Archive for August, 2008
Seiko Mikami
There is just time to catch this unusual interactive installation by young Japanese artist Seiko Mikami. Thanks to cutting-edge optical reading technology, spectators can create molecular structures on the walls of the exhibition space, simply by moving their eyes. The aim of the piece is to make us aware that we do not control our eye movements, and that even when we think that we have fixed our eyes on something, their unconscious movement is already creating images that are beyond our control.
Arid
Ghent rockers Arid didn’t quite set the world alight with last year’s album, ‘Little Things of Venom’, but securing its release on major US label Columbia was quite a coup for a relatively unknown Flemish act. Produced by former Al Green and Edwyn Collins collaborator Dave Anderson, the album won generous praise for its rich soul sound. Yet it must be puzzling for singer Jasper Steverlinck to have his voice compared to both Mr Bombast himself (Freddy Mercury) and tortured soul Jeff Buckley. Worth investigating.
Port prices
There are port taxes to pay in Greece as well as in Turkey, and they were approx US$6 each when we were there. Please advise readers to ask their local ticket agents about both of them. Ours collected the Greek tax but not the Turkish one. When we arrived in Kusadasi, we were forced to spend time exchanging dollars at a bank next door. Almost everyone else’s Turkish port tax had been collected by their ticket agents in advance.
The ferries
When taking the ferry from Greece Patras to Italy Brindisi, take the Italian ferry if possible – Adriato lines, rather than Hellinic Mediterranean Lines. I was on one of the HML lines recently and they attempted to charge people with Interrail cards – despite knowing that Interrail cards give free passage apart from the port tax (1500 Drachmas). HML ferries are not particularly luxurious either and the staff and pretty bad.
Also I came across a funny incident of how HML staff cooperate amongst themselves: One of the HML staff on the ferry got stuck in the lift whilst I was wondering around the boat. I reported the matter to the reception (there was rather a lot of frantic banging on the lift door), but they said they didn’t care. I also reported the incident to some HML staff in the restaurant, but their reply was: “If he (the man trapped in the lift) didn’t want corn flakes, then it wasn’t their concern.
If you want to sleep ‘deck class’, make sure you have a camping roll, because the deck is rather grotty.
