in Whitehot Magazine.

“My concern is always invention. I always want to invent a new language that’s different for me and for others, too… I want to discover new things. Because, to me, art is a way of knowing the world… to see how the world is… of getting to know the world.”

Lygia Pape: Magnetized Space. My review in Whitehot Magazine.