Simon Tait’s Mews No.8
Ever realised there was a product you absolutely needed but that didn’t exist? The kind of thing that chaps used to send new apprentices off to the stores for, like a jar of elbow grease or a bag of shoulder chips – only seriously? Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.7
HQ CMT is a secret central London location known only to a few thousand cognoscenti, and they all seemed to be there for the Christmas spell casting. This is where making magic is serious fun, and the CMT Christmas gathering is the summit meeting for devoted funsters. I’m not talking about magic tricks, sleight of hand and now-you-see-now-you-don’t; this is about pure ingenuity, Magic Circle rules do not apply. Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.6
November 30, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
If you’ve been following the Magic of Cabaret day by day you’ve got some idea of the range of what CMT does, and elsewhere on the site there’s a bit of history, but I think you ought to know the real story about how the whole thing came about, and that’s Sue Jackson’s story. I warn you, though; it’s a breathless roller coaster we’re boarding. Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.5
October 15, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Jungle drums, cogs and sprockets
There’s a lovely little volume called the London Jungle Book by a Gond artist called Bhajju Shyam, all about his trip to London (to decorate an Islington Indian restaurant). Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.4
September 10, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Viva Carlos!
It happens. Struggling artist in a strange country just about making ends meet working in a warehouse by day and painting by night pictures that he can occasionally sell, gets a creative block. Can’t paint any more. Disaster. Body and soul threatening to fall apart. Loyal and loving wife goes to London, to Covent Garden, and discovers Cabaret. Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.3
August 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
The human side of Paul Spooner
If you ask Paul Spooner to fit a project brief don’t expect anything, because whatever you expect isn’t going to happen. What you can be sure of is that whatever does happen is going to be a delight. Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.2
July 7, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
I call it sciretance
Here’s an interesting work of art to mews upon. It’s a sculpture by the eminent French artist Jean Tinguely and he called it Meta-Matic. It must be a work of art because Read more
Bernie Lubell in the UK
If you are in the UK this summer it is worth visiting San Francisco
based artist Bernie Lubell’s ‘A Theory of Entanglement’ exhibition Read more
At Home with Automata
June 22, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
We had a chat about collecting contemporary automata with TV personality and interior designer, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen today. Read more
Simon Tait’s Mews No.1
This is the first in a series of posts from the journalist Simon Tait. He will be musing on all things mechanical once a month.
The family way
How closely related are mechanical theatre and the latest generation of robots? Is the connection the art, the mechanics, the humour? Read more









Join our
Subscribe to our