Art as Therapy

Alain the Botton and John Armstrong

06 May 2026

I have tried. I have almost heard you out, sirs. I have made it to page 181 of 229 of your book “Art as Therapy”, but I can go no further.

This is such a weird book. It sets out to examine what art is for, why we value it, how we display it, and how we should throw all of that out of the window for the new agenda: art is therapy. Not in an art therapy kind of way, but more like dour people hanging joyous, colourful compositions on their walls so they’ll cheer up.

At one point the writers (they write in one voice) suggest a new type of gallery that has a therapy office where the gallery person investigates the psychological issues of the art buyer so they can suggest the right kind of art to help them. It’s not meant to be a joke.

They never quite grapple with the question of why galleries exist now, or why huge amounts of money are paid for the art hung in galleries, while most art sits forever unsold in Etsy shops even though it’s a tenner. It never addresses the fact that there is simply a small cabal of very wealthy people who determine what art is valuable, and it’s not truly about quality; it’s more like how the diamond industry keeps most of the world’s diamonds locked in a vault in order to control the supply.

Art as Therapy also never attempts to define “art” for the purposes of the discussion. I think they mean visual art? Mostly they talk about paintings, but architecture and design occasionally get a look in. On one occasion, they use the example of a children’s picture book and how it might teach us patience. They clearly talk about the story of the picture book rather than the “art”, and yet, the rest of the time, literature doesn’t exist in this book. Novels? Poems? Film? Music, for that matter? Never heard of it. We’re talking about art. Whatever that means.

Then there’s the extremely idiosyncratic interpretations of the art used as examples. Like, you’re allowed to have your own take, but acknowledge it’s a take, guys. Most hair-raising for me was the one where they described Mary in a painting of virgin Mary with infant as “quite simply, a turn-on”. My brain is trying to recoil, sirs, could you not, please?

What made me stop reading, though, was the chapter about money and its analysis of capitalism. It defines capitalism as:

… the pursuit of profit through the sale of goods and services in a market in which consumers can make purchases as they choose. Producers only strive to provide whatever their consumers are willing to pay for.

Honestly, I would struggle to come up with a good definition of capitalism off the cuff, but even I know it’s not that. Any definition should acknowledge the role of capital, at least, right?

But it gets worse. You see, the big problem with capitalism is that it has littered the world with so many poor quality and ugly buildings, tv programs and products. So what we need to do to fix capitalism is gently educate the public in the realm of taste. That way, they will recognise that ugly shopping malls are ugly and refuse to shop at them. Likewise, they will refuse live in sub-par housing with uninspiring architecture.

This, also, is not meant to be a joke.

The other thing we need to do to fix capitalism is sprinkle some magic dust so that the ambitious will recognise the value of philanthropy and forgo a few percentile of profit for the sake of making better products and building more liveable cities. Not through taxation, of course! No, the wealthy will do this willingly out of their desire for honour and glory if we only made it so.

Sirs, it is at this point that we must part ways. I would like to politely invite you to get in the sea.

A Home of One's Own: Why the Housing Crisis Matters

Hashi Mohamed

13 Jan 2026

finished 13/01/2026

I wanted to dig a little deeper into some of the issues I care about. Rather than watching hypey 20 minute videos on Youtube, why don't I get a book out about e.g. the housing crisis in the UK? So I did that.
Mohamed's writing is clear and damning: political failures across the board have created this crisis and let it fester. This isn't about Thatcher (although it's also about Thatcher), it's about a system that has failed at every opportunity to plan for the future. A Home of One's Own is a fairly quick read, but it touches on the major forces contributing to the lack of affordable, quality housing: the selling of council housing, nimbyism, foreign investment, a planning system that's not fit for purpose. Ultimately, it's conflicts of interest that keep this crisis unsolved: the powerful own houses, and benefit from the fact that others do not.
It deepened my understanding, although it's light on solutions or, you know, hope.
Everything needs to change. Political will is in short supply.
Gift this book to your parents or grandparents who don't understand.

The Haunting of Alma Fielding

Kate Summerscale

08 Jan 2026

Exhaustively (exhaustingly) detailed review of a paranormal investigation from interbellum London. Weird book, it draws you in with all these seemingly supernatural happenings, and all the while you're like, "But she's faking, right? This is clearly fake?!" I guess I won't spoil it. It's from a real life report of an actual haunting.

Recommended if you like:

1. Interbellum London,
2. Spooky stuff,
3. Real life ghost stories.