Keeping Tabs: Wolverhampton to Warsaw
Our podcast goes live and we look forward to June
It’s all systems go, as I’m back from Warsaw for a few days before jetting off to Riga. It was great to hit the galleries in Warsaw and see the city, as I’ve never been there before. That doesn’t mean I’ve neglected the UK, as you can see from this week’s articles - plenty to see in London and beyond:
June is nearly upon us, and I’ve written a preview of the biggest exhibition to see in London and beyond for Londonist.
Our podcast went live at The Mall Galleries as we interviewed Kelvin Okafor.
I’ve reviewed the new ‘Wyrd’ Jonathan Baldock exhibition at Jupiter Artland, outside Edinburgh.
We go to Space and beyond in my latest Diary of a London Art Critic
I’ve also reviewed Hrair Sarkissian’s powerful exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Thanks as always for keeping tabs on me, and have a great week ahead.
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Tab’s World
My latest articles and events for your reading pleasure.
June is nearly upon us, and I’ve written a preview of the biggest exhibition to see in London and beyond for Londonist.
Our podcast went live at The Mall Galleries as we interviewed Kelvin Okafor and you listen to it and watch it on YouTube as it was recorded on camera as well.
I’ve reviewed the new ‘Wyrd’ Jonathan Baldock exhibition at Jupiter Artland – a sculpture park just outside Edinburgh - for FAD Magazine »
In my second review for FAD I visited Hrair Sarkissian’s powerful exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, my first visit to the city.
Plus, catch up on my recent diary entries, interviews and more:
We go to Space and beyond in my latest Diary of a London Art Critic
An interview to commemorate 100 years of photo booths and where you can still find them in London.
Liz Hingley discusses her public artwork based on SIM cards.
We asked the curator of the Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery at the Natural History Museum to pick her top 5 exhibits.
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Tab’s Weeks Ahead
Highlighting my top events for the weeks ahead. Let me know if you'd like to join me!
I’ve got lots of travel plans coming up, including trips to Riga, Provence and Paris. If you have any recommendations for those cities / regions, please let me know!
I’ll launch an exhibition in Provence next month, and I look forward to spending more time in the region. Please join if you’re local. Saturday 7th June, 6-9pm.
The Wider Arts
Here are my top picks of culture that may be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. Paid subscribers have access to my full back catalogue of recommendations.
HORROR FILMS: The Last Voyage of the Demeter is set on board the ship that transports Dracula to England, so we see the crew trying to survive his bloodlust in an atmospheric horror. On Prime. I also enjoyed A Quiet Place: Day One, a watchable, if not entirely necessary, prequel to the franchise, on Now TV. Smile 2 is a great follow-up where people die wearing a creepy smile. It’s a set-up for some disturbing scenes, and Naomi Scott is great as the haunted popstar at the centre of it. On Now TV.
POETRY BOOK: Arcadia, by Arch Hades, is an impressive poem that examines how modern life has alienated us, how consumerism has run rampant, and how it has left us feeling empty. It's a spectacular, philosophical, and insightful work of art. The links go to my online bookshop, and you can follow me on Goodreads here.
ANIMATED SCI-FI: Scavengers Reign is a beautifully animated series on Netflix that follows different survivors from a spaceship evacuation who are stranded on a planet full of fantastical creatures, many of which are terrifying. On Netflix. Transformers One is an enjoyable prequel to the franchise, showing where it all began on their homeworld. On Now TV.
Articles I’m Reading
I recommend interesting stories largely from outside the art world. If you fancy reading offline at another time, I recommend the app Instapaper. I previously recommended Pocket, but they are shutting down. Thankfully it’s easy to port articles across to Instapaper.
This is a selection of articles I found thought-provoking in one way or another; opinions expressed in the articles don’t necessarily reflect my views or those of Londonist. Paid subscribers have access to my full back catalogue of recommendations.
GAMING: We only learnt of our son’s secret online life after he died at 25 is a powerful read on the power of gaming (15 mins), Foreign Policy looks back at The Great Pokémon Go Spy Panic (13 mins) and CNN discusses how Gamergate foreshadowed the toxic hellscape that the internet has now become. The New Yorker looks into the fantasy of cozy tech (10 mins), CNN reports that millions have played Wordle, but there’s more to the game than you’d expect, Rolling Stone explains How 'Minecraft' Conquered Gaming and Beyond (12 mins) and Business Insider reveals Tetris is the weird new work hack (9 mins). Adjacent to gaming, 60-Hour Dance Sessions, Simulated Sex, and Ketamine: Wired takes us inside the World of Hardcore VR Ravers (10 mins) and Slate sets out What It’s Like to Be a Professional Card Counter (6 mins).
PLANT LIFE: CNN reports that a lost biblical plant with medicinal properties has been resurrected from a 1,000-year-old seed. Rolling Stone looks into the secret history of the coca plant (31 mins). BBC reports on Operation Atacama: The $1m cactus heist that led to a smuggler's downfall (12 mins). Yale Environment 360 says A Craze for Tiny Plants is Driving a Poaching Crisis in South Africa, Noema reveals how to build a thousand-year-old tree (18 mins), and Noema examines The Cult Of The American Lawn (13 mins).
DISEASE & HEALTH: A devastating nerve disease stalks a mountain village says Knowable (13 mins), BBC investigates the countries that never locked down for Covid-19 (15 mins), and Chronic diseases cause 75 percent of all deaths globally. The toll is likely to rise reports Vox (6 mins). In the long-term effects of famine, Nautilus says You Are What Your Ancestors Didn’t Eat (3 mins) and BBC reveals what your fingernails can reveal about your health (8 mins). Grenfell firefighters exposed to toxic smoke developed health disorders, study finds reports The Guardian (5 mins), Vox says Measles is back — and more dangerous than you think (7 mins) and similarly Slate How Bad Could Measles Get This Year? (7 mins). Sticking with Slate, a personal piece, reads My Son Has a Rare Syndrome. So I Turned to the Internet is a personal piece for New York Times (23 mins), SELF confirms that The Science on Weight and Health Is More Complicated Than You Think (19 mins) and Popular Science asks why we can’t squash the common cold, even after 100 years of studying it (6 mins).