Tobias Slater works for White Mischief, a London-based group that now regularly curates steampunk parties and events for die-hard fans of rocket packs, wooden rayguns and compasses. “Every day I check my Facebook profile and find another two or three friend requests from neo-Victorian, brass-goggle-wearing folk, some sporting the most incredible moustaches (and that’s just the women!),” Slater wrote in an e-mail. Still, he predicts the aesthetic will remain niche.
The full story, on Steampunk, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
“It’s about helping people to read their environment so that they can enjoy it more and, in this era of consultation and debate about environmental issues, be better informed,” Festival chairman Peter Murray said. “A city is an ongoing holistic design problem.”
Previous festivals have drawn as many as 15,000 people, according to Murray. Herds of cows and sheep have also made appearances.
The full blog post, on London’s Festival of Architecture, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
“These films produce knowledge and they form opinions often about the weakest and most vulnerable people in society,” said Patrick Hazard, festival director. “They comment on places and situations that their audience may never come across directly. So we like to unpick these messages, develop them and also critique them.”
The full story, on London’s International Documentary Film festival, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
“I think the best thing today is the acknowledgment that flamenco has come out of Spain and is now recognized on a worldwide scale as one of the top dance forms,” Miguel Marín, the festival director, said.
The full blog post, on London’s annual Flamenco festival, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
Pumped up after taking a 2003 course called “Drawing the City” at the Prince’s Drawing School in London, a few members of the class decided to branch out on their own. Dubbing themselves the Drawing London Group, they started exploring all facets of London life — alleyways, cathedrals, cafes, pubs, markets — depicting the capital through sketches and watercolors.
The full blog post, on London’s “Drawing London” group, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
“Visual theater” is a succinct explanation of what’s included in the festival’s lineup: the world premiere of “The Mill,” a show performed in a wheel of wood and steel suspended in the air; the bearded lady Jeanne Mordoj, who will juggle egg yolks and bamboo and perform with badgers and a mountain goat; and Circus Klezmer putting on a real-life wedding.
The full blog post, on London’s annual mime festival, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
Introducing is a talented, Oxford-based nine-piece band with a very specific goal. Every show they perform is essentially the same. With the exception of slight variations in their encores, the set never changes. Their mission? To perform DJ Shadow’s first LP, “Endtroducing”, in its entirety, from start to finish.
The full blog post is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
Actually, Be Kind Rewind was in part the inspiration for starting the event, according to its creator, Harriet Knowles. “We hardly ever take a scene more than once no matter how rubbish it looks. We feel that adds to its charm,” she wrote in an e-mail. “Finding costumes that fit huge burly blokes and petite girls who play the same character in different scenes is also rather difficult.”
The full blog post, on finding the D.I.Y. spotlight in London, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
In July 1961, on London’s South Bank, Gustav Metzger put on a gas mask, rubber gloves and a hard hat and proceeded to spray hydrochloric acid in elaborate patterns all over three large screens of white, black and red nylon. Filmed up close, the quick melting and tearing away of fabric is beautiful, disturbing and captivating. Seen from 10 feet away, it looks like a hazmat worker messing around with tattered, ripped sheets.
The full blog post, on the Serpentine Gallery’s Gustav Metzger retrospective, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
I’ve seen “Do the Right Thing” many times, and have observed and participated in many debates about its value and meaning. But this particular London screening reminded me of just how well it captures the little things that not only set people off, but also calm them down and even make them laugh. There are incendiary and violent moments throughout the film (based on actual events), but there is also plenty of humour and humanity.
The full blog post, on the 20th anniversary screening of Do The Right Thing in London, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
