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Pigs bladders, ape television and brain-scrambling fog

The Abandon Normal Devices (AND) festival is a myriad of digital, experiential and submersive art forms defined by these and other questionable buzzwords. During 48 hours at the arty get-together in Liverpool this weekend I touched a pig’s bladder, watched David Shrigley tattooing arms with biro, and, most abnormally, watched apes watching a television sitcom starring humans dressed as apes.

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at 5:01 pm

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Pipilotti Rist is not the girl who misses much

Having started out using Super 8 film, Pipilotti Rist is one of the pioneers of video art. She made her first film in 1984, depicting herself with her breasts out repeatedly singing the line “I’m not a girl who misses much” (a reference to The Beatles’ “Happiness is a Warm Gun”) and became notorious for [...]

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 at 5:06 pm

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Want a Big Mac? That’ll be 490 calories please

How tantalising will the colour-saturated image of a Big Mac with oozing cheese, crispy lettuce, pickles and greasy meat patties appear to you now that its calorie content is stamped in inch high letters beside it?

By Matilda Battersby | Health, Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Monday, 5 September 2011 at 3:35 pm

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At Liberty to make frilly pinnies

Continuing my exploration of all things crafty, which began in August (read more here), yesterday I spent the afternoon at the illustrious London department store Liberty learning how to fashion myself the frilliest and girliest apron known to mankind.

By Matilda Battersby | Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Friday, 2 September 2011 at 3:55 pm

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Crafty eye for business

For many people the word “crafty” applies only to the occasional cigarette. But since the start of recession, and indeed during historical recessions, Britain’s make-do-and-mend antennae have been twitching and a number of environments for the craftily inclined have sprung up to bridge the gap between “entertainment” and “money making ruse”.

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world -, Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Monday, 1 August 2011 at 4:08 pm

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Interview with Kevin Macdonald, Life in a Day director

On paper Life in a Day, the new film by Kevin Macdonald, sounds like a recipe for a self-congratulatory banality.

By Matilda Battersby | Film | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 5:01 pm

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Foreign Office warns Brits who prefer tea to travel insurance

Packing to go on holiday is always a bit of a trial. In my case, cramming the right number of pants, sandals, sun cream and trashy novels into a bag small enough to fit into the EasyJet hand luggage lockers can take anything from an hour to an afternoon. This invariably ends with my sprawling on the bed in defeat, only later remembering my trusty solution of wearing layers of everything I couldn’t fit in on the journey there.

By Matilda Battersby | Notebook - A selection of Independent views - | Thursday, 2 June 2011 at 11:49 am

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Transatlantic Sessions, South Bank Centre

Mixing bluegrass with Irish emigration tunes, Cajun music with Gaelic folk and gospel songs with Celtic pipes could be a recipe for screeching, wailing and warbling. But in the hands of the fifteen pre-eminent musicians at last night’s Transatlantic Sessions in London, the result was a dense tapestry of sound, sentiment and roots.
A shining jewel [...]

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 1 February 2011 at 12:09 pm

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Guest of Cindy Sherman online premiere

A documentary about the elusive artist Cindy Sherman, filmed by her former lover Paul H-O – a US cable channel TV presenter – provides a unique insight into the Nineties art scene.

A candid look at the culture of celebrity among contemporary artists as well as bittersweet love story filmed over 15 years, the feature-length film is available to stream online exclusively at Babelgum.com.

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Tuesday, 30 November 2010 at 4:21 pm

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A Doll’s House at The Space

If you fancy an evening of theatre on the Isle of Dogs then it’s well worth checking out an intriguing adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at The Space.

By Matilda Battersby | Arts - News, notes and quotes on the Arts world - | Monday, 29 November 2010 at 2:21 pm