I am starting a course in the spring on alternative photographic processes, so have been going back over a lot old photos I have taken recently, in order to get some ideas for materials I want to take to the course. This particular photo I took a few years ago, when I first got my Canon XTI up on Mount Nemo. I was really happy with the way I was able to capture the movement of the bird about to take flight.

I recently had the chance to go check out one of the Tate Modern’s most recent exhibits, John Baldessari: Pure Beauty. It is the largest ever UK retrospective of the Californian artist, Baldessari, and will be running through till January 10th. The exhibit highlights the artists’ use of humor and a compulsion toward language and American pop culture.
On entering the first room, the viewer is immediately introduced to Baldessari’s unique brand of Conceptualism, which adopts elements from Dadaist nihilism and irony. Being familiar with the artist, I was quite excited to see that the first room contained a number of paintings that had survived the 1970’s Cremation Project, in which the artist burnt most of his earlier paintings at a crematorium. Furthermore he baked cookies from the ashes and attempted to feed them to his friends. Not surprisingly only one person actually accepted.
One of the things that I found most interesting about Baldessari’s work was his adoption of Dadaist commentary on authorship, particularly in relation to art. Many of the works that are featured in the exhibition use found photos or borrowed film stills, playing not only with this notion of ownership, but by bringing pop culture into call as well.
Baldessari’s early major works were known as the Text-paintings. He used large canvases and painted statements derived from art theory across them. Wanting to employ a commercial, lifeless style to ensure that the text would impact the viewer without distractions, Baldessari removed himself entirely from the creative process, employing others to make and prime his canvases, as well as a sign painter to actually paint them. Further developing questions of art and ownership.
The exhibit then moves on to the artists photographic works from the late 1960’s in which he sought to challenge the notions of artist’s eye by thoughtfully composing a photograph, setting up his camera perfectly, only to pick up the camera and move it (without consulting the view finder) to actually take the shot.
His work is at often times quite humorous, for example in the piece The Artist Hitting Various Objects With a Golf Club, he is able to transform something rather banal into something quite amusing, through his carefully selected title. Through his acute attention to words and there meaning - his works create a tension between what is said and what is meant.
Overall, the exhibit is a though provoking playful exposition of the ways in which we see and interpret the world around us. As Baldessari explains “doing art is the only thing I’ve come across that gives me any idea that I’m anywhere close to understanding what the universe is about. It all sounds very mystical, I know, but that’s what drives me.”

Sonic Sound has been getting a lot of press with these cool ties made from the originally named 'Sound Fabric' this week. Made from 50% audio cassette tape and 50% colored thread, they actually produce sound by running a tape-head over the fabric.

I saw a similar project a few years ago at Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona two years ago where they had made a dress out of various materials of different colours that produced unique sounds as you ran the tape-head over the dress.

It is interesting to see such an cool concept now being adopted into popular fashion.

A great visual aid to help understand the impact of digital music retail over the past 3 years

If you’re in LA tomorrow night, make sure you check out the opening of Dan Witz’s latest exhibit, Dark Doings at the Carmichael Gallery. Known for playing with the natural urban settings around him, Dark Doings is no exception. Witz creates his work for both for the street and gallery, installing subtle yet haunting images of human and animal faces trapped behind dirty glass windows. The exhibit was apparently inspired by a recent visit to the red light district of Amsterdam.

This is the first US west coast solo exhibition of new works by Brooklyn based artist which will be running from November 5 to December 3, 2009

With most of the good bonfire night celebrations left till the weekend, why not head down to 93 Feet East to catch The Candle Thieves opening up for The Complete Short Stories and www.myspace.com/bruisedbeauties">Bruised Beauties .

The duo originally hailing from Peterborough, will be bringing the warmest blend of sunshine pop, from a box of instruments literally straight out of Toytown, to London. Their bittersweet pop songs, are composed with a wide range of instruments including the glockenspiel, a percussion favourite, that will leave you reminiscing about childhood music classes.

Drawing upon the influences of the Eels and Sufjan Stevens, The Candle Thieves’ own brand of endearing, ramshackle casio-led pop, that is sure to guarantee a good night out. The band has been generating a lot of interest in the past few months with the release of their debut The Sunshine EP. Their music which has been described as a ‘delicious blend of music that’s quirky without being up its arse’, is a lot of fun and a great way to chase away the November blues.

Tonight: 93 Feet East from 7:30, with tickets available on the Door for £5 with flyer or from www.ticketwerk.co.uk

Laura Scott

More posts from the Londonist

Preview: This Town Needs Guns @ Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

If you have been craving a little math-rock recently (and we know you have), then make sure to head down to the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen tomorrow, when arguably two of the UK’s best, This Town Needs Guns and Talons will be hitting the stage.

We first encountered This Town Needs Guns just over a year ago, when they started touring their first full length album, Animals. The band who formed in 2004,  clearly draw inspiration from the work of Tim Kinsella and bands such as American Football, with their very technical sound. They make use of asymmetrical time signatures and complex accenting between guitar and drums to creating unique melodies, which will have any fan of either math or indie rock tapping their foot along.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, then boy are you in for a double treat, as they will be supported by the equally talented Talons. The instrumental group from Hereford, recently supported the likes of Rolo Tomassi and Vessels and are beginning to make quite the name for themselves. Their unique, yet easily accessible sound, fuses the explosive energy of hardcore, the subtleties of post-rock and the fractured song structures and complexities associated with math-rock.

The show promises to be a fun night with some very talented musicians. Tickets are available now for £7+ booking fee or £9/£7 NUS on the door.

Laura Scott

A little something I wrote for the Londonist

Coined the master of miniatures, Russian artist Nikolai Aldunin works between the beats of his heart, in order to keep his hands perfectly still. Using superglue, syringes and toothpicks, he creates works of art so tiny, a microscope is needed to see them.

sounds almost like something out of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel