The Critical Commentator

                                                     Mindfulness Meditation, Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) (after)  Photo Credit: Nottingham City Museums [CC BY-NC]  My wife is dead spiritual. For a date night she said we should do some mindfulness. I asked: what did that involve? She said we need to sit together for half an hour in silence. I asked, isn’t that what we normally do anyway? (Tony Vino, The Observer, 10.2.2019) People Faces , Madge Gill (1882-1961)  Photo Credit: London Borough of Newham [CC BY] Rafi Anteby is a martial arts expert who has worked with celebrities suffering from anxiety and insists that the products he has on offer are answering a genuine need. “Serenity breaks” range from spa holidays at Bali’s Royal Purnama hotel – where stressed out celebrities can be covered in heali...

                                                                                      Davos Justice and Peace , Hendrick van Balen (1573-1632) Photo Credit: Glasgow Museums [CC BY-NC-ND] “A family reunion for the people who broke the world.” (Anand Giridharadas, journalist and author) “I hear people talking about the language of participation, justice, equality and transparency but no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance and of the rich just not paying their fair share.” (Dutch historian Rutger Bregman speaking at Davos 2019. (The Observer, 2019) Teeth Whitening Products                        ...

                                              The Royals Greek Icon (left wing) , Greek (Western Islands) School Photo Credit:The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford [CC BY-NC] Prince Philip drives again 48 hours after having been involved in a car crash with members of the general public. We know this because police have had words with him after he was seen driving without a seat belt. What was he trying to do? Anthony Spiro, in a letter to the Times, 21.1.2019, had a suggestion.    Sir, The nation owes the duke a debt of gratitude for his valiant attempts to change the news agenda. Three weeks later and the prince voluntarily surrendered his driving licence. Will he be prosecuted for careless driving? What do you think? A few days later, on the 14.2.2019: The Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to pr...

                                                     People Adam naming the Beasts William Blake (1757-1827) Photo Credit: Glasgow Museums [CC BY-NC-ND] (The Times, Births, Marriages and Deaths.) De Piro O’Connell. On 11 th of January 2019 to Katsiaryna (nee Kavelich) and James, a daughter, Alexandra Eirene, sister to Minnie and Falafel, Labna and Bimbi, Othello and Ambrym. Surely a coded message? The Serious Fraud Office Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban . unknown artist Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery, London [CC BY-NC-ND] The Serious Fraud Office has abandoned two of its largest investigations in a decision called “extraordinary” by one city lawyer. The SFO dropped a six-year inquiry into alleged bribery and corruption by individuals associated with Rolls Royce, as well as a five year enquiry into allege...

                                                                                          Art Palm Trees at Le Cannet , Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-ND] An exhibition of paintings by Pierre Bonnard, (1867 – 1947) the French post-impressionist, went on view at the Tate Modern in January. It was sponsored by a Hong Kong property company whose VIP guests attended a preview. One was heard asking a curator if she could meet the artist. Mental Health Hard Times , Herbert von Herkomer (1849-1914) Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-ND] Students get bubble wrap to ease stress.  A report in the Times, 21.1.2019, outlined the measures that Bristol University was taking in order that the...

                                              Environmental Issues Threatening Weather , James Charles (1851-1906) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] Was climate change on the agenda at Davos, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting? How many private jets took these people to Switzerland?   How did the prince and David Attenborough get there? According to Libby Purves, in The Times, 25.2.2019, the number of private flights was 1,500. Elon Musk whose company Tesla wants to, “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” and who once described fossil fuels as, “the dumbest experiment in human history,” appears to have no qualms about how his corporate jet is used. It flew over 150,000 miles last year – 6 times around the world. What for? Amongst other things: 1. Data shows the jet flew from one part of Los Angeles to another to spare Mr Musk from tr...

                                              Food and Lifestyle Not Guilty (The Acquittal) Abraham Solomon (1824-1862) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] “In 2019 it is possible to construct entire lifestyles – entire identities – around the stuff we eat. You might think: “That’s not me! I don’t do that!” But the truth is that, to one degree or another, you probably do. Everyone does. From part-time vegans to kimchi fetishists to politicians who think that a trip to Nando’s is their “Ich bin ein Berliner” moment, we’re all guilty. The question is how guilty? What are the hot culinary talking points of 2019 and what do they say about you? Let’s find out.” Performative Nando’s appreciation. I’ve never been to Nando’s. I rarely eat red meat these days’ men. I eat red meat at least three days a week. Meghan’s hand-crafted, gluten free Laduree macaron pyramids...

                                                          Les Gilets Jaunes La Pierre d'Avignon, Le Lavando, Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944), Manchester Art Gallery The gilets jaunes include people at the bottom of society, the unemployed, the marginalised but more typically they are people who are above the bottom but think they should be doing better. They are people with low paid jobs or pensioners or artisans or small business people or technicians or people at the lower level of the caring professions. This mixture of supporters explains in part the heterogenous character and demands of the movement which point left and right…There is no coherent ideology, even a refusal of ideology. The words you hear most are mépris and ras le bol. Mépris means contempt. Gilets jaunes are convinced or have been convinced that the little or mi...

                                                          Wellness Returning Health, Thomas Falcon Marshall (1818-1878) Photo Credit: Worthing Museum and Art Gallery [CC BY-ND] I am thinking of giving up writing about clothes and catwalk shows and reviewing bra tops and yoga classes instead. …It’s time for me to jump ship because wellness is killing fashion…Stuff though – that’s the problem. Fashion is stuff and stuff is, like, so twentieth century. No one wants stuff anymore. We want glowing skin and a 110-minute half marathon time and inner peace and Michelin-starred kombucha instead. That’s what aspirational looks like in 2019. Wellness does exactly what fashion used to do, which is sell you a dream version of you, only it’s better for you and doesn’t create landfill. Game over. The cannibalisation of fashion by wellness beg...