On Monday The Sunday Times released its annual list of the coolest places to live in the UK – the places it deems the most highly sought after destinations to call home.
While Bristol is no stranger to such accolades, the area of the city which stars in The Sunday Times’ rundown will no doubt have taken plenty of people by surprise.
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Fantastic bars and pubs
One of the best things about Old Market without question is its selection of bars, with plenty of options in a relatively small area. The fantastic Old Market Assembly, which opened at the tail end of 2015, acted as a catalyst for other businesses to follow suit.
The spacious bar, which also includes the brilliant Wardrobe Theatre as well its own bakery, is from the same team behind The Canteen in Stokes Croft – another cultural hub which opened bang in the middle of a once-troubled area – and attracts people all over the city.
To The Moon, meanwhile, just off the main road on Midland Road, is a quaint and cosy venue selling a range of locally-sourced drinks and delicious cocktails, while the newly-opened Elmers Arms again offers something different, specialising in real ales and real soul music.
If you want a more traditional pub you’re also not short of options. There’s the newly-renovated Punchbowl, The Old Market Tavern, The Stag and Hounds and of course The Volunteer Tavern just around the corner, which is arguably one of the city’s finest neighbourhood boozers.
Live music
If you’re partial to a bit of live music, Old Market has you covered. The Trinity Centre, which recently announced that its future has been secured, is one of the city’s most unique live music venues and welcomes an array of live bands and DJ nights. At the other end of the stretch there’s Exchange, which is currently trying to become the city’s first community-owned music venue, which hosts the best up-and-coming acts around.
On top of that both The Old Market Assembly and The Stag and Hounds are also home to live music, so across the four venues there’s most definitely something to appease everyone’s musical tastes.
Top notch coffee
If you’re in need of a pick me up, some of the best coffee in Bristol can be found in Old Market. One of the finest places to grab a brew is Alex Does Coffee, headed up by – you guessed it – a coffee-expert named Alex, who sources beans from Extract in St Werburgh’s to make beverages of a very high standard.
Banksy posts video of £1m painting shredding stunt at Sotheby’s
Banksy has released a video showing how he secretly built a shredder into one of his paintings that self-destructed after it was sold for more than £1m.
The framed Girl With Balloon, one of the artist’s best known works, was auctioned by Sotheby’s in London.
Moments after the piece was sold, the canvas of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped balloon shredded itself.
Quoting Picasso on his Instagram, Banksy wrote: “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge – Picasso.”
The clip starts with a caption, saying: “A few years ago, I secretly built a shredder into a painting.”
The video then shows someone in a hoodie installing the device, before another caption, saying: “In case it was ever put up for auction.”
The video then shows the moment the painting shredded itself at the auction house on Friday, captured on a mobile phone.
It is unclear how the shredder was activated.
‘We just got Banksy-ed’
Moments before, the 2006 stencilled spray-painting had sold for £1.042m.
“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe.
Earlier, Banksy posted a picture of the moment it happened on his Instagram, with the words: “Going, going, gone…”
John Brandler, director of Brandler Art Galleries, described Banksy as “the ultimate publicity artist” and said the stunt was “absolutely brilliant”.
“He has made Damien Hirst look like an amateur,” Mr Brandler said.
Banksy rose to prominence through a series of graffiti pieces across the country.
The enigmatic artist is thought to have grown up in Bristol, but his identity has remained a secret despite much speculation over the years.
Among his recent works was the 2015 opening of Dismaland, a Disneyland-esque attraction at a lido in Weston-super-Mare, which he described as a “family theme park unsuitable for children”.
In 2017, Girl With Balloon, which originally appeared on a wall in Great Eastern Street, London, was voted the nation’s favourite artwork.
The gallery version featured spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on a board.
Does the buyer still have to pay?
Sotheby’s has not revealed who bought the piece before it was shredded.
At the moment it is unclear whether their contract still stands.
Mr Branczik told the Financial Times the auction house was trying to “figure out” what the stunt means.
He said: “We have not experienced this situation in the past …where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a [near-]record for the artist.
“We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context.”
In a statement on its website, Sotheby’s described the incident as “unexpected” and said it had become “instant art world history”.
Will it be worth more now, or is it ruined?
Opinion is split.
Some social media posters have speculated that the prank could have actually caused the artwork to increase in value.
However, others have questioned whether the buyer would still have to pay for it – or would even want to.
Mr Brandler said the more publicity works of art get, the pricier they tend to become.
“It was the best publicity stunt he [Banksy] could think of,” he said.
Banksy posts video of £1m painting shredding stunt at Sotheby’s
Banksy posts video of £1m painting shredding stunt at Sotheby’s
Banksy has released a video showing how he secretly built a shredder into one of his paintings that self-destructed after it was sold for more than £1m.
The framed Girl With Balloon, one of the artist’s best known works, was auctioned by Sotheby’s in London.
Moments after the piece was sold, the canvas of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped balloon shredded itself.
Quoting Picasso on his Instagram, Banksy wrote: “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge – Picasso.”
The clip starts with a caption, saying: “A few years ago, I secretly built a shredder into a painting.”
The video then shows someone in a hoodie installing the device, before another caption, saying: “In case it was ever put up for auction.”
The video then shows the moment the painting shredded itself at the auction house on Friday, captured on a mobile phone.
It is unclear how the shredder was activated.
‘We just got Banksy-ed’
Moments before, the 2006 stencilled spray-painting had sold for £1.042m.
“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe.
Earlier, Banksy posted a picture of the moment it happened on his Instagram, with the words: “Going, going, gone…”
John Brandler, director of Brandler Art Galleries, described Banksy as “the ultimate publicity artist” and said the stunt was “absolutely brilliant”.
“He has made Damien Hirst look like an amateur,” Mr Brandler said.
Banksy rose to prominence through a series of graffiti pieces across the country.
The enigmatic artist is thought to have grown up in Bristol, but his identity has remained a secret despite much speculation over the years.
Among his recent works was the 2015 opening of Dismaland, a Disneyland-esque attraction at a lido in Weston-super-Mare, which he described as a “family theme park unsuitable for children”.
In 2017, Girl With Balloon, which originally appeared on a wall in Great Eastern Street, London, was voted the nation’s favourite artwork.
The gallery version featured spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on a board.
Does the buyer still have to pay?
Sotheby’s has not revealed who bought the piece before it was shredded.
At the moment it is unclear whether their contract still stands.
Mr Branczik told the Financial Times the auction house was trying to “figure out” what the stunt means.
He said: “We have not experienced this situation in the past …where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a [near-]record for the artist.
“We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context.”
In a statement on its website, Sotheby’s described the incident as “unexpected” and said it had become “instant art world history”.
Will it be worth more now, or is it ruined?
Opinion is split.
Some social media posters have speculated that the prank could have actually caused the artwork to increase in value.
However, others have questioned whether the buyer would still have to pay for it – or would even want to.
Mr Brandler said the more publicity works of art get, the pricier they tend to become.
“It was the best publicity stunt he [Banksy] could think of,” he said.
Private: Bristol’s Old Market named second coolest place to live in UK by Sunday Times – here’s why
Private: Bristol’s Old Market named second coolest place to live in UK by Sunday Times – here’s why
On Monday The Sunday Times released its annual list of the coolest places to live in the UK – the places it deems the most highly sought after destinations to call home.
While Bristol is no stranger to such accolades, the area of the city which stars in The Sunday Times’ rundown will no doubt have taken plenty of people by surprise. Bristol’s Old Market named second coolest place to live in U
It isn’t one of the usual suspects, the likes of Stokes Croft or Montpelier, but is instead Old Market which flies the flag for the city in the top 10.
The area hasn’t always had the best reputation and while there will be many people raising an eyebrow at its inclusion, a strong case can definitely be argued for it.
We think Old Market is, as The Sunday Times suggests, worthy of being recognised in such a glowing way. Here’s why: