Category: Art

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle

Art, Money and Shredded Credit Cards at Frieze 2011

October is the shining pinnacle of the art world calendar, and you cannot have failed to notice that Frieze, the biggest beast of all art fairs, unveiled it’s glistening art delights this...

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Make Better Music 62: Working Out Your Musical Muscles

Of course, if you are writing a song every day, it’s unlikely that you are going to be churning out a double album of SOLID GOLD CLASSICS each months, but on the flip side, it will do you a lot of...

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Make Better Music 61: The Music Diet

Every few months I feel like I need this kind of diet for my ears - I’ve either been over-indulging in one particular artist or genre, or I’ve been gluttonous and chowing down way too much of...

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Oil: Edward Burtynsky’s Narrative of Society’s Fuel Source

That one substance which is at once both everywhere and yet nowhere to be seen is the subject of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s most recent exhibition, entitled Oil. Through over 50...

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Make Better Music 60: Automation and the Human Form

On the plus side, a new generation (one that has grown up with remarkably powerful music tech tools) will do things with music software that are incredible, ground breaking, ear-catching and mind...

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Creative Journey: How to Curate Abroad

Creative Journey: How to Curate Abroad...

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Make Better Music 59: It’s not what you put in, it’s what you get out

One of the joys of music is that it always has something to say that’s worth listening to, even in tracks that you have heard a hundred times. There’s a richness and enough ambiguity of...

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Make Better Music 58: Go Where the Barriers Are

The idea is simple - things that are easy to do can be done by more people than things that are hard. You want to make your music available as a “self release” via a service like bandcamp? Go for...

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Our-Merica 5: Imaginings of America

"Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected." – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Images By Our Bartlett....

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Make Better Music 57: Counterpoint

I regard writing fine counterpoint as a bit of a lost art. In some ways it’s largely redundant in todays music, where single ideas right up front are generally king. This is not any kind of rant...

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Our-Merica 4: Imaginings of America

"I believe America's best days are ahead of us because I believe that the future belongs to freedom, not to fear." – John Kerry Images By Our Bartlett....

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Make Better Music 56: Celebrating the Old

I wonder how it feels to be making music after fifty or even sixty active years. Some people have gone on even longer - Elliot Carter is about to turn 103 and is still an active composer - what can...

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Our-Merica 3: Imaginings of America

"This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do." – Jack Kerouac, On the Road Images By Our Bartlett. http://www.ourbartlett.co.uk Our...

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Make Better Music 55: Back to Basics

Imbue your music with your passion. If you don’t have a passion for making music, then leave it to those who do. Fill your music to the brim with all the emotion, drive, energy, love, enthusiasm...

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The Paper Doll Militia: Aerial Theatre

No Strings Attached: Nomadic performers bring aerial theatre to new heights. Aerial theatre which blends mystery, childlike wonder, technical mastery and whimsical beauty The Paper Doll Militia work...

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Bending Frames: The Sculpture of Henry Moore at Hatfield

Anthropomorphic forms and reclining figures appear as you  gaze over mazes and walk down leafy ceiling-ed pathways, wandering through different garden worlds; this weekend I went back to my...

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Our-Merica 2: Imaginings of America

"In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything." – Jeffery F. Chamberlain. Images By Our Bartlett. http://www.ourbartlett.co.uk Our BartlettOur...

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Make Better Music 54: Exile On Mickey Street

Another interesting realisation, specific to time spent in a Disneyland Resort, is that it is hard to feel anything but happy when the air is constantly filled with ragtime, pumped out into the...

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Gunfire in the studio: Shooting film, photons & 12-bores

I’m often asked, ‘What are the best bits about being an artist?’ A glance in the mirror after my day in the studio typically reveals a tired face peering out from beneath a...

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Our-Merica 1: Imaginings of America

Photos of America...

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Make Better Music 53: The Software Trap

dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”A/dropcapfter a slightly wild couple of days defending myself from various opinions on last weeks article, I’ve decided to go over what I...

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Flower fluffers: Hampton Court Flower Show

Tumescent Blossoms and Dripping Petals. Photographer Rob Mann discovers the seedy side of the Hampton Court Flower Show. I am thoroughly enjoying Hampton Court Flower show, from gratuitous marketing...

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Viewing Violence: The Beginning of David Otokpa

David Otokpa is not yet a name known to many outside the London graduate photography scene. However, with his vivid Fight Club series he has already won over a number of high profile advocates and...

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‘Dear Curator’: Exhibition Do’s and Don’ts with Sara Raza

Artists want to be curators & curators want to be artists....

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Make Better Music 52: Practice vs. The Software Trap

It occurred to me the other day, after I’d picked up my guitar for the first time in a while, and for the first time in my life my skills had noticeably diminished. I’ve not played much for a...

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Make Better Music 51: Twenty Better Music Tips

Your music is what it isn't. What it lacks will define it. Don't forget why you are writing it, don't get side-tracked by writing or recording it - you are making an experience for the listener....

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Make Better Music 50: What Would Jesus Do?

Make Better Music 50: What Would Jesus Do?. One of the beautiful things about music is that sounds don't lie - they are what they are. This means that when you hear a piece of music that you adore,...

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Make Better Music 49: Accepting the New

Make Better Music 49: Accepting the New. Lessons in music composition, song writing, artistic motivation and making better music from David Graham. ...

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John Squire – Celebrity Stars

What do you get when you mix modern celebrity with traditional Islamic design? Faceless stars? Or celebrity with depth? This isn't a joke by the way. John Squire needs little introduction....

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Make Better Music 48: Putting Out – Production

Make Better Music 48: Putting Out - Production. Getting people together to work on something as a group is forever getting harder, whilst making music via the computer (where so many of us spend so...

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