Front Row - 20/07/2009

Presented by Kirsty Lang. Lars von Trier's new film Antichrist is being condemned by many as too distasteful for cinematic release. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe star as a couple who retreat to a remote cabin in the woods following the death of their young child. Charlotte Gainsbourg discusses the dark nature of the film and the explicit scenes that are causing so much controversy. Last summer the artist Roger Hiorns transformed a derelict flat in a run-down council block in south-east London into a blue cave, using 75,000 litres of copper sulphate solution. The resulting artwork was Seizure, where the walls, ceiling, floor and bath were covered in razor-sharp blue crystals. Twenty thousand visitors queued around the block to see it before it closed as the council were due to demolish the building. But with the recession, plans have changed and the flat is about to re-open to the public. Roger Hiorns returns to see how well the crystals have survived. As David Hockney's muse and the partner of Ossie Clark, textile designer Celia Birtwell was one of the 'Northern Bohemians' that invaded British society in the 1960s. With her distinctive prints, she helped to style some of the world's leading fashion icons, including the Beatles, Mick Jagger and Twiggy. Now entering her seventies, she talks about her role as muse, the re-emergence of sixties fashions and her latest challenge: designing a book cover for White's Books' new edition of Wuthering Heights. Comedy critic for the Sunday Times Stephen Armstrong reviews the annual showcase of new names in stand-up comedy at the Hackney Empire, London, and looks ahead to some of the shows on offer at the Edinburgh Festival.