A GI Tract

Get some art, music and films down yer gullet.

First things first, I am very pleased with this mildly niche joke I made up

‘I picked up a zine at the Glasgow International Festival, it was a GI Tract’.

So pleased that I made it the title of this week’s post. And repeated it just there. Someone please give me recognition for it.

This week I made a point of going to see some art. I like looking at art. A friend at university once told me that her and her (then boyfriend, now) husband had been talking, and had decided that beauty and art are the point of life. (Hands up who misses being stupidly young and having those sorts of ridiculous conversations?)

Is that preposterous? I’m not sure, but this has clearly stayed with me, and I think I broadly agree.

Here is a list of things I saw with a one line review/response. I wish I had seen more things!

Keith Haring at the Modern Institute: Like looking at graffiti in New York in the best possible way.

Obstruction: This exhibition is just a closed graveyard, included to make a point about Glasgow obscuring the fact it was built on enslavement. I approve of this instinctively as a leftist, but the lack of a sign or anything at the site is a bit annoying. Please correct me if I missed something.

Offerings for Escalante: I liked the patterns made by spinning onion skins and decomposition the best.

Arctic Swell – a Simple Melody: Soothing but also chilling.

Farang: Immigration, telephone lines, analogue video, Iran, good use of speaker placement.

Peace Arbor: Nice garden where you can write a wish, and then Yoko Ono is going to do something with your wish? I hope mine comes true.

In other news my reading streak has continued - this week I finished Jen Stout’s ‘Night Train to Odessa’.

I thought this was brilliant, full of hope, humanity and warmth despite the subject matter. Jen weaves personal stories with detailed, lyrical descriptions of a country she clearly has a deep affinity for. I think it’s quite a special book, I devoured it but also had to take breaks reading it to absorb it.

I remember being in the pub with Jen between two of her trips to Ukraine. It seemed like madness to me, going to a warzone by yourself. I know people do things like this, but - other people, people I don’t know. Not people I end up in the Lauriston with on a week night. I was, and remain, a little bit in awe of Jen’s bravery. Reading Night Train I finally understood why she was so compelled to do something that seems so dangerous to me. It’s a stunning important book. You should read it.

Films

I saw The Fall Guy and the new Furiosa film. Can heartily recommend both if you want to switch your brain off and watch some explosions.

Music

CSS played at Drygate and it was a party. Great gig, impeccable atmosphere. Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above is still a total banger.

That’s all folks, see you next week!