April, 2011

A brief jaunt round the galleries — a couple of smaller shows are closing soon, so drop in if they’re your cup of Earl Grey. MasterChef: more critically considered than Art But first, just a thought prompted by the recent Sulman Prize innovation — selecting a winner by lottery. (Blogged here.) We know that MasterChef [...]

“Merit” … “best” — these value judgements are so previous, such ancient hat. As of 24 April 2011 we have a declared, frankly postmodern and officially sanctioned new standard for prize-judging works of art: it’s a lottery. Sulman Prize judge, artist Richard Bell explained: “Like every prize, it’s a lottery. I couldn’t make up my [...]

In bad taste? Is it me or is this sign on a nearby church in bad taste? + + + In Good Company Nearby is another sign, mammon rather than godly; a demonstration of higher grammatical and punctuation standards than realtors can summon. (Not to mention other kinds of standards.) Here is the sign — [...]

I’ve become reconciled to this blog as being the soft option, when we need to turn away. In Neil Finn’s deathless lyric: “in the paper today / tales of war and of waste / but you turn right over to the T.V. page.” Culture Mulcher, the TV page of Crikey blogs. (Albeit with an unreliable [...]

In Annandale, in Sydney’s inner west, on the Sunday just past, a remarkable man passed away. The next day a reader sent in an obit — it begins: “Ulli Beier, the noted academic and promoter of indigenous arts and writing in Africa and Papua New Guinea died yesterday in Sydney aged 88 …” Until I [...]