The art side of the weekend. . .
Like I said before, we had a pretty fabulous weekend - courtesy of raayat's planning.
This got a little long, so off we go
Saturday morning we started off with the Blind Light exhibit at the Hayward Gallery (R, maera_dannan and Jo went to see this in June already). It actually turned out to be a much larger, more expansive set of art installations than I previously thought. All of this particular artist's work (Antony Gormly) centers around either exploration of space using his body imparticular or the idea of the abstract human body in space. Anything that could be identifiable as a particular person (body casts for example) is made from his naked body. Anything not recognisable as a particular human being (or even a human at all) is based on other people and NOT on his own self. It's a really interesting dichotomy that I still can't decide if it falls more into the "arrogant" category or a more profound comment of our tendency has humans to use our own individual experiences and sensations as the basis for our understanding others. Definitely a little bit of both at any rate, and certainly very compelling way to open up discussions on that point.
The other thing I found interesting was that all of the abstract pieces, Blind Light in particular, are very alienating. They serve almost to divide the viewers into as many singular units as possible. It's almost impossible for most of them for many people to crowd into a single space - as new visitors come in the layout really forces you along. Which is intersting in one aspect, but on a Saturday morning, this can be a bit annoying as I personally found it kept me from engaging fully. Maybe that's part of the point, who knows, but it was a shame.
Anyway, I definitely reccomend going to see it, but try to either early morning or during the week when the crowds would be minimal.
Afterwords, we took a nice leisurely walk along the river then headed North towards the British Museum for our next event in the afternoon. Along the way, we stopped and had juice at a little cafe on Brewer Street while we waited for the sushi belt at Kulu Kulu to get started. Lunch there (yum!) and then we spent some time basking in the sun and people watching in Soho Square since the weather was gorgeous.
Then over to the British Museum for the Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan. It was, in a word, excellent. It also really helped that we got there right as one of the exhibition curators was starting a talk on the "Highlight" pieces. It was so fascinating! Lots of information on the individual artists, their techniques, lineages that made everything come alive in ways that I'm not sure we would have been able to appreciate without that background. One of the things that it demonstrated, was that these are crafts as art, rather than made for that purpose alone. So, many of the items are actually meant to be used and, in some cases, must be used to appreciate the maker's intention most fully for their beauty is not in their looks, but in the way they react to being used. The curator we saw (whose name I wish I could remember) was particularly excited about a number of cups that really weren't much to look at, but as she described their use (for tea, oddly enough) and the play of the color of the tea with the glazing, how they hold heat, etc. You began to see them in a new light - not static, but almost personable(socratic_me, it reminded me a lot of how your dad talks about his pottery and the experience of potting). A lot of the kimonos were exactly the same - they are meant to be seen on a person in motion rather than on a rack behind glass.
After the talk, I ended up spending so much time with the first half of the exhibit that I didn't get to the second half! So, I'll definitely be going back rather soon. atticus_frog let me know if you'd like to go with me! I think you'll love it.
Anyway, the whole thing really made me question how we go about "preserving" our history. If perhaps we don't lose something by keeping everything locked up so tight. Certianly I understand why it's a sort of necessity, but just something to make one question if we've gone too far for the extreme, especially for the "folk arts" where use is not just implied but also a central focus.
Ok enough of that. The musical side of the weekend next. . .
This got a little long, so off we go
Saturday morning we started off with the Blind Light exhibit at the Hayward Gallery (R, maera_dannan and Jo went to see this in June already). It actually turned out to be a much larger, more expansive set of art installations than I previously thought. All of this particular artist's work (Antony Gormly) centers around either exploration of space using his body imparticular or the idea of the abstract human body in space. Anything that could be identifiable as a particular person (body casts for example) is made from his naked body. Anything not recognisable as a particular human being (or even a human at all) is based on other people and NOT on his own self. It's a really interesting dichotomy that I still can't decide if it falls more into the "arrogant" category or a more profound comment of our tendency has humans to use our own individual experiences and sensations as the basis for our understanding others. Definitely a little bit of both at any rate, and certainly very compelling way to open up discussions on that point.
The other thing I found interesting was that all of the abstract pieces, Blind Light in particular, are very alienating. They serve almost to divide the viewers into as many singular units as possible. It's almost impossible for most of them for many people to crowd into a single space - as new visitors come in the layout really forces you along. Which is intersting in one aspect, but on a Saturday morning, this can be a bit annoying as I personally found it kept me from engaging fully. Maybe that's part of the point, who knows, but it was a shame.
Anyway, I definitely reccomend going to see it, but try to either early morning or during the week when the crowds would be minimal.
Afterwords, we took a nice leisurely walk along the river then headed North towards the British Museum for our next event in the afternoon. Along the way, we stopped and had juice at a little cafe on Brewer Street while we waited for the sushi belt at Kulu Kulu to get started. Lunch there (yum!) and then we spent some time basking in the sun and people watching in Soho Square since the weather was gorgeous.
Then over to the British Museum for the Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan. It was, in a word, excellent. It also really helped that we got there right as one of the exhibition curators was starting a talk on the "Highlight" pieces. It was so fascinating! Lots of information on the individual artists, their techniques, lineages that made everything come alive in ways that I'm not sure we would have been able to appreciate without that background. One of the things that it demonstrated, was that these are crafts as art, rather than made for that purpose alone. So, many of the items are actually meant to be used and, in some cases, must be used to appreciate the maker's intention most fully for their beauty is not in their looks, but in the way they react to being used. The curator we saw (whose name I wish I could remember) was particularly excited about a number of cups that really weren't much to look at, but as she described their use (for tea, oddly enough) and the play of the color of the tea with the glazing, how they hold heat, etc. You began to see them in a new light - not static, but almost personable(socratic_me, it reminded me a lot of how your dad talks about his pottery and the experience of potting). A lot of the kimonos were exactly the same - they are meant to be seen on a person in motion rather than on a rack behind glass.
After the talk, I ended up spending so much time with the first half of the exhibit that I didn't get to the second half! So, I'll definitely be going back rather soon. atticus_frog let me know if you'd like to go with me! I think you'll love it.
Anyway, the whole thing really made me question how we go about "preserving" our history. If perhaps we don't lose something by keeping everything locked up so tight. Certianly I understand why it's a sort of necessity, but just something to make one question if we've gone too far for the extreme, especially for the "folk arts" where use is not just implied but also a central focus.
Ok enough of that. The musical side of the weekend next. . .