Live it: Liverpool

Last weekend I found myself in Liverpool for a hen party, but I'm not going to tell you about that part as what goes on the hen party, stays on the hen party.  It's not a city I have explored much I must admit, I have been there once before on a day trip and so this was a good excuse to go for a wander whilst I waited for the train I had booked on.  One of the great things about booking on trains is that its cheaper if you get on a certain one, but sometimes it can mean a bit of a wait.  On this occasion it turned out to be a great idea and a lovely day to explore as the weather was brilliant, hardly a cloud in the sky!

I thought I would go down to the docks as I had been to the Tate before and so thought as it is the 25th anniversary it would be worth a look.  It turned out that the Mersey River Festival was on and so it was VERY busy! But that did mean I got to see a fly past, some people singing in the street and lots of boats.

Undeterred, I thought I would check out the Museum of Liverpool instead as I definitely hadn't done that, and being as I love a good museum, I thought it would tick my culture box for the weekend.

On the way I saw a lady doing some stitching and so went to check it out.  She was adding French knots to a scarf as a piece of art and was asking people to have a go, well, who was I to say no.  So I had a go and my work will be on this artwork forever, how cool.

Anyway, back to my wander, and I made it to the Museum of Liverpool which was busy, but as it was such a nice day I guess it wasn't as bad as it could have been, it was also free!  yey.

I thought I would start from the top and walked up this amazing curved staircase, 84 steps apparently, to the third floor.  Then there were different sections to go into, some about popular culture - Beatles anyone! and also boxing and football.  They had these really cool coloured pods above you which had images projected inside which made the tall space feel less voluminous. 

Then you could wind down the stairs and learn more about the Romans and Medieval history etc and I saw they have 3 education spaces, which for me as an education worker was fascinating!  Lots of space to do different things and break-out spaces for the kids to learn.  I am imagining they have more staff then my little museum though, but it is a bigger museum overall so I guess that would be fair.  On the ground floor you learnt more about the industry and heritage of Liverpool, from the factories to the docks themselves - which gives this city its diverse history.

Also I managed to find out what the Superlamabananas were all about.  These different coloured and designed creatures are all around Liverpool and I guess they are a similar idea to the Elephant Family which was around London a few years ago.  There is a huge one in the city centre and then smaller ones dotted around.  The main Superlamabana was designed by the artist Taro Chiezo but was only 4ft tall, the full-size 17ft replica was made by four local artists: Andy Small, Julian Taylor, Tommy Reason and Ray Stokes and all the others (125 in all) were decorated by local communities/artists for the 2008 European Capital of Culture.  Such a good way to get people interested in and involved in Public art and make it fun too!

It was a really interesting museum and there were pockets of space where there was works of art from local artists, which is always nice to see in a museum of this size.  I also found the note above which had been pinned to a feedback wall - I love it!  There was of course the obligatory cafe and shop too, so a little peruse around the shop before I headed back out into the sunshine.

I did then fully intend to make my way over to the Tate, but it was so busy, they were stopping people going over the bridge over to the area at the time I went and so I thought I would take a wander into the city centre instead as I needed to have a little look to buy some shoes for the wedding that is coming up and so I thought it might be a good place to look.  As it turned out, it was and I found a little pair of flats to go with my outfit, oh yes and a cheeky pair of sandals too!

It was a brief but really interesting couple of hours to explore the city.  Where would you go if you had a couple of hours to explore?

H

A Day wondering in London

Last week I had a few days off from work after the madness of Half Term at work and so I went up to London and spent a few days with my friend Vic - well overdue I think.

On the Tuesday I had long old day wandering around, which is one of the big things I miss about being in London.  I only seem to go in to be rushing to do something these days and so this was a refreshing change!

In the morning we walked along the Thames from London Bridge up to Tate Modern and took a wander around, without taking in the Lichtenstein exhibition unfortunately as it was just far too busy, so that's something to do another day.  I used to do this walk quite alot a few years back when I was doing my Masters as one day a week I would be at the Design Museum and so a walk along the river from Waterloo would set me up for the day.

Then Vic went off to work and I took myself off to South Kensington to potter around my favourite place to while away a few hours - The V&A Museum.  A friend had told me about the new digital labels in the Furniture gallery and so I checked them out.  Swipe screens and interactive material displays were in abundance, which made learning much more about the furniture so much easier and meant that there were not labels everywhere!  Definitely the way forward for larger museums with permanent collections, but I don't think my museum will be doing it anytime soon.

Off to the ceramic gallery after that and a look around the years in plates and bowls.  They had many different display ideas, with big racks of similar coloured or style items to clustered display cases of what trends there were in different decades.  I found a collection of Blue ceramics which of course was my favourite, being that I love the colour!

The corridors then led me to the Jewellery gallery, which of course is very sparkly and no photos can be taken of course.  I need to remember to take my sketchbook for this room to get a bit of inspiration, so that can be the next visit.  There are 2 floors of Jewellery through the ages and its amazing that pieces from the 19th century can look so modern and relevant today.  It may be because we seem to be looking to the past at the moment with Vintage being so prevelant, but also I think it's because people want to feel that their jewellery is much more luxurious than practical.

I then walked around the other galleries winding myself around the museum.  I happened upon looking over a balcony to look at a gallery that was being installed below.  Lots of museum staff unwrapping pieces and installing stone pieces, which looked very heavy!  I watched them for a while, they must have been wondering why, but it was fascinating watching them.

It was then to the design gallery where I got to see some pieces from 1945 onwards, the gallery was set in a mock-up library which is always going to be a favourite of mine - I love books!

Then I thought it was time for a cup of tea!  So off to the cafe I went for a pot of tea and I opted for a slice of Lemon Drizzle cake to boost my energy!  After all that walking around I was starting to wilt!

I decided then that a bit of fresh air was in order as it was a cold but bright day it would be a shame to not enjoy it.  So I thought it would be a nice idea to take a wander down Oxford Street as I do like a bit of window shopping - especially as it was still the afternoon!  I walked down from Oxford Circus to Bond Street, making sure I checked out Selfridge's windows along the way - always a plus point!

Then it was off to meet Vic after work - where I managed to snap this cool lamp - before heading for a well needed Burger and then heading to The Make Escape for their drop in a draw night over in Hackney, but more about that another time.

I love wandering around London, its lovely to be able to take notice of what's going on around you and there is always so much to see and do.  It does help that I used to live there I guess as I feel alot more comfortable getting myself lost in it.  I can imagine for some its very scary, but for me I love to see where I can get to and how easy it is to get around by walking.  I used to love taking the bus to the otherside of the city on my days off too as you get to see so much more than if you are on the tube.

Tell me about where you like to go and if there are any places I should explore anywhere in the country or beyond?

Love it

H

Link for the week: Lichtenstein Exhibition at the Tate Modern

Photo courtesy of http://www.tate.org.uk

I thought with this weeks link I would share with you an exhibition which I think is a must see!

The Tate Modern has a retrospective of Roy Lichtenstein's work from now until the 27th May and it will be well worth a look.

I saw some of his work a few years ago now while at the Guggenheim Bilbao and the scale of some of his work and the colour is amazing!  For all those not sure about art, it may well be just what you are looking for to get your thinking about art in a different way as its imagery is so powerful, there will always be something for you to connect to.

As the Tate website says "Lichtenstein is renowned for his works based on comic strips and advertising imagery, coloured with his signature hand-painted Benday dots. The exhibition showcases such key paintings as Look Mickey 1961 lent from the National Gallery Art, Washington and his monumental Artist’s Studio series of 1973–4. Other noteworthy highlights include Whaam! 1963 – a signature work in Tate’s collection – and Drowning Girl 1963 on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, New York."

I definately advocate that there is an art form for everyone and that people take for granted what art is and think it is not for them or there are unfortunately others who think that art should be for a specific set of people!  Those people are wrong by the way.

Anyway, I was looking at the 'What Katie Does' blog, as I have been reading on and off and saw that the lovely Katie had managed to get into a press night for the Lichtenstein exhibition (exciting!) and so was able to take photos - this never happens in real life!  So I thought it only fair to share with you the blog and the post about it so that you can see what is on display and, like me, begin to really really want to go and see it for yourself!

http://www.whatkatiedoes.net/2013/02/lichtenstein-a-retrospective-at-the-tate-modern.html

Its on my list of things to do this week for when I am pottering about on my days off, well needed after last week's half term!

H

Love it: More Exhibition Adventures

H has been a culture vulture this week!  I managed to fit in two museum visits which is always a bonus as far as I am concerned!

So first up was the Tate Modern!  I wanted to go see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition which I have heard so much about.  The leaflet says 'she is perhaps Japan's best-known living artist.  Since the 1940s she has worked obsessively, developing an extensive body of work that encompasses painting, sculpture, drawing and collage as well as the immersive large-scale installations for which she is best known.'

As usual there are no photographs allowed in the exhibition, so you will have to go and see it yourselves to know what I am truly talking about.  There were a large amount of painting, some of my favourites were with thousands of dots all over the canvas/paper.  Due to the constraints of money and availability, some of her work used acrylic paints and sand as well as thousands of the airmail stickers that had come on her families letters from Japan to her then residence in New York.

Yayoi became well known for her performative experimentation, encouraging people to paint polka dots on each others naked bodies.  This after all was the sixties and seventies and free-love and hippie culture was thriving.  Film-makers picked up on her work and it was known for body paintings and orgys to happen in the her installation environment.

She was influential in the 1960s and 1970s with the New York avant-garde, yet when she returned to Japan she found it tough to readjust and admitted herself to a hospital that has remained her home to the present day.  She has continued to work and now works in a studio opposite the hospital she lives in, mainly working on drawings and paintings.

I loved her polka dot work, well I would, I am a little obsessed with dots at the moment, they are everywhere, Fashion, Interiors, Jewellery, so why not love them.  I particularly loved the entrance way to the exhibition with polka dot balloons as seen above.

So what to do with a day at Waterloo!

I took myself off to the Hayward Gallery on the Southbank to have a look at the David Shrigley exhibition.  You may have seen the posters of a stuffed dog holding a 'I'm Dead' sign.  To get to this exhibition however I first had to walk through an exhibition by Jeremy Deller who is a Turner-Prize winner.  He classes himself as a conceptual artist and mainly uses his interest in people and their relationships to each other.  There were banners and newspapers, along with Valerie's Cafe which was giving away free Tea!  always good.  There was a whole area devoted to the coal miners strikes of the 80's, which was really interesting, using a timeline and newspaper articles to show what was happening at that time was great to see, especially as I was very young at that time and so did not really know fully what was going on.  Plenty of films to watch also, one even in 3D!  Then I saw some embossing machines and so had to have a go, see below, what do you think?

So then I got to walk up the stairs and open the 'Don't Linger at the Gate' Gate into the David Shrigley exhibition.  Most people will know his work from the greeting cards he has done in many a good card shop, but it was great to see more of his work, from animations to posters and a big old cup to tea, with actual tea!  And of course the stuffed dog!  I think its definitely worth a visit as it brings the fun back into art, sometimes that's just what we need!

Live it
H