Infinitely Amplified New York-born video artist Tony Oursler explores his medium through installation, creating video environments that are not only surreal and playful but more than a little unsettling. His new installation, Tony Oursler involves the newly patented High Definition Volumetric Display technology to create an environment in which both real objects and digital video images seem to float in midair. Faces, nude human figures and glass devils enter and leave our field of vision or appear to twist and move in space, in a project designed to explore the outer limits of our notion of ‘virtual.’
Aug
27
Le Pain Quotidien
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Situated in the heart of the city centre, this new eatery has quickly become popular with office-workers and shoppers alike. Apart from operating an enviable take-away service, Le Pain Quotidien offers a good continental breakfast, a pleasingly demanding weekend brunch menu and desserts, from brownies to panna cotta. Judging by the numbers, most punters wisely opt for one of the lunchtime specials – excellent salads with mineral water and freshly baked bread thrown into the bargain. Surroundings are slick but not off-putting.
Aug
13
Billa
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Venice wouldn’t look the same without its yellow plastic bags. The only real supermarket in town, Billa is a lifeline for Venetians and tourists alike. Open until late and also on Sundays, it is also one of the cheapest places for fruit and vegetables. A good ham and cheese counter with staff who speak English, it also stocks such home-from-home delicacies as peanut butter and Weetabix. Tucked away at the end of the Zattere fondamenta, it is handily positioned next to a large post office and ten yards from the nearest vaporetto stop. Just remember your L.500 for the trolley…
Jul
29
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Roald Dahl’s classic tale of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory performed by Faust International Youth Theatre promises to be a delicious treat. Join Charlie Bucket and the four spoilt brats who tour the factory meeting a variety of grim ends. This Richard George-adaptation is filled with music, song and dance and features more than 60 children aged between 5 and 14. Faust Theatre only set up a year ago but has grown into a respected youth group with more than 120 young thespians in its ranks.
Jul
26
A T. Rex Named Sue
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Jurassic Park must have been every natural history museum’s dream, creating a huge market for all things ‘dinosaur’. The traveling exhibition ‘A T. Rex Named Sue’ opens at Boston’s Museum of Science before embarking on an 18-city tour of the US. It features an up-close look at a replica of T Rex Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered. The exhibition also tells the story of Sue’s discovery and assembly.
Jul
08
Perseus
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Benvenuto Cellini’s superb bronze statue of Perseus has always been the most important piece of sculpture to be sheltered in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza Signoria. Sadly, he has been hidden away in the depths of the Uffizi gallery undergoing extensive restoration for three and a half years. Now, the life-sized statue, a mannerist masterpiece that took Cellini ten years to complete, is back in its rightful place under the Loggia for all to see whenever they wish.
Jun
10
Toko-Ri
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One of Vienna’s most consistently reliable sushi houses has opened a new city centre branch. More high-tech stylish than their first restaurant, the latest Toko-Ri offers the same superb suchi and sashimi that originally made their name but with the addition of a teppanyaki bar seating 12. Diners can also choose between booths or the bizarre main bar – an aquarium filled with slightly grotesque tropical fish. Toko-Ri is conveniently situated for those on a tour of the Bermuda Triangle end of Vienna’s first district.
Jun
01
Francis Bacon In Dublin
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Curated by leading Bacon authority David Sylvester, this exhibition at Hugh Lane is the first major showing of the artist’s work recovered from his studio. It illustrates the close correspondence between Bacon’s source material and his finished works. The exhibition also includes nine works from the Francis Bacon Estate, seven of which were recently rediscovered in storage. ‘Francis Bacon in Dublin’ traces the development of of his artistic career from early works, after he left Ireland in the late-1920s, to his monumental portraits of the 1980s.
