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.

Glen Adamson, Victoria and Albert, Damian Ortega, Black Watch

Question for Glenn Adamson: Which is more important to teach in an art classroom setting: technical/ high skills or concept?

This was the first museum tour that I have ever been on (or at least that i can remember). Glenn Adamson was interesting and easy to follow. He showed us a variety of rooms that I am not sure I would have visited on my own (since there are so many) and gave a ton of information concerning the museum that only an insider would know. I appreciated the lay out of the space, how pieces are grouped by mediums as opposed to dates or areas. I am surprised that other galleries and museums do not do the same. The size of the V & A is slightly overwhelming, which is why I am glad he took us all the way up to the ceramics section because I am not sure that I would have made it up there myself. This is also the first museum/gallery that I have been to that has a section dedicated to glass. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to learn more about glass work but have not found the opportunity. I loved the camera-less photography exhibit. I appreciated how gestural each piece was. As a whole, the exhibit makes me want to learn even more about photography (even though I basically know nothing). I wrote down a lot of the techniques in hopes to experiment when I get home.

On our free time after the V & A and before going to the Barbican, Emily, Mary, Lee, and I went back and visited all of Anish Kapoor's pieces in Kensington Garden. The day was much better/nicer so all were visible. We also saw the Peter Pan statue. Afterwards we made our way into a glass blowing gallery in which we watched artists work for some time.

Concerning Damian Ortega's commission, I was not very impressed. The space was far too small, which made his work underwhelming. I wish he would have made or expressed some sort of indication of the days he did not find any interest in the papers articles and thus did not make any art. I would have not known that he had skipped a few days without reading the newspaper with his background information. I found the piece shown above to be the most interesting in the space. Both the shadows and the image made when looking through the negative space are impressive. I think it would be more affective to see all of the works from the series. I think its more the space that is turning me off rather than the artist himself. According to the Barbican pamphlet, this space was created as a sound barrier between theaters, without art in mind (which i found interesting).

I was not sure what to expect from the Black Watch but I was pleasantly surprised. Although it was hard to understand the Scottish accents at times, I really enjoyed the plot as well as the acting. The set up of the theater gave the audience a more interactive feeling since there was no such thing as a bad seat. I also felt as if a majority of the audience could find a way to relate to the plot/soldiers. Some aspects of the plot hit close to home. The only complaint I have is the how at times the actors were unprofessional. My seat was in the top left corner, right next to where the actors changed/went off stage. During the play, there was consistent chatter and laughing coming from them which i found distracting. Other than that, I found myself disliking War Horse increasingly. I compared the two war stories and found that the National Theatre of Scotland did a far better job at depicting the raw emotions of the soldiers at a time of war.

Trafalgar Square, Institute of Contemporary Arts, The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square has four different plinths for statues. The first has a statue of General Sir Charles James Napier, the second Major General Sir Henry Havelock, and the third King George IV. The fourth plinth currently has Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare. This artist was commissioned to reflect on the historical symbolism of Trafalgar Square and the Battle of Trafalgar. If i had to choose what would be displayed next on the fourth plinth, I would most likely choose a statue of some sorta that either depicts or represents an important modern day figure similar to Admiral Nelson's success. Since I do not know much about Britain and its history, past or present (sorry past history teachers), I am not able to pin point a specific person. My runner up would most certainly be a sculptural, free form representation of a Flake bar due to the importance and significant of Cadbury. 

more about the forth plinth

Before even seeing any art, I found the layout of the gallery to be beyond confusing. It was hard to find a specific place to begin looking at art. It seemed to be way smaller on the inside than the outside and on advertisements. The piece I enjoyed the most was a linocut in the upstairs gallery. This linocut was almost as large as the wall it was displayed on. As a printmaker (or a former one), I know the process behind the work. That being said, I am overly impressed. How he worked on a linocut of that size is amazing. He used extremely tight and clean lines. In one of the upstairs cinemas, two videos by different artists were playing. I caught the end of the first one and stayed for the entirety of the next, figuring that it would eventually lead into what I originally saw. I was very confused until I looked for the title on the wall and found that there was two. I was also surprised to find one of the artists roaming around the gallery. If Emily did not tell me who he was, I would have continued to walk right past him. Also, I found it weird that after walking through the first gallery you were dropped off in a random store then a bar.

The National Gallery was not my favorite type of art. I found myself far more interested in the detailed frames that the images were held in. Some questions concerning the framed that popped into my head:

-Were any of the works found with a frame?

-Who decides which frame goes with what piece?

-Once the frames are chosen do they remain with the piece if it travels to another gallery?

Through this trip I realized how interested I am in frames. In more than one gallery I found myself looking deeply into the framework. I want to learn about the construction and fabrication. I have taken wood design already but I want to learn more about the details of frame work. I do not know how but I just found myself more amazed by almost every frame in the gallery.

Freedom in London

-Westminster Abbey
-Buckingham Palace
-The Tower and London Bridge
-Club 49

On our free day Emily, Jen and I chose to travel back to Westminster Abbey to take more photographs since it was rainy when we originally went on the tour. After that we made our way over to Buckingham Palace (my future home). Although we did not see the changing of the guards, the architecture and intricate details of the Palace was more than enough. We Walked around the outside, taking photographs and observing. Outside the building seemed rather plain but the gates surrounding were extremely detailed. It is hard to believe that you can come so close to where Royalty lives, yet be so far because the place is huge. The grounds itself were not nearly as crowded as I had expected it to be but that seems to be the trend here (lack of crowds in almost all the museums and galleries). People were allowed to stand as close to the gate for as long as they wanted to. This reminded me of visiting the White House when i was little. There you were only allowed to stand and take pictures for only a few minutes before the police asked you to move along. There were not many distinct scents around the Palace besides random wiffs of cologne. When we were walking from the palace towards the tube, the street smelled of good food (we were not able to figure out what the exact smell was or which restaurant it was coming from). It reminded me of Little Italy where every street smells like delicious food. When then walked along the Riverside to see the London and Tower bridge. I found it interesting how much more beautiful the Tower bridge is than the London bridge and how most people get the two confused. We wanted to visit the bridges at night because of the lighting. The visual was stunning. On both the light illuminated the bridge in all the right places.

The night before, Jen, Emily, and i went out with the intentions of exploring the area around out flat. After hours of walking, we ended up in SoHo which was flooded with people our age. We ended up at Club49 which was an interesting experience. Besides the British accents, the club was exactly the same as a New York Club (only American music was played). It was interesting to see how people transformed from day to night.

Brigitte Jurack

I found Brigitte Jurack to be very interesting, both as an artist and a person. My favorite aspects of her work were her Still Waters Run Deep pieces. I thought it to be interesting how she transformed a natural disaster into a piece of art. I am glad that she spoke about this piece and how she linked together science, (ultimately the community are affected) and the arts (or else I would have no clue what the underlying image was). I should have asked her to explain more about how the piece was created. My second favorite piece was the Junge Mit Jacke (young man with jacket). I was attracted to the lonliness of the boy being that there was no way possible he could be reached by the public.

Being that she was speaking about her own work, the conversation was intriguing as she explain some of her work and the process behind it (both thought and process wise). I was confused by her work with Foreign Investiment. I understood her personal involvement and how the piece affected those who participated but I am not sure how it may or did affect the observing community. I also loved her accent.

Flakey

Tate Britain (Eadweard Muybridge & Rachel Whiteread)

In past art history classes, Eadweard Muybridge's images concerning movement have frequently come up in discussion. As far as my learning experience, those series of images were the only ones of his that i was exposed to in the classroom. I was shocked to see the photographs he had concerning perspective. At first it was difficult to see the differece between the two images and i found myself confused. Upon further glance and after reading the short description, i began to notice the slightly different angles and shift of perspective between each set of images. These series of images held my attention for quite some time. My next favorite part of the exhibit was his panorama's. Each piece was seamless and perfect. One of my friends recently made a panorama of main street in New Paltz and i watched as he struggled to complete the project. I really appreciate how clean and clear his images are especially since these photos were taken so long ago. Seeing both these series of photographs makes me want to learn about the process of professionally taking photos as well as developing them. However, i found Muybridge's images concerning movement to be a little redundant. I was interested in seeing the image of the horse galloping in person since it is so publicized but after a while, the movements were not as interesting. I understand the innovation that lies behind the process of making these images at that time but i found myself to be far more interested in his other works.

In my design foundation classes, we went over a majority of Rachel Whiteread's sculptures. That being said I was excited to see the drawings behind her works and learn more about her process. It was interesting to see how well planned out each piece of her work was, seeing her extensive drawings. I probably would have enjoyed the exhibit more if there was a final image of the sculpture next to her sketches. Additionally, I read the sketches more architecturally than drawing-like which went along with her final product. When first walking into the room, i saw and was drawn to the negative space underneath the table. I immediatly wanted to touch the resin since it looked so shiney and greasy. From different angles, there was a shift in the color of the resin. I just cannot get past how much i wanted to touch the sculpture. I wish i could see more of her works in person.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is by far the most beautiful church i have seen as of yet. It is amazing to think that this church has been standing for so many years with so minimal repairs. In fact, if the guide had not pointed out the significance of the different colored stones, I would have never noticed the restorations. I was impressed with the intricacy and complicity of the architecture and how contractors were able to construct such a large, detailed structure so long ago. Since it was not a very nice day outside, myself and two others decided it would be best to revisit the site on a better day to truly observe the outside structure. It was disappoint to not be able to photograph the inside of the church. I noticed a repetition of the colors red, blue, green, gold, white, and silver. I found the unknown warrior buried in the church floor with the surrounding poppy flowers to be one of the most interesting and admirable aspects within the church. I was surprised to learn that during a royal wedding, which are the only weddings that occur in the church, the bride and groom walk around the blocked off tomb stone while walking down the isle. The amount of respect is admirable. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in glass work. It is one aspect of art that i have no clue what-so-ever how to do. Although every church i have even been too has stained glass windows, I have never seen any as large, detailed, and colorful as the numerous ones in Westminster Abbey.

To be honest, I am not sure how interested I would have been in Westminster Abbey if we did not have a guided tour. There was so much information concerning the church that I would never have known by walking around myself. The guide was full of interesting facts about small details such as the story concerning how Almericus de Courcy bought his way into being buried in the church.

Serpentine Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, Globe Exhibition

Before going to the Serpentine Gallery, i never really experienced art in the form of videos. Philippe Parreno completely controlled the movement of the viewer through the gallery space which was confusing at first. My favorite section was The Invisible Boy. Parreno provided an interesting visual with a fictional character scratched onto the film. The quality of the film was flawless as were the scratchings. The child shown was easy to relate to as the concepts of desolation, loneliness, and fear were beyond apparent. The darkness of the room added onto the concepts that were common throughout all of the films. At first I was confused by the snow at the conclusion of the film but after watching all, i realized how Parreno was trying to tie the outdoors with the indoors.

Due to the rain and getting lost, we did not have a lot of time at the Saatchi Gallery. What first caught my attention was the layout of the space. Each room was flooded with natural light that gave a distinct emphasis to the pieces. I felt pressed for time so i found myself rushing through each room. However, as a whole i enjoyed the gallery and found myself interested in a large majority of the paintings although i did not have the time to study them individually.

Although I dreaded reading Shakespear in high school, I found the tour of the Globe to be interesting. I loved the general architecture and attention to specific details from the Shakespear era. What tied the extire experience together was the video shown in the exhibition of a play done in the space. It was hard to imagine the space filled with people watching a show but the recording helped to do so.


The moral of this days adventures was to always carry an umbrella and to pack extra socks.

The London Eye, Tate Modern, and War Horse

The London Eye gave me the opportunity to see London from a birds eye view. Although it was scary, it was a great chance to absorb the city from a distance.

I was plesantly suprized by the Tate Modern and so far it has been my favorite gallery. Before reading anything about the piece, Ai WeiWei's Sunflower Seeds instantly reminded me of my past softball teams and the unity that sunflower seeds brings to a game or practice, regardless of who is on the team. The only aspect missing was the distinct scent of the seeds. Ironically, according to Ai WeiWei the sharing of sunflower seeds is a sign of friendship and kindness which is very similar to my own experience with the seeds. I enjoyed the fifth level entitled States of Flux. I spent alot of time in Andy Warhol's artist room as well as the Pop room. His choices of context, composition, and overall imagery entrances me. The room had a very calm aura to it. I appreciate all of the prints in the Russian propaganda room. Each print was flawless and aligned perfectly which is something I know is difficult to achieve. I was not a big fan of the Gauguin exhibit. I am not really a fan of paintings but the second room, Making The Familiar Strange, stood out the most to me. I easily related to the childhood dream like aspect of the pieces, especially the ones of his children. Overall, the gallery was very relaxing. It was not overcrowded and the staff was beyond helpful and friendly. I am used to the Met or MOMA where the lines just to get in are out the doors and around the corner.

I am a big fan of Broadway plays in general. However, i did not enjoy War Horse. I felt as if the plot was drawn out at parts and jumped around in others. I also found the play to be confusing since i do not understand German or French as most of the audience did. I was most interested in the craftmanship of the horses. The mechanical aspect, quality, and overall craft were beyond admirable. I wish i knew more about the actual construction of the horses.

The Turner Prize

When I first entered the Tate Britain I was suprized at how open and calm the entrance was. The last museum I went to was the Met. The entrance to the Met always seems to be jam packed with long lines. Tate Britain was not buzy or conjested at all which instantly gave me a relaxed feeling.  I also found it hard to believe how calm it was being that the museum is huge. Walking towards the Turner Prize exhabit, i was entranced by a large painting on the wall. It was hanging over the staircase. The colors were pink, blue, and purple and the composition fascinated me. Reflecting back, I should have photographed the image, but at the time i was too entranced by its features to do so. That being said I intend to return to it to learn more about the artist and the context.


After viewing all four of the artists, I found that i related to Susan Philipsz the most. When i entered the room i instantly felt calm. I sat down and looked around the room, observing the people around me. It took me a while to realize that the same song was being repeated through three different speakers at different times. After a few minutes, i read the bio about the artists and began to really think. I realized that the artist made an environment without physically changing the room which was beyond impressive to me. You did not need to know the lyrics or the context of the song to respond to the work. I have not had much experience with sound art so I feel as if I am being biased in a positive way towards the artist in this situation. I think her work stood out the most because it is so drastically different from anything else i have ever experienced. It definatly opened my eyes to a new form of art and for that I believe that Susan Philipsz should win the Turner Prize