Friday 30 April 2010

poindexter



I'm now the owner of a pair of vintage Cazal spectacles. They need to be fitted with prescription lenses, but safe to say for the moment I think it's a good look.

Thursday 29 April 2010

showcase

A selection of music videos that I've posted to Facebook over the past week or so:











Tuesday 27 April 2010

the 3 Peaks of Yorkshire



At the weekend my brother Nick ran the super-hardcore mountain event known as the 3 Peaks of Yorkshire. He finished with a truly impressive time of 4 hours 10 minutes, and his Marathon Diary blog has now been updated with a full account of the race: LINK

Sunday 25 April 2010

Cory Arcangel - Video Ravingz



"Created as an installation, Video Ravingz is a hacked version of Super Mario Bros. 2 where the user wins the game simply by inserting the cartridge. With rave-style graphics and music, there's an air of celebration about this work because everyone's a winner."

Mark Fisher's article
on a Paul Morley essay for Cory Arcangel.

Saturday 24 April 2010

Simon Reekie

To the Tower Foyer Gallery at Dundee University for a show of work by my friend Simon.

From the press release:
The latest exhibition in the Tower Foyer Gallery at the University of Dundee showcases the bold and colourful work of Dundee-based artist Simon Reekie, whose giant close-up faces at the Duncan of Jordanstone degree show in 2004 will be well remembered by everyone who saw them.

Reekie's psychological portraits have moved from incredibly detailed to boldly abstract. This exhibition includes works from throughout his career so far and includes loans from various public and private collections including the McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum.

After attending Morgan Academy, Reekie took a degree in Biotechnology at the University of Abertay before deciding to make art his profession. In 2004 he graduated with first class honours from Duncan of Jordanstone College and the following year he won a postgraduate scholarship to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He graduated with a Masters of Fine Art in 2008 and his successful thesis show was purchased in its entirety by Chicago's Zolla/Leiberman Gallery. Returning to Scotland he continued his studies with a postgraduate teaching qualification and now teaches art at Morgan Academy.

This exhibition features works on loan from private and public collections and from the artist.



Bobo's Babel


Father Facescape


The Secret Sharer


Mother Facescape


Untitled 2


Installation view


Mother


Installation view

Thursday 22 April 2010

Jump Trax(aka Duane Thamm Jr) - 111 BPM'S To 125 BPM'S 1984

YouTube comment: RogerUFL Wow, what fuckin crap, couldn't listen for more than 2 minutes. Sounds like somebody stepped on a baby toy Casio keyboard while banging trash can lids together and farting into a microphone off synch. What stupid record company actually put this out? Must have went out of business right after. Grade A for the 99cents bargain bin at Zayre

Wednesday 21 April 2010

receipts

Ahead of the coming payday I splashed out on a few choice items:


Arthur Rimbaud - A Season in Hell: The Illuminations, £4.00


Various Artists - Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Musik 1972-83 LP1, £10.99


Various Artists - Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Musik 1972-83 LP2, £10.99

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Nick's Marathon Diary



My brother Nick will shortly be running another marathon. Last year he finished the London event in a super-fast time and raised £2,442 for the MS Society. On Saturday he'll be attempting something similar but this time running up hills carrying a big rucksack, all for the same charity.

"On the 24th April, I will be running The Three Peaks Race, which traverses the famous Yorkshire Dales Mountains of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside covering 24 miles including heights of 2,500 feet above sea level."

You can follow his progress, and sponsor him accordingly, on his newly-resurrected Marathon Diary: LINK

Sunday 18 April 2010

Eve


Extract from Andrea Dworkin, Heartbreak: The Political Manifesto of a Feminist Militant:

There was one day when all my schoolmates and I knew that we were going to die. According to historians the Cuban missile crisis lasted thirteen days, but to us it was one day because we knew we were going to die then, that day. I don't know which of the thirteen it was, and I don't know if I'm collapsing several days into one, but I remember nothing before the one day and nothing after. In the back of the school bus all the girls gathered in a semicircle. We talked about the sadness of dying virgins, though some of us weren't. We spoke with deep regret, like old people looking back on our lives; we enumerated all that we had not managed to do, the wishes we had, the dreams that were unfulfilled. No one talked about getting married. Children came up in passing. We 'd feel our own bones melt and in the particle of a second see our own cities drowned in fire. I wasn't afraid to die, but sitting still and waiting for it was not good. I still feel that way. We all, including me, felt a little sorry for ourselves, because everything we had ever known had been touched by nuclear war; it was the shadow on every street, in every house, in every dinnertime conversation, in every current-events reprise; it was always there as threat, and now it was going to happen, that day, then, there, to us. The school bus was bright yellow with black markings on the outside, just the way they are now, but everything was different because we were kids who knew that we were going to be cremated and killed in the same split second. I could see my arm withered, the flesh coming off in paper-thin layers, while my chest was already ash, and there'd be no blood—it would evaporate before we 'd even be dead superheroes. The girls were serious and upset. Even those who didn't like each other talked quietly and respectfully. There was one laugh: a joke about the only girl in the school we were sure was no virgin. She was famous as the school whore, and she was widely envied though shunned on a normal day, since she knew the big secret; but on this day, the last day, she could have been crowned queen, sovereign of the girls. She represented everything we wanted: she knew how to do it and how it felt; she knew a lot of boys; she was really pretty and laughed a lot, even though the other girls would not talk to her. She had beautifully curly brown hair and an hourglass figure, but thin. She was Eve's true descendant, the symbol of what it meant to bite the apple. Tomorrow she would go back to being the local slut, but on the day we were all going to die she was Cinderella an hour before midnight. I wished that I could grow up, but I could not entirely remember why. I waited with my schoolmates to die.

Saturday 17 April 2010

launch extra

I found a few extra bonus photos on my camera of the recent Yuck 'n Yum launch:



















Friday 16 April 2010

My Dads Strip Club

To the Hannah Maclure Centre last night for a presentation by Ange Taggart, one of my fellow Nine Trades participants. A performance artist, activist and stand-up comedienne, she gave us an entertaining talk about her pragmatic, pranksterish collective My Dads Strip Club.













From her mailout:

You may be interested in a series of six Thursday evenings I'm running between 20 May -24 June called
The Spacemakers - Celebrating the Art of Urban Subversion also at the Hannah Mclure centre. This is not just for 'artists'. Im keen to get a variety of people who want to connect with the city in a creative way.
Places are limited and you'll need to reserve your place in advance.
20th May - 24th June - The Spacemakers: Celebrating the Art of Urban Subversion

All the events at Hannah Mclure are organised by Jonathan Baxter from D-AiR ( Dundee Artists in Residence) they are free and open to the public
Check out the D-AiR website if you'd like to know more, feel free to ask questions.... come find me in Science and Business at the library.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

receipts

Some books I've bought over the past week or so:


Kier Cooke Sandvik‏ - There's Something Down There, $9.00


Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, £2.77


Andrea Dworkin - Heartbreak: The Political Manifesto of a Feminist Militant, £3.00


Alfred Jarry - Ubu Roi, £0.40

Sunday 11 April 2010

hiatus



The blog's been dormant the past few days as I'm down in Leeds to spend a bit of quality time with my family. Rest assured postings will resume once I've returned to Dundee tomorrow.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

spring 2010 launch

A few photos from the weekend's Yuck 'n Yum launch: