Question of Taste: Cork-based artist Marie Brett picks her favourites 

Leonard Cohen, Fritz Lang, and Philip Glass featured in Brett's selection of favourite music, films, art, etc 

Marie Brett, artist. 

Marie Brett is based in West Cork, and is a visual artist involved in making experimental work through a social arts practice. “This basically involves working with loads of really interesting people across disciplines and expertise of human justice issues,” she explains. Her live installation and online film work, The Day-Crossing Farm, exploring modern day slavery and drug farming in Ireland, is currently part of Cork Midsummer Festival. All live slots are sold out, but it is available online via corkmidsummer.com 

Best recent book you've read:

The Girl Who Climbed Everest by Bonita Norris. It’s the story of a climber undertaking the world's toughest and most dangerous expedition. What I like about it is how it speaks to pushing outside our comfort zones, of risk and being fearful and how courage can be formed, and all amid the amazing backdrop of Mount Everest.

Best recent film:

I’ve been re-watching the classic Metropolis from 1927 by director Fritz Lang. It’s set in a futuristic urban dystopia, maybe a bit bleak, but the aesthetic is visually stunning; it’s a bit like a dark Busby Berkeley film, that I really like.

Best recent art exhibition you've seen:

It seems (and is) so long ago since I stood in a gallery and took time to take in art. I’d say it was William Kentridge’s Thick Time in the Whitworth/Manchester.

Best piece of music you've been listening to lately (new or old):

This has got to be Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass. An opera in four acts.

First ever piece of art that really moved you:

It was likely a Don McCullin photograph, and then a Mutoid Waste Company’s shark bus.

An image from The Day-Crossing Farm in Cork Midsummer Festival. 

The best art exhibition you've ever seen (if you had to pick one!):

One exhibition that was great for me was Bill Viola’s retrospective in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Tell us about your TV viewing:

I used to watch TV, but now it’s Netflix; gritty drama and documentaries.

Radio listening and/or podcasts:

I like The Mystery Train with John Kelly, and I like the Cry Power podcast with Hozier and Global Citizen.

You're curating your dream exhibition - which three artists are on the bill, living or dead?

I’d like to see Jessica Stockholder, Yinka Shonibare,  and South African artist William Kentridge.

You can portal back to any cultural event or art era - where, when, and why?

It’d be Leonard Cohen playing at Glastonbury in 2008; sweet.

You are queen of the arts scene for a day - what's your first decree?

Pay more, work harder, work less hard, be brave, take risks, do it, talk less unless it generates stuff, be kind, try.