art

Gothic - The Dark Heart of Film

The BFI have recently unveiled their next big project, a voyage into the dark heart of British film that will encompass over 150 titles and 1000 screenings, a number of special events, DVD releases and an educational programme. Revolving around four main themes (Monstrous, The Dark Arts, Haunted Love is a Devil), GOTHIC will explore how much-filmed characters like Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein made an impact on audiences in the UK and abroad, introducing them to taboo subjects along the way. 

Courtesy of Janus films/BFI

Courtesy of Janus films/BFI

We are particularly excited about Philip Glass' take on Jean Cocteau's 1946 film La Belle et La Bête, which will take place on 10th and 11th August (part of the Edinburgh International Festival). The Filmhouse should also reveal a series of screenings and events; for further details keep checking these pages. The BFI are also stepping into the art world: working in conjunction with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, they will launch the Witchcraft and Wicked Bodies exhibition (opening on Saturday 27th July) - it features works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya and William Blake, as well as pieces by 20th century artists like Kiki Smith. 

The GOTHIC season runs from August 2013 to January 2014. To keep up with BFI updates sign up to their newsletter.

Freitags #9

Glasgow's Green Door Studios is one of the country's most exciting recording studios, and they're celebrating their 5th birthday in style at Nice'N'Sleazy tonight! The party consists of a typically eclectic line-up of bands and DJs, including the malevolent disco of Golden Teacher and the marvellously melodic (or should that be melodically marvellous?) post-punk of POST. This special event kicks off at from 20.00 and continues until the wee small hours - entry is only £1 and you get a free CD of recordings made in 2012. If you're in the area, there's no excuse.

Golden Teacher started life as a studio collaboration between Glasgow's noise punk trio, Ultimate Thrush and Glasgow's all analogue house duo, Silk Cut. The results of their collaboration turned the ears of all who heard them, not least Twitch who after one listen asked if he could release the project on Optimo Music label.

 

In a city that's spoilt when it comes to art galleries, Edinburgh's Fruitmarket continues to challenge and provoke. A new exhibition of theirs is always cause for investigation (and often celebration), and Massimo Bartolini certainly looks to be no exception. The exhibition is free, running from today until 14 April, and there will be a series of talks and events relating to it, including a talk from the artist himself.

Massimo Bartolini, Organi, 2007/08 ART BASEL 41(2010) / ART UNLIMITED

 

Back to Glasgow with a special event happening at The Old Hardresser's on Wednesday (6 February). Nite Flights is "An evening of video and performance curated by Glasgow based artist Michelle Hannah, taking theme from the fractured disco of Scott Walker's Nite Flights [and] features work by local and national artists". Regular readers know how much we love the artist otherwise known as Noel Scott Engel, so to say we're intrigued would be something of an understatement. It's free and runs from 20.00 'til midnight.

Uploaded by iantm on 2010-12-14.

 

Blasted regulars will also know how much we love the lexically dexterous writer, filmmaker, and contrarian Jonathan Meades. So, we were understandably very happy to see him return to our TV screens this week with a new film entitled - in typically drôle manner - The Joy of Essex. It's on the iPlayer now - bear in mind there's only four days left to get your fix. His excellent collection of essays, articles and scripts, Museum Without Walls, is available on Unbound now.

Writer and critic Jonathan Meades eats beaver. From episode two of his BBC documentary Magnetic North

 

Freitags #7

Time's a funny thing isn't it? it seems like hardly any time at all since the last brace of Freitags, and here we are again. It certainly doesn't seem like six years since the last album from (Aidan Moffat's pseudonymous electronica project) L. Pierre was released (Dip), but it's most cheering to see that the follow upThe Island Come True will be released on Monday through Melodic. The Quietus has a glut of articles related to its release, including an interview with the bearded bard, a stream of the album and an outstanding piece of writing from editor John Doran.

Lucky Pierre , From Album Touchpool

 

Stills and the CCA are co-hosting ECONOMY, a group exhibition focusing on the impact of global capitalist on our daily life. We are particularly interested in Stills' Film Lounge programme, showcasing work by Michael Glawogger (Austria), Francesco Jodice (Italy) and Maria Ruido (Spain).

Speaking of film,  we are very excited about The Glasgow Film Festival. The festival only started in 2005 and had been growing steadily ever since. The full programme was announced yesterday - we have a staggering 368 events, 57 UK premieres and 6 world premieres to keep us entertained  this February.  The highlight for us could be Souvenirs of Serge, a documentary charting the relationship between Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. The film will be followed by a performance from Jane, who will be interpreting  a few classics penned by the Gallic genius/provocateur. We are also attending a screening of Carl Dreyer’s stark and extremely powerful The Passion of Joan of Arc. A classic that deserves to be seen in a good cinema, and that cinema happens to be Glasgow Cathedral, a rather perfect setting. The GFF opens on 14th February with French comedy Populaire: we will be keeping an eye on it on a daily basis and report anything we find of interest. Watch this space.

Uploaded by None on 2009-05-04.

 

Song: Fratres - Arvo Part

 

Last year's Counterflows was a multi-venue event dedicated to underground music and art that occurred in Berlin, London and Glasgow simultaneously. The 2013 line-up for the Glasgow edition has just been announced for April and it's looking pretty special already. Particularly noteworthy are appearances by Peter Brötzmann and Loren Connors, but the most exciting announcement may well be that the ever-enigmatic Jandek will be playing with the superlative Richard Youngs and Alex Neilson at Stereo (Youngs and Neilson having backed Jandek at his first ever gig in 2004). See you down the front.

Music video by Christopher Zorker for Jandek's "You Standing There" off the 1998 album New Town.

Freitags #6

Freitags #6. Every Friday we post links to news, articles, media, events and other assorted sources of distraction that we've unearthed through the week. This week features The Filmhouse, Roman Polanski, The Pastels, Domino Records, Foxygen, Jagjaguwar, Flying Nun Records, Captured Tracks, The National Galleries of Scotland and James Joyce's Ulysses.

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Freitags #5

Freitags #5. Every Friday we post links to news, articles, media, events and other assorted sources of distraction that we've unearthed through the week. This week features Summerhall, Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys, Antony Gormley and Lady Gaga, The Filmhouse, The Cameo, It's a Wonderful Life, The Muppets, Gremlins, Trading PlacesBlack Christmas, Festivus and Ulysses.

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