Journal

The Funny Little Doggy’s Riposte to Richard Dawkins The Funny Little Doggy’s Riposte to Richard Dawkins is a short philosophical allegory and thought experiment concerning consciousness, materialism and the peculiar fact of individual identity. Comments, questions and critical responses are very welcome at the foot of this post. Set around an improbable encounter at Hammersmith Station, the piece imagines a talking little dog confronting a fictionalised Richard Dawkins with a

New Essay: New Age Hero — The Eternal Return of the Hero in Art and Literature I have recently completed a new long-form essay, New Age Hero: The Eternal Return of the Hero in Art and Literature. Beginning with The Epic of Gilgamesh and the heroes of Greece, the essay follows the changing image of the hero through Christianity, the Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism and Postmodernism. It asks why the heroic figure repeatedly returns—even within cul

Jenny Saville National Portrait Gallery London Seen on 21 June 2025 Ed Mirza This a large scale show, and a great success for a living artist. Saville has established herself as one of he foremost figurative painters of our time. With excellent handling of form and paint, and good drawing, these are striking, memorable, and have entered the history books. These may be ead as images which may have a very particular impact on women, as many of the early ones show the female