Among the Trees at the Hayward Gallery: The life of trees viewed through the lens of the anthropocene March 6, 2020 The first recorded use of the term “tree hugger” came in 1730, when a Hindu sect called the Bishnoi tried to stop the maharajah of Jodhpur from chopping down an ancient forest for materials to build his new palace. They died in their hundreds, clinging to branches as the army cut down first the Bishnois [...]
Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain review: Delight in these sinister, bawdy drawings that railed against Victorian prudishness March 6, 2020 “I am nothing if I am not grotesque,” Victorian illustrator Aubrey Beardsley once said when asked to explain his art. It’s a fitting summary for the new exhibition of his work at Tate Britain, which takes the viewer on a tour of life’s darker and more sinister corners. Wandering its 15 rooms, you are shunted [...]
Working Lunch: Townsend in Whitechapel Gallery is a solid new cultural dining option March 4, 2020 Each week we pick the best places to wine and dine your favourite clients. WHAT IS IT? The Whitechapel Gallery has converted its ground-floor cafe into a more serious dining space, creating an intimate, light-filled restaurant serving modern British cuisine that sits somewhere between “casual lunch” and “proper dinner”. It’s named after Charles Harrison Townsend, [...]
Jensen Interceptor review: A real brawn star motor that drives like nothing else March 2, 2020 Sharp-suited Italian styling. A brawny all-American V8. A sumptuous wood-and-leather British interior. Oh, and probably the coolest car name ever conceived. The Jensen Interceptor had it all. Sadly, this glamorous GT was also burdened with ‘traditional’ British build quality, but that’s nothing Cropredy Bridge can’t fix. Based in a quaint village near Banbury, the company [...]
Adventure time: Why every explorer wears a mechanical wrist watch March 2, 2020 There’s an old motoring adage that goes, “win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” In other words, as cripplingly expensive and vainglorious as motorsport can be, prove yourself successful on a race weekend (not to mention thrillingly glamorous) and you have no better billboard for the sporty road-goers populating your forecourt. It’s why Enzo Ferrari begrudgingly [...]
Office Space: Take a look behind the scenes of Amazon’s sprawling, 15-storey London headquarters at Principal Place March 2, 2020 There’s always money in the banana stand. Or at least there would be, were the bananas not being handed out for free. Each morning outside Amazon’s HQ in Shoreditch a fruitmonger dispenses complimentary bananas to Amazon staff, peckish commuters and anybody who cares to take one. The tradition was started by Jeff Bezos himself on [...]
The Invisible Man review: A brilliant self-contained horror story February 27, 2020 It is absurd to think The Invisible Man was conceived as a foundational part of a ‘Classic Monsters’ shared universe, the beginning of a franchise that might sit alongside Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. The project was unveiled with a now-infamous, heavily photoshopped picture of celebrities including Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe and Tom Cruise, who were to [...]
A Number at the Bridge Theatre review: Caryl Churchill’s sci-fi drama asks what it means to be human February 27, 2020 A second Caryl Churchill play opens in as many weeks, with the Donmar’s production of political dystopia Far Away followed by this sci-fi drama, which somehow condenses more than 2,000 years of ontological philosophy into a razor-sharp 60 minutes. The two-man production opens with a father and son (Roger Allam and Colin Morgan, respectively) embroiled [...]
Is the flip-phone making a comeback? February 27, 2020 Cancelled due to coronavirus fears, Mobile World Conference was scheduled to be taking place in Barcelona this week. But despite the cancellation of the conference itself, the event continues to be the industry’s leading stage for product announcements online, with manufacturers who had been primed to reveal new devices instead turning to livestreams and remote [...]
Working Lunch: Wilder is serious food for serious people, but seriously good February 26, 2020 We pick the best places to wine and dine your favourite clients. This week: Wilder at Boundary London, Shoreditch WHAT IS IT? A new restaurant located in the bowels of Terence Conran’s Boundary London, which also houses Albion and that nice roof-garden you can never get into when it’s sunny. Wilder is located down so [...]