Absolutely jammed. Visitors from all over the world. Sales pinging.
London will not be beaten
Not my thing (Frieze) , but the resurrection of arts etc in London is most welcome. I wonder to what extent the spring (morphically) will visit those areas that have become really dead. Great to wave the London flag even if it looks like Boris on a highwire.
The Remoaners all said that the London art market would decamp en masse to Paris when Brexit happened. And a couple of galleries did open Paris branches.
But there has been no exodus, at all. The share of the global art market in each city has remained the same, London has 20%, Paris has 7%. There is no comparison.
It is possible London will actually grow relative to Paris as Brexit is offering big tax advantages to dealers, even as it complicates the movement of art between the EU and UK
And the obvious pzazz and va-va-voom of this year's Frieze shows that London is definitely roaring back
Well that's encouraging. The event itself and the whole art scene is small potatoes, but if it's indicative of the big picture then that's great.
I firmly believe it is indicative. The art scene is a bellwether for wider cultural/societal/economic changes
My feeling now is that the death of big cities has been wildly exaggerated. People want to crowd together and gossip and drink and flirt and fuck with other people, new people, exciting people, young people, weird people. You can only do this in cities, and you can only do it brilliantly and extravagantly in great world cities like London
So the really big cities will be fine. Post pandemic changes will probably hit smaller cities more severely
Specific to London, the menace of Brexit is also exaggerated. London has a critical mass, and a fundamental attraction: English language, time zone, common law, accumulated wealth, the City, the West End, the culture, and so on, and so forth.
It will take some knocks from Brexit, but there will also be new opportunities, which is exactly what was predicted by non-hysterical Leavers, and is exactly what is already happening in the art market: Brexit makes it hassly for EU dealers to come to London, with their work, BUT it also makes the London art market potentially more flexible on tax, which could be pretty attractive
Incidentally, there is a threat to London as a global art capital, but it is from Hong Kong, not anywhere in the EU.
Hong Kong has eaten up a lot of the business once done in London and NYC, whether that will continue no one knows. Beijing is not helping its own cause. And at the London auctions this week there was, apparently, a notable presence of Asian buyers, spending more than anyone else. So that threat may also prove temporary, or a new equlibirium will be reached where there are three major art centres: NYC, London, Hong Kong
Finally, some of the best art at Frieze this year is Korean. What is this weird cultural explosion they are having?
First they took over pop music, now they are doing TV, next contemporary art?!
There are a couple of points here: I think there are promising signs, but it is too early to declare that Brexit has not had an impact on the cultural scene in London. The pandemic, in combination with the very gradual introduction of restrictions on migration, mean that much has effectively been frozen in place, and what we are seeing now is effectively a release of pent up energy.
Secondly, I think that cities of whatever size have a lot going for them. The idea that you can live your life going from place to place within 15 minutes on foot, bike or public transport is very attractive. You have access to more social, cultural, leisure opportunities and can get more done in your day. In many ways this is more true in more compact second and third tier cities than London. It is easy to understand the appeal of somewhere like Brighton for this reason, but I was overhearing that the property market is booming in Sheffield, hipsters buying up run down terraces in long neglected areas close to the city centre.
The way this is all playing out supports my longstanding view that it is the overpriced car dependent dormitory suburbs of the south east that are going to be fucked after Covid.
I think that one of the great paradoxes of Brexit will be increasing the cultural space between Leaverstan and Remania.
The places that will thrive in the new arrangement will be led by the dynamics of the cutting edge in metropolitan salons, not workings men's clubs in small coalfield towns.
The small coalfield towns now have craft bars and trendy coffee shops to go with their new housing estates.
You really need to stop wallowing in the imagery of the past.
You haven’t been to Spennymoor or Ferryhill or Ushaw Moor recently.
Although granted there is both a Costa and Starbucks drive through at Durham Gate
The world's climate is fucked. I hate these fossil fuel bastards so much. They will destroy the only planet we have.
What, like Alderan in Star Wars? Or do you mean the planet will become uninhabitable if the temperature rises a few more degrees, despite the fact that we live from the Sahara to arctic?
And under water. Moron.
Except it won't. Moron.
Bits of it will be but only a fraction more than already is. And will be again in the future no matter what we do about CO2.
The under water thing is interesting. I studied Earth Science back in the early 80s and we were told to expect significant eustatic sea level rises in the following decade. Most of the examples given by journalists are actually isostatic (localised) changes, not due to global sea level rises but local geological movement (eg southern Egland)
I think there is pretty clear evidence of some eustatic changes these days. It is no where near as bad as was predicted but it is there and there is nothing to say it won't increase in rate as things get warmer.
The problem we have - which is what I was referring to in my snapped reply to IshmaelZ - is that even if we do all the net zero stuff and stop any man made influence on the climate it probably won't make a blind bit of difference. Natural variation will result in much higher sea levels and we have put ourselves in the very poor position of having 10% of the world's population living within 10m of sealevel and almost half living within 30m. When sealevels rise - as they inevitably will - those people are screwed.
Of course England, just like poor old New Orleans, has the additional problem of isostatic change so they are sinking even if sealevel doesn't change. Malc will be okay though up in Scotland.
I have spent the day teaching the evidence for climate change in the geological record to leaders of the branches of the Young Archaeologist Club from across England so this is all nice and fresh in my mind.
A bonus at last for living here , though I may not be around by then.
Come-on Malc living in Scotland puts you in one of the very special places in the world. Think of all the real drab shit-holes there across the world and be happy.
PS hope Mrs G is feeling better soon.
As a fellow Ayrshireman, Malc and I have plenty of shit-holes to share. Go onto street view and take a virtual drive through Stevenston, Muirkirk or New Cumnock.
"Alex Scott in tears as she learns her ancestor owned 26 slaves on Who Do You Think You Are?
Alex Scott becomes emotional on Who Do You Think You Are? when she learns her great grandfather owned 26 slaves. The BBC pundit, 37, is horrified to find her 4x great grandfather Robert Francis Coombs was a slave owner with over two dozen people captive at his huge property in Jamaica."
The world's climate is fucked. I hate these fossil fuel bastards so much. They will destroy the only planet we have.
What, like Alderan in Star Wars? Or do you mean the planet will become uninhabitable if the temperature rises a few more degrees, despite the fact that we live from the Sahara to arctic?
And under water. Moron.
I assume you consider Waterworld a documentary? Seriously, I’m not a moron. I work in science and have read widely on the area of climate change. Claims of the destruction of the planet deserve to be ridiculed. We should do all we can to preserve the ecosystems and flora and fauna of the world, without resorting to stupid hyperbole.
I'm guessing you don't work very hard in science if you think Hey, we live in really hot and cold places already is a serious argument. No, waterworld is not a documentary, and the hundreds of millions of people who are going to have their lives disrupted by rising sea levels are mainly brown and foreign, so your joke is especially apposite and amusing.
I know it’s pointless engaging. We will adapt. I despair of the nihilistic end of days perversion that has enveloped too much of climate science, even if it is mainly the reporting. I bit on your comment, because, no, the world isn’t going to be destroyed. But as others have said, I think you don’t want a sensible debate, just to get reactions. I’m happy with my contribution to science. I’ve devoted my life to it, accepting that it would pay far less than I could earn elsewhere. I don’t regret that. I help train the next generation of pharmacists and chemists. I hope you have something you enjoy in your life, that isn’t trying to get a rise out of anonymously folk on pb.
Well, which of us is making debate impossible? How do you expect me to engage seriously with you if make these baseless "only want to get a rise" accusations? Your initial "we live in the Sahara and the Arctic anyway" point was, as I am sure you will on reflection agree, embarrassingly stupid. When you say We will adapt, how do you know? What is to say that actually this is too difficult, and we won't? As to your dedication to science, it is really quite hard to gauge the relevance of that. For all I know you are in the position of a one legged man who has devoted his life to a career in bum kicking. Happy to be corrected of course
Debate is never impossible on PB. That’s why we’re here.
The world's climate is fucked. I hate these fossil fuel bastards so much. They will destroy the only planet we have.
Remember this?
"Arctic summer ice may be gone in five years, Al Gore warns Monday December 14 2009, 5.22pm, The Times
The Arctic polar ice cap could disappear entirely in the summer months in as little as five years, Al Gore, the former American Vice-President, said today. Mr Gore was the star draw at a Copenhagen summit side event during which Scandinavian scientists delivered a grim update on the state of the Greenland ice sheet and its potential to contribute to rising sea levels over the coming century."
The arctic polar ice cap has lasted longer than Al Gore. When I was studying for my degree (BSc Open Natural Sciences with Earth Sciences), Al Gore was our set book. Not sure it was totally unbiased.
Good evening everyone. Lovely day today. In Manchester this morning: was struck by the behaviour of people. I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do - they're really saying "We're not going to be cowed by scaremongerers in the public health lobby into living like recluses any more." People basically back to behaving like it was 2019. Then went for a walk with my Dad in the afternoon. Five mile round trip in the hills of the Forest of Bowland. You know all those hills you look at on your right as you're going up to the Lake District, vaguely thinking 'they look nice', but no more than that because you're going somewhere bigger and better? Those. They are well worth a visit. From the top of Clougha Pike you get a superb vista across almost all of Lancashire, over to the Lake District, Morecambe Bay, the Irish Sea, Blackpool... while behind you are the peaks of the Yorkshire Dales. We got to Clougha Pike about 5.45, just as the sun was starting to set. A little cloudy for a perfect sunset - just the hint of a massive red Orb poking through - but I wouldn't be surprised if, on a clear day, this is the finest sunset in England. Anyway, 5 miles and 800 feet of ascent - not a massive walk, but my Dad is 74 - I'll be very happy if I'm still doing those sorts of walks at 74.
What an uplifting post! Thank you Mr Cookie! I still miss my Dad. I don’t think many people truly appreciate the bond between Dads and sons - including Dads and sons - until it’s too late. 😢
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Although granted there is both a Costa and Starbucks drive through at Durham Gate