Switch Off Your Computer And Go Out And Do Something Less Boring Instead
August 23rd 2009
Working from home, 5 miles from central London, I can get really lazy. I can’t be bothered to go into ‘town’ so I end up missing what is arguably the whole point of living in London. The exhibitions, the galleries, the shows. It’s usually when a friend comes to visit that I am forced out of my little Hackney bubble to check out whatever it is they fancy seeing. And then I find myself wondering why the hell I don’t do this more often.
So I was pleased when my old art school chum Digger came down from Glasgow recently, cos we went and did some culture. Digger had come to London to help his Interior design students set up the show of their final year work in the Free Range exhibition in the Truman breweries. He took me to check that out first. They built a very cool plywood exhibition stand, on which they displayed the students’ A4 project books.
Then we went to the Design Museum to see the Super Contemporaries exhibition, which is on until the 4th October, so you have no excuse not to see it if you haven’t already. This exhibition is mainly a historical look at design that has come out of London since the 1950s, plus it includes some specially commissioned projects by designers and architects working in London today. These included a design for a bus shelter and a post office kiosk (like a telephone box, but for buying postage and renewing your driver’s license). I found the historical overview fascinating, but I’m sure this was in no small part due to the brilliant way it was presented.
They used a special kind of picture rail (I’m presuming it was custom made) that had 3 slots top and bottom that could hold laminated panels, of either photo reproductions or text. It also supported angled display cases (for books and magazines) and original posters behind perspex. The display followed a timeline around the room and set key moments and innovations in the design world, alongside the big news and political events of that decade. There was a LOT of information but it didn’t get boring, since the display was never the same twice.
Then we went to the Serpentine Gallery and saw this year’s Summer Pavillion designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. This is a view peeping over the roof looking at the Serpentine gallery building.
It was one big shiny, reflective rippling shelter which we had lots of fun with – as you can see.
We also checked out the Jeff Koons “Popeye Series“ exhibition which included lots of sculptures that involved what looked like regular inflatable toys juxtaposed with unlikely objects. Like an inflatable crocodile cut through with a household ladder. Turns out all the ‘inflatables’ were made of polychromed aluminium, which added this tension that was created by the incongruity of the scenarios.
We also had a look at who was on the 4th plinth. Unfortunately the most interesting thing we saw while we were there was the fork lift truck coming in on the hour to facilitate the change over. But it looks like there have been plenty of other much more interesting plinthers.
Of course you don’t even need to go to an exhibition or gallery to get inspired in London. I quite enjoyed this promotional poster I saw in a dry cleaner’s window on the way to a meeting the other day. Clever topical adversting.
So yeah.
Don’t forget.
There is a whole world outside the house, offline and in your face.
Go check it out and be inspired, why don’t you?
I have this problem too. I think a lot of freelance creative types in Hackney (and all around London) probably get stuck in the home groove too often. It would be good to have a cafe/arts centre with coffee, wifi and comfy seats to go to occasionally, for socializing, getting inspired and getting out of the house. Not aware of such a space in my part of Hackney. Anyone else know of one?