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.
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