trail

A full account of the weekend's events to follow tomorrow.

post

The Lonely Piper, The Exploited ( 2007)

Laura Simpson has written a review of the recent Companion Piece show on the Wordpress site.

festival

The Art Bar Art Fair is of course tomorrow, and provided people keep their Facebook promises then we should be assured of a good turnout. Here's hoping for a day spent basking in glorious sunshine, and records have been packed in full anticipation. Mind you, if the rain pisses it down then punters might have to make do with a few hours of bone-crunching techno and acid.

criticism 2

Extract from Salvador Dalí, Diary of a Genius:

May 13th, 1956

A journalist comes to New York to ask me what I think of Leonardo's Mona Lisa. I tell him:
'I am a very great admirer of Marcel Duchamp, who happens to be the man who has made those famous transformations on the face of the Gioconda. He drew a very small moustache on her, a moustache that was itself Dalínian. Below the photograph he added in very small letters which were only just legible: "L.H.O.O.Q." "Elle a chaud au cu!" ("She's got a red-hot arse"). For myself, I have always admired that attitude of Duchamp's, which at the time amounted to an even more important question: whether or not the Louvre should be burned down. At that time, I was already a fervent admirer of ultra-retrograde painting, incarnated by the great Meissonier, whom I have always considered to be a painter very superior to Cézanne. And of course I was one of of those who said that the Louvre should not be burned down. Up to now, I see that my view on the subject has been taken into consideration: the Louvre has not been burned down. It is obvious that if a sudden decision is taken to burn it down, the Gioconda must be saved and if need be even transported with all dispatch to America. And not only because she is psychologically very fragile. Throughout the world, there exists an absolute Giocondolotary. Many people have attacked the Gioconda, notably some years ago when stones were thrown at her - a perfect example of a flagrant case of aggression against one's own mother. Knowing all Freud thought about Leonardo da Vinci, all that the latter's art kept hidden in his subconscious, it is easy to deduce that he was in love with his mother when he painted the Gioconda. Without realising it, he painted someone who has all the sublimated maternal attributes. She has big breasts, and she looks upon those who contemplate her in a wholly maternal way. At the same time, she smiles in an equivocal manner. Everybody has seen, and can still see today, that there was a very decisive element of eroticism in that equivocal smile. So, what happens to the poor wretch who is possessed by an Oedipus complex - that is, the complex of being in love with his mother? He goes into a museum. A museum is a house open to the public. In his subconscious it is a brothel. And in this brothel he sees represented the prototype of the image of every mother. The agonising presence of his mother gives him a tender look and an equivocal smile and drives him to a criminal act. He commits matricide by picking up the first thing that comes to hand, a stone, and destroying the painting. It is a typical piece of paranoiac aggression...'
On leaving the journalist said to me: 'It was worth the trip!'
I should think it was worth the trip! I watched him climbing the hill, deep in thought. As he walked, he bent down to pick up a stone.

evidence 2

Photos of last night's exhibition opening are now online at the forum for your delectation.

press release

LURKING

Lurking is presented by the Art Bar in association with Yuck ‘n Yum as part of the Go North festival’s programme of fringe events.

For many years the Art Bar has been a popular drinking destination among Dundee’s community of students and arts professionals. In Lurking, an exhibition curated by local ‘zine Yuck ‘n Yum, five artists stage interventions within these familiar surroundings. Their work can be found here “Lurking”, giving this cosy place a touch of the unhomely, making the recognisable trappings worthy of a second look.

Pete Martin is a painter and sculptor, examining the relationship between humanity and nature. He creates monsters or hybrids of plants, animals and humans. Pete will be wood carving live at The Art Bar Art Fair this weekend!

Gayle Meikle recently graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone with an MSc in Electronic Imaging. Her piece ‘Whisper_1’ is the first instalment of a bigger project loosely derived from the childhood game 'Chinese Whispers'. Funded by New Media Scotland's Alt-W Bursary Award Scheme, it investigates language acquisition, communication, manipulation and play, using live audio sampling to chart the life of a phrase; in turn exploring the way in which we use language, our culture and community.

Ben Robinson creates objects and installations that posit a variety of alternative belief systems. The work employs an obscure strategy of camp, deadpan humour to invoke the strange and the marvellous.

Sam Spreckley is currently studying for a Masters degree in Electronic Imaging at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art where he specialises in experimental film and video. Simply put, this work is a collection of experimental visual studies from both natural and man-made worlds created using a combination of digital video and 8mm celluloid film.

Amy Todman makes drawings and objects in a slightly compulsive way. The successful ones are those which she does not fully understand but can still learn from.After a year in Orkney, Amy is currently back in Glasgow enjoying the city and missing the sea.

"An Ideal for Living"

Object for installation in the Lurking exhibition at the Art Bar.