Extract from a review of State of the Art, Everard Read Contemporary

Alan Alborough's contribution to Trent Read's State of the Art show looks pretty unassuming at first. Called Kill the Messenger, it is comprised of a telegram inserted into a cleft stick (the kind that Boer soldiers used to dispatch telegrams via black messengers).

It's an aesthetic eyesore, but its bland appearance belies its strong message. The key word in the telegram is "culture", that football aimed at our politics and tastes and kicked from one control team to another. Given the immediate context in which this piece is exhibited, it throws caustic, cynical light on the state of our art. ...