I can't believe it is the last day, still so much to see. I have opted to write the morning away in Bloomsbury. We will meet for high tea at the national gallery cafe at 4:30 today and we should figure out how to share photos and facebook names. The bus leaves at noon tomorrow, be ready and packed. You need to drop off your classroom card prior to departure as well.
See you for a spot of tea later.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
From the crown jewels to Petticoat Lane
The crown jewels today were at once impressive and slightly unreal. The scale of the pomp and circumstance was something I had not anticipated. The star of Africa diamond was the size of a clementine and the giant gilt punch bowl and ladle had golden barnacles on its underbelly. From the Tower of London, several of us headed off to Whitechapel and caught the
Claire Barcley, Mona Hatoum and Richard Wentworth Installations. I couldn't help but to relate the golden vinyl and chain forms in Barclay's piece to that which I had just seen in the Tower of London. The oversized chain was similar in form to that of the chain about the unicorn's neck in the current royal coat of arms. From there we dined on Brick Lane in which somehow I haggled a lunch for us at 8 pounds a person, which included a delicious starter, entree, and beverage. I think the nice young man believed I was haggling with him, but really I had trouble hearig him and so appeared to be playing hard ball. He and his colleagues were very curious about Bangladeshi communities in America and said that American English is slower and more polite, which shocked most of us new yorkers at the table. Full of delicious curry, we continued up brick lane to see some of the graffiti and stumbled upon the Gallery SO,a very cool little gallery that exhibits contemporary jewelry and objects.
We got a particularly thorough tour of the gallery from Antoinette, who also showed us the back gallery space. Our final destination for the evening was petticoat lane, and as we arrived at 5, the street vendors were closing up shop, so the street was a blend of carts,
tarps, shop windows lit up. Peering in, one would see elaborate "holland wax" (.i.e.
patterned fabric-Yinka Sonabear's sail cloth in trafalgar square) stacked pile upon pile and
walls of pink coral necklaces.
Claire Barcley, Mona Hatoum and Richard Wentworth Installations. I couldn't help but to relate the golden vinyl and chain forms in Barclay's piece to that which I had just seen in the Tower of London. The oversized chain was similar in form to that of the chain about the unicorn's neck in the current royal coat of arms. From there we dined on Brick Lane in which somehow I haggled a lunch for us at 8 pounds a person, which included a delicious starter, entree, and beverage. I think the nice young man believed I was haggling with him, but really I had trouble hearig him and so appeared to be playing hard ball. He and his colleagues were very curious about Bangladeshi communities in America and said that American English is slower and more polite, which shocked most of us new yorkers at the table. Full of delicious curry, we continued up brick lane to see some of the graffiti and stumbled upon the Gallery SO,a very cool little gallery that exhibits contemporary jewelry and objects.
We got a particularly thorough tour of the gallery from Antoinette, who also showed us the back gallery space. Our final destination for the evening was petticoat lane, and as we arrived at 5, the street vendors were closing up shop, so the street was a blend of carts,
tarps, shop windows lit up. Peering in, one would see elaborate "holland wax" (.i.e.
patterned fabric-Yinka Sonabear's sail cloth in trafalgar square) stacked pile upon pile and
walls of pink coral necklaces.
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is near the Whitechapel art gallery and famous for both it's street art and Bangladeshi community. Find edgy galleries in this neighborhood as well as in the commercial street tea building.http://www.visitbricklane.org/about-brick-lane/4537674488
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Emily's free time idea III
Following tour of tower of London, head to whitechapel gallery and catch lunch on brick lane.
Damian Ortega will be speaking of his work tomorrow evening at the barbican as well, 7:30.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery
Damian Ortega will be speaking of his work tomorrow evening at the barbican as well, 7:30.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery
Monday, January 10, 2011
The British museum and the Cadbury flake bar.
OK, so I just had a Cadbury flake bar, introduced to me by Vanessa (thank you for this unique cultural experience) and it is both delicious and really formally curious. The bar appears constructed from chocolate dripped as a band and frozen in time. Thus, the chocolate's interior shape appears generative and much like coral. Mental note: it is hazard to eat a flake bar in bed. For more information on how the British museum is intimately connected to Cadbury flake bars, click this link.
Final paper or final project assignment
If you are seeking liberal art credit, you will submit a final paper. If you are seeking art studio credit, you will submit an artwork.
Paper parameters:
Write a five page paper linking the work of contemporary artists (at least five artists) you saw in London with that of the past (movements and or artists). Develop a hypothesis for how you think these Contemporary artists connect in a common theme or trend and write an argument of why you think this is occurring and how it links to the past. You will present your paper in a short PowerPoint (images please) at the high tea event on campus around midterm of the spring semester.
Project parameters:
Taking inspiration from the artwork and culture of London, create an artwork that was inspired by the trip. You will present this work with a brief 1 page artist statement about the work and prsesemt a supporting PowerPoint presentation at the high tea event on campus around midterm of the spring semester.
Paper parameters:
Write a five page paper linking the work of contemporary artists (at least five artists) you saw in London with that of the past (movements and or artists). Develop a hypothesis for how you think these Contemporary artists connect in a common theme or trend and write an argument of why you think this is occurring and how it links to the past. You will present your paper in a short PowerPoint (images please) at the high tea event on campus around midterm of the spring semester.
Project parameters:
Taking inspiration from the artwork and culture of London, create an artwork that was inspired by the trip. You will present this work with a brief 1 page artist statement about the work and prsesemt a supporting PowerPoint presentation at the high tea event on campus around midterm of the spring semester.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Week II | revised schedule
Sunday, January 9th
Class 10-12 | Emily's flat
Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth
ICA New Contemporaries Exhibition
National Gallery | Look for Holbein's Ambassadors
Monday, January 10th
Meet at 10:30 at Cromwell entrance of the Victoria Albert Museum
Glenn Adamson Tour of the V & A | 11-12
Cameraless photography show at V & A | 1:15 and 1:45
Arrive at barbican well in advance of play show time, which is at 7:45.
You will not be admitted late.
go to the Damian Ortega Exhibition in the Curve gallery in the Barbican prior to the show.
Tuesday, January 11th
Explore the British Museum on your own. See the Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, and the exhibition: Drawings from Picasso to Julie Mehretu.
Class | 6-8 pm Great Russell St.
Wednesday, January 12th
Tower of London Tour | 10am
Free time afternoon, evening
Thursday, January 13th
Free day
Friday, January 14th
Thames River Cruise | Meet at Westminster Pier 9:45am
Greenwich, Royal observatory, check out Jem Finer "long player" sound installation
Evening: National Portrait Gallery (2 pounds admission) open until 9pm friday.
Saturday, January 15th
East end gallery hunt | go to Burrough market in the morning, then meet at 11:00am in the southwark cathedral church yard on the side next to the Burrough Market- near the kappa casein cheese sandwich stand. We will head off to the galleries from there.
Class 6-9 pm | Great Russell St.
Sunday, January 16th
Afternoon high tea (time Tba)
Pack
Monday, January 17th
Depart
Class 10-12 | Emily's flat
Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth
ICA New Contemporaries Exhibition
National Gallery | Look for Holbein's Ambassadors
Monday, January 10th
Meet at 10:30 at Cromwell entrance of the Victoria Albert Museum
Glenn Adamson Tour of the V & A | 11-12
Cameraless photography show at V & A | 1:15 and 1:45
Arrive at barbican well in advance of play show time, which is at 7:45.
You will not be admitted late.
go to the Damian Ortega Exhibition in the Curve gallery in the Barbican prior to the show.
Tuesday, January 11th
Explore the British Museum on your own. See the Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, and the exhibition: Drawings from Picasso to Julie Mehretu.
Class | 6-8 pm Great Russell St.
Wednesday, January 12th
Tower of London Tour | 10am
Free time afternoon, evening
Thursday, January 13th
Free day
Friday, January 14th
Thames River Cruise | Meet at Westminster Pier 9:45am
Greenwich, Royal observatory, check out Jem Finer "long player" sound installation
Evening: National Portrait Gallery (2 pounds admission) open until 9pm friday.
Saturday, January 15th
East end gallery hunt | go to Burrough market in the morning, then meet at 11:00am in the southwark cathedral church yard on the side next to the Burrough Market- near the kappa casein cheese sandwich stand. We will head off to the galleries from there.
Class 6-9 pm | Great Russell St.
Sunday, January 16th
Afternoon high tea (time Tba)
Pack
Monday, January 17th
Depart
The King's Speech
Celine and I just saw the King's Speech at the Odeon in Leceister Sq. Wonderful to see it with a British audience and realize we saw many of the places in the movie just hours or days ago. For example, there is a terrific scene with the coronation thrown in Westminster Abbey. It was worth the egregious ticket price.
Emily's Free Day Ideas 2
Looks like a fantastic show curated by Simon Starling at the Camden Arts Centre
http://www.camdenartscentre.org/exhibitions/?id=100954
http://www.camdenartscentre.org/exhibitions/?id=100954
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Brigitte Jurack
Brigitte Jurack is our guest artist tomorrow evening in class. Please find her website here:
http://www.brigittejurack.com
http://www.brigittejurack.com
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Ai Wei Wei
We will see Ai Wei Wei's large installation of one million sunflower seeds tomorrow at the Tate Modern.
Find a link here for questions asked of Ai Wei Wei.
Find a link here for questions asked of Ai Wei Wei.
Tate Britain | turner prize | curious symmetries
Arrived in london on the redeye, dropped bags, and headed to the tate britain for the last day of the turner prize exhibition. Artists this year included dexter dalewood, angela de la cruz, the olitith group, and susan phillipz.
I found with each artist's work a curious symmetry with art of the past.
This symmetry elicits the question: what position are these artists taking in relation to that which has come before?
Dexter Dalewood
Collage | Large canvases referential to landscape painting and all manner of art styles and artist works, visualizing obscure references to authors, but not portraits, rather the images are of spaces absent of the subject.
"white flag" 2010 | Jasper johns, Joseph beuy's chalkboards
"Death of David Kelly" 2009 | yves Klein blue, surrealism in distorted moon, flat painting.
"Burroughs in tangiers" 2005 |rauchenburg, pop, Richard hamilton, twombly, bottecelli, da Vinci
"Greenham Common" 2008 | Mel chin's revival field, chris ofilio or aboriginal circles.
"lennie" 2008 | "of mice and men" 1937 great depression, swath of verdant Kelly green cuts
across the middle pushing the representational, storybook riverbank beneath it.
"Herman Melville 2005 | amalgamation of Picasso, Dutch interior paintings
The Otilith Group
Montage | The Otilith is a collaborative pair and the word Otilith refers to the inner part of the ear that senses gravity. The artists presented two pieces for the Turner prize exhibition. The first was a series of 13 video monitors with headphones attached. I was able to view one complete video in Xenos Zenakis is speaking of music and ancient greece. "When you are young you have many facets that are then worn smooth with age", this was being said as in conjuction with a montage of images of the ancient faceless Greek statues. The piece seemed very much a re-presentation of Chris Marker's "Oak Legacy" 1989. I was left wanting for more insight into what the artists actually presented in this work.
The second piece in the exhibition was much more engaging visually, albeit it was in a very dark room and I struggled through nodding off from jetlag to view the entire 45 minute video. The piece, Otilith III, depicted a story of a boy who befriends an alien. The footage moves back and forth between cotemporary city scenes of London and India, and scenes from old Bollywood films and found footage. Much of the editing and the black and white footage was what held my focus. The question arose in the film: "what do we look like from an aliens perspective?". I found a curious symmetry with this price at that of Chris Marker's film, La Jette. La Jette YouTube link
As I was waiting for the video to begin an excerpt of the catalog on the table captured my attention and seems particularly relevant to the moment.
Nostalgia or impossible return | Episode 4
"Nostalgia, Homeland, Miagration, and Diaspora -each of these notions opens onto another and allows for a cultural movement between definitions which remain relational rather than absolute". Bourriaud's notion of the wayfaring altermodern artist comes to mind here.
I found with each artist's work a curious symmetry with art of the past.
This symmetry elicits the question: what position are these artists taking in relation to that which has come before?
Dexter Dalewood
Collage | Large canvases referential to landscape painting and all manner of art styles and artist works, visualizing obscure references to authors, but not portraits, rather the images are of spaces absent of the subject.
"white flag" 2010 | Jasper johns, Joseph beuy's chalkboards
"Death of David Kelly" 2009 | yves Klein blue, surrealism in distorted moon, flat painting.
"Burroughs in tangiers" 2005 |rauchenburg, pop, Richard hamilton, twombly, bottecelli, da Vinci
"Greenham Common" 2008 | Mel chin's revival field, chris ofilio or aboriginal circles.
"lennie" 2008 | "of mice and men" 1937 great depression, swath of verdant Kelly green cuts
across the middle pushing the representational, storybook riverbank beneath it.
"Herman Melville 2005 | amalgamation of Picasso, Dutch interior paintings
The Otilith Group
Montage | The Otilith is a collaborative pair and the word Otilith refers to the inner part of the ear that senses gravity. The artists presented two pieces for the Turner prize exhibition. The first was a series of 13 video monitors with headphones attached. I was able to view one complete video in Xenos Zenakis is speaking of music and ancient greece. "When you are young you have many facets that are then worn smooth with age", this was being said as in conjuction with a montage of images of the ancient faceless Greek statues. The piece seemed very much a re-presentation of Chris Marker's "Oak Legacy" 1989. I was left wanting for more insight into what the artists actually presented in this work.
The second piece in the exhibition was much more engaging visually, albeit it was in a very dark room and I struggled through nodding off from jetlag to view the entire 45 minute video. The piece, Otilith III, depicted a story of a boy who befriends an alien. The footage moves back and forth between cotemporary city scenes of London and India, and scenes from old Bollywood films and found footage. Much of the editing and the black and white footage was what held my focus. The question arose in the film: "what do we look like from an aliens perspective?". I found a curious symmetry with this price at that of Chris Marker's film, La Jette. La Jette YouTube link
As I was waiting for the video to begin an excerpt of the catalog on the table captured my attention and seems particularly relevant to the moment.
Nostalgia or impossible return | Episode 4
"Nostalgia, Homeland, Miagration, and Diaspora -each of these notions opens onto another and allows for a cultural movement between definitions which remain relational rather than absolute". Bourriaud's notion of the wayfaring altermodern artist comes to mind here.
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