this is the news in arts and culture
Firstly!
'BBC launches an initiative to find sitcoms that are not just white and middle-class'
The Stage reports on this as positive evidence of our openminded Auntie, whilst ignoring the facts that she perhaps wouldn't need to take such high profile action if the commissioners were doing their jobs properly, and secondly not really noticing the implications of this:
[out of the six best submissions, which will be workshopped] 'a panel will choose the two best scripts, with the winner receiving £1,000 and the runner-up getting £500. In return, the BBC will have exclusive rights to develop the scripts, with the possibility of a commission further down the line.'
I don't know what the BBC's commissioning budget is and I don't know how much a writer gets for submitting a substantial concept. But I am sure it is more than 'maybe £1000 at best plus signing your rights away'. I don't know, actually, maybe it is that brutal in the scriptwriting world. But like a lot of competitions this smells an awful lot like a high profile way of getting free labour. But if you're not white and middle class you should be grateful for all this attention, no?
I honestly think they should just change the word 'opportunity' to mean 'exploitation' and be done with it. That's all it means, in the cultural field.
Second!
UK's largest ever puppet is blue and walks
There is no editorial because there is nothing to say. Literally nothing. It is large, it is blue, and can be made to walk. The headline could equally have said 'large things can both move and resemble human beings'.
I hate this crap.
Third!
Fourth plinth proposals unveiled
I'm a fan of the Fourth Plinth initiative. It's generally inclusive without encouraging large puppets or sultan's elephants to lumber about our streets. It also produced one of Anthony Gormley's only good art works: the people's plinth or whatever the hell it was called was, despite all its limitations, a pretty nice idea. So, here's my roundup of the proposals:
Hew Locke:
Looks cool, doesn't it? Plus it's clever: it's a replica of Some Other Colonial Statue We Have, but covered in plastic shit.
The problem is that this is all Hew Locke ever does, and so for art people it is boring, and if you are not an art person: what does it mean, exactly? It means exactly the same as Yinka Shonibare's 'take a colonial European thing and make it out of African fabrics but AH the fabrics are made in Manchester, now that got you thinking didn't it?!' Yes, globalisation. Colonialism. Empire. Multiculturalism. Well, fancy that. I Thought Big Words because of this piece, and felt more politically correct as a result.
I feel bad because I used to know Hew and he is a nice guy and his work always, always looks really great. I think this will be a popular work. But mate, you need to drop the glue gun.
Chances of success: 8
Mariele Neudecker
Mariele Neudecker is to mountainscapes what Hew Locke is to tinselly plastic crap: she just can't stop using them. I have literally been looking at mountainscapes by Neudecker since I was 17.
Her fascination with these scapes is all to do with the Romantic sublime and Caspar David Friedrich etc. Well, if you like German Romanticism so much, why don't you go live there? Ah, but. But, it's in the shape of the British Isles. Why? We'll never know. It just looks cool and enables Neudecker to make another mountainscape. FAIL
Chances of success: 7
Brian Griffiths
Just like the above two, there is a cringingely obvious attempt to get into the hearts of the British public through use of symbolic material and references. I also hate 'stuff that is made out of other stuff' art. However, I like this proposal. It is the first one in this list that thinks sculpturally: it really is an object, sitting squatly and gracelessly on top of its plinth. I've always liked the form of battenberg cake. Making it out of bricks enhances its battenberg-ness in many ways. And that's all I have to say about it.
Chances of success: 4
Elmgreen & Dragset
The first properly trendy art world artists on the list. E&G did the most popular pavilion at the Venice Biennial last time and they're generally in favour. This is simple and clever, producing an inverse heroic male horseborne hero. It'll look good and will be a proper bronze statue. I'm not passionate about this, because it is a little boring and ultimately glib, but I wouldn't die if it were chosen.
Chances of success: 6
Katarina Fritsch
I actually know nothing about this artist. But I like her proposal. It's comical, sculptural, and pokes subtle, absurd fun. So many fourth plinth proposals use the tactic of 'inversion of sculptural pomposity' (see Hew Locke, E&G, Ecce Homo, Rachel Whiteread, Gormley) but this is the first one done with a total absence of earnestness, a real sense of humour, and with genuine visual impact. It's the first one I can really imagine being made surprised and happy by if I walked into Trafalgar Square and saw it. The only note is, I'm glad it's temporary, as if it were permanent it could begin to take on that corporate Claes Oldenberg corporate feel, ie brightly coloured things made big.
Chances of success: 6
Allora & Calzadilla
Another genuine art world trendy entry. I like A&C. I also like how this will look: physically imposing and echoing the nearby neo-Gothic architecture. Also, it's not trying to make a point: it's too absurd. Or maybe it is making a deeply political point about money and power and the church and the state or something, but thankfully they don't seem to be claiming that and are mostly capitalising on how much fun it would be to take out money. However, it'll be too expensive, conceptually unclear, non-nationalist, and will upset the heritage and security bods, so it won't be made.
Chances of success: 1
'BBC launches an initiative to find sitcoms that are not just white and middle-class'
The Stage reports on this as positive evidence of our openminded Auntie, whilst ignoring the facts that she perhaps wouldn't need to take such high profile action if the commissioners were doing their jobs properly, and secondly not really noticing the implications of this:
[out of the six best submissions, which will be workshopped] 'a panel will choose the two best scripts, with the winner receiving £1,000 and the runner-up getting £500. In return, the BBC will have exclusive rights to develop the scripts, with the possibility of a commission further down the line.'
I don't know what the BBC's commissioning budget is and I don't know how much a writer gets for submitting a substantial concept. But I am sure it is more than 'maybe £1000 at best plus signing your rights away'. I don't know, actually, maybe it is that brutal in the scriptwriting world. But like a lot of competitions this smells an awful lot like a high profile way of getting free labour. But if you're not white and middle class you should be grateful for all this attention, no?
I honestly think they should just change the word 'opportunity' to mean 'exploitation' and be done with it. That's all it means, in the cultural field.
Second!
UK's largest ever puppet is blue and walks
There is no editorial because there is nothing to say. Literally nothing. It is large, it is blue, and can be made to walk. The headline could equally have said 'large things can both move and resemble human beings'.
I hate this crap.
Third!
Fourth plinth proposals unveiled
I'm a fan of the Fourth Plinth initiative. It's generally inclusive without encouraging large puppets or sultan's elephants to lumber about our streets. It also produced one of Anthony Gormley's only good art works: the people's plinth or whatever the hell it was called was, despite all its limitations, a pretty nice idea. So, here's my roundup of the proposals:
Hew Locke:
Looks cool, doesn't it? Plus it's clever: it's a replica of Some Other Colonial Statue We Have, but covered in plastic shit.
The problem is that this is all Hew Locke ever does, and so for art people it is boring, and if you are not an art person: what does it mean, exactly? It means exactly the same as Yinka Shonibare's 'take a colonial European thing and make it out of African fabrics but AH the fabrics are made in Manchester, now that got you thinking didn't it?!' Yes, globalisation. Colonialism. Empire. Multiculturalism. Well, fancy that. I Thought Big Words because of this piece, and felt more politically correct as a result.
I feel bad because I used to know Hew and he is a nice guy and his work always, always looks really great. I think this will be a popular work. But mate, you need to drop the glue gun.
Chances of success: 8
Mariele Neudecker
Mariele Neudecker is to mountainscapes what Hew Locke is to tinselly plastic crap: she just can't stop using them. I have literally been looking at mountainscapes by Neudecker since I was 17.
Her fascination with these scapes is all to do with the Romantic sublime and Caspar David Friedrich etc. Well, if you like German Romanticism so much, why don't you go live there? Ah, but. But, it's in the shape of the British Isles. Why? We'll never know. It just looks cool and enables Neudecker to make another mountainscape. FAIL
Chances of success: 7
Brian Griffiths
Just like the above two, there is a cringingely obvious attempt to get into the hearts of the British public through use of symbolic material and references. I also hate 'stuff that is made out of other stuff' art. However, I like this proposal. It is the first one in this list that thinks sculpturally: it really is an object, sitting squatly and gracelessly on top of its plinth. I've always liked the form of battenberg cake. Making it out of bricks enhances its battenberg-ness in many ways. And that's all I have to say about it.
Chances of success: 4
Elmgreen & Dragset
The first properly trendy art world artists on the list. E&G did the most popular pavilion at the Venice Biennial last time and they're generally in favour. This is simple and clever, producing an inverse heroic male horseborne hero. It'll look good and will be a proper bronze statue. I'm not passionate about this, because it is a little boring and ultimately glib, but I wouldn't die if it were chosen.
Chances of success: 6
Katarina Fritsch
I actually know nothing about this artist. But I like her proposal. It's comical, sculptural, and pokes subtle, absurd fun. So many fourth plinth proposals use the tactic of 'inversion of sculptural pomposity' (see Hew Locke, E&G, Ecce Homo, Rachel Whiteread, Gormley) but this is the first one done with a total absence of earnestness, a real sense of humour, and with genuine visual impact. It's the first one I can really imagine being made surprised and happy by if I walked into Trafalgar Square and saw it. The only note is, I'm glad it's temporary, as if it were permanent it could begin to take on that corporate Claes Oldenberg corporate feel, ie brightly coloured things made big.
Chances of success: 6
Allora & Calzadilla
Another genuine art world trendy entry. I like A&C. I also like how this will look: physically imposing and echoing the nearby neo-Gothic architecture. Also, it's not trying to make a point: it's too absurd. Or maybe it is making a deeply political point about money and power and the church and the state or something, but thankfully they don't seem to be claiming that and are mostly capitalising on how much fun it would be to take out money. However, it'll be too expensive, conceptually unclear, non-nationalist, and will upset the heritage and security bods, so it won't be made.
Chances of success: 1