Sk-etchbook

This week I have been mostly reading The Economist and Computer Arts.
Yes, in the name of broadening my horizons I purchased a copy of The Economist to keep me entertained on my train journey to London this weekend. I must admit that I did actually want to read the cover story about the discoveries linking cancer and stem cells but it's definitely a break from the norm for me. It was actually a good read. I did struggle through the world politics section but apart from that it did contain quite a bit of thought provoking topics. There was a section covering the LHC experiment which like the majority was written in a factual, well informed manner that was consistently versed and had a professional yet not too cold syntax.
It was also interesting examining the magazine as a whole, noting the choices of, images, layout, copy and even the choice of articles. It is pretty obvious once you have learned a little about design to see why choices have been made and what type of person they aim to appeal to.

There was a section covering the arts. The most relevant story to this course was probably a section covering Damien Hurst's latest move. He has now decided to cut out the dealers and take his works directly to auction, there's 200 plus pieces going under the hammer. Personally I don't rate the majority of Damien's work, I don't think it's very insightful or revolutionary and the sheer simplicity does take the piss out of the art community. In an interview he even said he now sees himself as a brand, he no longer produces the works himself and has production lines. Still in contrast he is a good business man and even if he does come across as greedy I can't blame him for taking money from those rich and stupid enough.