Culture Diary w/c 09-09-2013
Friday – SPACE IS NOT A VOID Private View @ The Royal Standard 6pm FREE
Curated by out-going director Madeline Hall, SPACE IS NOT A VOID – an exhibition “incorporating contemporary collage and sculptural assemblages” – features works by Laura Aldridge, Lauren Printy Currie and Emily Musgrave. Each work, says Hall, “forces the viewer to consider and question their surrounding environment.”
Saturday – Writing in the Arts 2pm @ the Bluecoat FREE
How does a review differ from a piece of critical writing? What is the artist’s relationship to the critic and should it matter? These questions (and no doubt more) are set to be posed and tackled by a panel of practicing artists and journalists this Saturday at the Bluecoat, timed to mark the end of current exhibition, Portfolio NW. Hosted by TDN’s-own Laura Robertson, the panel includes PNW artists David Henckel and Dave Evans, the Bluecoat’s exhibitions curator Sara-Jayne Parsons and writers Jack Welsh, Darren Murphy and Linda Pittwood.
24-hour noir-athon 2pm @ the Cornerhouse £44 (Concs £38.50) (Manchester)
Marking the beginning of their wonderful-looking film-noir-inspired exhibition, Double Indemnity, the Cornerhouse gets things rolling this weekend with a 24-hour noir-athon. If you think you’re up to the deliciously pulpy task, you can expect 11 films drawn from the genre’s rich history – from the obligatory classics (The Big Sleep/Double Indemnity), to more recent examples, including Insomnia, Brick and Wild Things.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Giant Drag 7.30pm @ the Kazimier £10
It’s safe to say that an eight-year wait for Giant Drag’s sophomore long-player Waking Up Is Hard to Do came complete not only with rave reviews but also its fair share of pain. Just two short months following its release principle player Annie Hardy announced she would be calling it quits, explaining that: “the last couple years of my life were pure hell and I spent it (and my “success” period of GD) a slave to prescription drugs, only to go to rehab last October to get clean.” This tour is an official GD farewell.
Sunday – Sunset Boulevard 6pm @ FACT
Prescient, tragic and deliciously dark, Sunset Boulevard is all of these things and more. Foreseeing the dark shadows circling Hollywood’s ‘golden age’ long before many would care to accept, this (very) black comedy revolves around Gloria Swanson’s long-fallen star, tended and lied to by her former director-butler and features a smart cameo from real-life director Cecil B. De Mille.
Shannon and the Clams 8pm @ the Kazimier £7
On casual listen alone, you wouldn’t necessarily peg Oakland trio Shannon and the Clams to have formed as late as 2009, their mixture of doo-wop and garage band more reminiscent of the ’60s than present day. Not that that’s a bad thing – it’s a combination that served them well enough on this year’s Dreams in the Rat House.
