Here are 5 things I’ve been interested in over the last month or so that I think are worth a perusal

1. I’ve been compiling a reading list of new, reframed art history books. I’m loving THE WHOLE PICTURE by Alice Procter, which tracks the different kinds of museum collections and their relationships to colonialism. It’s been fascinating, especially the final sections, which investigate attempts to protest and change the ways museums operate. Alice’s website is also a great resource.

2. I’ve been a little stuck with art-making and have turned to drawing fancy cats. I have some more here. And here. And some in pyjamas here. I think it might be the best art un-blocker.

3. While I don’t agree with everything they stand for, I enjoyed reading ‘The Founding, Manifesto and Rules of the Other Muswell Hill Stuckists’ (2009), a manifesto of an artist group opposed to conceptual art. I love some conceptual art, but their manifesto is such a delight to read that it almost convinced me.

4. I’ve started reading (and become slightly obsessed with) Bram Stoker’s Dracula after seeing Nosferatu at the Malthouse Theatre. The season is sadly over now, but I hope it returns because it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and an amazing reframing of a classic. My Dracula obsession led me to watch this version from 1992 which may be one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, despite having a cast that should have been amazing.

5. My friend gave me Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson for my birthday and I can feel it curing my reading slump. It feels like Carry On by Rainbow Rowell meets Good Omens by Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman i.e. the perfect book for me. One day, I’ll write my own witchy vampire story, and I hope it can be half has good as Dawson’s. HMRC is also such an interesting take on some of the transphobia happening in the UK and USA now (and, increasingly, Australia) so I also recommend watching Contrapoint’s new video as a non-fiction companion to the novel