Not Television’s top 10 posts of 2014

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It’s the fag end of the festive season (which for me has been a very pleasant one of friends, family, gluttony and lethargy) so before the moment passes I thought I’d round up some of the highlights of Not Television’s first year.

This is a totally subjective collection of ten posts that stand out for me – not necessarily those that got the most views but the ones that I particularly enjoyed writing, or that flag up particularly acute concerns, or that sparked interesting conversations.

Here they are in chronological order. Hope you enjoy.

 

Review: Mat Fraser – Cabinet of Curiosities: How Disability Was Kept in a Box (January 30, 2014)
The phenomenal Mat Fraser has been making a splash thanks to his role on American Horror Story: Freak Show (about which I interviewed him here). But in January, he gave a talk on the history of the representation of disabled people in museums which was a fascinating, provocative, galvanising and heartbreaking fusion of archival research, personal testimony and political fervour.

 

Review – Joey Arias & Kristian Hoffman: Lightning Strikes at the ICA (February 9, 2014)
Joey Arias is a living legend, both for his ever-evolving work and the links he provides to the worlds of Warhol, Bowie and others. Arias and Kristian Hoffman paid tribute to their late collaborator Klaus Nomi in an ICA gig that evoked the alien spirit of Nomi – and delivered some unpredictable surprises, from fortuitous misquotation to peculiar audience encounters.

 

Graffiti Tunnel International Women’s Day takeover – 20 pics (March 8, 2014)
The graffiti tunnel in Leake Street beneath Waterloo station is one of the joys of my life. I get to walk past its ever-changing walls several times a week to enjoy expressive creativity that’s free of any kind of gatekeeping, regulation, censorship or budgetary concerns. It’s especially powerful when a group of artists express a common theme, as happened on International Women’s Day.

 

Dashing David Hoyle weds stunning bride Christeene in lavish ceremony at tropical Vogue Fabrics (July 10, 2014)
Oh so much in the news about gay marriage this year. And very welcome it is too. But the wedding of the year was between two people whose ideas about an LGBT future go way beyond gift lists and seating plans – David Hoyle and Christeene. Inexplicably, Hello! didn’t make it so I tried to report the event in terms that would do it proud.

 

Critics are not parents, publicists or parasites. Here’s what we are (August 22, 2014)
I’ve spent a lot of this year thinking about criticism, including in a Guardian ebook where I argue that the critic’s job today is to seek out the new and make the case for culture that makes the world a better place. At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, meanwhile, critics appeared in several shows as antagonistic or downright villainous characters. Here’s what I thought about that.

 

Carried on others’ arms: an uplifting inaugural Not Television Festival (September 4, 2014)
2014 was my busiest year producing live events. There were eight editions of BURN: Moving Images by Cabaret Artists at Hackney Attic, two live cabaret nights at Chelsea Theatre called Come With Me If You Want To Live, and the weekend-long Not Television Festival (also at Chelsea). It was all about shows that can only happen when audiences and performers join forces – that are not television.

 

John Cameron Mitchell on Mattachine, Hedwig and the ‘dangerous gay agenda’ (September 9, 2014)
John Cameron Mitchell isn’t only the man behind Hedwig and Shortbus. He throws a mean party too. In this Q&A ahead of the London debut of his club night Mattachine, Mitchell told me why it’s good to put down your phone, how dance parties can change things and the latest on the Hedwig sequel. Oh, and the party was a blast.

 

Another normal: Grayson Perry, Alternative Miss World, Middle of the Road and Alan Titchmarsh (October 24, 2014)
This was the first year I was able to see Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World pageant. It was a real thrill to see so much polymorphous perversity given free rein across the stage at Shakespeare’s Globe, and to see it all co-hosted by new national treasure Grayson Perry. The rejection of ‘normality’ chimed with another show by David Hoyle and Bourgeois & Maurice at Lime Wharf.

 

Nine questions the property developer buying the RVT won’t answer (November 7, 2014)
This year, Madame Jojo’s and the Joiners Arms faced the axe and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern changed hands. There have been reassurances of business as usual at the RVT under the management of one of its former owners, but the new owners – a property development company that revamps historic buildings – refuse to answer questions about its future.

 

Time to fight back: six ways to defend London culture from property development (December 18, 2014)
The luxury development issue will grow even more acute in 2015, with almost anywhere in central London seeming vulnerable to redevelopment schemes that have nothing to do with how people actually live, work and play in the city. So it’s time to organise and get active in defence of independent culture. Here are some first steps.

 

Oh, and here’s a bonus link to one last article that was for the Guardian rather than this blog. It’s about what I dubbed a ‘backward turn’ in LGBT cinema – a new focus on older characters, period-set stories and documentaries about elements of queer history. It’s a frame that has been consistently useful for writing about lots of LGBT films this year, and the trend shows no signs of quietening down.