A Modern Nativity

Nine British artists were asked to give a modern interpretation of the familiar Nativity scene. We’ve chosen three of our favourites.

From left to right – Rebecca Warren – Mike Figgis – Mark Wallinger. Click to see a larger photo, click on the back arrow in the browser to get back here.

Full slideshow here – artists-christmas-nativity-scenes

Rebecca Warren

‘Usually I use existing pictures of cats from various sources in my work. This time, I have used a picture of a turkey family (by David Guralnick) that I found on a turkey website’ Photograph: David Guralnick

Mike Figgis

‘These are traditional Moroccan toy figures that I saw in a market in Marrakech. The Father Christmas one caught my eye – the stall was obviously catering to the western market – so I asked the stallholder if I could borrow some figures to make my scene. I took lots of photgraphs and then Photoshopped them together. The figures are made from a strange material a bit like leather, and some of them have no faces – which makes them look eerie, a bit like Darth Vader. I drew faces on Mary and Joseph to make them look more friendly. I had to make the baby Jesus myself out of toilet paper, gift-wrap and the string from a bar of hotel-room soap’. Photograph: Michael Figgis

Mark Wallinger

‘This image is taken from a proposal I made for a nativity at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, London. I didn’t get the commission, but my plan was to install an empty crib in Trafalgar Square over the month of December, and employ 24-hour security to watch over it. The shop-bought crib is a familiar object that betokens thousands of everyday miracles. Employing security for an object that costs only £70 suggests a greater worth. The three guards remind us of the three men from the east, who wait in readiness for the arrival or return of the Messiah – and of the threat posed by Herod in the story. The vulnerability of the naked crib represents both hope and belief, and the fragility of that hope and belief in the modern world. Positioning the crib at the very centre of a great city heightens the sense that we are a world away from the bucolic scene fondly represented in the nativity down the years’. Photograph: Richard Cannon

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Strange Random Christmas Quote:

Nothing’s as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. Kin Hubbard

“It’s a Wonderful Life” – revisited

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, it’s that time of year when we all wonder how many times we’ve seen “It’s a Wonderful Life“, before sitting down to watch it another time or two or three … So this year, we’d like to suggest an alternative. How many mistakes (factual or  of continuity) can you find? To get you started, the site moviemistakes.com has  a list of about 20, including a “magic queue” scene:

Continuity: When Uncle Billy sees Potter in the bank, he walks to the teller window and there’s no line, but a second later there’s a line of a dozen or more people behind him.

There are many other films mentioned at the site, so have a look around and enjoy this year’s movies in a different way!

Strange Random Christmas Quote:

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin. Jay Leno

A William Carlos Williams poem

William Carlos Williams via last.fm

Tribute to William Carlos Williams poem template – ETTC website – Our previous efforts are here – here -  and here

This is just to say
I have eaten the chocolate cake
that was on
the kitchen table

and which
you were probably saving
for the party

Forgive me
it was delicious
so dark
and so filling

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What we learned today:

Image via Wikipedia

“This Is Just To Say” (1934) is a famous imagist poem by William Carlos Williams.

Williams was apparently a well-respected GP (family doctor) before becoming a writer and was friend of artists such as Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp – his work was later quoted as an inspiration for Allen Ginsberg and other poets and writers of the Beat Generation. Interesting stuff!

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I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

—————–

Strange Random Christmas Quote:
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. Richard Lamm

Bill Plympton adverts and videoclip

Image via Wikipedia

You probably know by now that we like animation. And maybe you guessed that we’re also quite fond of adverts (good ones and in moderation). We found these examples from the occasionally wild and surreal (but always interesting) American animator Bill Plympton. There are adverts for Trivial Pursuit Card sets and Geico Insurance, plus a video made for  the song “Don’t Download this Song“, by the modern master of parody songs, “Weird Al” Yankovic. Also recommended is a visit to Plympton’s website Plymptoons and a search around YouTube for the many other Weird Al videos available.

Strange Random Language Fact:

Karaoke means ‘empty orchestra’ in Japanese.

A walk with Sherlock Holmes

From Westminster Tube (Underground) station, along the bank of the Thames, via Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Scotland Yard (of course) to the Sherlock Holmes pub in Northumberland Street, follow the world’s favourite detective and hear clips from the new movie coming this Christmas.

You can find everything you need on this page.

If you’re in London or going there, you can download a zip (compressed) file with the full audiowalk in mp3 format, ready to copy to your portable player. You can also find a map in pdf to make it easier to get around.

Most of us, though, will no doubt prefer the 4-part slide-show option, allowing you to watch and listen to the walk at the same time, without getting tired or cold! The whole tour takes about 1 hour and you could also win a Sony Handycam if you find the five special numbers hidden in the tour!

If you’re the kind of person who likes a real mystery, try the online game 221B. You can play as Holmes or Watson, with or without a partner, but you will need an account with Facebook to take part.

Image via Wikipedia

Finally, some useful links:

The Sherlock Holmes Pub

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

Famous quotes from the Sherlock Holmes stories

Strange Random Language Fact:
The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is a pangram, which is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet.