#simon rees

9 November 2015 | Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is greeted by Director of Govett-Brewster Gallery and Len Lye Centre, Simon Rees, during a visit to the Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, New Zealand. The Royal couple are on a 12-day tour visiting seven regions in New Zealand and three states and one territory in Australia. (c) Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Rhondda  |  by simon rees

Porthcawl Lighthouse  |  by simon rees

Llantrisant Woods |  by Simon Rees

Simon visited apexart from Vilnius, Lithuania, from June 17- July 16, 2008. He was recommended by Egle Rakauskaite, an artist in Vilnius, Lithuania. Visit his Resident Page for more information.

Sam Shepard's "Kicking a dead horse" Public Theater, New York July 8, 2008 The title of this one act one hander - starring Irish actor Stephen Rea - describes the play's central conceit. Cowboy stuck in the desert because his horse died. Just like one kicks a car tire when it goes flat - with a tide of expletives - so one, apparently, kicks the carcass of one's not-so-trusty-steed. Apparently the over-eager and out-of-practice cowpoke fed him a bag of oats at the outset - one of which killed hi. (Proof for the bacon and egg and flapjack eaters out there that Quakers can kill you). Our hero is out of practice because he spent the last 20 years of his life as a successful dealer of 'fine American art'. Meaning that in his youth when he was a drifter and ranch hand he bought grease and smoke stained Remingtons off the walls of great plains saloons for twenty bucks a pop - then flogged them for the hundreds of thousands and millions they were worth. His internal ructions remind us that artifacts should be let lie in their natural habitat - they breathe there - as its the museification (or domestication) that kills them. In the end this keenness of eye and cynicism towards his corporeal heritage - the place his bones were cast - has made him nauseous. He is sick of himself. And like the dudes in the "City Slickers" films has headed back to the frontier to find himself. Too little too late. His is a Beckettian fate. Doomed to die with his horse after a brief battle with the elements and his schizoid self. The cowboy talks to his self. One half art dealer and the other half wannabe cowboy. He is two types of men: equally an anti-hero of the new and old American frontier. Remember there is a statue of a bull in front of the NYSE on Wall Street - waiting to be lassoed. (Maybe Trump has gone whackily bald from wearing a cowboy hat when he sleeps - any old timer will tell you that the wearing of a hat will do it to you). The Beckett like structure and theme of the play - it is every bit a "Krapp's Last Tape or "Endgame" - is one explanation for the casting of an Irishman in the lead. There is also the practical purpose of this being a co-production with the Abbey Theatre, Dublin where the play will travel at the end of the New York run. Moreover, Rea and Shepard have worked together before. I suspect the casting is, however, a metaphysical faint on behalf of Shepard - to remind us that Americans have lost site of the frontier as both a romantic spectacle and the site of their nation's greatest shame. Nobody wants to consider the legend and reality of blood-in-the-soil: one of the cowboys outbursts expurgates the massacres of Indians and bison by the settlers). This is the dark heart that Clint Eastwood constantly mines in his greatest films: we are war mongers now because we were murderers ever. And it takes a 'man alone' to confront these mysteries. The man alone, romantic outsider, and seer are still embedded in the Irish imaginary - even if they are lost in America. And the promise of America, the savior of many a potato famine andf land clearing refugee, still plays large in the Irish collective unconscious. I suspect it is for these reasons that Shepard has cast a foreigner (and for that matter why he lives in the mid-West and not at the coasts) as the true American has gone AWOL.

On the whole food in New York is better than that in Europe and Great Britain. The reason is that Asian food (I use that term advisedly) actually tastes like Asian food: and is plentifully available. Asian basically means "Chinese" in Europe with a smattering of Japanese. In Europe Asian food is a pale version of itself; and blandized for the European palate. Spice is anathema in much of Euro-land - despite the legend of Marco Polo and the Portuguese/Indian spice routes. The exception for quality is eating Indian/Pakistani/Sri Lankan food in London. Heading south to Croydon for Sri Lankan is my particular favorite. Another reason for this is that Asian greens obviously grow here in abundance - in Europe nobody has tried to cultivate them for the sake of making a proper meal. No bok choi, choi sum, pak choi, brocoli, or watercress. (That said, the greens taste a little bitter in the US which i suspect is from chemicals). So it has been a treat eating them in quantity. One should also remember that great swathes of Europe do not have a coast - and those with access to the Baltic Sea (where I live) fare no better as it is fished out except in its northern reaches near Finland. So seafood is also Three recommendations in order of goodness: Nyonya, Malaysian 194 Grand Street in Chinatown. Go traditional: roti chennai, fish head curries, nasi lemak, beef rendang, and young tofu with okra and egg plant. Really a taste of Malaysian (a melting pot of Thai, malay, indian, and Indonesian - the principal flavors are coconut, tamarind, lime, tomato broth, red Assam curry). Kum Gang San, Korean bbq 49 west 32nd street in Korea Town Generous amounts - with pickles that keep flowing. Korean is all about the small side dishes that are happily topped up upon request. kim chi till you burst Hangawi, vegetarian Korean 12 East 32nd Street, Korea town This is for those of you wanting one of those "New York Magazine" and "Zagat" fixes. It has zen interiors with low tables and cushions and 'traditional' interiors and the likes. an waiters in 'Shanghai Tang' type outfits. The staff and chefs are Chinese, however, so authenticity is at a question mark. They are serving fusion in any case so it probably doesn't matter. Lots of morsels that are equally tasty and seem like they might be good for you. over priced considering... but that's what you get for your magazine world endorsements and chic fellow diners. Tomorrow I'll do Italian...