Hi. I'm going to be doing a walk round the exhibition this afternoon, chatting about some of the work in the exhibition. I'll be starting round about 2pm so do come and join me if you'd like to, or meet me for tea and chat on the top floor from around 3 - 3.15pm.
Judith
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Sunday, 24 January 2010
COMMENTS BOX
The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard argued that the world is "without meaning" and that to accept this meaninglessness can be liberating. A comment on the blog today made me smile and put Baudrillard's complex ideas into a much simpler format: "TOO MUCH THINKING LEADS TO MEDICATION - ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND STOP THINKING ABOUT THE END OF IT!".
On the subject of thinking, however, I've noticed that some people very thoughtfully spend a long time considering what to write on the walls of the Comments Box space in the gallery, carefully choosing their words. Comments are prompted by the statement on the board "The world will end when..." and the proposal for "Principles of a new belief system..." It's great to see the freedom and creativity that a blackboard and chalk inspires. For visitors to the blog who haven't seen the Comments Box walls, here are a few pictures of how they looked today.
On the subject of thinking, however, I've noticed that some people very thoughtfully spend a long time considering what to write on the walls of the Comments Box space in the gallery, carefully choosing their words. Comments are prompted by the statement on the board "The world will end when..." and the proposal for "Principles of a new belief system..." It's great to see the freedom and creativity that a blackboard and chalk inspires. For visitors to the blog who haven't seen the Comments Box walls, here are a few pictures of how they looked today.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Comments Box
I've had to clear some of the comments off the walls of the Comments Box to make room for new ones. Here is some of what visitors had contributed:
The world will end when...
The bees die!
Everything has no purpose.
We least expect it.
When a new beginning starts.
Principles of a new belief system...
We must love people and use things, not love things and use people.
Every day is full of possibilites.
Believe in yourself first.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Thoughts at the Preview
We all have a need to believe in something; that much was evident when talking to people at the exhibition yesterday. Is this simply how our brains are programmed? Human beings (generally) tend to prefer social order over chaos or conflict, so it makes sense to have a collective belief system, but what to believe in? And how far should we compromise logic to stay in a group?
I wasn't the only one at the show to admit that I missed some of the security and comforting rituals of the organised religion of childhood. Then it was soothing to know that there was someone in charge; learn the rules, stick to them and everything would be alright. Hey, even death could be neatly taken care of if you behaved yourself. But where do you go as an adult when logic prevails and that desire for answers remains? I believe one can make good ethical and moral choices without being part of an organised religion or group, but I am intrigued to know if it's possible to find a system where intellect and spirituality can co-exist? Anyone?
.
I wasn't the only one at the show to admit that I missed some of the security and comforting rituals of the organised religion of childhood. Then it was soothing to know that there was someone in charge; learn the rules, stick to them and everything would be alright. Hey, even death could be neatly taken care of if you behaved yourself. But where do you go as an adult when logic prevails and that desire for answers remains? I believe one can make good ethical and moral choices without being part of an organised religion or group, but I am intrigued to know if it's possible to find a system where intellect and spirituality can co-exist? Anyone?
.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Richard Grayson
Our new exhibition is a collection of work by the artist Richard Grayson.
Richard Grayson’s work is energised by the kind of cultural collisions that make contemporary life exciting. Inspired by the correlation of apparently unconnected cultural artifacts and phenomena, Grayson investigates the importance of language and narrative in how we comprehend the world. Through the use of playful or decorative forms, Grayson is able to engage his audience with complex and difficult ideas. We are encouraged to participate in a critical and perhaps subversive view of humanity that encompasses astrology, religion, politics, the global economy and extra-terrestrial life. As a retrospective of his work fromthe past five years, the exhibition brings together prints, drawings and films by Grayson for the first time.
Throughout the season you can contribute to this blog online or live in the gallery.
The exhibition continues until 14 March 2010.
Richard Grayson’s work is energised by the kind of cultural collisions that make contemporary life exciting. Inspired by the correlation of apparently unconnected cultural artifacts and phenomena, Grayson investigates the importance of language and narrative in how we comprehend the world. Through the use of playful or decorative forms, Grayson is able to engage his audience with complex and difficult ideas. We are encouraged to participate in a critical and perhaps subversive view of humanity that encompasses astrology, religion, politics, the global economy and extra-terrestrial life. As a retrospective of his work fromthe past five years, the exhibition brings together prints, drawings and films by Grayson for the first time.
Throughout the season you can contribute to this blog online or live in the gallery.
The exhibition continues until 14 March 2010.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
A hard bright day in Bexhill on the first Saturday of the New Year brought out plenty of visitors and I was joined by 8 students studying for an MA in building conservation plus a few others for the Walk and Talk. It was great to have a lively group of people who had lots of ideas and opinions about Mind into Matter.
We started with Tony Fretton’s British Embassy in Warsaw and the group felt that the use of materials and the articulation of planes and mass were clearly not designed to invite people in. We decided it looked like a glass fortress. The group gazed in wonder at the child like drawings and tried to work out how the fleeting and flimsy lines equated with walls and floors and acres of explosion calming layered glass (up to 30-40cm thick). The engineers amongst the group raised their eyebrows at a familiar problem and one that they had much experience of.
We then looked at the difference between the CAD drawing generated from the initial sketches and compared them with the highly detailed hand drawn plans, elevations and views of The Reform Club built approx. 165 years earlier. The architect in the group explained how abstract the delicate watercolour floor plans looked from a distance and there was a general consensus that the hand drawn lines and the time x skill element made these drawing more appealing. Someone did point out that some CAD drawings are very beautiful too.
As we walked around we explored the tussle between a harking back to medieval forms and structures and the desire of engineers and architects to explore new materials and technologies – not always with happy results. Feelings were mixed about The Oxford Museum and St. Mary in Wellingborough. The debate about the latter, in relation to conservation issues, was enlightening – one of the group worked as a conservationist in churches and felt that the upkeep and the preservation of some aspects of the Comper church would be very difficult – often because the original materials were not always appropriate or good quality.
The pervading sense of space and light in the De La Warr Pavilion, the things that I love about the building, proved to be quite contentious aspects of the host of this exhibition. Some of the group felt that the entrance was unwelcoming because there was so much space and that it was unclear what went on in the building.
The Sons of Pioneers exhibition upstairs brought up questions about functionality, materials and how it would be impossible to build most of these structures – even though that is not the intention of the artist.
The same group came along to the Thinking Aloud session and we continued to talk about buildings, particularly the Jerwood due to be built in Hastings and how a contemporary building might fit into a sensitive heritage type location. We ended the session by discussing the course they were on, their backgrounds (town planning, engineering, building conservation, architecture) and what they studied and exploring the relationship between art and architecture.
We started with Tony Fretton’s British Embassy in Warsaw and the group felt that the use of materials and the articulation of planes and mass were clearly not designed to invite people in. We decided it looked like a glass fortress. The group gazed in wonder at the child like drawings and tried to work out how the fleeting and flimsy lines equated with walls and floors and acres of explosion calming layered glass (up to 30-40cm thick). The engineers amongst the group raised their eyebrows at a familiar problem and one that they had much experience of.
We then looked at the difference between the CAD drawing generated from the initial sketches and compared them with the highly detailed hand drawn plans, elevations and views of The Reform Club built approx. 165 years earlier. The architect in the group explained how abstract the delicate watercolour floor plans looked from a distance and there was a general consensus that the hand drawn lines and the time x skill element made these drawing more appealing. Someone did point out that some CAD drawings are very beautiful too.
As we walked around we explored the tussle between a harking back to medieval forms and structures and the desire of engineers and architects to explore new materials and technologies – not always with happy results. Feelings were mixed about The Oxford Museum and St. Mary in Wellingborough. The debate about the latter, in relation to conservation issues, was enlightening – one of the group worked as a conservationist in churches and felt that the upkeep and the preservation of some aspects of the Comper church would be very difficult – often because the original materials were not always appropriate or good quality.
The pervading sense of space and light in the De La Warr Pavilion, the things that I love about the building, proved to be quite contentious aspects of the host of this exhibition. Some of the group felt that the entrance was unwelcoming because there was so much space and that it was unclear what went on in the building.
The Sons of Pioneers exhibition upstairs brought up questions about functionality, materials and how it would be impossible to build most of these structures – even though that is not the intention of the artist.
The same group came along to the Thinking Aloud session and we continued to talk about buildings, particularly the Jerwood due to be built in Hastings and how a contemporary building might fit into a sensitive heritage type location. We ended the session by discussing the course they were on, their backgrounds (town planning, engineering, building conservation, architecture) and what they studied and exploring the relationship between art and architecture.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
De La Warr was a very quiet damp place this Sunday and there were only a few takers for the Walk and Talk tour, which became more of a conversation about the exhibits and other buildings that people liked or admired.
There was mixed response to the selection of buildings and to the buildings themselves. One woman liked the Oxford Museum and said she felt the combination of gothic shapes, the cathedral like scale and the use of glass and iron were pleasing, but someone else said it looked like something from a nightmare. Someone else liked the scale and sense of calm radiating from a photograph of one of the rooms at Webb’s Clouds House. The early drawings for the British Embassy provided a starting point for a discussion about the job of a draughtsman and one of the tour said he had been a draughtsman and described how his job had been to interpret such sketchy drawings into comprehensive and usable technical drawings, a job now done on a computer. The economy of form and the relationship to the site of the Royal Mail Mechanised Letter Office was admired and we talked about the difference between seeing such a building in isolation and then in relation to nearby houses and what it might be like to open the curtains and see such a building on a daily basis.
The Economist Plaza model provided a focus for talk about the mix of old and new architectural styles and there were lots of questions about the Smithson’s style and their ideas about communal living, their ideas about streets in the sky and in particular the Robin Hood Estate in London. One question was ‘Why is mass housing so ugly ?’ not an easy one to answer …. we talked about post-war housing problems and the influence of the austere style of modernist of architects like Mies van der Rohe who said ‘I don’t want to be interesting, I want to be good’ ….which made me think that maybe a building could be interesting without being good but a good building would intrinsically be an interesting one.
The exhibition opened the way to discuss buildings in general and some that weren’t in the exhibition. The Gerkin or Swiss RE building was much admired by one of the tour, he said he loved the way it looked from different places and how the light made it look different every time he came across it. We also had a conversation about a TV programme about the construction of The Bahrain World Trade Centre with attached wind turbines and how tricky it was to put the turbines in place because of the high winds. The addition of wind turbines seems an obvious solution to problem of creating clean and efficient forms of energy. Fosters Lloyds building was also a favourite with all the services on the outside creating a deconstructed and futuristic feel.
There was a notable lifting of the spirits when we went up to look at the Matthew Houlding
pieces. Many people find these architecturally inspired sculptures imaginative and enjoyable, often projecting their idea about futuristic living on to them. I did come across man who was both confused and slightly annoyed by the fact the structures had no stairs or proper doors and that there was no sense of scale – he hadn’t realised that they were not in fact architectural models but an artist’s response to a particular sense of time and space. There were also some young children who were enchanted by Houlding’s pieces and we had a brief chat about doll’s houses and what kind of furniture they might put in these houses …they opted for decidedly old style furniture !
The Bahrain World Trade Centre www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=935
Lloyds building http://www.thelondontraveler.com/2008/05/modern-icon-the-lloyds-building/
Swiss RE www.eikongraphia.com/.../wp-content/SwissRe.jpg
There was mixed response to the selection of buildings and to the buildings themselves. One woman liked the Oxford Museum and said she felt the combination of gothic shapes, the cathedral like scale and the use of glass and iron were pleasing, but someone else said it looked like something from a nightmare. Someone else liked the scale and sense of calm radiating from a photograph of one of the rooms at Webb’s Clouds House. The early drawings for the British Embassy provided a starting point for a discussion about the job of a draughtsman and one of the tour said he had been a draughtsman and described how his job had been to interpret such sketchy drawings into comprehensive and usable technical drawings, a job now done on a computer. The economy of form and the relationship to the site of the Royal Mail Mechanised Letter Office was admired and we talked about the difference between seeing such a building in isolation and then in relation to nearby houses and what it might be like to open the curtains and see such a building on a daily basis.
The Economist Plaza model provided a focus for talk about the mix of old and new architectural styles and there were lots of questions about the Smithson’s style and their ideas about communal living, their ideas about streets in the sky and in particular the Robin Hood Estate in London. One question was ‘Why is mass housing so ugly ?’ not an easy one to answer …. we talked about post-war housing problems and the influence of the austere style of modernist of architects like Mies van der Rohe who said ‘I don’t want to be interesting, I want to be good’ ….which made me think that maybe a building could be interesting without being good but a good building would intrinsically be an interesting one.
The exhibition opened the way to discuss buildings in general and some that weren’t in the exhibition. The Gerkin or Swiss RE building was much admired by one of the tour, he said he loved the way it looked from different places and how the light made it look different every time he came across it. We also had a conversation about a TV programme about the construction of The Bahrain World Trade Centre with attached wind turbines and how tricky it was to put the turbines in place because of the high winds. The addition of wind turbines seems an obvious solution to problem of creating clean and efficient forms of energy. Fosters Lloyds building was also a favourite with all the services on the outside creating a deconstructed and futuristic feel.
There was a notable lifting of the spirits when we went up to look at the Matthew Houlding
pieces. Many people find these architecturally inspired sculptures imaginative and enjoyable, often projecting their idea about futuristic living on to them. I did come across man who was both confused and slightly annoyed by the fact the structures had no stairs or proper doors and that there was no sense of scale – he hadn’t realised that they were not in fact architectural models but an artist’s response to a particular sense of time and space. There were also some young children who were enchanted by Houlding’s pieces and we had a brief chat about doll’s houses and what kind of furniture they might put in these houses …they opted for decidedly old style furniture !
The Bahrain World Trade Centre www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=935
Lloyds building http://www.thelondontraveler.com/2008/05/modern-icon-the-lloyds-building/
Swiss RE www.eikongraphia.com/.../wp-content/SwissRe.jpg
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