Uninhabited London
6 Jun 2014 1:00 pm | Studio | The ICA, The Mall, London SW1 Writer and novelist Michael Bracewell talks about aspects of arts publishing, with reference to the subcultures and Style press of the 1980s. “Style culture had created a world I didn’t have a role in. I never went to clubs, I wasn’t […]
Under Demolition
It’s funny to think about the difference between London back then and the way it is now. There were plenty of things going on, but you would struggle to find more than two or three of any interest at one time. They would also be localised. The West End and Soho was the hub of most things, the occasional gig forcing you further afield – The Rainbow in Finsbury Park, The Nashville in West Ken, or Dingwalls in Camden Town. The number of pubs worth visiting could be counted on one hand, and while we all drank, there wasn’t the drinking culture that exists today. Warehouse parties were starting to take off, largely because of the lack of venues, but within months the police became wise to them, and more often than not, a night would be ruined by an unexpected raid.
Simon Fellowes on Seventies Covent Garden as Downtown.
Momus and his Writerly Self
I’m in a small town in Sweden right now, and today I went to an outlet store in an industrial park and saw basic garments covered in American flags and placenames. My first thought was: “Could I cut these flags off?” But why actually sew an American flag onto a pair of mass-market tracksuit pants made in China and sold in Sweden? Why can’t I buy some pants without also buying the idea of America? And who is selling me America, if the pants are actually made in Tajikistan and Bangladesh? Then I saw cheap paperback translations of American mass-market novels at the local supermarket, and even big American cars on the roads….At the same time, Sweden has something like IKEA, which represents a non-American global-imperialist success story.
Writer Adam Novy interviews Momus about his recently published title from Penny-Ante, unAmerica.