Adventures in the Big City

I took Rousay to Edinburgh this week. It was her first time in a city and she found it all a little overwhelming. There were too many loud noises, people and busses for her liking but there were nice bits too. The dog-friendly cafe was a real treat and the American tourists fell in love with her. All in all, despite the bustle and noise, Rousay coped very well but she is really a country dog at heart and was glad to get back home.
I didn't make a special trip to Edinburgh just so Rousay could experience big city life though. My main reason was to visit the Talbot Rice Gallery. What a treat! And what a little gem of a gallery. The Between Poles and Tides exhibition displayed their new acquisitions while the Torrie Collection displayed the gallery's founding collection of Grand Masters and exquisite small bronzes. However, of all the delights on show it was Michael Barr's Hostipitalidade exhibition that blew my  mind! The gallery pamphlet describes the exhibition as 'an exploration of the interwoven meanings of hospitality and hostility'. Barr's 6 month residency at the gallery from September 2016 also mirrored a similar stay by a captive puma in 1827 consisted of 30 'performative interventions' while wearing a costume which only left the eyes uncovered. The current exhibition consists of the costume worn by Barr - a very strange, alien-like creation that really defies description (the best I can do is to liken it to a hairy ALF from the 80s TV series) - and a video entitled ETHOGRAM which documents his residency with a spoken soundtrack which is informed by the works of Derrida and Levinas - it is Derrida's term for 'hospitality' rendered in Portuguese, that gives the title to the exhibition.
It is an extraordinary exhibition and I am so glad I made the trip to see it. I am only sorry I didn't get the chance to see the actual performances by Barr although the ETHOGRAM is touching, amusing, scary and beautiful in its own right. I only wish I could exhort you all to rush along to see it but sadly the exhibition ends this weekend.
On the way out of Edinburgh I spotted a sign outside a pub which was advertising a live show by George Michael this weekend. I had to look closely before I noticed the little caveat, hand-written in brackets, stating '(tribute act)'. I can't decide if I was relieved or disappointed.