Lights, Fun, Action At Kings Cross
I heard of this art installation in the Standard, so I went to Kings Cross station to have a look.
It’s certainly fun! It’s part of the arts program at Kings Cross and is called Identified Flying Object. This page gives more details.
It should win an award for the most innovative use of LED ropelights.
However, I do feel there is a case for someone to be on the swing in the middle covered in a few more ropelights or perhaps some photo-luminescent paint.
The possibilities are endless!
Ruin Lust At The Tate Britain
I saw this exhibition at Tate Britain, when I went to see the Richard Deacon exhibition a few days ago.
Today, Ruin Lust is reviewed in the Standard by their respected art critic, Brian Sewell. He says this.
But what is? Any ordinary bloke unwise enough to chance £10 on this exhibition will depart baffled and bewildered.
And he continues in the sane vein.
The Guardian describes it as a brilliant, but bonkers exhibition.
The Times calls it a fetishist take on property porn and gives it two stars.
I actually thought that both exhibitions, had a touch of the emporer’s new clothes about them.
Walking To The Riverside Stadium
My purpose in going to Middlesbrough was to see Ipswich play Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. On a pleasant day, it is one of the better walks from a station to the stadium, as there are things to look at.
I even popped into the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where I went over their current exhibition called Art and Optimism in 1950s Britain. It was interesting, but it was an exhibition, that would have been excellent to visit with someone of my own age, as a lot of the things shown, would bring back memories for those like me, who can remember the 1950s. I can’t actually remember the Festival of Britain, but I have seen photographs of myself, there in my Cumfifolda pushchair, with my grandmother.
I was a bit disappointed to see that some of Middlesbrough’s liths had been vandalised, as had the statue outside the court. There’s a report here on the latter, but the other damage looked like thieves were after the metal.
Walking Around Margate
I spent a couple of hours in Margate and walked up the front in the sun to the Turner Contemporary and the Sliding House.
The Turner Contemporary was well worth a visit, but the Sliding House was a bit disappointing and was very much inferior to the Dalston House.
Recently, I have been to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Call me a Philistine if you like, but although the building of the Turner Contemporary isn’t of the same standard as the Guggenheim, the art it contains, even if you discount the excellent paintings by Turner, is much better than that in Spain.
Why Has This Art Not Been Sold?
My Internet trawl on the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers has found this tasty morsel in the Scottish Daily Record web site. Here’s the first paragraph.
Fred the Shred’s stunning corporate art collection is still still under wraps at taxpayer-owned bank despite promises to make it more accessible to the public.
As selling this has no implications for the profitability of the rump of the bank or employment issues, it is a disgrace that it hasn’t been sold or at least displayed in public.
Did The Cleaner Get It Right?
Or perhaps he or she knows more about modern art that I do.
The story is reported in full here on the BBC. It’s not the first time cleaners have got confused according to the article. It even happened at the Tate Britain.
Surely, if art is good, it should appear to all tastes. Even cleaners with little education on the minimum wage!
Modern Art And Me
I went to the Tate Modern to see the Richard Hamilton exhibition.
I was not impressed with it, although some of his ideas were interesting in their concept.
Perhaps, I’m a Philistine, but I can’t help feeling there’s a lot of Emperor’s new clothes syndrome about some modern art. And how much is driven by the need to make money by dealers?
On the other hand, there are pieces of modern art that I like, such as Puppy in Bilbao. I also feel strongly, that art should be available to all and not hidden away in galleries that charge or private places.
Sensing Spaces At The Royal Academy
Today was a preview day for Sensing Spaces at the Royal Academy.
What was unusual about the exhibition was that the taking of pictures was encouraged.
We need more of this. Obviously, under the control of a tasteful set of rules. Like no flash, not getting in the way of other visitors and not taking pictures of the visitors. Almost like the rules on the London Underground, where I’ve heard that drivers get fed up of the camera flashes, as they drive trains into the station.
One installation even allowed me to take a reflected selfie.
Go and see the exhibition. But make sure you take a camera that is good in low light, with the flash switched off!
I suspect too, it would be best to go,when there are a shortage of walk-on extras.
Changing Trains At Liverpool
To get from Birmingham to Preston, I took a London Midland train to Liverpool, from where I got a local service to Lancashire’s County Town.
The first train was excellent, as one of the pictures shows. It cost me £24.10 in First, but I had a big table to myself. I’ve used the company before when travelling between Liverpool and Birmingham and I prefer them to Virgin for that route.
Liverpool is a good interchange, as the station is close to Liverpool’s magnificent Civic Buildings. You can also walk down to the Mersey and then get a train back from St. James’s Street. I know that I know Liverpool well, but it must be the only city in England, where the iconic sites can be reached by walking downhill. But then it seems that few city centre stations are close to the shops and attractions. Some like Leeds and Nottingham mean an uphill walk.
On this trip, I’d picked up some sandwiches in Birmingham New Street Station, so all I did was visit the Walker Art Gallery or the National Gallery of the North, as it is sometimes called. We need more attractions like this, close to major interchange railway stations.
The poor part of the trip, was the train from Liverpool to Preston. it was one of Northern Rail’s Class 156, which after the two other trains of the day, was a real drop in standards.
Inside The Guggenheim Museum
I finally went inside the Guggenheim Museum on Tuesday morning.
The building is impressive, even if as I said before the art didn’t move me at all.
The Anonymous Widower 