The choice of A Farewell to Arms, centenary aside, seems an odd one for this ambitious and popular company. Ernest Hemingway’s prose may be muscular and vivid, but it is rarely poetic. As a writer he had a determination to keep his work drained of expressiveness. His dialogue has a formality that is, frankly, often […]

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity… French performance artist Chris Dugrenier, in the process of reflecting on how things will be after her death, has assembled all her worldly goods into a pile – a total of 2,201 objects, accumulated over 18 years. These are not actually here, in front of us (other than a […]

Who was alive in the 90s? asks Clare. The hands go up. Everyone! What do we remember? How about Britpop? Blur versus Oasis. Nick Cave. Kylie. And – with I-told-you-so shock and excitement – Nick AND Kylie. Together! See, I told you she was cool, I knew it all along, says Terry (whose teenage self […]

Why do we do what we do? Is life a series of random chaotic moments, or are we on a path of destiny? How to we make choices? If You Decide to Stay, Sylvia Rimat’s charming and endearing new show, is about the here and now: a celebration of the fact that somehow life has […]

I recently attended the live art platform Tempting Failure. In its aftermath the provocations that my encounter raised have stayed with me. The platform’s curatorial approach and realisation of ‘risk’ have occupied my thoughts. And it has led me to ask the general questions: who are live art platforms really for? And, what is the […]