East End Gallery HUnt, High Tea

The East End Gallery Hunt was a tiring experience. For some reason i expected the galleries to be almost next door to each other, lining the streets. Yet that was not the case and sadly a lot of the galleries were closed. But Mary, Lee, Emily, and myself trucked on and went into any random gallery we walked past. I found it interesting how some of the galleries blended in, you would not even know that art was on the inside of an industrial looking building or a building that looked like a simple apartment. Viewing these spaces reminded me of how difficult it is as a new artists trying to get your work shown and even just appreciated by the public. I was observant of the 'workers' in each location, how they mindlessly sat behind a computer, seemingly unaware of my presence. At this point my body and mind was tired and i needed a visual rest.

Before heading to high tea, a few of us stopped at a street market just to wonder and shop. I was overwhelmed with the size. I easily could compare this location to a cleaner, busier Canal Street. In other words, i loved it and could spend forever and then some there.

High tea was bitter sweet. It was a fun experience but a sad ending to the trip. I thought it would be cute to have the tea in a small cafe or something like that but due to our group size i do not think that would have been possible. Although i love tea, i would have preferred flake bars to the finger sandwiches, but thats just my tastebuds :)

Royal Observatory, Anish Kapoor, National Portrait Gallery

It's been a while since i updated my blog, primarily because i have been in mourning ever since the flight landed. But anyway, we took a sight-seeing boat tour to the Royal Observatory where the Prime Meridian is. The boat ride was somewhat of a disappointment. We did get to see some interesting locations but we had already visited almost all of them. I believe that I would have enjoyed the ride more and it would have benefited my experience more if we would have done it earlier in the program. Although it was a rainy day, it was interesting to stand on the actual Prime Meridian, and I feel as if everyone who travels to London needs to visit this location. I wish I could have visited at night and seen the light beam but there was just too much rain to stay there all day.

Before heading over to the National Portrait Gallery, a few of us went back to Kensington Gardens to see Anish Kapoor's sculptures. Although they were interesting to view in good weather, i was disappointed in how small the scale was. Each of the pieces look almost twice as large in images as opposed to in person. However, they were all uniquely beautiful and well worth the long walk.

Next to the Tate Modern, the National Portrait Gallery was my second favorite museum. The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibit made me want to explore photography since i never really worked in that medium. Some of the works did not meet my expectations yet others were beyond impressive. I love how a description of the person photographed was next to the photo. However, I believe that the more successful photos did not need the additional information. From this entire trip i realized that i am far more interested in current art rather than historical pieces. It was interesting finding myself in London.

Harry Potter Free Day

On our free day, after grabbing some lunch, Emily and I went on a mission to find Hogwarts (but really to find cool spots where Harry Potter was filmed). Before going to the first destination, we stopped at the Imperial War Museum to see some Churchill (not my cup of tea, her dad is a history teacher). Afterwards, it was a complete day dedicated to Harry and friends. In other words, a day well spent.

We followed the walking tour i posted in my free time ideas which worked out well. We got to go at our own pace and hit up all the places we wanted to. Some of the spots we hit up included the Australia House, where Gringotts was shot, the Cecil Court and Leadenhall Market, where Diagon Alley was shot, Davenports Magic Shop, and platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross.

Fashion & Textile Museum, Whitechapel Gallery, Petticoat Lane

After the Tower of London, a few of us chose to adventure to galleries on our own. The first one we visited was the Fashion and Textile Museum. The admission was relatively cheap but the exhibit was extremely small. The space was only one large room with a small upstairs. The exhibit was Sue Timney and the Design of Timney-Fowler. Although the space was small, i really enjoyed the work shown. The work and space reminded me a lot of Betsey Johnson's stuff who is my favorite designer. Additionally, the work resembled patterns, colors, and textures from the 80's, reflecting the past.

After the Fashion & Textile Museum, we headed to the Whitechapel Gallery. Although a majority of the spaces were closed due to instillations, my favorite exhibition was by Mona Hatoum. I feel like this piece had to have been seen in person to understand the full experience. It took me a while to find the speakers emitting the buzzing sound from the ceiling. I stood there for a while, watching the lights turn on and off encased by what seemed to be chicken wire. I felt charged just standing there and the piece was even more beautiful as all the lightbulbs light up.

We hit Petticoat Lane right before the weather turned for the worse. It was fairly empty since it was getting late. It was interesting to see all the different vendors set up on the streets. It felt like Canal Street only far more organized and way calmer.

Tower of London

The Tower of London was relatively interesting. I was mostly intrigued by the Jewel House and the Crown Jewels. I found it hard to believe that the jewels were so easily accessible being that there was only one unofficial "guard" in the room where the jewels were and a few others scattered about the building. Overall, I thought the presentation was a little bit cheesy. At first, standing in front of the videos, in a roped off line, I felt as if I was in an amusement park waiting for a ride to start.  I found the "moving sidewalk" that guided you around the jewels to be rather tasteless and devaluing. Looking at the numerous pearls and jewels on the crown, I wondered the price it cost back then to create such a piece as compared to now. I also found it a little sad that which ever Queen or King the crowns once belonged to were separated from them.

 

After walking through the Jewel House, I wondered around the grounds and towers for a while. It was a little inconvenient being that there was so much restoration and construction going on but I found the little passageways and dark towers to be fascinating. I wonder about the construction of each nook and cranny

Mommy's 50th birthday

Today, or yesterday really, was my mommy's birthday! Wahhooooo!

The British Museum

Today was one of the best days here in London. The flat slept in and went to breakfast as a group. We then casually walked to the British museum where we split up to wander around. The first piece I encountered happened to be The Rosetta Stone. The top of the piece is hieroglyphics, the middle demotic and the bottom greek, which is how historians were able to decode the hieroglyphics. I have heard so much about the Rosetta Stone, it was a relief to finally see it in person although it was much smaller than I had imagined. There were two distinct pieces that I enjoyed in the Picasso to Julie Mehretu modern drawings exhibit: one from Heinrich Campendonk and the other Charles Seliger. Both pieces were abstract and full of color. Simplicity was far from present. But overall, I was not impressed with the exhibit. It was far smaller than I had thought it would be and there was only one small drawing by Picasso. Emily and I somehow managed to walk through the entire museum. It was easy to get lost and wonder at the same time. However, all of the visuals wore us out and we hurried back to the flat for a quick nap before class.