Mahler’s 2nd
March 26, 2012
Life, death, its meaning, resurrection. On Saturday 24th March an audience at Nottingham’s Albert Hall were treated to an insight into all of the above when they attended a performance of Mahler’s epic second symphony. The event was staged by the Lakeside Arts Centre and included around 200 performers from the University of Nottingham orchestra …
Unspecificity
January 30, 2012
The English language can be infuriating to the creative author. Sometimes it makes no sense. Specificity is a word. Unspecific is a word. One would seem entitled to conclude that unspecificity is a word. When I wrote it into a draft paper the other day, the Word programme gave me the tell-tale squiggly red underlining. …
A Christmas Carol
December 24, 2011
At this time of year, the splendid A Muppet Christmas Carol movie usually finds its way into our DVD player. And after seeing such a heart-warming feast I always reach for the family copy of the original book and read a few of its classic passages to the children. We have a wonderful early printing …
Steranko
December 23, 2011
I have an article in Times Higher Education magazine this week on superpowers and comic books. I mention there the work of Jim Steranko. My view is that Steranko played a key role in the evolution of the comic book from throwaway pulp to high art. Comics had a very formulaic look all the way …
The Outlet
December 22, 2011
The impulse for an artistic outlet is a common one. In singing, acting, drawing, poetry, prose and in making artefacts, it seems that we are expressing our creative urges. Such instincts are often crushed by situation, if people have to spend a lifetime of drudgery, for instance. But give someone leisure time and resource and …
Equivalent VIII
December 18, 2011
What is art? Does it have a defining essence? Many have attempted to find it yet so many of the definitions seem flawed. Only a few hundred years ago, for instance, we thought of art as being about the faithful representation of a subject matter, such as in a portrait or landscape. But we are …
Dancing
December 17, 2011
Why dance? A sociobiologist might say it’s a mating ritual. Many people indeed find partners at discotheques, we have to grant that. But is such an explanation all too reductionist? Children like to dance, happily married people and even your granny will have a go. I doubt that it is all about gaining a reproductive …
Travel
The old cliché is that travel broadens the mind. Is there any truth in it? There are many ways of learning about cultures and languages but surely the most pleasing is to go and experience it firsthand. Naturally our universities will offer a year abroad as standard for anyone on its language degrees. In time …
On Music
December 9, 2011
This week I visited the Department of Music at the University of Nottingham to hear about the good work they have been doing. While it was a management meeting in my role as Dean it did lead me in the days that followed to consider the importance of music to us as human beings. Little …
Childish Pleasures
November 25, 2011
I’m delighted that Nottingham is hosting a major exhibition of the paintings of L. S. Lowry. My children saw the brochure and found it interesting but amusing. Lowry’s work has a childlike quality, which to an extent explains how it took some time for him to be accepted as a great artist. The arts often …
Social media
