Two more sleeps....

Re-living the 1940's!

The Blitz Party, a 1940's themed night in Shoreditch. The moment you arrive the experience begins, the soft music in the background, the bare brick walls and the open space ready to be filled with dancers. I had the most amazing night with my friends, swing dancing to the live bands. Every detail of the venue is carefully following the theme and so are all of the guests, being engulfed in a 1940's atmosphere really makes you feel like you have gone back in time. If you love fancy dress, a alternative night or wish you were alive in the 1940's then make you way to The Blitz Party.

Tim Walker : Storyteller

Well I went to this exhibition weeks ago, as I was so eager to see it as soon as it opened! However life has got in the way of me posting about it, the exhibition is still on and if I get the chance I will be going to see it again at Somerset House. 

I have always been a fan of Tim Walkers work and this exhibition guides you through it nicely, from the giant props, variety of photographs and the quotes on the walls. It was great to see the giant skeleton form one of the photo shoots inspired by Tim Burton's work and other props that were familiar form photo shoots. What is interesting with Tim Walkers work is that he really creates the dreamlike world of his photograph using real life props, rather than digitally edited in. His work will always evoke a feeling in me that makes me imagine clearly the world he is trying to project.

 

 

Body Sculpture

“Art has to change things, and if it was immediately acceptable it would not be doing the job. The press are the most cynical and re-enforce an outdated attitude that is not actually the way people think. People enjoy challenges, find visual art exciting and do not think all artists are trying to pull a fast one.”

—	Antony Gormley

Antony Gormleys' human forms are always interesting, the fabrication, the positioning of the body and the placement. Below are a few examples that I find really interesting. I am always intrigued by the human form and ways to represent it, so Anthony Gormley is a great point of art reference and inspiration.

His sculptures are usually textured and made of metal, which is a harsh material to represent the body, however the fabrication makes you feel something towards the bodies that are presented in front of you.

He always places the sculptures in different places, from the beach to in between floors.

This sculpture is placed in Canterbury Cathedral, suspended above the tomb of Thomas Becket and made from the antique iron nails taken form the Cathedral roof repairs.

Event Horizon, multiple sculptures around New York placed on the skyline. The sculptures almost present the idea of suicidal people however the point was that people would stop and look st the environment and skyline around them. 

Blind Light, an exhibition at The Hayward Gallery, where a box was filled with dense vapour making it hard for visitors to see their way through the box and from the outside you can see the silhouettes of the visitors.

Design

'The creative designer interprets the design brief not as a specification for a solution, but as a kind of partial map of unknown territory and the designer sets off to explore, to discover something new, rather than to return with yet another example of the already familiar.'

Cross, N (2006) Designerly Ways of Knowing, Springer-Verlanng, London.

The World of OZ

I went to see the musical Wicked at the Victoria Apollo theatre on Tuesday night, something that has been on my list of things to do for a very long time. A musical that has been highly acclaimed, won countless awards and will be celebrating its ten year anniversary in the US next year. The musical lived up, if not succeeded the pedestal I had in my head. I knew the loose story of the musical however I have been trying to avoid learning more as I wanted to be surprised. It was a great story integrated perfectly with the music. The costumes, choreography and voices were all amazing, I left Oz will a very large smile on my face.

The world of Oz is one we know from very young, however Wicked is the untold story of the Witches of OZ, , based on a book by Winnie Holzman. A story that is parallel with 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' following the adventures of Dorothy played by Judy Garland in the 1939 film. What was interesting about Wicked is that you you know some of the story as there are links to The Wizard of Oz, however you learn more about the back story. 

So there are books, films and musicals all based on the Emerald city and the World of Oz; what is next? Well more films it seems, it has been announced that Wicked will be released as a film in 2014, but you don't have to wait that long for your next instalment of Oz, as there is a whole new story we have to discover. 

You would think there was enough stories surrounding Oz, however people seem to want to tell more, this time about the journey the Wizard made to become in charge of Oz.  Next year the film 'Oz the Great and Powerful' comes out in cinemas, there will still be characters we know but with a new spin to a fantasy world of Oz.  I have included the trailer below, so enjoy your next journey to Oz! 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, first edition 1900, by L.Frank Baum.

The Wizard of Oz, 1939 film cover.

The musical, Wicked; the untold story of the Witches of Oz.

Famous moment of the musical, the performance of 'Defying Gravity.' 

Discovering how the Wizard came to Oz, March 2013 release.

'Oz the Great and the Powerful' trailer.

Halloween special!!

Ok so I LOVE Halloween! I have done since I was little and my mum dressed me up as a witch in the same outfit every year! I love the dressing up, I love the horror factor and I used to love trick or treating. Last year I went to an amazing night in the middle of nowhere in York. It was a frightful night with people chasing us with chainsaws, multiple clowns and lots of mazes to run through in the dark. This year I am not doing anything as heart racing, but of course I am dressing up! This year I will be going as a Day of the Dead sugar skull Mexican! I have mentioned this celebration earlier in my blog but I have posted some photos to get you excited! These are my Halloween inspired images to get you in the mood for tomorrow!!

A different style of pumpkin, get painting!

Ray Villafane's giant pumpkin carving in New York Botanical gardens last year.

Halloween inspired tattoo

Day of the Dead sugar skull faces!

The Nine Eyes of Google Street View

12.30: Still in the Saatchi Gallery and down a floor to discover a google image exhibition by Jon Rafman. A series of screen captures from Google street view; this was an unexpectedly excellent exhibition. You would think that Google street images would be a series or boring roads, but the excellence of it is that is has captured moments in time that could easily have been a professional photographer, shots that people maybe couldn't take without stamping their opinion on the situation.

"With its supposedly neutral gaze, the Street View photography had a spontaneous quality unspoiled by the sensitivities of agendas of a human photographer...capturing fragments of reality stripped of all cultural intention." Jon Rafman

Below are a few snapshots of the images, there was a wide variety to see, I recommend going to have a look yourself.

A baby captured escaping from a Gucci store, obviously the mother was busy in the shop!

The chances of capturing a butterfly in the middle of a photograph, how often have you tried and you never get one this good!

A spontaneous moment of water spiralling.

An unsettling image to look at, at a scene of an accident.

I don't think she knew she was on camera, but a beautifully composed photograph.