Pursued by a Bear »

• When did this place get so lively?

  August 5, 2010 @ 11:02 am | by Laurence Mackin

  Has Dublin always been this active? I only ask, because in the past week here’s what I’ve managed to see. Last Friday, there was a cracking gig in the gloriously ramshackle surroundings of the Joinery gallery in Stoneybatter, where, for the princely sum of ¤8 you got four performances, from a solo jazz drum and electronics set and some quality rock and roll, to a blissfully moody improv set from the Buzz Aldrin Allstars featuring members of Adrian Crowley’s band, Halfset and 3epkano. (more…)

• Monday roundup

  January 18, 2010 @ 6:09 pm | by Fiona McCann

  Reading: Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray. Finally, some Irish writing set in contemporary Ireland. And it ain’t pretty (the Ireland, not the writing).

  Saw: Up in the Air. Though slow enough in the take off,  it’s not that often a film can surprise you, for which I am grateful. It helps that I have a soft spot for anything that stars any member of the cast of that comedic delight, Arrested Development.  Strangely, Up in the Air already feels dated, but there are moments – like that crashed convention, if you’ve already seen it – that were cringingly true to life. Unbearable lightness of flying, anyone?

  Squashed: That’s the word I’d use for the Irish Museum of Modern Art last Sunday, where EVERYBODY had taken advantage of the sudden change in our meteorlogical fortunes to hightail it down to Picturing New York. So yes, the small building housing the exhibit was a little jammers for tranquil viewing, but still worth a trip for some beautiful photos of a city that became itself through them. Shots by Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus and Henri Cartier-Bresson are among the 145 black and white works on show, dating from the nineteenth century to today. All are from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, with this selection curated by Sarah Meister. Go see New York at IMMA (but pick a rainy day).

• Guest post: Tyson’s midweek knockout

  December 11, 2008 @ 10:27 am | by Fiona McCann

  

  By Laurence Mackin: Artist Keith Tyson and the Guardian caused a bit of a stir this week when Tyson offered 5,000 free downloadable works via the paper’s culture blog. The images are made up of unique combinations of red, black and green (inspired by Tyson’s mild obsession with gambling and roulette), with each person getting a different combination and only one download per IP address. I got mine (above) but only after bouncing between several browsers and clicking furiously like an art-crazed madman (predictably the artist’s web-hosting team were not prepared for the demand and were deluged with demands). Still, the results were enough to calm me down almost immediately.

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