Sandy Skoglund: The Artificial Mirror

Since the digital photography revolution, it’s getting harder and harder to remember a time when photographic editing couldn’t be done by just about anyone on their home PC, let alone a time when the authenticity of a photograph as an imprint of reality didn’t, more often than not, have to be questioned. At a point when idea of a photograph as an undeniable document is rapidly joining the realm of ancient history, Fotografiska in Stockholm invites its visitors to revisit the work of Sandy Skoglund. Read the rest of this entry »

Stockholm: Another Round Please!

We all know what’s happening in Munich right now, but if you’re up for something a little higher brow than falling off tables with half a litre of beer in your hand, Nacka Strand is where it’s at.  The 19th Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival is kicking off in Nacka Strand from the 30th of September, as a “manifestation to increase knowledge of beer and whiskey.”

Over 2 weekends 26, 000+ visitors and 1,300 beer, whisky, cider, and calvados exhibitors will be on hand to teach you everything you ever need to know about their products. The Taste Experience, new to the 2010 festival, will offer wine, cognac, and tequila tastings.  Schools, included in the price of the entrance ticket, offer something for novices and connoisseurs, with some of the countries top drink experts sharing their knowledge. Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to drink on an empty stomach, so there’ll be plenty of restaurants and cafes on hand to provide the nosh.  One of the top three festivals of it’s kind in the world, it’s not to be over looked.

Just moments from the festival crackling fires and peaceful gardens offer a respite at White Line member Hotel J.  Timelessly designed rooms overlook one of the world’s most beautiful harbours where you can soak up a few rays of autumn sun to go with all that new knowledge about the world’s oldest drink.

—

Categories: Nacka Strand – Stockholm, Culture, Events

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter

Parrot

Marcel Broodthaers: Major Works – Michael Werner Gallery, New York

Parrot. Marcel Broodthaers and Karl Larsson – INDEX The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm

Whether you’re one of the people who call it coincidence or one of those who prescribe a greater meaning to it, sometimes when you see something, it starts to seem like you’re seeing it everywhere. For me today it was the image of a parrot and the name Marcel Broodthaers. So is it just coincidence, or is there something about that famously mimicking bird and one of the 20^th Century’s most influential artists that seems to be on people’s minds right now?

If you’re in New York this autumn, take the opportunity to see Dites Partout Que Je L’ai Dit (Tell everyone what I said) – pictured above left – at Michael Werner Gallery’s New York branch, which is featured in a Broodthaers solo exhibition until the 13^th of November. Considered to be one of the artist’s finest pieces, the installation has only rarely been exhibited since its creation more than 3 decades ago. Broodthaers, who started his career as a poet associated with the surrealist movement before turning to visual arts at the age of 40, used wit and wordplay to juxtapose words, images, poetry and objects. Consisting of a stuffed parrot in a bell jar opposite a tape recorder, this rarely seen installation epitomizes the artist’s playful and provocative approach.

Turning now to an exhibition on the other side of the Atlantic, if an artist chooses to pay homage to an influence, rather than brushing over where those best ideas have been “borrowed” from, one popular choice is to title the artwork After [insert influencing artist’s name here]. Given this long tradition of homage through quotation, it’s refreshing, if not also a little provocative, to see one such act framed instead with the title Parrot.

This exhibition at INDEX in Stockholm is the first opportunity to see Broodthaers’ works in Sweden since 1982, but second artist and co-curator of the exhibition Karl Larsson has interspersed his own spatial interventions and sculptural works among Broodthaers’ to change the conditions in which they can be viewed. Before the title of the exhibition can be construed as just a self-conscious reference to Broodthaers’ Dites Partout Que Je L’ai Dit (Tell everyone what I said), Larsson makes it clear that he is taking the bird as his own metaphor for borrowing someone else’s language, and not only that of Broodthaers. As part of the exhibition the Swedish artist is presenting a newly written collection of poetry in the English language. Using the title Parrot for the book as well as the exhibition, Larsson is also pointing out his parroting of a spoken language that is not his own.

If New York or Stockholm, or even both, are in your travel plans in the coming weeks, stop by Michael Werner Gallery and INDEX to see if all these parrots might have something to tell you.

September 2 – November 13, 2010 at Michael Werner Gallery, 4 East 77th Street, New York, NY 10075. Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.

September 1 – October 17, 2010 at INDEX, Kungsbro strand 19, Stockholm, Sweden. Tuesday – Friday 12 – 4 pm, Saturday – Sunday 12 – 5 pm. Details of the full program of events and lectures associated with the exhibition can be seen at http://www.indexfoundation.se.

Need somewhere to stay, but want to avoid those parrot fashion hotels?  Your only choice for New York is The Greenwich in Tribeca (1st image), whilst in Stockholm you have the choice between the waterside Hotel J in Nacka Strand, or the island residence that is the Hotel Skeppsholmen.

Categories: New York, Nacka Strand – Stockholm, Stockholm, Art

Contributing writer: Melissa Frost

Walk on Water

The therapeutic qualities of water is something that we only really appreciate when we’re by it’s side… or when you’re swimming, or having a shower, or drinking it, or gardening, or keeping fish as pets…Ok, water is undoubtedly fantastic.

When you read celebrity interviews (the real ones, not the reality stars who want big rims and big breasts) they dream about waterfront properties, fresh and relaxing lifestyles. The dream isn’t floating to far away from us hard working people. Seas, rivers, lakes are prime land; they portray a lifestyle and are vital for the best views. We’ve got all look-out points covered. Read the rest of this entry »

No Ball Games

Something’s going on this June. Oh yeah, that over-talked about World Cup thing.

Not all places are embracing the game because, believe it or not, it’s not everyone’s be all and end all. Life and travel does carry on around World Cup time for those who let it.

Want to escape it? Here’s how.

We’re offering you retreats and hideaways so you don’t have to put up with the bad behaviour, the tantrums, the tears, the injuries or the opinions.  Get on the ball and go and do something else, somewhere else.

The Greulich Hotel is setting the tone with their No-Goal dinners, while these other hotel gems have told us their places will be football free:

Aenea, Worthersee, Austria
Krafft Basel, Basel
Lesic Dimitri, Korcula, Croatia
Inis Meain, Arran Islands, Ireland
Hotel des Academies, Paris
Ca’pisani, Venice
Hotel J, Stockholm
Hotel Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, London

The Greenwich, New York
New Majestic, Singapore
The Retreat, Tanzania

Go somewhere where football fever isn’t being forced fed to you.