Art Monthly Talk Show

Christopher Townsend discusses how mid-century British modernism has become inaccessible to contemporary viewers since it can now only be viewed through contemporary culture's mythologising of late capitalism.

John Douglas Millar on why experimental writing thrives in the art world, and Peter Suchin on Focal Point Gallery's 'Tarot' exhibition.

Bob Dickinson reports on the nuclear-bunker-based Time Machine Biennial in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Paul O’Kane discusses Gillian Whiteley’s book on assemblage, Junk: Art and the Politics of Trash.

Stephanie Schwartz discusses her feature article ‘Photography as Work’, which questions the utopian potential of digital photography, with reference to the Jorge Ribalta-curated exhibition ‘A Hard, Merciless Light: The Worker-Photography Movement 1926-1939’ at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

Maria Walsh discusses her interview with Mary Kelly, and JJ Charlesworth argues that theory’s current obsession with objective critique misses the mark in comparison with subjective criticism.

Critic, musician and curator Morgan Quaintance joins critic and artist Peter Suchin. They discuss General Idea’s ‘Haute Culture’ exhibition in Paris and Suchin’s ‘Rebel Without a Course’ article on practice-led PhDs, which questions the institutionalisation and professionalisation of artists.

Dave Beech and Larne Abse Gogarty discuss ugliness, in relation to Beech's feature article 'On Ugliness', and Gregory Sholette’s book about guerilla activist art, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture.

Art Monthly Editor Patricia Bickers discusses with Dean Kenning his report on art students’ recent direct-action campaigns, including occupation, teach-ins and protests. The pair also discuss Mike Watson’s polemic (AM342), which advocates that art schools become independent of the university system.

Zoë Shearman discusses the British Art Show 7: ‘In the Days of the Comet’, while Maria Walsh focuses on Berthold Brecht’s influence on artist filmmakers, who, she argues, should explore fiction and narrative rather than pure reflexivity.

Richard Hylton discusses two films by Ruth McClennan and is joined by Sophia Phoca who asks how might artist filmmakers might go about producing their films today when funding bodies are being forced to close and many support structures have disappeared.