From 2015: Picasso and Truth, an interview with TJ Clark:This short interview was originally published in 2015 on Ready Steady Book.3h ago3h ago
A Problem Like MariaYou expected Aristotle Onassis But instead you got Mister James Fennings from Prestwich, in Cumbria –The FallFeb 31Feb 31
Against the Darkness: Paul Celan’s “Letters to Gisèle”My review of Letters to Gisèle, the recent translation of the correspondence between Paul Celan and his wife, the printmaker Gisèle…Dec 12, 2024Dec 12, 2024
A Personal AnthologyDelighted to have taken part in Jonathan Gibbs’ A Personal Anthology series a couple of months ago:Sep 25, 2024Sep 25, 2024
Imitation of Strife: On May DecemberMay December cuts off our access to aesthetic gratification through continual fractures, showing how our forms of storytelling have become…Feb 15, 2024Feb 15, 2024
Nothing, Nowhere, Not Even Once: An Oscars 2023 Round Up (part one)The Banshees of InisherinJan 28, 2023Jan 28, 2023
Effacing the Music: The Annihilating Style of ‘A Single Man’Tom Ford’s 2009 film A Single Man, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, was recently made available on Mubi. The…Oct 24, 2021Oct 24, 2021
Force and CircumstanceI. I have written about Thomas Bernhard before. However, writing about him now feels different, not only from the time a decade or so ago…Aug 26, 2021Aug 26, 2021
Blood, Money: Subsumption and Biopolitics in Uncut GemsAll that money, the money is the motive — The WeekndJun 12, 2020Jun 12, 2020
A Lasting Supper: Michael KohlhaasLet us begin at the end. The horse-dealer Michael Kohlhaas is about to be put to death following a stubborn and unending crusade for…Apr 30, 2020Apr 30, 2020
A quarantine list: 250 of my favourite films250 of my favourite films, put together just because. I have attempted to limit the list to one film per director, except in the cases…Apr 18, 2020Apr 18, 2020
The Intrusion of Fiction: Thoughts on Hiromi KawakamiThe works of Hiromi Kawakami exude a strange and quiet light. This lightness is not mere simplicity or economy (though they are certainly…Dec 27, 2019Dec 27, 2019
A Double Shadow: Re-reading Thomas Bernhard‘we say he is, then suddenly he was, this terrible was’ — The LoserOct 27, 20191Oct 27, 20191
A Gentle Remainder: Anne Dufourmantelle’s Power of GentlenessStriving for Gentleness. — When a vigorous nature has not an inclination towards cruelty, and is not always preoccupied with itself, it…Aug 29, 20191Aug 29, 20191
Light, Fragility: A Fragment on Agnes MartinI find it difficult to articulate what it is which I find so captivating in Agnes Martin’s paintings. One of the difficulties in…Aug 14, 2019Aug 14, 2019
Faith, no moreMartin Hägglund’s ‘This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom’Jun 24, 2019Jun 24, 2019