Goodbye David Bowie, you weird and beautiful alien robot sex-hologram from the future.
Citizen, remain vigilant
The terrorist threat level in the United Kingdom has recently been raised to Severe, meaning that there is high likelihood of a terrorist attack in the immediate future. Since the British Government initiated the launch of air missions against the Islamic State in Syria, living in London feels a lot like living in the centre…
A screen is not a page
Nobody enjoys a good pavement sign more than myself, so when herself and I came across this humourous curiosity whilst out for a walk on Saturday, I had to take a picture to share. Enjoy.
Words to live your life by
We saw this tile mural beside a church while on a walk near the river this afternoon. A schmaltzy message it may be, but one fitting for the season. I hope you all had a peaceful holiday time and look forward to the new year.
Cooking George Orwell’s Long Lost Kidney Stew Recipe
On the day following King George V’s Silver Jubilee celebrations, 6th May 1935, George Orwell took a break from writing A Clergyman’s Daughter to type a letter to his friend and one-time romantic interest, Brenda Salkeld. Among Orwell’s usual topics of discussion (politics, literature, and low-culture) the author outlined what he described as a “wonderful” ox-kidney…
Festive Street Art
The paint had barely dried on this striking new mural in Stucley Place when I snapped a picture of it this morning. The work is by the Lost Souls group (more specifically SiMitchell, SPzero76 and Squirl) who some readers may remember had a piece in this spot earlier this year. I actually caught the group…
Freedom for expression
While on my way to lunch this afternoon, I happened upon this striking mural on Castlehaven Road, Camden. The piece, by London based artist Dale Grimshaw, was created to raise awareness toward the occupation of West Papua by the Indonesian military. Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua has been described by various human rights bodies as…
All Things Must Pass
A new month, a new mural in Stucley Place. This piece was installed by French artist, Ador, with the help of his newfound collaborator and friend, Sémor. The work reminds me of an article and its accompanying illustration that I recently saw in the Wall Street Journal. The article, entitled When Instagram Culture Ruins a Vacation…
Long time no talk
The last month was a particularly busy one and I haven’t had much of a moment to think of any kind of writing proper. We moved into our new home in West London and have all but gutted the place, taking a sledge hammer to the cheap IKEA furniture with which the previous tenants had…
Acid Picasso and gentrification
I very much like this new Picassoesque mural by Italian artist Renato Hunto that can be found on the Kentish Town Road in Camden, London. Behind the oppressive looking gate on which the piece has been sprayed, demolition crews are working to knock down the old Camden Lock Village Market to make way for a redevelopment project that is set to build new residential, retail…
New Camden Mural
The mural in Stucley Place that I posted about last month has been replaced with this rather impressive piece by Raphael Grischa (aka iHad). I saw it while on my way to work and it really brightened-up what was an otherwise dreary Autumn morning. I will have to take a walk around the neighbourhood to…
Thessaloniki Street Art
//criticaldispatches.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/thessaloniki.jpg The last week has been spent eating, drinking and sleeping on holiday in the Northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Held up in traffic while on a drive through the city’s main commercial district, we caught shot of this fantastic mural and I was able to take a quick picture before the light turned green…
Impressions of poverty – A Dublin Story
If you’ve ever listened to the song Running to Stand Still from U2’s Joshua Tree album you will have heard about the Dublin neighbourhood of Ballymun in the lyric, “I see seven towers but I only see one way out.” Located on the northern periphery of Dublin city, Ballymun was at one time Ireland’s largest and…
Cure the Sunday blues
I haven’t had much time to write recently as we have just moved into our new house in Chiswick; this task involving a significant deal of packing, lifting, unpacking, rearranging, realising it doesn’t look quite right and then throwing away altogether. I saw this sandwich board while we were walking through Hamstead last week. After…
Camden Street Art Gallery
I’ve really taken a shine to London’s street art scene over the last year. On my lunch break the other day, I grabbed my camera and went for a walk around Camden Town, hunting for pieces. I found a great collection of works at Camden Mews and took a few photos that I hope you…