270615 - 3D Print - Royal College of Art, Battersea, London > words
Student summer shows, today visiting the final year show at the RCA today, some interesting work. The use of 3D printers is prominent at pretty much all the degree shows this year, and across all subjects. Love its use in recreating these collars and cuffs from the around the 16th Century, as contemporary pieces.
060615 – Patek Phillipe – Saatchi Gallery, London > words
The Patek Phillipe exhibition had the feel of an exclusive retail outlet. There was a lot of glitz, huge expense and often sadly very iittle taste. Classics win every time with the pocket watch a favourite.
310515 - Central St Martins Summer Show - Kings Cross, London > words
Fabric draped and then set in resin offer a surreal illusion, the folds and drapes suspended seemingly without support. This is a medium that could be pushed further and that has much potential. We were lucky to meet Christine Hawley at the show. It was good to see her as it has been a long time since we last taught at The Bartlett UCL, fond memories indeed.
010515 – Chocolate – Redchuch St, London > words
Mask Brothers chocolate shop. A clear concept and a well executed design.
250415 – Luxury – V&A, London > words
The V&A What is Luxury exhibition. This was a difficult exhibition as much of it seemed subjective but there were some gems such as this 3D printed coat by Iris Van Herpen and hair combs made from real hair set in resins. There was is certain richness where seventeenth century objects sit alongside contemporary on equal footing. Each a labour of love and passion created with incredible skill and dexterity, with hours, months, years put into each piece. Perhaps the ultimate luxury is the luxury of time.
280215 – Forensics – Welcome Gallery, London > words
We are at an exhibition explaining the use of forensics to solve crimes. There are cabinets not unlike the work of Joseph Cornell. There are collections of specimens in jars, almanacs, inventories, classifications, and bibliographies, all are techniques used to display and make the unclear apparent.
170215 - Graphics - Tokyo, Japan > words
I have three research projects I want to undertake whilst in Tokyo the first is graphics. To be immersed in the saturation of neon while I walk the Pulp Fiction reflections of cartoons, dragons and calligraphic re-inventions. Space here is defined by symbol, it permeates every pocket of the urban infrastructure. It covers the vending machines, the road-works, the schools, every building’s façade and the packet I hold in my hand. Enclosure is defined by graphics and each graphic is a symbol of something else or somewhere else. See Tokyo Characters.
131214 – Germany – British Museum, London > words
Germany, Memories Of A Nation expressed through 600 years of made and engineered objects.
121214 – Bricolage - Holloway, London > words
Roaming the Antique shops in Holloway looking for props.
061214 – Ming – British Museum, London > words
Textures, patterns, form, craftsmanship, perfection are all sadly lost skills in the electronic age.
51114 – Rolls Royce - Saatchi Gallery > words
Rolls Royce craftsmanship at The Saatchi Gallery, Chelsea.
021114 – The Smell of Oil, Smoke and Leather – London > words
6am on a cold Sunday morning and I am in Hyde Park with the Edwardian engineers dressed in period costume some have arrived on their Penny Farthings.
260914 – 51 Porsche Coupe – Halsted > words
Today I am collecting my 1951 Porsche coupe from Maxted Page and Prill in Halsted. The coupe has just completed a six-year restoration thanks to my husbands hard work. As Andy would say ‘as rare as hens teeth’ one of only three built in 511 Grey, possibly the only survivor.
090814 – Ceramics – V&A London > words
Cases and cases of ceramics in the quiet solitude of the V&A. Printed and painted, glazed and fired. Eighteenth and early nineteenth century pottery collates the whole the menagerie of Empire and the Colonies. Pictorial referencing captured by early industrial techniques redistributed amongst the newly formed merchant/middle class. The whole history and reaction to the industrial revolution and its consequences on society displayed on a cup in a show case in the V&A, heaven.
Formally, pattern and form, inside and outside, the edge the border, the accentuated line, texture and relief, the handle that dictates posture and etiquette, the saucer on a saucer, the art of revealing. All of these techniques can be applied to fashion.
020814 – Glass - V&A London > words
Here is a place I often come to visit, the V&A glass displays on the upper floors by the members room. These floors are often deserted even when the lower galleries are full so I have lots of time to study every technique used through the ages. Colour and pattern, overlays, layering, reflections and distortions, all of these things exist in all of the applied arts but add the dimension of transparency and a whole new vocabulary transcends. The glass object is a three dimensional form that sucks in its surroundings and re-presents them as distortion and reflection. Each object offers its own subjective re-interpretation of its context. A story re-told as the light or viewer shifts position in an endless conversation. Aspects remind me of Romeo Gigli’s ghost collection.