Culture Diary w/c 18-08-2014
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the arts listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK!
Monday — Wakolda 6.30pm @ FACT, Liverpool — £9.50/8.50
Ever read The Boys From Brazil? Admired writer/director Lucia Puenzo’s (XXY) new film — adapted from her own book of the same name — explores the same premise; what if Nazi doctor (on the run for his crimes in Auschwitz post World War II) Josef Mengele was found? And worst of all, what if he was continuing to pursue his terrifying research? As an unsuspecting Argentine family strike up a friendship with a German scientist, allowing him to gradually penetrate their everyday life and even offer growth hormone therapy to their young daughter Lilith, the family’s father becomes suspicious of this charismatic, lethal man. On until Thursday.
Tuesday — Talking Statues @ across London and Manchester — FREE
Ever wish that you could get a call from Isaac Newton, Queen Victoria or Sherlock Holmes? Arts producers Sing London have actually made it happen; launching today for an entire year, 35 public statues ‘come alive’ across both London and Manchester, having been transformed by inventive tech and a host of writers, actors and comedians. Just hunt down a Talking Statue, swipe your phone on a nearby tab, and get a call back from Dominic West, Patrick Stewart, Meera Syal & Sanjeev Bhaskar, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Paxman, Prunella Scales… Expect to be freaked out.
Wednesday – Wednesday Walkthrough: Carol Rama & Danh Võ 12-12.45pm @ Nottingham Contemporary — FREE
Head of Exhibitions Irene Aristizábal discusses the process of bringing two artists together for the gallery’s current, complimentary, solo exhibitions; the ‘transgressive, psychosexual’ paintings of self-taught and critically acclaimed Carol Rama, and Danish-Vietnamese artist Danh Võ’s installations of family, Catholicism and the Vietnam war. A great opportunity to see both shows through the eyes of their curator.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Thursday — Art Party from 5pm @ special screenings & events nationwide
“There is a link between art and rebellion”, said Bob and Roberta Smith when we interviewed the artist last year. Bob (aka Patrick Brill) has been instrumental not only in championing art education in schools, but also contributing, collectively, to the events that got Michael Gove axed in the last cabinet reshuffle. Bob and Roberta’s new film — ‘part documentary, part road movie and part political fantasy’ — is both an excuse for a great party at your local cinema, and a rallying call for a totally new type of arts advocacy. So don your party hats and get ready to be creative!
Private View: Syndrome Sessions 2.1: CHOROS 5.30-7.30pm @ 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool — FREE
The latest in a series of ‘exciting and unsettling experiments’ (read our review here), and the product of a recent residency, artist Jamie Gledhill and sound artist Stefan Kazassoglou reveal a ‘shifting’, interactive 3D light and sound artwork to the public this week. Invited to move your body, hands and feet, the artwork translates your movements into surrounding media, producing ‘an etherial and magical power’. Open 10am-4pm until 24th August.
Friday — Private View: Sam Smith, Frames of Reference 6-9pm @ The Royal Standard, Liverpool — FREE
Researching how objects (animate and inanimate) are framed within the cinematic lens, Sam Smith’s solo show of video, film, sculpture, architectural and print work is the latest in a series of TRS Biennial exhibitions. Look out for Form Variations (2014), a video installation shot in CinemaScope (which Fritz Lang described as only good for “snakes and funerals”).
Saturday — You Are Here 8-11.30pm @ Sefton Park Palm House, Liverpool — £5
Working with musicians from the triple entente — The United Kingdom, France and Russia — this special collaboration between Sevenstreets and LIMF explores experiences of what ‘home’ means, as we commemorate the start of WWI. Expect a score from Wirral’s Bill Ryder Jones (Coral) with string arranging/orchestrating from John Hering (Ex Easter Island Head/ a.P.A.t.T); live performances from Nantes’ Moongai (Gallic electronic/ pop), Moscow’s Noonwraith (BBC Introducing) and Liverpool’s KOF (R’n'B); in addition to art by Liverpool’s Josie Jenkins (New Lights Arts Prize Winner) and cinematography by Christopher Marsh. Not to be missed.
Sunday — Acid Mothers Temple 7.30pm til late @ The Kazimier, Liverpool — £10
Makoto Kawabata’s Acid Mothers Temple has a ridiculously huge and varied discography. That’s not surprising considering the band — original formed in 1996 — has seen 11 different collectives and 27 studio albums. Specialising in improvised ’mind-melting’ Japanese space rock/psychedelia, expect tracks from 2013′s demented Doobie Wonderland plus the Miles Davis-inspired Son of a Bitches Brew (2012). Support from the excellent Barberos and Mind Mountain.
