by Bethan Page

One highlight of my trip to Abu Dhabi this summer, was a visit to the Emirates Palace, a self-proclaimed 7 star hotel. Whilst you cannot fail to be impressed by the building itself, the little exhibition in the corner
was what fascinated me the most. Just 50 years ago, Abu Dhabi was pretty much just desert, with a tiny population who lived off fish and dates. Now it has more sky scrapers than you can count, and arguably the average standard of living is far superior to that of Britain. But what it most impressive is their plans for the future. They are well aware that whilst they currently have 10% of the world's oil, (an incredibly
impressive amount for such a small place), this will eventually run out. One of their many plans is to transform one of their many islands (Saadiyat Island) into a cultural district, and one like the world has never seen before. Some of the world's best architects are involved including Norman Foster and Frank
Gehry. Plans are in place for their very own Guggenheim, Louvre, Performing Arts Centre... The link below shows computerised pictures of the plans.

http://visitabudhabi.ae/en/What.to.do/Experiences/Saadiyat.Island.Cultural.District.Exhibition.aspx

What a great place Abu Dhabi must be for architects right now! Abu Dhabi has more space and more money than we could ever dream of on the tiny over-crowded island that we live on. I really hope the building of Saadiyat Island goes according to plan. What an amazing place it will be! Not only
will it host some of the world's more fantastic buildings, but it also has the potential to become a world-leading centre for arts and culture. All I can I say is fingers crossed Abu Dhabi's grand plans become reality!

Six Songs of Me is a project the Guardian are running that encourages you to delve into your musical history and pick out the songs that matter the most to you. They are asking musicians, bloggers and readers alike to answer six simple questions about your music collection. Requesting tunes that span your lifetime, from the one that reminds you of childhood to the perfect love song, this simple project makes you think a little harder about music and hopefully realise the personal meaning certain songs may have.

Not only does it make you face your musical demons, mainly that the first song you bought will probably be nothing to be proud of, you can also look at other people’s choices. The website allows you to look up how many people chose each song, what age category they fall into and where in the world they reside. You can then listen to the song on Spotify and be given an insight into another person’s musical taste as well as pick up some new suggestions.

On top of all of this, answering the Guardian’s carefully picked questions allows you to ponder the soundtrack to your life, and who knows when that might come in handy. 

http://www.sixsongsof.me/

Perceptive and flexible eyes are crucial tools to have inside the museum, as
Dali, the ultimate trickster, is always playing with your gaze. Some people
might recognise the famous ‘Sala Mae West’- a huge double-entendre meshing the
infrastructure of a lounge and isolated parts of a face, that when viewed
through a magnifying lens, frames what I suppose is an exaggerated (and slightly
grotesque) picture of Hollywood beauty. I managed to successfully spot the
bathtub on the ceiling, but hiding just behind this huge installation in the
dark of the wall, and spotted by my 100% vision-seeing friend, were two tiny
viewing holes, that when looked through opened up into a secret green glowing
enchanted forest world. I have no explanation, but here’s a photo .. -->

Examples of this kind are evident wherever you go, but look up another sensibly titled quick example: ‘Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln’- a painting which just struck me as its pixelated colours are beautiful up close, but Holbein-style, are not quite what they seem.

Most of the works manufactured new realities by setting contradictions (of content, colour, size) against each other and presenting them for us to look at. By purposefully not shying away from life’s often aesthetically unpleasing complexity, Dali dispels and questions certainties and structures– arguably a crucial essence of theatre too. The most obvious example seemed to be his displacement of Renaissance classicism; female statues were slashed, perfect bodies cut into drawers, a Michelangelo-esque fresco instead displaying two giant feet, dancing together on the ceiling.  In some paintings, he masters the perfectly intricate detail of neo-classical scenes, and then places large square blocks of pixelated colour on top, perhaps proving a new mastery of style, one that is instead trying not to make sense. 

There is plenty more to say about the museum- Dali’s fascination with excess, works were dripping with gold and jewels, there was an unexpected corridor devoted to his prints commemorating the creation of Israel (see http://www.lockportstreetgallery.com/alijah.htmfor more), but I’ll stop for now! All in all, the visit definitely changed my opinion of the flamboyant Mr Dali, the moustache-twirling, crazy ideas man who liked butterflies and clocks and opened my eyes, quite literally to a completely different reality.

A beautiful animated music video made entirely with cut paper, pencil and ink by Liam Stevens. You can find more of his work here: http://liamstevens.com/

Hailing from the same dramatic, folklore-rich land which produced Björk and Sigur Rós, the six-piece Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men produce a folk-poppy sound that has seen them win recent critical acclaim as well as the approval of the festival hordes. Featuring piano, accordion and an occasional trumpet as well as guitars and some gorgeous boy/girl vocals, the group have created a rich, exultant debut album- and their music videos are pretty cool too.  

Entitled ‘My Head is an Animal’, their first full-length effort ranges from the bittersweet heartbreak-folk of ‘Love Love Love’ to soaring single ‘Little Talks’ and the stompy ‘Six Weeks’, presenting a varied and very listenable mixture of songs. Other highlights include the charming ‘From Finner’, which co-lead singer and guitarist Ragnar Þórhallsson says is about “a whale that has a house on its back, on which people travel across the ocean, exploring different places and having adventures”, and opening track ‘Dirty Paws’, the lyrics of which lend the album its name. The perfect mix of dreamy and joyous, this band provides a lovely soundtrack as autumn rolls in.

You can listen to some of their tracks for free over here: Grooveshark.com/artist/Of+Monsters+And+Men/1669123 

By Ed Ball

The art world is changing rapidly. As artists continue to push the boundaries of what is art, the traditional role of galleries, curators and even collectors finds itself changing to keep pace. Take the Tate’s opening of the Tanks as an exclusively performance space, and Tino Seghal’s not-quite-as-interesting-as-you-might-think These Associations (http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series-tino-sehgal-2012) as a sign of the times. Contemporary art is increasingly becoming about a great idea or a meticulous process - neither of which are easily displayed or collected. This is certainly no bad thing; on the contrary, it poses interesting questions for the art world. Having worked at a very traditional gallery this month that deals exclusively in modern masters and original prints, it is clear that this traditional form is becoming less relevant to today’s contemporary scene and today’s economic realities. 

Seeking at all costs to avoid the crushing realities of my unfinished dissertation, I stumbled recently upon an interesting side-project at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts – an excellent place, and at £10 for membership, a snip) called s[edition] (http://www.seditionart.com/about): a place to collect and enjoy art digitally. Available to purchase for a modest fee (at times as low as £5) are works by big name artists. Many works are videos, which might go some way to preserving exhibitions such as Seghal’s as collectible pieces, providing a vital source of funding for struggling commercial art galleries and artists alike who seek to work with performance and installations that are for obvious reasons far less commercially viable.
Some of the works are genuinely great – the Bill Viola sequences and Wim Wenders photographs are personal favourites. All works come in limited editions of between 100 and 10,000, and all works are signed by the artist and authenticated. Once they are sold out, the works can be traded online to other aficionados on the soon-to-be online marketplace.  I can think of no other occasion you could obtain a piece by Damien Hirst or Mat Collishaw for under a tenner, but the catch is, do you ever really obtain the
work? Only accessible online, in your own personal digital ‘vault’, these works are billed as free to be enjoyed by you whenever you like, internet connection permitting of course. A strange combination of social networking site, online gallery and ebay, it presents a radical alternative to traditional collecting,
but I can’t quite get on board with it.


It is an interesting idea, certainly. In a time of serious economic hardship for many, this democratic, ‘art for all’ idea is quite refreshing, but a few things hold me back. I think part of the delight of owning an art work is its tangibility – it is yours to enjoy, to walk past, reflect upon it and to fit with your other
possessions. To my mind, I think I would struggle to connect with a work because of this digital barrier. Having to access the works digitally I think risks lessening their emotive capacity. Plus I can’t help but feel that commercially-minded artists already signed up to the program (Damien Hirst springs to mind) are only in on it for a quick buck, rather than perhaps for the interesting questions it raises about consumerism and the links between the real world and the digital one.


Will it catch on? I think in time, yes. Big sponsors are onboard, it has received a lot of press, and the social networking element gives it the possibility to ‘explode’ as we have seen with facebook and twitter. Time will tell. Is digital collecting the future? I’m not so sure, but I can’t wait to find out.

I love the quirky photos of my parents from the 1970s and 80s that are squirrelled away by them around the house- including the only photo in existence of my dad without a beard. Distrustful of the permanence Facebook albums, I've just done my yearly ritualised photo printing. This ensures I have these hilarious gems ready both for my future generations and, most importantly, so I can regularly send embarrassing photos of my friends when they were young to their children.  

But until that time happens I shall content myself with the pseudo-nostalgia of other people by browsing photo memory projects online. 

Dear Photograph is an archive of photographs of photographs from the past in the present, accompanied by a letter. 

"Dear Photograph,
My Mom would always bundle me up because she was nervous I would catch a cold. Now she’s nervous about letting me go to live on my own away from her at college. 
Andrew " 

Same People Same Place Different Time is another cracker but it won't let me copy a photo on to here so you'll just have to go explore it yourself. 

Jess

If you find yourself with a spare evening amongst all this Olympic fever, head on down to the Noel Coward Theatre, London, and exercise your mind with the RSC’s production of Julius Caesar. The classic is set in modern day Africa and features a fabulous band onstage throughout, The Vibes of March

The production is part of the World Shakespeare Festival 2012, the largest celebration of the playwright’s work ever staged, with performances all over the UK over the coming months – so there’s no excuse to miss out!  

This classic by Wes Anderson follows three brothers' travels around India as they attempt to overcome past family disputes. Look out for the excellent wallpaper.