Ride on time

Weekend Combo: Psycho De Niro, John Soane’s mansion, New Order and Chewbacca in Hackney
By Alex James Taylor | Art | 29 May 2015
Above:

Still, Taxi Driver 1976 © Columbia Pictures

This article is part of Weekend Combo – What to do this weekend

We bring you our guide to living well in the world’s capitals, from exhibitions to cinema, food, drink, fashion, music and beyond. Just call it culture and take it, it’s yours.

LONDON, FRIDAY 29nd May – SUNDAY 31st MAY 2015

“You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
Robert De Niro is always at his scintillating best when he’s psychotic; upturned smirk, hatred raging behind his wild eyes.

In Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) De Niro hits peak psycho. As insomniac loner Travis Bickle De Niro leads us through the gritty New York backstreets. Taking a job driving a cab to keep busy, since he can’t sleep anyway, Bickle spends his nights driving through New York’s slums and red-light districts.

His disgust in the city he sees around him enrages him and he rants about how the city needs a great rain to come and wash it clean. “I got some bad ideas in my head” Bickle admits – the understatement of the year – as he asks for help in one of the movie’s most iconic scenes.

When Scorsese and De Niro team up it is certified to produce explosive results – Raging Bull and Mean Streets are masterpieces in their own right – and Taxi Driver is often cited as the best, De Niro’s most iconic creation, the veiny armed Bickle is a character who becomes a character, sure to make a lasting impact.

Taxi Driver is being screened at Prince Charles Cinema on Sunday 31st May at 9pm
Book tickets here

A cork Pompeii, a translucent sarcophagus and a cell built for an imaginary monk
When he wasn’t designing notable buildings (among them the original Bank of England), Sir John Soane (1753-1837) obsessively collected art, furniture and architectural ornamentation. In the 19th century, he turned his house into a museum to which, he said, ‘amateurs and students’ should have access. The result is perfectly idiosyncratic.

After 160 years away from the public eye, Soane’s private residence has been restored and reopened as part of a six-year project. Bricklayer’s son-turned-architectural mastermind, Soane was a man ahead of his time, he modified rooms with ingenious devices to channel and direct daylight, and to expand space, including walls that open out like cabinets to display his art collections.

The collection holds some real treats, there’s a sarcophagus made from alabaster – it’s so delicate it’s almost translucent – that was carved for the pharaoh Seti I and discovered in his tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and, get this, there’s a cell Soane created for his imaginary monk ‘Padre Giovanni’. Brilliant.

The opening coincides with a new exhibition, Inspired by Soane: I Found This And Thought of You, featuring postcards created by a cadre of artists and designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Paul Smith, Christopher Bailey and Zaha Hadid in response to Soane’s work.

Soane’s Private Apartments and Model Room is open to the public at the Sir John Soane Museum, WC2A 3BP
Access is only available through pre-booking here

From Italy to England via India
By now yo’ve probably clocked that over here we love a good dose of trippy psychedelia, and are always on the hunt for our next fix. This weekend it comes in the lanky form of Sultan Bathery, a trio of Italians who revel in the murky depths of blues ridden freakbeat psych.

Like all good psych garage bands their story begins with a pilgrimage to India: “Three Italians went to India, and came home to Vicenza to form a band named as the city they got inspired most: Sultan Bathery. There they got stoned, reveled in the absence of female company, and ate spicy food to the point of hating how much they loved this strange place.”

Enter their world of desert rock soundscapes backdropped by kaleidoscope lighting.

Sultan Bathery play at The Shacklewell Arms, Dalston on Friday 29th May
Book tickets here

Made in Manchester
Kevin Cummins is the man Manchester trusted with it’s camera. Capturing the musical zeitgeist of the time, Cummins shot iconic photos of Joy Division, The Smiths, Oasis and John Cooper Clarke, just to name a few, his black and white aesthetic aptly reflected the musical city’s dynamic and energy.

For their few short years of as a band, Cummins was given closer access to Joy Division than any other photographer was. The strong rapport between Cummins and the band continued after the death of Ian Curtis, as the remaining band members formed New Order. Following the band from its formation in 1980 to its split in 1993, Cummins shot the band from the glory days of Blue Monday and Hacienda to their eventual split.

Cumin’s New Order series is currently on show at Proud Gallery, Camden. Stick Power, Corruption & Lies on your headphones and soak in the musical history.

New Order by Kevin Cummins runs until June 7th at Proud, Camden, NW1 8AH 

New Order, photo by Kevin Cummins

Speaking in riddles
Dive into the world of illustrated poetry with Southbank’s latest exhibition, Poetry Comics.  A zany terrain in which word and image collide.

Works on display include Kenneth Koch, Joe Brainard and Bianca Stone as well as a range of reading copies of books including Howl: A Graphic Novel by Eric Drooker and Allen Ginsberg and Beowulf Cartoon by Mike Weller.

Poetry Comics runs until 12th June at The Saison Poetry Library, Southbank 

Haven’t left the house in three years
Time your visit to Southbank neatly and catch Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, live in conversation, well via webcam as he’s currently incarcerated at the Ecuadorean Embassy.

Expect an illuminating conversation, it’s not in his nature to bite his tongue.

Julian Assange in conversation takes place on Friday 29th May
Book tickets here

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
The Mos Eisley Cantina bar from Star Wars Episode IV (aka the first film) described in the film as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy” has relocated from the planet Tatooine to Hackney, London. Fitting really.

As we have come to expect with secret cinema the details are all hush hush, so we don’t have a lot of info for you really, but if it’s anything along the same lines as their usual projects it’s bound to be immersive  – challenge Chewbacca to a drinking competition, we bet he could drink anyone under the table.

With the new Star Wars film coming out soon this is the perfect way to whet your appetite until it’s release. Let the force flow through you, the future is here.

Book tickets here to find out the secret location

TOP GALLERY IMAGE CREDITS:
1. Still, Taxi Driver 1976 © Columbia Pictures
2. Still, Taxi Driver 1976 © Columbia Pictures
3. Still, Taxi Driver 1976 © Columbia Pictures
4. Sir John Soane museum. Photo by Gareth Gardner
5. Sir John Soane museum. Photo by Gareth Gardner
6. Sultan Bathery, image courtesy of the band
7. Bernard Sumner. Photo by Kevin Cummins
8. New Order. Phot by Kevin Cummins
9. ‘Game for Anything’ by Matthea Harvey & Paul K. Tunis
10. Howl A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg, illustrated by Eric Drooker




Read Next