mima is showing a selection of Gerhard Richter's work until the 14th of November.

Every time I see Richter's work I like it more and I never fail to come away inspired. I'm particularly drawn to his overpainted abstracts constructed by repetitively painting, scraping off, and repainting the surface. There are more of these in the Richter Room at Tate Modern.




Abstract Painting (726) 1990

Students should pay more, says CBI

Education spending could be cut by £2bn

Clegg 'to axe tuition fee pledge'

Vice-chancellors call for tuition fees to be raised

Rumour has it that Roman Abramovich's latest toy sports a rather cunning 'camera jammer'. It is believed to work by detecting a signature infra-red reflection from the CCD/CMOS sensor surface. It then blasts a beam back in the right direction to dazzle the camera. Not bad for £724m. He just has to hope the paparazzi don't switch back to film....

From the BBC website:

PM apology after Turing petition

Gordon Brown has said he is sorry for the "appalling" way World War II code breaker Alan Turing was treated for being gay.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8249792.stm

It's only about 50 years too late but welcome all the same. He has always been a well known and respected figure in the geek community (the server at my old university was called Turing) but he has never gained much recognition in the wider community, perhaps this apology will do a little to redress the balance.

Government mandarins have decided to remove funding for HE courses where the student already has a qualification at an equivalent level (ELQ). If you fall into this category then your course fees (for a degree) will rise from just over £3000 to around £6000. It's worth remembering that anyone who already has a degree is already denied access to student loans, grants, and bursaries.

Apparently this policy is "in line with new funding priorities". Billions for banks, OK. Billions for the 'war on terror', OK. A few quid to educate the nation, oooo bit pricey.

Birkbeck University has an excellent summary and critique of this policy.

Poland & the Czech Republic



Gallery 84

Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Southampton, Leeds, London, Brighton & Bognor!



Gallery 83

Sculptor Robert Bryce Muir will be exhibiting his work "Unto The Self" at the Dissenters' Gallery, Kensal Green.


In the artist's own words:

'Unto the Self' explores the human body in relation to its environment. The centrepiece of the show is a life-sized steel sculpture of a male figure with a neon cube, here situated within the Dissenters' Chapel. Visitors walk through and around the sculpture experiencing a changing relationship with the figure and the environment. Repeat visits to the exhibition are rewarded as the figure has its position changed regularly both inside and outside the anchoring cube. The installation's fundamental criterion is that questions are asked about the human condition with regard to us all, whatever our age, race or belief.

One of the main aims is to allow the viewer to approach and question from their own unique, intuitive point of reference; prior knowledge of the subject, be it this sculpture, art, or philosophy, is not a pre-requisite for engaging with 'Unto the Self'




27 June - 26 July 2009
Wednesday - Sunday, 12:00 to 17:00
The Dissenters' Gallery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Ladbroke Grove
London, W10 4RA

Lord Carlile's annual independent review of anti-terror laws has sharply critisced the use of 'stop and search powers' by the police. From the BBC:

..in the strongest criticisms Lord Carlile has ever made of the use of the powers, the peer said that none of the stops in London or elsewhere had led to a conviction.

Page 39 of his report goes on to say:

It should be emphasised that photography of the police by the media or amateurs remains as legitimate as before, unless the photograph is likely to be of use to a terrorist. This is a high bar. It is inexcusable for police officers ever to use this provision to interfere with the rights of individuals to take photographs.

Attempts to use the Freedom of Information Act to determine how many of the 42000 stops made each month involve photographers have so far been unsuccessful. See this article in AP and the FOI request made via WhatDoTheyKnow here, here, and here.

There are also suggestions that many of the searches are made simply to "produce a racial balance in the statistics". So the harassment meted out under section 44 is pointless, ineffectual, and racial motivated. Delightful!

This year the degree show is once again part of Free Range at the Truman Brewery. Opens on Thursday evening and runs until 22nd June.


Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL

I will be exhibiting my Remains series at the Art Works "Home Grown" Exhibition . The preview is on Thursday evening (download an invitation here) and the show runs throughout June.


The Art Works Galleries
Stepney Bank, Ouseburn
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 2NP

response

Open: 23rd April 2009 – 6th May 2009, 10am – 4pm
Private View: 23rd April 2009, 6pm – 9pm
Location: Anglican Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, W10 4RA




The best exhibition in a cemetery you'll ever see...

A series I'm working on at the moment.



Gallery 82

David LaChapelle is holding a retrospective at La Monnaie de Paris until 31st May.

Lens Culture has an in-depth review.




Madonna: Time Lapse Photograph Spiritual Value, 1998

I've been messing about with a Sinar 5x4 monorail camera. I scanned the transparency just to see how much information is recorded. The level of detail is just amazing. The next job is to make some really big prints!




Original Image




100% crop of thumbwheel




100% crop of jaw surface

Fuji Provia 100F, 2040 dpi, 16 bit RGB scan on an Imacon scanner. No sharpening or other post-processing.