Here is a turn of events so bizarrely self-referential and circular as to threaten to open up a trans-dimensional cultural vortex that will suck in the Tate and Wieden + Kennedy. Apparently, Turner prize contender artist Mark Leckey's award submission is a video that includes a substantial proportion of our Honda 'Cog' advertisement. I should confess at this point that I haven't actually seen the piece, which is currently at The Tate. If any readers have, I'd love to hear about it.

Mark Leckey's 'Felix gets broadcasted'

'Mark Leckey, 44, the bookmakers' favourite, submitted two video
exhibits, featuring Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson and a Honda car
commercial', says The Mail, in a fairly predictable 'isn't modern art rubbish?' article.

The Guardian, on the other hand, says that the Turner prize should go to Leckey: 'Mark Leckey's eclectic assemblages of popular culture are captivating, and he's the only artist on the Turner shortlist who's really distinctive.'

A Honda advert.

It's a funny old world. There was a controversy amongst the chattering classes of advertising (yes, alright, that's pretty much the definition of a storm in a teacup) that surrounded the Honda 'Cog' ad when it launched, owing to its alleged resemblance to a video piece by Swiss artists Fischli and Weiss. Also allegedly, this alleged resemblance led to  'Cog' being allegedly denied the Grand Prix by judges at the Cannes Advertising Festival. Not to worry, 'Cog' won a ton of silly awards anyway.

Funnily enough, there doesn't seem to be much outcry in art circles about Leckey recycling the ad for his art piece. Will anyone lobby the Turner prize judges to block the award for Leckey the way the Cannes judges (allegedly) did for W+K? I hope not. But wouldn't it be funny if someone found a reason to make an ad based on Leckey's installation? Or is that just too much like the plot for an episode of the Twilight Zone?

You're traveling through another dimension — a dimension not only of sight and
sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of
imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone! (Do-de-doodoo, do-de-doodoo, etc.

Well, the sulphur smell I mentioned in my last post makes sense with the acid rain they have here. "Acid rain is sulphur and nitrogen compounds which react in the atmosphere to produce acids."  At Scott's BBQ when it began raining everyone moved inside extremely fast… As if they may melt away.

It's crab season here, so Liana is steaming crabs tonight, and yesterday I went for lunch with some wk'ers and had snails and frogs. Mmmmmmm. Like Paris.