Saturday 31 December 2011

Riverside in the rain




On our way to Tate Modern,  just about to cross Millenium Bridge




St Paul's Cathedral behind us




on our left the Glass Shard by Renzo Piano, still under construction: it is going to be 310m high, the tallest building in Europe




in front of us to the left, Shapespeare's Globe theatre




it is raining and the Thames looks grey and muddy




in front, our destination -  Tate Modern




inside the Tate now, standing on the balcony and looking at Millenium Bridge




another view of the bridge from one of the windows on the fourth floor




the birch trees outside the Tate




it is raining much harder now




and it is grey and misty




a sand sculpture that someone has constructed on the banks of the Thames




we pass the ruins of Winchester Palace, built in the early 13th century, London residence of the Bishops of Winchester - they did alright those bishops, did they not?




and we come to the magnificent City Hall by Norman Foster



,

the Tower on the other side of the river




and we have reached Tower Bridge




we can see Swiss Re, or the Gherkin, as it is colloquially known, also by Norman Foster, 180m high,
on the other side of the river 






and we reach our destination, the Design Museum




but before we go in a look at the sculpture by Paolo Paolozzi





and this is what it looks like from the back.




it is dark when we leave the Design Museum and London looks wonderful




everything is bright and twikling.








Still there...




Still camped outside St Paul's after all these months, following the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstrations





representing the 99%





fighting for all of us





and lately ignored by the media.

I wish them all a very happy and productive 2012.








Wednesday 28 December 2011

Coombe



We went for a walk around Coombe Country Park this afternoon.





A dull, grey day - the water is the colour of lead.




This statue in the water is in front of the hotel




the sun is struggling to come out and the statue looks quite different with the sun's rays on it





we leave the house/hotel behind and head for the woods





and come upon this weir




it is nice getting away from the 'day after Boxing Day' crowds




it is so quiet in the woods





and the sun is out - it makes such a difference!





We say goodbye to the geese and head home....







Friday 23 December 2011

Lost in Lace



Lost in Lace at the Gas Hall,  Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.







The entrance to the exhibition room






and then as you come inside, a curtain of lace






followed on your right, with lace wall and door by Francois Beroalde de Verville






Lace the final frontier,  Michael Brennand-Wood  (cutting, painting, aluminium, acrylic wood)






"My intention is to construct a military lace emblematic of conflict and the annexing of resources and territory.






Imagery for the roundels is drawn from three sources: lace, weaponry and Rorschach test".






After the dream, Chiharu Shiota, (wool, cotton, paint)






"My installations with clothes always refer to the clothes as a second skin, which carry the memories of the people who wore these clothes.






I am more interested in the lines, which are often represented in my work through black string. These strings are woven into each other, which can make it look a bit like lace, which is also intricately woven. The difference is that my strings are in a random pattern, whilst lace follows set designs and patterns".






The latticed eye of memory, Liz, Nilsson, (screen-printing, laser-printing, stitching, laser-cutting, embellishing, Viscose satin, thread)






"The principal concept for my work concerns memory traces. Lace has for a long time inspired me because it has an ethereal nature not unlike that of memory itself. For the Gas Hall at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the shadows, cast by one fabric onto another or to the surrounding area, are reminders of the transcience of memory and experience!"






Lacing Space, Piper Shepard (Muslin, gesso, graphite, aluminium)







Inverted Chrystal Cathedral, Atelier Manferdini (designed using engineering platform ROBOT, assemblage 40,000 crystals, 1,000 strands of steel cable)






A thin line between Space and Matter, Tamar Frank






A very dark room, fibres of thread illuminated to form the most amazing construction. Frank Tamar specialises in site-sensitive installations which use light. "Like lace making I am in fact repeating the same action over and over. And, as with lace making, I am creating a work from a single thread, the pattern defined by the space between the threads: the emptiness".