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The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions review – beauty and violence from a lost and dangerous YBA
Flies crawl about in a triptych of glass-fronted cabinets, while in another installation you gradually realise the fragile bottles you're looking at are full of poisonous gas, lethal to humans. Does this remind you of anyone? Hamad Butt is the Damien Hirst who got away, the Young British Artist of the 1990s who didn't win the Turner prize, make millions or lose his youthful talent and turn into a bloated mediocrity. Now he is a cult figure precisely because he is none of those things and can instead be presented as if he was a complete unknown, whose art expresses his queer Pakistani identity rather than being part of a fin-de-siecle art movement of sensation and creepy science. I couldn't find any reference, even in the moving array of Butt's working documents on show, to the fact he studied at Goldsmiths alongside Hirst, Collishaw, Wearing and more. If we need to detach this brilliant artist from that generation to celebrate him, it's better than forgetting his work. But as soon as you walk into this convincing retrospective you're back in 1992. Occupying the whole of the Whitechapel's main ground floor gallery is Butt's three-part installation Familiars. Like a giant executive toy, spherical glass vessels are suspended from the ceiling by thin threads in a long row. Pull the first one back, as it is weirdly tempting to do, and you'd set them going by action and reaction. Except it would surely shatter these vessels and kill you, or at least make you very ill. The coloured gas inside each sphere is mustard-coloured, as in mustard gas. This is gaseous chlorine, first used as a chemical weapon by Germany in 1915 and in these static, sealed bottles it looks lovely, golden, glowing in the gallery lights. It's disturbing but, let's be honest, darkly thrilling to be only a thin glass wall away from a first world war soldier's death here in an art gallery. To put it another way it's sublime. One of the sculptures in this installation is actually entitled Substance Sublimation Unit, a play on chemistry and aesthetics. The other two elements of this epic sculpture look equally hazardous: a ladder with rungs that light up with blazing gas like a stairway to hell, and three curving, blood-red glowing spikes. To feel such beauty and violence in a gallery may strike you as shockingly new or oddly nostalgic. In the archives room there's a 1995 Jak cartoon from the Evening Standard, depicting a dodgy geezer selling gas masks outside the Tate – a reference to a leak from this installation when it was in a show called Rites of Passage, alongside Louise Bourgeois. Hamad Butt was not alive to laugh at Jak's cartoon. He died in September 1994, at the age of 32, from Aids-related complications. In a video interview, lying on a sofa at his family home in Ilford, he's still talking vividly about his future projects, months before his death. What a compelling presence he is, how deeply intelligent and imaginative. His gripping art makes you aware of how quickly and suddenly you can stray from civilised normality to mortal danger. His installation Transmission glows with gorgeous, if clinical, blue light – but look for too long, or without the protective glasses you are offered, at its ultra-violet bulbs and you risk damaging your eyesight. The bulbs rest on a circle of opened books made of glass, on which the monstrous people-eating, world-conquering flora from John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids are engraved. In another classic trope of Young British Art, that of appropriation, his design of a Triffid, with its fat vegetable body, long sucker and libidinous tongue, is borrowed wholesale from the cover of the original Penguin paperback of The Day of the Triffids. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion The labels prompt you to see Hamad Butt's art in relation to his tragic early death, so Transmission is about the Aids epidemic, and his Triffids – which also feature in a hilarious animated video – are images of the HIV crisis. However, in the video interview, he says 'transmission' refers in the first place to the transmission of light. He clearly did not want his art to be understood only one way. Today figurative painting is back in fashion, so this exhibition includes Butt's early canvases before he turned conceptual. On the sofa on screen he explains he had to stop because he was too in thrall to Picasso and Matisse. You can see Picasso's shadow over his paintings of sensual Minotaur-like men. This exhibition risks removing him from his wider context, but it can't go very wrong with such art. It's right to include his paintings, drawings and archives because we possess so little of such magnificent promise. Hamad Butt died so long before his time, yet his work is a living thrill. He is the Young British Artist who is for ever young, for ever lethal. Hamad Butt: Apprehensions is at Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, from 4 June to 7 September
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Author Gethan Dick: ‘I'd make it illegal to buy or sell water. Everyone would adapt within a few weeks'
Tell me about your debut novel, Water in The Desert, Fire in the Night It's about hope, hunger, gold, wolves, Streatham, Cuba, post-apocalyptic feminism, pregnancy and bicycles. It's about the porousness of the female bodily experience, the challenges of being an empiricist with a sample size of one, what's worth knowing and what's worth living and the necessity of irrationality. It's about an underachieving young woman, a retired midwife and a charismatic Dubliner who set out from London after the end of the world to cycle to a sanctuary in the southern Alps. And it's about the fact that the thing about the end of the world is that it happens all the time. You did a master's in creative writing at Goldsmiths in London more than 20 years ago but did not pursue writing fiction. Why not? I disliked the distance you have in fiction between making something yourself and having an acknowledgment that it has been made. After my master's I continued working with writing, but I wrote for spoken-word performance or for zines that I or other people edited, and I studied visual arts at Camberwell College of Art and started making text-based visual works, because those were all ways to feel like what I'd written was 'made'. So writing was usually in there somewhere, it just wasn't in the form that writing usually comes packaged in. When I moved to France in 2011 the bit of my brain that deals with language was occupied with assimilating French for quite a while and I didn't write anything made up for a few years, but stories and text still held a place in our visual arts projects. What prompted you to turn to writing as opposed to visual arts to tell this story? During all that, I'd talk every now and then about writing a novel about the end of the world – so I guess I always thought I'd get around to it one day. But I definitely never would have if it hadn't been for [my partner] Myles saying, when we got back from a slightly survivalist two-month stint in a stone shepherds' hut during the first Covid lockdown, 'Stop talking about it and write it now.' [ Irish debut authors 2025: It's already shaping up to be a vintage year Opens in new window ] You have been working as an artist with Myles, first in London, and for many years now in Marseilles. Did this influence the novel? Definitely, but in silhouette. Myles and I make the visual arts work together, so at first I kept trying to get him to write the book with me, but he stuck to his guns and got me to do it for myself. Instead he became the motor for our other projects so that I had the time and brain-space to write. He wouldn't look at it until I felt I had a full first draft – he didn't want to contaminate it and our working practice is generally so meshed that it would have been impossible not to. When I had the draft, he did the initial edit, so he definitely had a hand in it, but it's just my name on it and it's unusual for me to have a 'solo' project going out into the world – that hasn't happened in a long time. Also, our art projects are usually multilayered, many-headed things: dozens to hundreds of participants, a cultural institution, a noncultural institution, local groups, in-situ installations, municipal permissions and so on. To be able to turn my back on all the logistics of whatever tentacular art project we were working on and, for a week or three, do something that just involved me, a notebook and a pencil, was a lovely counterpoint. READ MORE Modern technology and infrastructure no longer function in your novel. Was the pandemic a prompt or was it something that you had begun thinking about before? Well, this question assumes that modern technology and infrastructure currently function, which I'm not convinced they do, or, if they do then you have to examine pretty carefully who they function for, to what end and at what cost. If, like Audaz, you survived an apocalypse, to where would you make a pilgrimage? To misquote William Gibson, the apocalypse is already here, it's just not evenly distributed. Audaz has an exceptional memory. Do you have any such skills? I have a special talent for not hearing somebody if I'm not looking at them, which is fantastic for making it really embarrassing for anyone who tries to get my attention in a crowded public space. Will there be a second book or is it back to the studio? Both I hope. But in the immediate term back to the studio. I'd make it illegal to buy or sell water. You could start by banning producing and selling bottled water in Europe right now Which projects are you working on? We're towards the end of Acqua Lambro, in Milan, where we're creating an impossible luxury mineral water brand: we built a machine-sculpture from detritus gathered from the Lambro, one of Europe's most polluted rivers, and it transforms the river's water river into pure drinking water. It works – we've had the water it produces analysed. We showed the machine and a prototype bottle – glass, but made to look like the crushed plastic water bottles that fill the river – at Milan Design Week last month. We're about to restage We All Fall/Récit, an immersive performance piece we co-created, inspired by the stories of people who have made the journey to seek asylum in Europe, in which a choreography creates large-scale cyanotype prints of people's bodies. And we're mid-production on Espèces Humaines/Fides for La Monnaie de Paris (the museum attached to the French mint). We're making an installation, inspired both by imagery related to economic collapse and by indigo cloth-money, about the fact that money is, at its origin, an act of collective faith. Who do you admire the most? Palestinian Red Crescent workers and journalists. You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish? I'd make it illegal to buy or sell water. You could start by banning producing and selling bottled water in Europe right now. It would have so many benefits and everyone would adapt within a few weeks. The best and worst things about where you live? Marseilles is chaotic, grubby, ill-disciplined, unprofessional, heel-dragging, short-tempered and nothing, absolutely nothing, ever happens the way it's supposed to. I love it. I'm not even going to tell you all the other things that are great about it – there are already way too many tourists. Water in The Desert, Fire in the Night is published by Tramp Press
Hospitality Net
13-05-2025
- Hospitality Net
The Smile Effect: Why Great Service is the Ultimate Travel Upgrade
A new study conducted by Hampton by Hilton and Goldsmiths, University of London, scientifically proves the impact friendly service has on a hotel stay. Service with a smile can make your stay 22% better, six times more memorable, and leave guests feeling 51% more welcome. In fact, the findings show that the warmth of team members is nearly four times more likely to enhance a stay – making your food taste EVEN better AND your bed feel more comfortable. Hampton by Hilton partnered with Big Zuu, rapper and TV personality known for his signature smile, to put the findings to the test. LONDON, UK – Can a simple smile turn an ordinary hotel stay into something remarkable? Well, two thirds of Brits think so, with great service rated as one of the top drivers of a good hotel experience (69%), alongside good food (67%), a good shower (55%), and soft towels (34%). It turns out the science also agrees. A study conducted by researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Hampton by Hilton finally proves that a smile is so much more than a gesture. Guests who received friendly and reliable service rated their stay 22% better overall. The research which used biometric technology, guest questionnaires, and real-world observations also found: A warm welcome matters – A big smile at check-in makes guests feel 51% more welcome. – A big smile at check-in makes guests feel 51% more welcome. Friendly service enhances the experience – 92% of guests agree that friendly service makes a stay feel exceptional, while the warmth of hotel team members is nearly 4 times more likely to enhance a guest's experience than amenities alone. – 92% of guests agree that friendly service makes a stay feel exceptional, while the warmth of hotel team members is nearly 4 times more likely to enhance a guest's experience than amenities alone. Tastier food and drinks? Absolutely – Believe it or not, a quarter (25%) of guests even say friendly service makes your breakfast more delicious, and 28% say a smile makes drinks tastier. – Believe it or not, a quarter (25%) of guests even say friendly service makes your breakfast more delicious, and 28% say a smile makes drinks tastier. Happiness is contagious – Guests who experienced friendly service reported mood improvements 3.5 times higher than those who received neutral service. – Guests who experienced friendly service reported mood improvements 3.5 times higher than those who received neutral service. Memories that last – Good service made guests' hotel stays six times more memorable. – Good service made guests' hotel stays six times more memorable. Loyalty boost – Guests are 75% more likely to return to the same hotel after experiencing 'service with a smile.' To put these findings to the test, Hampton by Hilton teamed up with Big Zuu – known for his big smile and passion for hospitality. Zuu tested how simple, friendly gestures can turn an ordinary hotel stay into an unforgettable experience. Commenting on the experience, Big Zuu said, I'm all about big smiles and bringing good vibes to whoever I meet, so when Hampton by Hilton invited me to put their experiment to the test I was all in! The science doesn't lie – smiles really do make the difference. From making breakfast taste better to improving your overall hotel stay - that's a lot to smile about! The study, which also used innovative eye-tracking technology and facial analysis to measure participants' emotional responses to friendly service, revealed that those receiving 'service with a smile' displayed 3.5 times higher levels of overall happiness during their stay. The findings illustrate a fascinating link between interpersonal warmth and guest perception. Even small gestures of friendliness, such as a simple smile, genuinely affect how people experience their environment – from physical comfort to mental well-being. Jonathan Freeman, professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London At Hampton by Hilton, our passion for exceptional service runs so deep, we've given it a name, Hamptonality! This study confirms what we witness every day from our incredible Hampton team members around the world: a genuine, warm, and inviting smile doesn't just brighten a moment – it transforms the entire guest experience. From making a morning coffee taste better to turning a brief stay into a lasting memory, the power of a smile is undeniable. Shruti Gandhi Buckley, global brand head, Hampton by Hilton With more hotel rooms around the world than any other hospitality brand, Hampton by Hilton is uniquely positioned to spread the light and warmth of hospitality to more travelers than ever before. To book your own experience of 'Service with a Smile,' visit Join the conversation at #ForTheStay. About the Research i2 Media Research Consumer research was conducted by i2 media research lab based at Goldsmiths, University of London with 24 UK adults. This study was designed as a field experiment to assess the impact of Service with a Smile on guest experience at Hampton by Hilton. It followed a between-subjects design, with service type (exemplary vs. neutral) as the independent variable and stay experience as the dependent variable. To capture a comprehensive understanding of the guest experience, the study incorporated a multi-method approach: Eye-tracking technology: Worn by hotel staff to unobtrusively record guests' facial expressions and engagement during key interactions. Polling surveys: Short e-surveys administered immediately after check-in, arrival in the room, and drink ordering, capturing guests' immediate perceptions of service quality. Final post-stay questionnaire: A longer survey completed after check-out, assessing overall experience, service perception, and future booking intent. Vox pops: Brief on-camera interviews with departing guests to gather qualitative insights and emotional responses in real-time. Consumer research Research conducted by 3Gem across 1,000 UK adults, March 2024. About Hilton Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 24 world-class brands comprising more than 7,600 properties and nearly 1.2 million rooms, in 126 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed over 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, was named the No. 1 World's Best Workplace by Great Place to Work and Fortune and has been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for seven consecutive years. Hilton has introduced industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the nearly 190 million Hilton Honors members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can't buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. View source
Edinburgh Live
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Antiques Roadshow guest shuts down excitable expert as he point blank refuses to sell ‘magnificent' statue
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow. An Antiques Roadshow guest barely reacted when he discovered the true value of his late aunt's falcon statue. Crystal Palace Park welcomed the iconic BBC daytime series for filming with expert Will Farmer among the specialists ready to value visitors' most treasured items. It was during his meeting with one particular guest though where he was unable to contain his excitement at the sight of a falcon statue. Farmer began: 'If it wasn't for the colour that betrayed it, you could almost swear that this bird had flown down from the sky and settled itself here. 'It's the most magnificent interpretation of a peregrine falcon. And I just love it. 'But tell me, how did you come to own it?' 'It came from my late aunt who died a few years ago but she got it from her friend Ken Bright who she got to know when she was working in London,' the guest replied. (Image: BBC) Farmer commented: 'You've mentioned that amazing name, Ken Bright. And Ken himself, he's such an amazing character, certainly in the world of ceramics and studio ceramics.' Born in 1939, Bright went on to study at the Portsmouth School of Art aged 16 and it was during the 1960s that he began working at Goldsmiths. 'His two real main loves in life were horses and birds of prey,' Farmer elaborated. 'There's the Falconry Centre at Newent in Gloucestershire and he used to go there to literally observe and study the birds and I think you can just see it, can't you? 'The observation of it and the way it looks. I love it.' The expert then pointed out that the guest had also brought a letter which confirmed the purchase of the item, but it was the date 1978 which really caught Farmer's eye. He gushed: 'This is Ken at the top of his game. I love it. I really genuinely love it.' Despite Farmer's persistent admiration for the bird, the guest wasn't budging as he stated: 'I'm keeping it though', with the expert disappointingly replying: 'I know you're keeping it. Unfortunately.' (Image: BBC) Nevertheless, it was time for the appraisal: 'So I'm going to say if it came to market, great name, iconic piece for his work and what he's doing, made at the absolute pinnacle of his career, I think it could be up to a couple of thousand pounds.' Barely reacting to the news, the guest bluntly remarks: 'Very nice. Still not going anywhere.' Farmer laughs and in an exaggerated manner, replies: 'Shucks!' Explaining why he refuses to sell, the owner added: 'She'd kill me. My auntie will turn in her grave, won't she?' Upon hearing this, Farmer took a step back and reflected: 'Well do you know what? It's nice that you've got that connection with her. 'She had that connection with Ken. 'To get Ken's name out there, somebody who, really, I think, needs to be recognised for all he contributed to the world of studio ceramics, is something very important. 'So for that alone, thank you very much.' Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Daily Mirror
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Why service with a smile is the ultimate travel upgrade
Two thirds of Brits rate great service as one of the top drivers of a good hotel experience, along with delicious food, a fabulous shower and soft towels, according to a new study While we love the little luxuries that come with a hotel stay, it's the warm welcome and friendly service that really matter. Two thirds of Brits rate great service as one of the top drivers of a good hotel experience (69%), along with delicious food (67%), a fabulous shower (55%) and soft towels (34%), according to a new study. Nor does it stop at feeling welcome. Hotel guests who got 'service with a smile' were six times more likely to remember their visit, felt 51% more welcome, and 75% more likely to come back. Incredibly friendly staff can actually make your food taste better, your bed feel comfier and your break 22% more enjoyable overall, according to the survey conducted by Hampton by Hilton and researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London. Researchers used guest surveys combined with innovative eye-tracking technology and facial analysis to measure guests' emotional responses to friendly service, revealing that 'service with a smile' displayed 3.5 times higher levels of overall happiness during their stay. The hotel brand also teamed up with rapper and TV personality Big Zuu – known for his big smile - to test how simple gestures can turn an ordinary stay into an unforgettable experience. 'I'm all about big smiles and bringing good vibes to whoever I meet,' Big Zuu said. 'The science doesn't lie – smiles really do make the difference. From making breakfast taste better to improving your overall hotel stay - that's a lot to smile about.' Professor Jonathan Freeman, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, said: 'The findings illustrate a fascinating link between interpersonal warmth and guest perception. Even small gestures of friendliness, such as a simple smile, genuinely affect how people experience their environment - from physical comfort to mental well-being.' Shruti Gandhi Buckley, Global Brand Head at Hampton by Hilton says: 'At Hampton by Hilton, our passion for exceptional service runs so deep, we've given it a name, Hamptonality! 'This study confirms what we witness every day from our incredible Hampton team members around the world: a genuine, warm, and inviting smile doesn't just brighten a moment - it transforms the entire guest experience. From making a morning coffee taste better to turning a brief stay into a lasting memory, the power of a smile is undeniable." For more information on the research and to book your own experience of 'Service with a Smile,' visit here and join the conversation at #ForTheStay.
