Sam Gonçalves DJCAD Masters Show, 2016 At our current juncture in the history of Dundee, we would seem to be on the cusp of something special with the V&A museum, which has already precipitated a wash of investment and improvement to the waterfront. Sam Gonçalves’ film is a timely investigation into the longevity, and afterlife, Read More
LifeSpace: Science Art Research Gallery University of Dundee 29 September- 26 November Artists and scientists join forces in an exciting exhibition of six animations exploring the science of genetics, cell biology, immunology and epidemiology. Do not worry if those words go over your head; the exhibition is highly engaging to the lay viewer and is Read More
Paul Beatty (Oneworld, 2016); pbk, £12.99 Paul Beatty’s latest work, Man-Booker Prize 2016 shortlister, The Sellout, is a novel about town planning. Not, perhaps, the stuff of what the New York Times has called “the most badass” American novel in years but, as Beatty’s vivid depictions of L.A. and Washington show, appearances can be deceiving. Read More
Claire McLaughlin (Survivor’s Press, 2014); pbk, £10 In this her first collection, Claire McLaughlin penetrates the “misty blankness” of vision emerging into the vivid, sensory realm of memory. Blinded by a degenerative retina disease, her poems demonstrate the importance of memory when living without vision. McLaughlin’s account is so intense in its imagery, so arousing Read More
A.L. Kennedy (Jonathan Cape, 2016); hbk. £17.99 Dundee-born A.L. Kennedy needs no introduction, being extensively published in fiction, no slouch in non-fiction, and a respected commentator in various media. She sidelines as an acerbic stand-up comedian; all these abilities and honed forms of observation feed Serious Sweet. At the time of reviewing, this book has Read More
You sink in wheat. Slowly. And the more you struggle the worse it gets. So warns the title poem of John Kinsella’s recent selected works. Children “on every farm” across Australia have been issued this warning, alert even “in the midst of play” to the “acrid / chemical smell / of treated wheat”, and the Read More
(USA, 2016) 19th August – 25th August, DCA David Ayer, director of Training Day and Fury, makes his debut in the DC Comics cinematic universe with the anarchic and crazed Suicide Squad, derived from the fairly recent comic (1987) of the same name by John Ostrander which drew great acclaim and success. Suicide Squad consists Read More
(USA, 2016) 15th -17th September, DCA As I walked into the cinema, the first thing that struck me was the wide range of ages that were present, all eagerly waiting to see the new Beatles documentary. Even after fifty years, four working-class lads from Liverpool prove just as important and have retained the ability Read More
(Japan, 2004) 3rd July 2016, DCA Hayao Miyazaki once again produced greatness in 2004 with Howl’s Moving Castle, following on from his previous successes My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away. Taking inspiration from Diana Wynne Jones’ eponymous novel of 1986, Miyazaki tells yet another tale of an unlikely hero; when young, hard-working Sophie has a Read More