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Welcome To The Radical World Of Contemporary Collage
Think of an artist locked up in the studio, trembling before a blank canvas, paintbrush in hand, ideas and potential visions swirling in the imagination. Now, think of an artist amidst a heap of materials — magazine clippings and unfinished artworks, scraps of junk and found photos. There is no empty canvas, no distinct point of origin — only radical potential, endless inspiration, shifting possibilities. The art of collage is not just about cutting and pasting. For collage artists, the reigning motif of the singular genius creating beauty from nothing has been replaced by an endless sea of images and influences, hungry to be snatched up, transformed, remixed and spit out.…
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Johannes Vermeer: Painter or Rebel?
It has always been muttered that playing the guitar is the work of the devil or, more famously, that rock and roll is the devil’s music. During the Dutch Golden Age, the former was avidly believed. Whilst there were numerous superstitions bandied around during the 17th century, this one is particularly interesting as there is a wealth of Dutch guitar music and paintings of guitar playing to come from this era. In a society where superstition could cost a person their life (witch trials in the Netherlands in the 17th century were a common occurrence, the largest of which was the Roermond witch trial leading to the deaths of 64…
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Covern im Weltall
Die 1960er waren keine besonders glückliche Zeit für David Bowie: während er auf seinen Durchbruch als Musiker hinarbeitete und mit verschiedenen Stilrichtungen experimentierte, versuchte er sich auch in anderen Kunstformen wie Schauspielerei, Pantomime, Malerei und dem Drehbuchschreiben. So dauerte es bis 1969, als er – ein glücklicher Zufall – mit dem termingerecht zur ersten Mondlandung veröffentlichten Song „Space Oddity“ seinen kommerziellen Durchbruch feiern konnte. Auch wenn der Songtext sich ursprünglich auf einen im All verloren gehenden Astronauten bezog, benutzte die BBC das Lied in ihrer Berichterstattung zur Mondlandung. Im Jahr 2013 findet „Space Oddity“ zu seiner ursprünglichen Bedeutung zurück: Comander Chris Hadfield, ein kanadischer Astronaut, nahm eine schwerelose Coverversion des…
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Where Did It All Go Wrong?
David Bowie: Musician, Idol, Icon. In March of this year he surprised everyone with the unexpected, yet welcome, news that he was releasing his 24th album, The Next Day – the first to be released since 2003. So, bearing this in mind, as well as giving a big shout-out to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum for hosting a spectacular exhibition based on this rock legend, what has Bowie’s legacy been thus far? Let’s look at today’s popular music – Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Adele, One Direction, Justin Bieber, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Marilyn Manson, and The Script, to name but a few. With some of these artists, it is relatively easy…












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