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.