MAN FALLS TO DEATH AT TATE MODERN; DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 SHIP CATCHES FIRE

Two unusual news items came across the transom today. In London, a corporate lawyer plunged to his death from a Tate Modern stairwell last Friday after he and colleagues raised concerns over heavy workloads and long hours, reports Paul Stokes in The Telegraph. Matthew Courtney, twenty-seven, had gone to the museum alone, where he fell from between the sixth and seventh floors. He died instantly from head and chest injuries. Detectives have described his death, just before midnight, as “unexplained but not suspicious.” Elsewhere, BBC News reports that the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese whaling ship on which artist Matthew Barney filmed much of Drawing Restraint 9, has caught fire near Antarctica, leaving one crew member missing and raising fears of environmental damage. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but New Zealand authorities said it had nothing to do with protestors who have pursued the ship in recent days, throwing acid and other objects on deck to try and stop its crew from carrying out their hunt.