logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
10m 49s

Taking Hammer to Gill

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Howard Jacobson deplores the recent vandalising of Eric Gill's sculpture at BBC Broadcasting House as a failure to understand the meaning of art.

'Art, we go on protesting, is not the artist, but some will always believe that whatever is fashioned by evil hands must itself be evil,' he writes.

'If art and the artist were not distinct, the word art itself would have no meaning. For it denotes manufacture and artifice... not simple equation or reflection.'

Producer: Sheila Cook Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross

Up next
Mar 2025
Our Revels Now Are Ended
Howard Jacobson reflects on the radio essay, after almost two decades of A Point of View.With nods to Clive James, body-pierced baritones and with a plentiful supply of svelte notebooks, Howard explains why he believes the radio essay is 'more than words on paper'...why it captur ... Show More
10m 26s
Mar 2025
How History Begins Again
The celebrated American theorist, Francis Fukuyama, in his book 'The End of History and the Last Man' argued that US-style liberalism was the ultimate destination for all mankind, 'the final form of human government'.John Gray explains why he believes his prophecy has been turned ... Show More
10m 18s
Mar 2025
Elbows Up: Canada v Trump
After Donald Trump proposed that Canada could be consumed as America's 51st State, Adam Gopnik reflects on his homeland's history with the United States and Canada's new-found patriotic toughness - and how it differs from nationalism. 'It’s is only a little startling, though very ... Show More
10m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Elaine Sturtevant - La réplique était presque parfaite
Est-ce l’originalité qui fait l'œuvre d’art ? Et peut-on considérer le copieur comme un véritable artiste ?La « copieuse » en question, c’est Elaine Sturtevant, une artiste conceptuelle américaine née dans le nord des Etats-Unis en 1924. Après des études de psychologie, Sturtevan ... Show More
14m 20s
Feb 2024
In the Studio: Jon Foreman
Jon Foreman is a land artist. He creates work in natural spaces using natural materials like stones, sand, leaves and driftwood. Known for his mesmerising sculptures that harmonise with nature, Jon’s work has captured the imagination of art enthusiasts worldwide. His artwork may ... Show More
28m 58s
Oct 2023
Mike Kelley - L’art pour rester humain
Pourquoi l’art est-il considéré comme de l’art ? Et quelles symboliques se cachent derrière les objets et rituels du quotidien ?Mike Kelley, né près de Détroit en 1954, est un artiste conceptuel qui s’inspira aussi bien de la culture populaire que de la psychanalyse pour explorer ... Show More
17m 12s
Dec 2022
In The Studio - The Artist's Muse
Looking back over a year of In The Studio, we consider the role of the artist's muse. Why does one subject suggest itself above all others, how does an artist then go about incorporating that subject into their work, and what, if any, are the pressures they feel? From Nitin Sawne ... Show More
30m 56s
Dec 2024
The Fear of Knowledge
This year's lecturer is the first and current Professor of Art History at Oxford University, Edgar Wind. The German-born British professor specialises in iconology in the Renaissance era. In his Reith Series entitled 'Art and Anarchy', Edgar Wind explores the concepts of creative ... Show More
29m 6s
Jun 2023
Art and AI with Raphaël Millière
Machine minds can work a paintbrush, but are they really making art? In episode 80 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk with guest Raphaël Millière, scholar and philosophy lecturer at Columbia University, on the aesthetic merits of computer-generated art. They discuss the thorny ma ... Show More
59m 59s
Aug 2022
Recalculating Art
Art by women is literally undervalued. The highest price achieved by a contemporary female artist is $12.4m, while it is $91m for a man. If a painting is signed by a man it goes up in value, signed by a woman it goes down. We might expect this historically, but as the majority of ... Show More
29m 13s
Aug 2017
The Writing on the Wall
There are new paintings and drawings by Sol LeWitt being made all the time -- even though the artist died in 2007. That’s possible because LeWitt’s wrote instructions for creating his works  art, for other people to make. Abbi and writer Samantha Irby consider a piece by Glenn Li ... Show More
21m 9s
May 2013
Salvador Dali
John Cooper Clarke, poetry's Punk Laureate, nominates Salvador Dali, the surrealist behind melting clocks, lobster telephones, and that trademark moustache. Matthew Paris asks whether Dali was a genius artist or just a gifted marketeer of his own brand image, who latterly embrace ... Show More
27m 52s