What do you want

Returning shame-faced to my tumble-weed blown dusty blog. It's not that I have been lazing around, just I was too busy to write. I think it was Sartre who wrote that you have to decide between living and telling. Anyway, I had a couple of things to do in Scotland, then preparing for the China-Tibet residency which I was invited to do - then all that fell apart as the Chinese started shooting the Tibetans, so that's off - and now I have to do a new piece for a new installation in Melbourne by the end of May - so I've been writing it. O also had a great holiday in Alicante - on which I also wrote, mainly the next book project "Space" in which the Melbourne piece has become a part.

Anyway, that's not very interesting for you. So just to get myself back into the swing, a couple of things to mention. Went to the Other Room, http://www.openned.com/manchester/ at the Old Abbey Inn last week to hear Alan Halsey, Geraldine Monk and Tom Hanks read. A really good night and the venue is a remarkable find. It's Robert Sheppard and Alex Middleton plus others next on 4 June - which I strongly recommend (though I will miss it because I'll be at the Basel Art Fair).

The other recommendation is "What Do You Want" the current exhibition at the Cornerhouse, part of the Asia Triennial Manchester 08. http://www.cornerhouse.org/art/info.aspx?ID=376&page=0
Shaina Anand's CCTV Social is a deep and thoughtful, Surekha's video of an adolescent girl floating through the sky is a thing of beauty. On the top floor, Tejal Shah has achieved something simply to make that difficult space worth visiting. On the down side, in the Cafe, Jasmeen Patheja's framed texts make the mistake of treating language as if it were transparent.