Articles by Ben Street
Letter from London
Letter from London | World on a String
Letter from London
Letter from London | World on a String
Language draws an imaginary line around objects. That demarcation follows through in all the lines in our lives: the Morse code of a Risk board’s borders, anticipatory lines dragged across …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Seeds of Discord
Letter from London
Letter from London | Seeds of Discord
When an artist dies, their work changes forever. Whatever it was they were doing at the time of their demise becomes loaded with retroactive meaning and spurious clairvoyance. With the …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Eye of the Tiger
Letter from London
Letter from London | Eye of the Tiger
Tiger Woods is a profoundly uninteresting man, elevated to role model status in America by his unwavering commitment to brand promotion and the eradication of personal charisma, so when the …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Grave Architecture
Letter from London
Letter from London | Grave Architecture
There’s a long history of painters becoming architects and carrying their pictorial imaginations with them. Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence are examples of the painter’s …
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Price is Right
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Price is Right
Funny how very expensive paintings become metaphors of themselves. The 45-million-dollar Duccio bought by the Met in 2005 shows the incarnate deity supported with infinite care by his reverentially gazing …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Hell Is Other People
Letter from London
Letter from London: Hell Is Other People
It is a truth universally acknowledged that artists make the best curators. Mark Wallinger’s exhibition, The Russian Linesman at the Hayward Gallery last March, was a proposal about what creative …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Tuition and Hopin’
Letter from London
Letter from London: Tuition and Hopin’
This week, Britain’s coalition government (narrowly) passed a proposal to dramatically hike university tuition fees, the results of which were a number of occasionally violent protests in central London. The …
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Time of Your Life
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Time of Your Life
Christian Marclay’s The Clock (now on show at White Cube, Mason’s Yard) is a twenty-four hour long film which, unlike other very long art films like Douglas Gordon’s Twenty-Four Hour …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Interview with Aaron Moulton (Feinkost, Berlin)
Letter from London
Letter from London: Interview with Aaron Moulton (Feinkost, Berlin)
This Letter from London is, for one time only, from Berlin. — B.S. Aaron Moulton is a curator of contemporary art and, with his wife Mette Ravnkilde Nielsen, founder of …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Barnstormer
Letter from London
Letter from London: Barnstormer
“Time-based art” is a great new contemporary art phrase to drop into conversations, with the redoubtable Orwellian tautology of “movement-based dancing” or “sound-based music.” It’s one of those phrases that …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Battlin’ Tatlin
Letter from London
Letter from London: Battlin’ Tatlin
Poor old Vladimir Tatlin. Having been ruthlessly picked-apart in numberless modernist critiques, his thwarted architectural ambitions have yet again provided the basis for a work of contemporary art. Anish Kapoor’s design …
Letter from London
Letter from London: To The Manner Born
Letter from London
Letter from London: To The Manner Born
It’s good, useless fun to pre-emptively define the times you live in. Nicholas Bourriaud’s confusingly limned term “Altermodern,” used to define works in last year’s Tate Triennial and, by extension, …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Chris Ofili, A Mixtape
Letter from London
Letter from London: Chris Ofili, A Mixtape
Making mixtapes is one of life’s great non-transferable skills; its lack of import in a pragmatic sense is inversely proportional to the amount of time and effort it requires (rewinding, …
Letter from London
Letter from London | World on a String
Letter from London
Letter from London | World on a String
Language draws an imaginary line around objects. That demarcation follows through in all the lines in our lives: the Morse code of a Risk board’s borders, anticipatory lines dragged across …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Seeds of Discord
Letter from London
Letter from London | Seeds of Discord
When an artist dies, their work changes forever. Whatever it was they were doing at the time of their demise becomes loaded with retroactive meaning and spurious clairvoyance. With the …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Eye of the Tiger
Letter from London
Letter from London | Eye of the Tiger
Tiger Woods is a profoundly uninteresting man, elevated to role model status in America by his unwavering commitment to brand promotion and the eradication of personal charisma, so when the …
Letter from London
Letter from London | Grave Architecture
Letter from London
Letter from London | Grave Architecture
There’s a long history of painters becoming architects and carrying their pictorial imaginations with them. Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence are examples of the painter’s …
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Price is Right
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Price is Right
Funny how very expensive paintings become metaphors of themselves. The 45-million-dollar Duccio bought by the Met in 2005 shows the incarnate deity supported with infinite care by his reverentially gazing …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Hell Is Other People
Letter from London
Letter from London: Hell Is Other People
It is a truth universally acknowledged that artists make the best curators. Mark Wallinger’s exhibition, The Russian Linesman at the Hayward Gallery last March, was a proposal about what creative …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Tuition and Hopin’
Letter from London
Letter from London: Tuition and Hopin’
This week, Britain’s coalition government (narrowly) passed a proposal to dramatically hike university tuition fees, the results of which were a number of occasionally violent protests in central London. The …
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Time of Your Life
Letter from London
Letter from London: The Time of Your Life
Christian Marclay’s The Clock (now on show at White Cube, Mason’s Yard) is a twenty-four hour long film which, unlike other very long art films like Douglas Gordon’s Twenty-Four Hour …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Interview with Aaron Moulton (Feinkost, Berlin)
Letter from London
Letter from London: Interview with Aaron Moulton (Feinkost, Berlin)
This Letter from London is, for one time only, from Berlin. — B.S. Aaron Moulton is a curator of contemporary art and, with his wife Mette Ravnkilde Nielsen, founder of …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Barnstormer
Letter from London
Letter from London: Barnstormer
“Time-based art” is a great new contemporary art phrase to drop into conversations, with the redoubtable Orwellian tautology of “movement-based dancing” or “sound-based music.” It’s one of those phrases that …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Battlin’ Tatlin
Letter from London
Letter from London: Battlin’ Tatlin
Poor old Vladimir Tatlin. Having been ruthlessly picked-apart in numberless modernist critiques, his thwarted architectural ambitions have yet again provided the basis for a work of contemporary art. Anish Kapoor’s design …
Letter from London
Letter from London: To The Manner Born
Letter from London
Letter from London: To The Manner Born
It’s good, useless fun to pre-emptively define the times you live in. Nicholas Bourriaud’s confusingly limned term “Altermodern,” used to define works in last year’s Tate Triennial and, by extension, …
Letter from London
Letter from London: Chris Ofili, A Mixtape
Letter from London
Letter from London: Chris Ofili, A Mixtape
Making mixtapes is one of life’s great non-transferable skills; its lack of import in a pragmatic sense is inversely proportional to the amount of time and effort it requires (rewinding, …
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