BRIGHTON, UK — Tucked behind an aging mews of terraced houses in the historic city of Cambridge is a hidden modernist science facility. Negotiating tight security and an immaculate grey gravel drive, expectations climb as you approach an understated entrance in a warm yet sleek façade. The straight lines inspire; a horizontal accent calms. The building has also been sunk a little to root the botanical research lab in the present. If you ever held childhood aspirations toward being a scientist, this structure is designed to revive those dreams before you even cross the threshold.
Mark Sheerin
Mark Sheerin is an art writer from the UK. He also contributes to Culture24 and Frame & Reference, together with his own blog Criticismism. In 2012 he appeared in Nature, a volume in the series Documents of Contemporary Art from Whitechapel/MIT.
Posted inArt
Searching for Guns, Hidden Signs, and Lemurs in the Art of William S. Burroughs
BRIGHTON, UK — For the duration of the visit, we are invited to pretend that a space around the corner from the British Museum has become that site of Beat-generation novelist, painter, and performer William S. Burroughs’ fevered imagination: “Interzone” from the novel Naked Lunch.
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Is the World Now Ready for Computer Art Pioneer Manfred Mohr?
BRIGHTON, UK — The difficulties facing post-war German artists can seem insurmountable. And it may not be fair to the likes of Beuys, Kiefer, or Richter to look for an adequate response to the worst atrocities of WWII; we should surely share the guilt around. But a lesser-known artist from Pforzheim has apparently cracked the worst dilemmas facing his countrymen. His name is Manfred Mohr and he has maneuvered German art out of its cul-de-sac with a healthy dose of logic and a working knowledge of early computer technology.
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Art for Ordinary People?
BRIGHTON, UK — Under normal circumstances, art doesn’t come with a manual. But at a new show in Southwark, London, visitors soon find circumstances are not so normal.
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Gallery Photo Policies Versus the Aura of the Artwork
BRIGHTON, UK — If a picture is worth a thousand words, Nihilistic Optimistic is worth about a million. The new show from Tim Noble and Sue Webster at Blain Southern is super photogenic, and therein may lie its appeal.
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Jean Dubuffet’s Lasting Legacy
BRIGHTON, U.K. — Perhaps it is little wonder the last time Jean Dubuffet was reviewed in a public gallery in the United Kingdom, the year was 1966 and the decade was swinging. The French painter’s love of raw creativity was of a piece with the social revolutions taking place. His invention of Art Brut was perhaps the rough, raw yin to Pop art’s glossy yang.
