HoneyTalks

FutureCity at the Barbican

2006-08-07T14:42:00.000Z

I went to see the Future City exhibition at the Barbican on Sunday. It was an exhibition that I've been looking forward to for some time.

The exhibition is £1.55 cheaper if you book online before going to the Barbican. I booked a ticket about 30 minutes before getting there and it was easy to collect on the way into the gallery space.

The exhibition is very impressive - at ground level there are many amazing models some of which are very large. The exhibition starts upstairs...

Each 'room' of the upstairs gallery is devoted to a different style of architectural theory each one explained before you enter the room. There are large photographs lining the walls and models, drawings and images within the space. It was amazing how many similarities there were between movements and how the Babapapa style house proved so popular in theory from the 1950's onwards but wasn't realised until Pierre Cardin commissioned it in the 1980s.

It was fantastic to be able to see the journals of the time especially the archigram publications and it was a pity that none had been reproduced for re-sale. I would've snapped them up!

My only complaint was the lack of information next to the models etc on display - reading then looking, for someone like me, is tricky at the best of times, but with such a density of information it sometimes proved too much and I couldn't take it all in.

I would recommend the exhibition to everyone - it's the chance to see those models you've always read about but never had a chance to view and some of the film footage is priceless.

Strandbeests in London

2006-07-07T09:53:00.000Z

Theo Jansen brought his Strandbeests (or Beach Animals) to London on 24th June.

They live in Trafalgar Square for the weekend before moving to St. James's Park on the 28th where they frolicked in the grass for a week. I think they looked more at home in the park than Trafalgar Square but it was great that they were able to stay outside in such prominent positions for so long.

Many people came to see them and they got a lot of press coverage, including a weather report.

They are now in the ICA's Theatre where the exhibition looks very dramatic. The exhibition is on until 16th July - catch it while you can.

Theo's talk on Wednesday was packed and it was well worth sitting in the sweltering heat to hear him talk. We took him out for dinner that evening before he went back to Holland.

It's been a great exhibition and a real privilege working with him.

See more about these amazing creatures and video clips of them in action on the beach in Holland here: www.strandbeest.com

Last Dance at the ICA

2006-06-19T14:56:00.000Z

I went to see the Sioned Huws coreographed performance You don't know how to make the first move gracefully on Thursday 15th June.

It was a lovely piece, with as much stillness as movement.

The delayed relay of live video of the performer on the screen in the centre of the performance area was beautiful. It was amazing how the filmed dancer and the live dancer seemed to move together - seemingly coreographed, though she wasn't watching the screen.

Is this the last dance performance at the ICA?
Who knows?
Only the artistic director can tell.

Naked and green

2006-06-12T14:04:00.000Z

On Saturday, quite by chance, I witnessed a naked bike ride through the streets of London. In fact through the heart of London - up Charing Cross Road and into Oxford Street.

The traffic was stopped, pedestrians were stopped, in fact the whole of central London appeared to have stopped.

The reason? A protest against our dependence on oil. And why not!? It was a peaceful if bare protest about something that affects us all - whether we drive cars or not!

Power to them I say.
http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk/

Homefires III

2006-06-05T11:36:00.000Z

The third Homefires festival took place at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square this weekend. I wasn't there for the Saturday event, but managed to drag myself along to Sunday's finale.

It was a lovely atmosphere with many positive vibes going out to the performers even though some of them were a little late. Power to Adem Ilhan for filling the gap left by The Final Fantasy. And while we were all feeling for Adem and secretly thinking that The Final Fantasy had been very rude (in our oh so British way) for not calling to explain, he arrived. What a performance. Well worth the wait. It's amazing what you can do with a violin and a delay peddle. Buy his CDs now. I urge you.

Another high point of the afternoon/evening was Emma Pollock (formerly of The Delgados) whose amazing voice and repetoir of songs left me wanting to hear more. Apparently her new CD is out in the autumn. I can't wait.

Vashti Bunyan was the headline act and some of her music was lovely, but this was true mainly of the older tracks. Her newer stuff sounded very insubstantial and to my untrained ears, a bit samey. The rest of the audience didn't seem to agree with me, they all thought she was great no matter what she played/sang. Her backing group were fabulous and they did deserve a lot of praise.

Spore at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

2006-05-31T16:22:00.000Z

Over the Bank Holiday weekend five went mad in Yorkshire. Spore were walking up hill and down dale, scaring the sheep and cows and looking out for roadkill.

We headed off to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Sunday. What a fab place! Vast with much art to look at. The high point was the James Turrell installations in the underground galleries. They are only there until September 2006, so if you've got a yearning for a light installation then head to Yorkshire soon.

He does have one permanent installtion in the Deer Shelter which was beautiful. Makes me want to head to Arizona to see the Roden Crater.

We walked, we talked, we sat, we saw.

Then Julie and Stephen started "taping". A bit of guerilla art never hurt anyone though it was difficult trying to stop people interrupting, especially the park warden who turned up unexpectedly to close the sculpture we were in.

Seville

2006-05-26T21:29:00.002Z

Last weekend I went to Seville with some friends for a short break. The weather was fabulous - perhaps too fabulous? A siesta was certainly required! Food was amazing and there were lots of interesting things to see and do.

I would definitely recommend Seville for a short break - either in the spring or autumn. If the weather is that hot in May, just think what it'll be like in July or August.

There was a lot of Moorish influence, showing up in the architecture and the layout of the city. The Moorish palace the Alcazar is beautiful and the grounds were amazing. There were plants that I've never seen before.

Food as I said was fabulous, but the service was a little erratic. In one restaurant we were given a menu (after we asked for it) only to be told that we couldn't have anything on it, there was only bread, tomatos and ham - which was delicious, but when you've got your heart set on a little more variety it's a bit strange.

On the whole though I had such a lovely time that I think I would be tempted back - though perhaps when I've got a bit more money!

Vasulka Retrospective

2005-11-11T10:29:00.000Z

I was at the opening of the Vasulka Lab exhibition last night. It's a select retrospective of the founders of 'video art' at the ICA.

Looks very much of it's time but is an interesting selection of work.

I can't wait though for the exhibition's next part to open in mid December, when we will be treated to two major installations by the Vasulka's in the upper galleries.

The exhibiiton in the Digital Studio is on until the end of January. I think it's worth a visit.

Tonight I'm going to the preview of another major installation in the theatre at the ICA. It's called Intimate Transactions and opens proper tomorrow (Saturday 12th November).

Yeah OK, so it's all very ICA centric, but hey I work there.

...She Said at the ICA

2005-09-27T13:56:00.000Z

Last night I saw the UK premier of "...She Said" at the ICA.

It's a joint production between WaxFactory (New York) and Mini Teater/Cankarjev Dom (Ljubljana). A multi disciplinary piece, the work uses a specially constructed space on the stage, with projected films and computer generated effects. It looked and sounded amazing. It was very beautiful and was performed impeccably: coreography and acting couldn't be faulted.

I didn't really know what was going on but I'd certainly sit through it again. And in fact I am on Wednesday.

I would recommend it and suggest that you book tickets now!

www.ica.org.uk
www.www.mini-teater.si
www.waxfactory.org

Theo Jansen

2005-09-05T16:46:00.000Z

Just had a lovely afternoon chat with Theo Jansen in the square, while watching his amazing creatures being manned/taken care of by his two helpers.

Theo is very interesting and very keen to do a show at the ICA next year. Hurrah!
Have been chatting about logistics and content and it seems that he's open to a sodaconstructor parallel showing at some point.
Details need to be ironed out but it's definitely going ahead.

I am so pleased I could cry.

www.strandbeest.com
Wonderful!

Netherland art

2005-09-04T16:45:00.000Z

Sunday and the symposium chaired by Scott de la Hunta was very interesting this morning.

Especially liked the artists talk that rounded this symposium off with Theo Jansen. The man is a genius and we managed to have a brief chat with him after the talk. Having lunch with him on Tuesday. Cannot wait. He’s a fantastic speaker and his Strand Beasts are amazing.

Using plastic tubing and seemingly very little else his creatures are an amazing feat of engineering.
Let’s hope we can bring them to London to walk up the Mall.

For more information please see www.aec.at

Ars Electronica 2005

2005-09-04T08:09:00.000Z

My first Ars Electronica Festival. So glad I’m here. Meeting interesting people and seeing some interesting work.
However, I’m not too impressed with the symposia at Ars Electronica so far.

There have been a few really bad speakers.
Why is Carolyn Guertin talking about Char Davis’ Osmose? It’s 10 years old for goodness sake. And as for Ollivier Dyens, well you know my feelings about him. The man is an idiot.

It’s not all bad. Good speakers have included Jens Hauser talking about Bio Art, Roger Clarke talking about prostheses and future implications of Ortheses and an interesting talk by Neil Gershenfeld though why he’s working on Internet 0 seems pretty academic rather than really essential to everyone’s well being.

Really interesting talk by Matt Locke from the BBC about archiving as part of the Digital Communities Conference. At heart I think I’m a librarian.
If you too are interested in archiving it’s worth looking at: www.creativearchive.bbc.co.uk

Overall though I think the theme ‘Hybrid - Living in a Paradox’ is a tricky subject to address in terms of a large scale Electronic Arts Festival. It feels like the delegates are being forced into a subject rather than the subject coming from the work/speakers etc. Surely the theme should be what’s going on now in various fields. Shoe horning something in and trying to make it fit isn’t working too well, in my opinion.

Ollivier Dyens

2005-09-03T09:59:00.000Z

Just had to sit through a talk by Dyens about hybrid art at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz. The man is an idiot. He talks about people being able to instinctively know what/who is intelligent and who is not. I instinctively know that this man is NOT intelligent. Hmmm, perhaps he has a point afterall.

Fashioning the Future at the ICA

2005-08-23T08:37:00.000Z

Suzanne Lee has a new book coming out in September 2005 called Fashioning the Future and at the moment there is an exhibition (until 2nd September) based around this new book at the ICA.

I went to the studio talk she gave last Thursday and very interesting it was too. Fashion, or at least clothing affects us all.

She gave an overview of her research from the last 2 years that have gone into the book, looking at scientifc and technological applications that can be used or utilised in fabric and fashion. Lots of the ideas are still prototypes and theories that don’t really have a practical application but the possibilities are both exciting and scary at the same time.

Think about a world where you can download or create a pattern and print the garment yourself. A world where you can grow your own clothing from cellulose or skin (yuk!). The advances in nano-technology are already having an impact on the clothes we wear but the future could see a clothing range that changes colour depending on your mood, or even camouflages you (over to the military researchers for that one!).

The possiblities are wide ranging and Suzanne’s talk was both interesting and thought provoking.

The book Fashioning the Future: Tomorrow's Wardrobe by Suzanne Lee, images by Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, will be published by Thames & Hudson on 12th September, 2005.
ISBN: 978-0-500-51261-2

http://www.fashionfuturist.com/
http://www.ica.org.uk/

The Ada Project by Fanny & Alexander

2005-07-25T09:44:00.000Z

On Friday I went to see the installation piece Ada by the Italian theatre group Fanny & Alexander in collaboration with the film makers group A. Zapruder. Shown at 'The House' part of the arts venue Chapter in Cardiff, Wales.

There were three pieces being shown from a larger body of work and each segment was shown in a different room in the semi derelict house and so while it wasn't a performance in the tradditional sense it was a promenade work, where the setting greatly added to what we the audience saw.

Firstly in the basement we watched a video triptych introducing us to the characters from Nabokov's book 'Ada'. Then we moved to what could be considered the living room, where, above the fireplace (with a real fire burning) we watched a video installation of the two lovers now old talking about their relationship. Like looking at two portraits in oval frames the images were intercut with porn films from the 1970s - disconcerting but very apt considering the conversation they were having.

Finally we moved into another room where we watched a 16mm film projected into a picture framed screen, more abstract than the previous two, with many elements of trick photography, such as split screen and mirroring of images. It was a compelling piece.

I would love to see the rest of the work that makes up the whole.

The run at Chapter is a short one, it ends on 30th July.

http://www.fannyalexander.org/
http://www.chapter.org

Theatre of Science

2005-07-21T09:56:00.000Z

A fantastic and enlightening performance by NESTA funded Simon Singh and Richard Wiseman. If you want entertainment and education in one and a half funny hours then this is for you. The performance is at the Soho Theatre, London and covers everything from the Big Bang to the power of suggestion with a Theramin musical interlude and a million volts of electricity thrown in for good measure at the end. A truly electrifying evening. Well worth it.

http://www.nesta.org.uk/ourawardees/profiles/2069/

http://www.sohotheatre.com/comedy

Steam Driven

2005-05-31T10:11:00.000Z

Laptop Jams at the British Engineerium (great word and will try to use it in conversation from now on) in Brighton was a one off performace on Saturday 28th May 2005. What a fantastic combination. The movement and rythmic noise of the steam engine coupled with the ambient sounds generated by the Laptop Jams boys was a hypnotic and all enveloping experience. There was a factual commentary overlaid and this made it a time traversing experience - a 20th and 21st Century event. Why is it that someone elses enthusiasm and love of a subject is so infectious? Who cares? It works for me and made the evening feel far too short. I could've stood in that room for much longer listening to the sounds and watching the engine.
The projected visuals above the engine were less successful and in my opinion not really necessary. Looking at the engine was visual experience enough for me, an engineering novice.
The engine was apparently used to power the laptops although I suspect that they had a little help from the national grid.
Events like this don't happen that often (or I don't hear about them) and when they do come along they should be prized and savoured.
www.steam-driven.co.uk
www.laptop-jams.com
www.britishengineerium.com

E:vent exhibition

2005-05-23T10:43:00.000Z

The private view of the new exhibition at E:vent 'How did I get here?' was an interesting mix of kinetic sculpture and screen based work. A gallery space worth keeping an eye on. One piece I found especially poignant showed grainy footage of a young girl talking but there was no sound. Feelings of loss and sadness were quite overwhelming.
My only comments about the space and exhibition are:
- Labels for work please? - fun as it is to try to guess the work from the description a couple of labels wouldn't go amiss. I'd love to write more about the work I saw, but don't know which artist did what.
- Ambient lighting? - I know screen based work needs a certain amount of darkness but I'd like to be able to see where I am and who I'm talking to.
Moaning aside, it is well worth a visit!
www.eventnetwork.org.uk

OFFF Festival

2005-05-19T14:44:00.000Z

Ed and I gave the opening talk at the OFFF digital art and music festival in Barcelona last week. A good festival with interesting speakers and exhibitors, but perhaps a few too many designers showing their portfolio than I'd anticipated.
One designer Carole Guevin appeared to be drunk while on stage and talked rubbish for far too long. She outstayed her welcome and ate into other speakers time. Not big and certainly not clever.
www.offf.ws