No need for artists to be offensive
WHEN does art cease to be art and merely become a tool for provoking offence?
Leeds artist Joe Mawson uses customised toy models to recreate some of the worst tragedies in Britain's recent history.
They include the Selby rail crash which claimed the lives of six passengers and four railway staff in February 2001.
Then there is his restaging of Pan Am Flight 103, which was downed by a bomb in December 1988 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie with the loss of all 259 people on board and another 11 on the ground.
Mawson, who is described as an up-and-coming artist, says his work, which will go on display at Leeds University, draws attention to 'society's need to analyse and find meaning' in such appalling events.
Does it? Or does it merely risk causing fresh heartache to families who lost loved ones in the tragedies?
But then an awful lot of modern art seems to be designed to provoke a reaction – from Tracy Emin's unmade bed to the mural of Myra Hindley made up of children's handprints.
It is misguided to think good art has to cause shock or offence to be deemed a success. After all, events unfolding in the real world are more than capable of doing that.
Welcome back
LEEDS lost a much-loved fixture of its cultural calendar when the open air Shakespeare Festival was axed last year.
So the announcement that it is set to return this summer is great news for its thousands of fans.
Festival organiser Robert J Williamson blamed wrangles to do with costs for last year's cancellation.
Now it is back at Kirkstall Abbey with glamorous former Emmerdale favourite Roxanne Pallett in a starring role.
Surprisingly, even though it attracts around 10,000 people, the Leeds event is still only expected to break even.
Yet because he comes from the city, Robert Williamson is determined for it to become an annual fixture.
Firstly, we sincerely hope that his determination pays off and the festival is now here to stay.
And secondly, isn't it refreshing to find someone motivated by a desire to entertain people rather than simply making a quick buck?
Get walking
DIABETES has been dubbed the Silent Assassin because it can cause heart disease, stroke, amputation, kidney failure and blindness if left undiagnosed.
Not only that, but the condition itself is often left in the shadows by other high-profile causes.
A 7 mile walk at Temple Newsam on April 26 aims to change that and help raise cash for research into treatments and possible cures.
On behalf of those affected by this terrible condition, please sign up and help the fight.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
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