in London for the a.n Christmas
party https://www.a-n.co.uk/news -
great fun with lovely committed people from all over the country. Who knew Elton John has such poor taste? I've
been looking forward to see his collection of photos at Tate Modern as they are
some of the images that have inspired and informed my thinking - but the choice
of framing and the frames themselves somehow managed to diminish and overwhelm the images, this with the hang, where tiny images are above head height means that you actually
cannot physically see some of the work - my advice get the catalogue and really
see the work, it makes you realise the skill of galleries, what they do when showing work.
meanwhile http://www.carrollfletcher.com/
has an excellent group show - Looking at one thing and thinking of something
else. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Tape Recordings is great fun, I love the work of
Manfred Mohr so it was good to see it again but Between Simonetta is an
outstanding technical feat morphing two images into each other - sort of! http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/shows/current
has a series of stunning photographs of bundles of documents within folded
cloth by Dayanita Singh. http://www.mariangoodman.com/ has a very eclectic show
called Animality. it's a great show to
get loads of inspiration around animals and their behaviour, for me stand out
pieces are the octopus film and the joke/representation of the eye of the
needle quote upstairs! A highlight of the day was The infinite mix http://www.theinfinitemix.com/ the whole experience is
awesome - incredible work in a great space - it's difficult to pick out
highlights because they all had excellent moments but the trees in Cyprien Gaillard's Nightlife have a bewildering sense of
otherness, taking on animal forms. the whole experience is a joy go and see otherwise you will feel that you have missed out! Popped into
The Museum of London to check out their 'modern' displays - they have some
excellent objects and some stunning imagery of London making sense of itself
and often in the process poor people appear to come off badly! At the wonderful
Toynbee Studios http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/toynbee-studios
saw The People Show perform http://www.peopleshow.co.uk/
a poignant comment on the 60s and their work over the past 50 years. As ever
with their work it takes you on a journey to a place you didn't know existed
but when you get there it makes a kind of sense. Truly marvellous. If you want
a fabulous experience I recommend getting a tube to Greenwich and then biking
along the Thames path from Greenwich to Tate Modern. You can pick up a bike at
a Docking station just after you come out of the tunnel on the North Bank at
Greenwich - an experience in itself. The whole of London is laid out in front
of you and at the same time moving through it you get a real sense of change. I
can remember working with Four Corners filming the building works pre Canary Wharf (yes it hasn't always existed) and being tufted off the road by heavy security guards whilst being informed
that the road was owned by Docklands Development Corporation and we had no
rights to be on what was the 'public highway'.
