Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bobby Baker inhabits a peculiar space within the British art world. Dedicated to art and performance, not particularly interested in theatre, Baker has a magnificent reputation among performance folk, but does not enjoy much recognition outside that circle.
Ask the average person about Bobby Baker and chances are, that the answer will be negative.
Listen to that name. Bobby Baker.
Very likely to be a man (a point to which she draws her audience’s attention at the beginning of each of her performances). Could be a jazz musician perhaps, with that alliterative vibe of the BB, the informal Bobby, the surname Baker reminding us of Chet and Anita.
But on the performance scene, Bobby is a star. As is often the case for a woman, her work is mostly read autobiographically, but Baker has done little to dispel with this practise, hinting at marriage and labour and domesticity and openly referring to her mental health problems, which seem to act as both catalyst and barrier for her artistic output.
Baker usually uses food as means through which she tells a story. The story is often bound in her own experiences and the food symbolises births, deaths and other important events in her life, big or small.
Bobby Baker is now launching her ‘bumper package’, consisting of a book, her DVDs and a new website, by performing for two consecutive days at Toynbee Studios. The package will chart almost 30 years worth of dedicated work and is bound to be a must-have for Baker fans. At the performance we are promised 'abundant toasts, toast, specialised buns' and 'complimentary customised cakes and boxes of beverages will be provided.' Well, it doesn't get much better than that.
See Bobby Baker at Toynbee Hall on 8th or 9th March, from 5 to 7 pm. Tickets can be booked through Artsadmin, here.
Ask the average person about Bobby Baker and chances are, that the answer will be negative.
Listen to that name. Bobby Baker.
Very likely to be a man (a point to which she draws her audience’s attention at the beginning of each of her performances). Could be a jazz musician perhaps, with that alliterative vibe of the BB, the informal Bobby, the surname Baker reminding us of Chet and Anita.
But on the performance scene, Bobby is a star. As is often the case for a woman, her work is mostly read autobiographically, but Baker has done little to dispel with this practise, hinting at marriage and labour and domesticity and openly referring to her mental health problems, which seem to act as both catalyst and barrier for her artistic output.
Baker usually uses food as means through which she tells a story. The story is often bound in her own experiences and the food symbolises births, deaths and other important events in her life, big or small.
Bobby Baker is now launching her ‘bumper package’, consisting of a book, her DVDs and a new website, by performing for two consecutive days at Toynbee Studios. The package will chart almost 30 years worth of dedicated work and is bound to be a must-have for Baker fans. At the performance we are promised 'abundant toasts, toast, specialised buns' and 'complimentary customised cakes and boxes of beverages will be provided.' Well, it doesn't get much better than that.
See Bobby Baker at Toynbee Hall on 8th or 9th March, from 5 to 7 pm. Tickets can be booked through Artsadmin, here.
I was quite excited about the prospect of The Last Enemy. Those lucky enough to get preview tapes had been positive, the trailer looked snazzy, and I am, openly and honest-to-God, rather taken with Benedict Cumberbatch – officially of course because he is an outstanding actor, in actual fact because I have a thing for skinny boys with deep, posh voices.
To write that I am disappointed is probably an overstatement – ultimately I didn’t care enough to be so. But it sure wasn’t great. Cumberbatch was lovely, he does awkward so well – but the story – oh, the story. Now, I had been warned that it was all a bit outlandish, and I have no problem with that. What was so annoying about it was:
a) If it looks like Spooks, and it walks like Spooks –is it Spooks?
b) If Cumberbatch’s character can find someone on the all-seeing surveillance system, why can’t anyone else?
c) If you have OCD and don’t want to touch people who are ill, is it then okay to touch people, who have touched people, who are ill?
So, reviews were mixed – some were less than impressed, others called it mesmerising and moreish. I’m not sure why.
And I’m not sure I can be bothered tuning in again next week, not even for Benedict Cumberbatch.
To write that I am disappointed is probably an overstatement – ultimately I didn’t care enough to be so. But it sure wasn’t great. Cumberbatch was lovely, he does awkward so well – but the story – oh, the story. Now, I had been warned that it was all a bit outlandish, and I have no problem with that. What was so annoying about it was:
a) If it looks like Spooks, and it walks like Spooks –is it Spooks?
b) If Cumberbatch’s character can find someone on the all-seeing surveillance system, why can’t anyone else?
c) If you have OCD and don’t want to touch people who are ill, is it then okay to touch people, who have touched people, who are ill?
So, reviews were mixed – some were less than impressed, others called it mesmerising and moreish. I’m not sure why.
And I’m not sure I can be bothered tuning in again next week, not even for Benedict Cumberbatch.
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