Martin Parr on the Ordinary Object

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Here is an article by Marr Parr about photographing ordinary objects on the Guardian website . Below is an excerpt:

I want to put forward a case for taking more seriously the everyday object, we should appreciate those objects that are so familiar we usually don't notice them. Take the scarecrow, a wonderful example of outsider art, and made with a real purpose. If you were to say to their farmer creators that they were sculptures, they would look at you as if you were mad. However if you take photos of them in splendid isolation, the results are both compelling and surreal.

There are two categories of everyday objects: those that are constantly changing in terms of design, and those that are reassuringly constant. In the former category, take something as simple as the petrol pump. I photographed one in use in Salford in 1986, and now it looks like it is from another era. What at the time may have been rejected as a photo of great tedium has become a fascinating image.

Video on Canadian Street Artist Roadsworth

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Here is an interesting short documentary about a street artist in Montreal named Roadsworth who is being prosecuted by the city. He is a little like Banksy but without the inane political bullshit. There are some interesting clips from a local radio show - a caller to the show says "City property is private property...I don't care what anyone thinks"!

John Latham Films

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Tank.tv have some of John Latham's films on view on their website at the moment including Britannica one of my favourite pieces from the exhibition Bookish at the Lewis Glucksman. Check it out here I found this via the news section of blackletter.ie

Update - Someone has put the Britannica film up on youtube. Here it is:

Events with Unknown Outcome

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Stills from Sofia Hultén's video Events with Unknown Outcome.

Some info on the work taken from the artist's website is below:

I placed various objects (beer crates, a blanket, ball and plastic bag) in the park surrounding the last border watchtower still standing since the GDR in Berlin. I secretly videotaped whatever happened to the objects from the vantage point of the tower. 

More work by this artist can be found on her website

A Bad Day For Public Art

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There were two stories in the news today about high profile public sculptures in the UK. It was announced that Mark Wallinger's proposal to build a giant horse in Kent has been selected for the "Angel of the South" project and will be built pending Councillors' approval. My views on his proposal are aired in this earlier post.

It was also announced that the pictured sculpture "B of the Big Bang" by the Thomas Heatherwick Studio in Manchester is to be dismantled. Here is some info from the Guardian:

A week before its unveiling the tip of one of its spikes fell to the ground. In May 2006, nine more spikes were removed for safety tests amid fears that the sculpture, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, might pose a risk to passersby.

In November last year, the Thomas Heatherwick Studio agreed to pay Manchester city council £1.7m in an out-of-court settlement over the safety problems. The council's executive committee decided today that the sculpture should be dismantled, citing "technical problems".

More http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/feb/11/b-bang-sculpture-manchester