"I'm a tweeting machine!" - Jarvis Cocker
If you missed our Twitter chat with Jarvis Cocker the Eurostar Plus Culture ambassador and the lead singer of Britpop band Pulp on Tuesday 12th April, then don’t fear you can see all his witty responses below.
The musical legend and art aficionado took the reins of our @EurostarUK Twitter page for an hour to answer questions about his love of art, culture, travel and music.
Eurostar Plus Culture is a unique partnership between Eurostar and some of Europe’s most popular museums and galleries in London, Paris and Brussels. Travellers simply present their inbound Eurostar ticket to take advantage of 2-for-1 entry into paying exhibitions.
As the ambassador for Eurostar Plus Culture, Jarvis wants to encourage people of all ages to engage with culture by visiting museums and galleries both at home and abroad.
So, if you’re burning to know what Jarvis’ favourite art piece is, what gallery he visited last and what he loves most about Paris then simply keep reading!
“Making your answers fit into the prescribed length of one hundred and forty characters as stipulated in the Twitter handbook is very diffic” – Jarvis Cocker
“Apologies to John Cooper Clarke for stealing the idea for the previous joke from his poem ‘Haiku’” – Jarvis Cocker
Q: How do you feel about art in three words?
Jarvis: “Part. Of. Life.”
Q: If you could design a new city (called ‘Pardon’) based on the best bits of London and Paris what would you include from each?
Jarvis: “Pardon is a good concept. I’d like to see the Millennium Eye attached to the top of the Eiffel Tower. What a sight…!”
Q: What is your favourite ‘arondissement’ in Paris?
Jarvis: “My favourite ‘arondissement’ of Paris is the 18th, where I live because all the shops are either music or sex shops.”
Q: Do you think the multicultural infusion in Britain is contributing to the contemporary art scene positively or negatively? How?
Jarvis: “The more multicultural and mixed up things are the better, so yes it’s having a positive impact.”
Q: What do Paris and Sheffield have in common?
Jarvis: “Me, plus great art scenes.”
Q: What do you think of the cuts to arts funding in the UK?
Jarvis: “I think that the cuts to arts funding are tragic yet predictable.”
Q: I’m old enough to appreciate what a legend you are but does your boy realise that? Does he think you’re a cool dad?
Jarvis: “My son just said I’m cool but I think he wants something.”
Q: Why are art galleries so quiet? Do you think if they played music, people would discuss and interact more?
Jarvis: “Good point, sometimes music in galleries can be good; the Tate Britain did it really well recently.”
Q: Jarvis, what’s your favourite song of all time?
Jarvis: “Not sure about ‘of all time’ but fave song today is ‘On the road again’ by Canned Heat.”
Q: Hi Jarvis! What’s your favourite museum in Europe and why?
Jarvis: “It’s too hard to choose! Go to the Susan Hiller exhibition at the Tate Britain.”
Q: Who do you prefer; Justin Bieber or David Cameron?
Jarvis: “It has to be a TIE!”
Q: What’s your favourite piece of outside art?
Jarvis: “A piece called Salvation Mountain in the desert near Palm Springs in the US made by Leonard Knight.”
Q: Dear Jarvis – What’s the furthest you have ever travelled to visit a specific piece of culture (not counting your own gigs!)?
Jarvis: “The furthest I’ve ever travelled for culture was Chandigarh in India to see a garden made entirely from waste products.”
Q: Are there any differences between the UK and French current contemporary art scenes?
Jarvis: “You get lager at the private views in London and wine at the ones in Paris.”
Q: Which city of those you’ve visited do you think has the most exuberant music scene?
Jarvis: “It has to be Berlin. Last time I was there, I saw people dancing by a truck that was playing radio interference.”
Q: Hi Jarvis, what was the last gig you went to in Paris? Can you recommend any good French bands?
Jarvis: “Check out le Social Club in Paris for good French music, I saw Discodeine there.”
Q: What are your favourite smaller / lesser known museums in London, Paris and Belgium?
Jarvis: “In London, Sir John Soane’s Museum, in Paris the Gustave-Moreau, and in Belgium, the Musical Instrument Museum.”
Q: Hi Jarvis! In Middle Earth, would you be a hobbit, an elf or a wizard?
Jarvis: “In middle Earth, I would be Gollum.”
Q: Hi Jarvis! If you could get your portrait done by any great photographer, dead or alive, who would you choose?
Jarvis: “It’s already happened; I had my portrait taken by David Bailey.”
Q: Who would be your dream person to visit a gallery with?
Jarvis: “My girlfriend – or is that too soppy?!”
Q: If you could put one piece of art inside the Musée d’Orsay what would it be?
Jarvis: “It’s already been there, their Hammer Horror films festival last month.”
Q: What is your favourite artistic retreat in Paris?
Jarvis: “I like the basement of the Louvre. I go and chill with the mummies.”
Q: Who is your favourite painter?
Jarvis: “You should check out the American painter John Currin, he’s one of my favourites. Another favourite is Peter Blake.”
Q: I’m going to Paris in the summer, where would you recommend going for a good Tate Modern equivalent?
Jarvis: “Go to the Musée d’Art Moderne and don’t forget to visit the Palais de Tokyo next door.”
Q: If you were a painter, who would you be?
Jarvis: “I hate the smell of paint so maybe Julian Schnabel because he got other people to paint for him.”
Q: I’ve loved the culture in Paris. I’d love to visit Lille next, what would you say is a must see there?
Jarvis: “There’s a very good music venue in Lille called L’Aéronef and it has some of the best museums in France like the Palais des Beaux-Arts.”
Q: Which piece of art do you wish you had in your house?
Jarvis: “I’d have Jeff Koons ‘Hoover’ in my house.”
Q: Hi Jarvis! Hope you are well. I am new to Paris and I’m still very much getting to know the area, so just wondered if you have a favourite art gallery in Paris that you would recommend?
Jarvis: “The Pompidou Centre is definitely worth a try because even if you don’t like the exhibition you can just look at the building and the view from the roof.”
Q: If you could have dinner with five people, dead or alive, who would they be?
Jarvis: “No-one, I don’t like people watching me eat.”
Q: Hello Jarvis, if you needed to find fresh new innovative contemporary art, where would you go?
Jarvis: “For fresh innovative art, I’d go somewhere like the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris, or it’s always worth seeing college degree shows.”
Q: What’s the best view in Paris?
Jarvis: “If I lean out the window I can see the Eiffel Tower from my house.”
Q: Jarvis do you remember the first time you went to Europe?
Jarvis: “I was eight and I went camping in France with my mother and sister.”
Q: Hi Jarvis, Where is your favourite place to go out for a meal with your partner in Paris?
Jarvis: “I couldn’t tell you that, she’d kill me.”
Q: What’s your favourite place in Paris?
Jarvis: “This isn’t quite my favourite in Paris, but the Catacombs are dead good. Cool in summer too.”
“Thanks for your tweets. Before today I was a Twitter virgin, thank you for being so gentle with me. Love Jarvis x LOL OMG”
- Jarvis Cocker
Which museums and galleries are involved?
In London
The National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In Paris
les Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Le musée du quai Branly, la Cité de la musique, le Jeu de Paume, and le Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.
In Brussels
Bozar, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (including the Museum of Ancient Art and the Museum of Modern Art) and the Musical Instrument Museum.
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