Brick Lane’s midweek melange
Strolling through cosy Clerkenwell with its publishing operations and media village vibe, Bookpacking found ourselves in The City where there was an air of excitement as the suited and booted around the Barbican sensed spring in the air. Jackets were slung over shoulders, and outside tables filled up as the light at the end of the winter tunnel finally became visible.
But there was only one place to be tonight, and that was Brick Lane. Over at Rough Trade*, the legendary (and bilingual Francophile) Marianne Faithful played a free instore gig to mark her new album launch. Further down the lane at Eastside Books a group of budding authors gathered to critique each others’ work, and a few doors up the Brick Lane Gallery was hosting an opening for the Art in Mind show, including contributions from the amusingly-monickered Art Tart.
Title of the night went to an artist called Loz, for his funkily minimalist piece “Man Ray Stops Bullets”. Sometimes artists are loathe to deconstruct their work; because it takes away from the subjective element where we create our own meanings. Or because they just can’t be bothered. Or, for the extremely cynical, because it’d reveal how superficial the ‘concept’ was.
Not Loz though, who happily explained the fairly elementary symbolism, and seemed pleased that someone had shown an interest. Art, like it or not, is a business and a highly competitive one at that; there’s absolutely no getting around it. And in business, marketing is key. So a title that sticks in the mind is a shrewd move on the part of the artist. Like writing, talent is nothing without application. No marketing means no sales and in 2009 the notion of noble poverty ain’t what it used to be.
* if you don’t know the derivation of this name, a quick bit o’ Googling may amuse…