London Blogs - Tim Walker: Wonderful Things at V&A

So when researching my trip to London this was an exhibition that I wasn't that bothered about seeing but I am so glad that I visited. It was amazing and totally not what I expected! I am a massive Alice in Wonderland fan and when entering through the doors I felt that I had fallen down the rabbit hole. Tim Walker: Wonderful Things is running until 22nd March, 2020.

Out of the three exhibitions that I visited at the V&A this was definitely the largest and held my attention for the longest. As an art history student you are always told that you only really see something at a gallery for the first 20 minutes and then your mind is bombarded with information. This was not the case with this exhibition, it is a site-specific installation that is comprised of films, photographs, set design and massive props. It's really hard to know where to look next! Walker had access to the V&A collection when curating this exhibition and he uses his artwork to show his reactions to his favourite items from the collection. 

I think the best way to describe this exhibition is with photographs...

So what are you waiting for? Get to the V&A and take a trip down the surreal rabbit hole..

London Blogs - Mary Quant at the V&A

So I haven't posted anything a while due to being crazy busy with research for my PhD proposal. I thought I would write a quick blog about the Mary Quant exhibition I visited at the V&A in January, which is open until 16th February 2020.

The exhibition explores the career of Mary Quant from 1955 with the establishment of her experimental boutique, Bazaar through to the invasion of the high street in the 1960s and 1970s. As you can imagine the exhibition's central focus is the fashion, with added insight into the lives of some of the people who bought and wore the outfits. This made the exhibition more personable and added to the idea that this was affordable fashion for its time. The number of outfits on display was amazing, spreading over two floors. To tie the exhibition together with the text and objects there were several screens showing film archive footage, adverts and interviews.

Unfortunately due to being such a popular exhibition it was very crowded, especially downstairs as there was no clear path to follow to view the exhibit in order. I feel that it would have benefited from a larger space, especially after I had just seen the Car's exhibit which was really spacious. As a result of the crowding I was unable to get many pictures for the blog.

The highlight of this exhibition for me was the doll range. I had no idea that Mary Quant had created her own doll that had the same fashions as its real-life counterpart. Upstairs the doll is integrated next to outfits and has its own section with some of the other products that were available. It was very sophisticated compared to Barbie and Sindy. I also loved the section on socks, they were so amazing, sparkly and patterned. I would love a pair of the over the knee socks that were on display but had to settle for the ankle socks I bought in the museum shop. Another funky addition was the make-up. Quant didn't just settle for making innovations in make-up for women, she diversified into men's make-up to capitalise on the new Glam Rock market.

Sadly I've written this late but if you want to see the exhibition it is on display until 16th February 2020 (next Sunday). Its worth just looking at the shop if you are visiting the V&A #WeWantQuant

London Blogs - Cars: Accelerating the Modern World at V&A

On Tuesday morning I decided to go to the V&A Museum and catch the three special exhibitions there. For Museum Association members it is free entry to any of the special exhibitions. Sadly you don't get tickets though as I always like to keep mine as a memento.

Cars: Accelerating the Modern World was on in the Sainsbury Gallery near the Tunnel Entrance to the Museum. It is on until 19 April 2020. The exhibition looks back at how the car has affected the modern world during the 20th Century. It displays examples from technology, industry and design and fashion. It also looks at how cars have changed the landscape and impacted on the environment.

Having experienced BMW Welt in Munich a few years ago I was quite excited to see this exhibition. I love seeing how the car has evolved over the years and there were some real highlights to this exhibition. There were quite a few early models such as the Model T Ford and some early racing cars. The exhibition focused on how the futuristic has always been on the mind of designers from the turn of the century. The first section looks at how it was thought that cars of the future would be able to fly. There were a lot of conceptual art from The Fifth Element film based on 1930s drawings.

An aspect of this exhibition that I really liked was that they had chosen to use crash test dummies to model the clothes from different eras. Another really interesting point was a model of a reclining male called Graham. Graham is a human that has been designed to withstand car crashes. His flat face will absorb the impact, his large skull has extra fluid to protect the brain, and the numerous nipples on his chest will act as a built in airbag. He was created by the Australian Transport Accident Commission by artist Patricia Piccinini in 2016.

The car that stood out the most for me was an Impala Lowrider which was costumed by Tomas Vazquez, a member of a lowrider community called the Imperials. This car is dedicated to all of the Imperial members that have passed away.

As well as cars and fashion the exhibition touched on sustainability and the impact the car has had on fossil fuels. It talked about the by products of the oil and petroleum industries such as polyester. There were screens around the exhibition highlighting facts such as the 'Number of barrels of oil left in the world'.

The last part of the exhibition looks at how we are approaching cars for the future. On display is the Pop.Up Next concept car from Audi which is an electric, autonomous car that can fly which can be booked from a smartphone app. This takes the exhibition full circle, showing us that we still hold on to the ideas of the 1930s that the future should be flight.

I really enjoyed this exhibition, it was very bright and airy with an easy to navigate layout. There was something for everyone within the exhibition. I think if cars are not your thing then still give it a visit as there will be something to admire. It is quite pricey at £18 a ticket but under 11's go free so if you have small children they will love it! It is cheaper for concessions and Art Fund card holders. I would say it is quite a small exhibition but the free collections at the V&A are massive so there would always be more to look at if you were making a special trip. Plus the V&A is right next to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum which are both free admission.

London Blogs - Tate Modern - January 2020

I decided after all the stress that I've had lately that I needed to get away for a couple of days. I booked an open return on the train and a hotel in Whitechapel. The plan being to make the most of my Museums Association card.

After getting into London around lunchtime I had a stroll around Bermondsey (amazing coffee at a little shop called Fuckoffee opposite The White Cube) and then headed to the Tate Modern. I hadn't been for a couple of years so thought I would have a look around all the free displays.

The Tate is split into the the larger Natalie Bell Building and the Blavatnik Building, with the Tanks and the Turbine Hall at the bottom. 

I firstly admired the rather large Hyundai Commission by Kara Walker in the Turbine Hall entitled Fons Americanus. This is a 13 metre tall working fountain that was inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. Unlike the memorial which is made of marble, Fons Americanus is made of recyclable or reusable cork, wood and metal. It has been covered with a non-toxic acrylic/cement composite. 

The theme of the piece is an exploration of the interconnected histories of Africa, America and Europe. The water and figures are a representation of the the transatlantic slave trade. I understand the seriousness of the issues raised in the fountain but I felt that the characters were a little Disney-esque. The size gives an overall feeling of "wow". If you're in the area its worth popping in to see what you think, its on display until 5 April 2020.

I walked around the Natalie Bell Building first. Starting on Level 2 working my way up to Level 4 then I crossed the bridge into the Blavatnik Building and worked my way down to the Tanks. There were some highlights on the way.

• Yinka Shonibare CBE

This piece was a collaboration with The British Library. Yinka Shonibare was born, studied and currently lives in London, but grew up in Nigeria. His dual identity of British-Nigerian is the foundation for his work. The room is filled with 2,700 books, they are all brightly coloured patterns and on the spines of the books are the names of first and second generation immigrants to Britain printed in gold. All the personalities have made some form of significant contribution to British culture and history. Some of the spines are unmarked signifying that the story of immigration in Britain is still being written. Visitors are encouraged to use the tablets in the centre of the room to interact with the piece, to find out more about the people and to give their own stories if their family has immigrated to the UK. The website is available to view here.

• Yin Xiuzhen

This piece is entitled Weapon 2013-7 and it consists of a series of sculptures suspended from the ceiling. The shape of the objects were inspired by the Beijing Central Radio and Television Tower but when they are on their sides they resemble missiles. The tower that controls China's broadcast media is a 'soft power' compared to the 'hard power' of the military. 

• Sarah Sze

This piece is entitled Seamless 1999. It is a very whimsical piece. I was following a family into the room and they little boy said "Daddy its just like I make at home with things!" The piece uses everyday objects to create the shape of a double helix of DNA molecules, that encompasses the whole room some parts of which move (and set off the alarms in the gallery space). The objects are reminiscent of apparatus being set up to conduct an experiment giving it another scientific element. 

Finally the low point of my visit... I know that the Tate Modern is a Contemporary Art gallery and there is usually something that is a bit 'out there' on show, but... The Tanks.

In one of the Tanks there is an exhibition called Impermanence. It has two pieces that I just don't understand. One is by Anya Gallaccio entitled Preserve Beauty 1991-2003. This piece is made up of over 2,000 red gerberas that are cut and pressed behind four panes of glass. The idea is for them to wilt and fall during display, but I got to the exhibition when they were really furry with mould.

The other piece that boggled me is entitled Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) 1967 by Roelof Louw. This started life in the gallery as a pyramid of oranges and the concept is that the viewer moves it around or takes an orange away. When I got to this piece there weren't many left and the ones that were there were starting to decay. You could smell them as soon as you came into the Tank! Maybe I got there too late for these artworks to strike me as impressive, I don't know...

Time & Tide Museum - Great Yarmouth

So today was a relatively nice day although it was a bit breezy. I decided to get on a bus and go to the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth. The reason for my visit was to see the Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed exhibition but I will write another blog about that in February as I have booked to go on a talk and tour of the exhibition with the curators.

The museum is a short walk from the town centre and there is some great architecture en route. There is a car park opposite the museum so that's handy of you are driving there. Admission is reasonable - adults £6.20, concession rate £5.90 and young person rate £5.30. There are also group rates for families. It is free for Museum Association members.

The museum is on the site of the old Tower Fish Curing Works. The lower part of the the museum tells the story Great Yarmouth's role in the herring industry. The original smokehouse is used in the exhibition and you can still smell the aroma of smoked fish on the visitor route around the museum. One of the draws to Great Yarmouth is its Historical South Quay. Off this port route are many little lanes known as 'Rows'. These were where the fishermen lived and bought supplies. The first part of the exhibition takes you down a 'Row' so that you can experience where the fishermen lived. The visitor route continues through the courtyard where there are examples of fishing boats, into another building where you can experience the dockside and learn more about the herring industry. This is the building that incorporates the old smokehouse. This area also touches on other fishing out of Great Yarmouth and the whaling industry.

The visitor route then takes you upstairs, it becomes more of a general social history museum. It outlines Great Yarmouth's history in the prehistory, and the bronze and iron ages. It was a massive port and posting in Roman times. My favourite part of any small museum is their cabinet of curiosities. Although this one wasn't as random as some I've seen it did have a lot of examples of exotic fish. The sea and fishing theme continues as the route then takes you to an area entitled 'Wreck and Rescue' where you learn about Captain Mamby (I didn't know who he was, I just knew there is a Toby Carvery named after him) who invented lots of mechanical items to save fisherman at sea.

The next part of the museum is a bit kitschy - it tells you about Great Yarmouth as a seaside holiday resort. This could have been a really in-depth and interesting section but it was tiny and a bit tacky and seemed a little out of placed where it was situated as it was before a section on maritime trading that tied in more with the previous section.

The room on wartime Yarmouth is really interesting. War Museums are my speciality having written my MA dissertation on German Documentation Centres. I love learning about how a town in any country was affected by war and the damage and re-building afterwards. There were some really interesting postcards showing zeppelin damage from one of the raids.

The final room is more about everyday life in the 20th century and is designed to get the visitor talking about the objects on show and their memories of them. The display cases contain objects like toys, technology, fashion and culture from recent decades.

In conclusion I would recommend a trip to the Time and Tide Museum it is interesting and explains the sites history. It is value for money. I was there for about 2 hours including the Tattoo Museum. They have a small shop in the entrance that sells generic museum gifts. There is also a Smokehouse Cafe on site. I was pushed for time so did not visit.