Latest news with #Dungeness
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The hot tar splashed everywhere': remembering the dark magic of Derek Jarman
In Modern Nature, his journals, published two years before his death in 1994, Derek Jarman described the time his friend David arrived for lunch at Prospect Cottage, Jarman's home, some time in the summer of 1989. David was carrying an enormous block of pitch. The cottage and its boundless garden sits on the shingle at Dungeness, a place of immeasurable strangeness and beauty on the Kentish coast. 'After swimming,' Jarman wrote, 'we built a brick hearth, lit a bonfire, and melted the pitch in an old tin can.' The two men then rushed back and forth between the studio and the pot, fetching brushes, gloves, pillows, barbed wire, crucifixes, prayer books, bullets, a model fighter plane and a telephone and set about tarring and feathering objects and affixing them on to canvases. 'The hot tar splashed everywhere and set like shining jet,' he observed, with a childlike enthusiasm. The artworks in question are part of a series known as the Black Paintings, now the subject of a two-part chronological survey at Amanda Wilkinson Gallery in London. Jarman started working on these precious miniatures – most are only a forearm in width – in 1984. He used oils and found objects, building up from scarlet and gold underlayers. The red and sparkle seep through the impastoed black that encrusts and overwhelms everything on the surface. Broken glass, plastic figurines, a crushed Coca-Cola can, a model boat. When he was nominated for the Turner prize in 1986, Jarman exhibited about a dozen of the Black Paintings. The prize went to Gilbert and George, but Jarman remained focused, filming The Last of England in 1987 and The Garden in 1990, and gradually swapping oils for tar in his paintings. Jarman's journals open with his exhilaration at the boundless possibility Dungeness clearly proffered ('there is more sunlight here than anywhere in Britain') and the panic he experienced at the onset of the Great Storm of October 1987 (a neighbouring fisher's hut disintegrated, '80 years of tar and paint parting like a rifle shot'). He had been diagnosed with HIV just months earlier. The works in the show, like the entries in the book, duly trace his alchemical art-making and the pain and outrage of his reckoning with that generational cataclysm. Motifs including Christ's crown of thorns and blood surface in the works' iconography. 'He didn't think of himself as a film-maker or a gardener or a painter or a political activist,' Wilkinson says. 'He wasn't a queer artist. He was an artist. All of that was his art.' Fabled punk chronicler Jon Savage, who was close to Jarman, recently emphasised to the gallerist how crucial this point is. 'You mustn't pin Derek down,' he said. 'You can't pin Derek down. You can't put him in any box. He would always resist it.' Former lovers and friends often refer to Jarman's agitated energy, his enthusiasm. He was the most colourful man they had ever met, someone who had crazy ideas every day, an interlocutor with whom conversation remains, in death, just as strong and empowering as it was when he was alive. And anyone who has one of these Black Paintings (there is no official tally; unknowns keep emerging) knows to treasure it deeply. 'He just made everybody feel good,' Wilkinson says. 'He was so charming and funny and charismatic. Everybody loved Derek Jarman.' The Black Paintings: A Chronology Part 2 is at the Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, London, to 13 September Exit 1988 (main image)Jarman wasn't afraid to be complex, Wilkinson says. And he remained resolute and bright-eyed at the end of his life. 'I do not wish to die … yet,' he wrote in the summer of 1990, overwhelmed by the number of pills he has to take, his strength ebbing and flowing like the tide on the shingle outside. 'I would love to see my garden through several summers.' Death Is All Things We See Awake 1991Jarman's films, writing and paintings are steeped in his reading. Here, he was inspired by a quote from the philosopher Heraclitus. 'Jarman was fun, but he was a serious person,' Wilkinson says, 'cultured, not in a snobby way but in a deep-thinking way.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Mirror Mirror 1988Mirrors connect back to Jarman's Super 8 films and feature in his paintings. In the summer of 1989, he recorded buying one at a fair along with an old sickle and a copy of Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. 'Everyone sighs when you mention the 'Born Again' [Dylan],' he wrote in Modern Nature, 'but his voice echoed through a 60s summer almost as idyllic as this one.' Untitled (Clothes) 1989Old gardening overalls and feathers from a disused pillow are employed here in a reference, Wilkinson posits, to an intense scene in Jarman's 1990 film The Garden in which a gay couple are subjected to being tarred and feathered. INRI (Cross of Thorns) 1990The Garden uses the story of Christ as a persecuted man as an analogy of sorts for the persecution of queer people. 'He was very interested in the figure of Christ,' says Wilkinson. He would routinely visit churches with the art historian Simon Watney.
BBC News
23-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Man to paddle across English Channel in memory of daughter
A man from West Sussex is training to cross the English Channel, from Dungeness to Boulogne-sur-Mer, via paddle BartlettBundy, is taking on the challenge in memory of Pearl, who died in 2017 with a form of bone cancer called Ewing hopes this challenge can help raise £10,000 for The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, which funds said: "The challenge itself is physical and mental, it's about being prepared to take on whatever hits us. After seeing what my daughter and all those other children go through, and still smile, I feel like I'm paling in significance when compared to them." Jamie will be joined on his 26.5-mile journey by his brother, John says the sport helped both of them feel more connected after suffering the loss of Pearl."It gave us a chance to communicate." Jamie's wife, Rachel, bought him a paddle board a year after Pearl's death."She could see I wasn't coping," Jamie said."It just clicked with me. The more we did it, the more I realised that being out on the water and long-distance paddle-boarding gave me a chance to cope with my loss." Jamie and John will take on their challenge at the start of says that the knowledge that Pearl would be proud of him keeps him going.
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Could Kent and Dungeness be part of UK's nuclear 'golden age'?
We are entering a "golden age of nuclear", says Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, and calls are being made for Kent to be included in the planned new has proved to be a big month for nuclear power, with £16.7bn committed to developing the Sizewell C reactor as well as small modular reactors (SMRs) to meet growing electricity with the government looking to select an SMR site later this year, voices in the county say that Dungeness, with its existing infrastructure, is ideal for the latest low-carbon energy opinions are split, with opponents saying that new nuclear in Dungeness will be at the expense of the environment. Before defuelling began in June 2021, Dungeness B generated enough electricity for a million homes a year on average across its 38-year lifespan, according to energy company the plant has been shut since 2018 due to "significant" technical challenges, Kent County Council's newly elected Reform UK councillor David Wimble, cabinet member for environment, said he hoped Dungeness would be "on the list" for an SMR. Speaking to Radio Kent, he said: "People are scared by the word nuclear. We would really love to have new nuclear on Romney Marsh and would favour that over covering half of the marsh in solar panels."Mr Wimble said building an SMR in Dungeness would be "very simple" with the infrastructure to join the National Grid already in place from the former power station. 'Multiple options' The government's new era of nuclear energy focuses around small modular reactors, which are to be built by Rolls-Royce, and over £2.5bn has been pledged to the scheme as part of the recent Spending a site is selected later this year, the government hopes to have the new SMRs connected to the grid in the Cheetham, of the Nuclear Institute, said it was "more than possible" for an SMR to be built at Dungeness while decommissioning of the previous reactor took place. And, with the infrastructure and skills already in the area, he said there were "multiple options for the future of the site".He added: "We are seeing investment and the government are well aware that these investments need to be made now to have nuclear power for the next 10 to 40 years." 'Particularly problematic' The debate over whether Dungeness could return to the nuclear power fold has been long-running, even before decommissioning began on the current 2010, the government published its examination on sites it believed to be fit for new reactors by the end of its assessment, Dungeness was not deemed to be a potentially suitable site, as it believed that no new reactor could be built without more sea defences which would damage the site at a Special Area of a result, in 2023 a minority-Green Party administration Folkestone and Hythe District Council committed to a "new era of clean energy production". Richard Outram, of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities campaigning group, said Dungeness was a "particularly problematic" site because of the environmental impact. He said: "There's a very high possibility of flooding in Dungeness."The fact is that nuclear power will be too slow to have a meaningful impact on climate change."I think that, realistically, we don't have the time to wait for this 'golden age' to be delivered."But, with the end of 2025 now much closer on the horizon, the decision crucially did not rule out future then-Coalition government recognised the strength of feeling from residents, with most respondents in favour of Dungeness as a potential report added: "A new nuclear power station at Dungeness would be likely to have long term positive impacts on employment, the economy and communities at the local level."With Dungeness B now in the defuelling process, it was also argued that job losses from its decommissioning could be offset by construction and operation of a new remains to be seen how Dungeness and Kent will pay its part in any potential nuclear "golden age".A government spokesperson said no decision had yet been made on sites for the new SMR programme but that a decision was expected to be made later in EDF spokesperson said it welcomed discussion about Dungeness and was "happy to engage with projects looking to develop the site" but was focussing on its current sites as well as developing Hinkley Point and Sizewell C.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. gets rare tropical dishes, plus more recent restaurant openings
From short rib gnocchi to homestyle Mexican platters, San Francisco diners have a slew of new exciting spots to check out for dinner. The latest from the former chef at a Michelin-starred seafood restaurant, a modern Colombian restaurant and a pizza spot that's already impossible to get into are early highlights. There are also new places to caffeinate near Golden Gate Park and Jackson Square. Click here for a list of San Francisco restaurants that opened in April. Tropical popup graduates to fixed location Colombian coastal cuisine popup Pacifico is now serving ceviches and arepas in a dedicated space. Eater SF first reported the project from Daniel Morales, an alum of the Progress and La Mar, and partner Laura Gelvez. Brunch dishes include pancakes made of choclo, a South American corn varietal with large kernels. There are also beefy empanadas and arepas filled with Dungeness crab and egg. Dinner service is expected to start early June. Pacifico takes over the bar and lounge at music venue B Side, where Andina previously served its Venezuelan-style arepas. 205 Franklin St., San Francisco. The snowy plover has a new roost. Popular local coffee roaster Andytown closed the month with the launch of its eighth location in Jackson Square. Find the usual lineup of drip and espresso drinks made with Andytown's select, single-origin coffee beans, along with teas and pastries. 747 Front St., San Francisco. A Mission favorite grows El Mil Amores, the Mission's Mexico City-style brunch hot spot, has opened a new location. Owner Andrea Becerra launched her latest in the former Regalito Rosticeria, fittingly named Regalito El Mil Amores, where offerings lean more into lunch and dinner fare, with adobo-marinated pork chops and chicken poached in mole. The DF plate brings a large sope topped with beans and a thin slice of beef alongside the soup of the day and starchy plantains. For anyone who misses the predecessor's rotisserie chicken, half-bird orders are still available, served with sauteed greens and potatoes. Wash it down with a tepache, a sweet cider made in-house with guava and pineapple that's spiked with tequila. 3481 18th St., San Francisco. Colorful sweets and more Local chocolatiers Topogato launched its first brick-and-mortar store just in time for Mother's Day. The project from Simon Brown and Beau Monroe made a splash with their first treats in 2020, incorporating ingredients such as preserved lemon, puffed rice and Thai basil. Confections in the display case may feature smoked tea peach truffles and others decked out with paint splatter flourishes. Brews by the bay Sip on crisp lagers near sleeping sea lions. Humble Sea Brewing Co. opened its third Bay Area location at San Francisco's Pier 39, where restaurants have created a thriving dining scene. House favorites like hazy IPAs and fresh helles are on tap, perfect as the summer heat rolls in. Pier 39, Space N-111-1A, San Francisco. Hot pizza popup goes steady Recent arrival Jules has brought crowds to the Lower Haight since opening mid-May. The main draw is chef-owner Max Blachman-Gentile's pizza that bends regional genres, with a crust that's crispy like New York pies but topped with the Bay Area's prime produce. Find personal spins on classic pepperoni and mushroom, along with dishes like chicken with blistered snap peas, and charred arrowhead cabbage with Calabrian chile butter. Plan ahead, as reservations seem to vanish as soon as they go live. Shooters only Darts gets the augmented reality treatment at an expansive new bar and entertainment center. Visitors to SoMa's Golden Eye are now shooting for triple bullseyes with a drink in hand, or trying at least. Eater SF reports there are classic cocktails with a twist along with non-alcoholic drinks. To munch in between rounds there are plates of seven-layer tuna tartare, oysters and a seared mushroom steak. New Vietnamese restaurant Pho Star is cooking with everyday favorites around the corner from Guerrero Street in the Mission District. The menu is straightforward, with noodle soups and rice plates served with fragrant chicken and tender meats. Spring rolls and banh mi with five-spice chicken rank high among Yelp users. 3214 16th St., San Francisco. New spin on beloved space The former home of the Mission District's Universal Cafe is back with a new tenant and a new tune. Side A, a bistro mashing up Midwestern flavors and Japanese listening bar style, is now offering short rib gnocchi and chicken cutlets in mustard sauce. Parker Brown, a former chef at shuttered seafood temple Aphotic (which may resurface), and his wife, Caroline, aim to keep the mood casual, with bottles of Miller High Life and straightforward wine list. The Browns hope these elements, plus live DJ sets, set a mood akin to a dinner party. The space where Ritual Coffee served lattes in the Lower Haight did not sit empty for long. Eater SF reports the Coffee Lama has taken over the location, with a similar menu of coffees and expanded food options that include burritos and fruit bowls. 1300 Haight St., San Francisco.
Eater
06-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
This NYC-Based Wine Shop From Michelin-Starred Vets Puts Roots Down in the Bay Area
A wine shop with Michelin-starred cred behind it is set to open in Menlo Park in late July: Somm Cellars is a wine retailer based in New York City that opened in 2020, and now, founders and sommeliers Jason Jacobeit and Daniel Jung are bringing their popular shop to the Bay Area. But it's not just a copy-paste version of the original; the duo expands their concept further and will fuse their wine shop with a daytime food menu and specialty market, along with an adjoining restaurant dubbed Cafe Vivant. It's an expression of the hospitality the duo always wanted to bring to their original shop, but haven't been able to due to limitations of the liquor license laws in New York. 'We still say to each other on a weekly basis, we're sommeliers that are playing at retail,' Jacobeit says. 'That's at least partially tongue-in-cheek, but we're restaurant people, and so the hybrid license opportunity [in California] was a no-brainer for us because it allowed us to put our first restaurant location on the map, to have this retail business... [that] synergizes closely with the restaurant.' Jacobeit was formerly the wine director of Michelin-starred (but now closed) Bâtard, noted for his knowledge of Burgundy wines and the extensive selection he built at the restaurant over his 10 years there. Jung was the head sommelier at Tribeca Grill (also closed) for six years, earning attention for the restaurant's Rhone collection and Burgundy program. For the California restaurant and accompanying daytime menu in the retail section, they've recruited chef Jared Wentworth, previously of Chicago's Longman & Eagle and Dusek's Board & Beer, both of which held a Michelin star for a number of years, and the Dining Room at Moody Tongue, which also earned a Michelin star during Wentworth's time there. Under Wentworth, Cafe Vivant will highlight heritage-breed chickens on its menu. The team works with farmer Rob James in Pescadero to raise the birds that will be served at the restaurant, and sold at the Somm Cellars market. Jacobeit and Jung partnered with James and purchased a piece of the farm, per the San Francisco Chronicle . But on the bottle shop side, Wentworth will produce a daytime menu composed of bites and dishes that are meant to be wine-friendly, which is great for those hanging in for a glass or bottle, or produced quickly for those looking for a quick bite on their lunch hour. The duo teased a 'pretty baller' fried chicken sandwich using those aforementioned chickens, deviled eggs from those same birds, as well as rabbit pate, pork rillettes, chicken liver mousse, and a Dungeness crab roll. Although wine will be an obvious, hefty focus on the beverage side, there will also be a selection of bottled cocktails and beers on hand, as well as a pour-over coffee and high-end tea program, the team shares. While Jacobeit and Jung say they have a contingency of West Coast fans and followers of their New York shop, those wandering in will find a wine selection that echoes their wine backgrounds. They promise a wide, 'enviable' selection of Burgundy wines, including chardonnays and pinot noirs, but they'll also branch into its California counterparts and local examples of those wines. One other distinction will be the inclusion of older vintages. 'A lot of wine shops in the area have a great selection across regions, but no depth in vintages,' says Paul Jones, the general manager for the Menlo Park establishment. 'Because of our access to local sellers, we're going to be able to offer top domains from older vintages, and that's going to be a regular feature in both the retail and the restaurant, too.' Along with the plentiful wine offerings and the daytime food menu, a retail shop will highlight products from the farm as well as home goods like specialty and vintage glassware and flatware. For grocery offerings, they're moving away from olives and Marcona almonds, and toward farm products like fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, along with poultry, lamb, and pork — 'a high-end farmers market sort of setup,' Jacobeit says. 'It allows us to really reach the community at a much deeper level, than just a restaurant,' Jacobeit says. 'That's not to say that we wouldn't have opened the bottle shop without the market, but certainly, for both Daniel and me, the market has totally transformed our sense of what is possible and the extent to which we can really become an important part not just of the restaurant scene, but the high-end grocery scene in Silicon Valley.' That's not to mention the wine event programming. Now that they have both the restaurant and retail space available to them, the ideal scenario is to have wine offerings that feel inclusive at various prices. As an example, they may invite a winemaker to do free tastings of a 2022 vintage with small bites where visitors can learn about the wine. Afterward, the night might expand into a four-course seated dinner in the restaurant, where perhaps an older bottle or some magnums from the winery will be shared with the meal. 'There's this very inclusive, very educational, easy to access component of that event, and then it transitions to something much more aspirational, more high-end,' Jacobeit says. The team will accent the space with tables and a comfortable couch, all fitting with their vision of a high-end hospitality environment rather than a 'normative' retail environment, they say. 'We didn't want the retail-meets-hospitality to be an abstract part of the concept,' Jacobeit says. 'We want even passersby who are peeking through the window to really see that there's a cozy living room, a community space feel to the design.' Somm Cellars (720 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park) debuts late July. Sign up for our newsletter.
