'LightBox': photos from Time Magazine

If you are interested in photography (and who isn't?), you can subscribe to a selection of fabulous photos from Time Magazine, the excellent weekly news magazine from North America.  Sign up on their website to get LightBox's weekly newsletter http://lightbox.time.com/about/ in your inbox.

New Furniture Gallery opening at the V & A in December

For the first time in its history, the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington London is  opening a gallery dedicated to furniture.  The opening will be some time in December, but the exact date hasn't been published yet.  We have always been able to see much of the museum's collection of furniture in other galleries, but this new gallery will focus on the design, decoration, construction and production of furniture since the 16th century.

Hayward Gallery London. Punk Graphics until 4 November

'Some day all the adults will die' Punk Graphics 1971-1984

'This exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of punk graphic design, surveying imagery produced before, during and after the punk years, and drawing upon previously unseen public and private archives and collections.

Punk and post-punk graphic design is illuminated by examples of homemade cassettes, 'zines, posters, handbills, records and clothing.

Highlights include original artworks by Gee Vaucher, Linder Sterling, Jamie Reid, Gary Panter, John Holmstrom, Raymond Pettibon and Penny Rimbaud alongside numerous anonymous artists.' (Hayward Gallery website,http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-and-visual-arts/tickets/someday-all-the-adults-will-die-1000314, accessed 30.09.12) 

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-and-visual-arts/tickets/someday-all-the-adults-will-die-1000314

Ballgowns exhibition at the V & A.

'From spring 2012 the V&A celebrates the opening of the newly renovated Fashion Galleries with an exhibition of beautiful ballgowns, red carpet evening dresses and catwalk showstoppers.  Displayed over two floors,Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 will feature more than sixty designs for social events such as private parties, royal balls, state occasions and opening nights.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/ballgowns/ballgowns-british-glamour-since-1950/

The exhibition will cover over sixty years of a strong British design tradition that continues to flourish. Eveningwear from the V&A’s vast collection, by designers including Victor Stiebel, Zandra Rhodes, Jonathan Saunders and Hussein Chalayan, will be on show alongside dresses fresh from the catwalk shows of Alexander McQueen, Giles Deacon, Erdem and Jenny Packham.' (Website of the V & A www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/ballgowns, accessed 30.09.12)

Victoria and Albert Museum (V & A)

The 'V & A' claims to be 'The World's Greatest Museum of Art and Design' and this claim is probably correct. It is a 'must see' for all art and design students.  It has historical collections of artefacts and images (prints and photographs) but the museum also collects plenty of contemporary work.  The museum puts on important temporary exhibitions and you will find direct links to some of these in the next post.  The museum is huge, so be selective when you visit for the first time and start with the sections that are relevant to your discipline.  There are galleries of furniture, metalwork, jewellery, ceramics, architecture, sculpture, theatre design, graphic design, advertising, photography, drawings, fashion, glass, paintings.  There are also galleries dedicated to specific countries or religions like Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Islamic design and period rooms such as medieval, baroque, surrealism and contemporary.

The museum also has 'The National Art Library' which is a brilliant library of art and design, accessible to anyone.  You can register as a reader on your first visit, or online.  You can search the catalogue on line.

The picture shows the John Madejski Garden in the interior courtyard of the museum, designed by Kim Wilkie and opened in 2005.  In the summer you can buy food and drink from the small cafe in the courtyard.

Serpentine Pavilion

Time is running out to visit this year's Serpentine Pavilion outside the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park, London.   I have been meaning to go all summer, partly because I am a great admirer of the artist Ai Wei Wei, who has collaborated in the design of the pavilion with the architects Herzog & de Meuron - designers of the Tate Modern conversion.  They also collaborated on the design for the 'Bird's Nest' stadium at the Bejing Olympics.  I will try to get there before it closes on 14th October.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei 
1 June - 14 October 2012

The design team responsible for the celebrated Beijing National Stadium, which was built for the 2008 Olympic Games and won the prestigious RIBA Lubetkin Prize, will come together again in London in 2012 in a special development of the Serpentine's acclaimed annual commission. Open from June to October 2012, the Pavilion will be presented as part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. The Pavilion will be Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei's first collaborative built structure in the UK.

100% Design Exhibition at Earls Court

Last Friday, I jumped on the train after a meeting and headed up to London to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre to see the 100% Design exhibition.  For those who don't know about this annual exhibition, it is a mainly a showcase of architecture, interior design and furniture featuring companies and individuals from around the world.  But every year, some designers of textiles, surfaces, product and even jewellery take a stand.  This year, Chinese design featured quite strongly, but I found the stands from South America the most interesting - Argentinian and Chilean designers particularly were producing some innovative work.  I was most interested though in the Design Activism stand and was delighted to see that socially responsible design, localism and even anti-design was being promoted by young designers.  See www.community21.org/about/.  One stand displayed hundreds of broken electrical items and visitors were invited to bring their broken household electrics and other items for repair, or re-use.  Designers were turning their creative skills to finding new uses for old or defunct goods and, at the same time, training unemployed people in new skills.

Whitechapel Art Gallery- Aspen Magazine 1965-1971

If you like Pop Art and design, this is the exhibition for you.   And its free!  The exhibition closes on 3 March 2013

Level 4 students - you could choose a front page or an inside spread for analysis.

Here is a description of the exhibition from the Whitechapel Gallery website:

The cult 1960s magazine Aspen featured contributions by prolific artists, musicians and writers including Peter Blake, William S.Burroughs, John Cage, Ossie Clark, Marcel Duchamp, David Hockney, John Lennon, Lou Reed and Yoko Ono. 

Few magazines remain and on display are all ten complete sets of the rarely seen publication. Issued in a box, Aspen was one of the first multi -media magazines and became a time capsule of the period. It was conceived by Phyllis Johnson, a former editor for Women’s Wear Daily and Advertising Age, and inspired by Aspen, Colorado, a popular ski resort at the time. Each distinctive issue had a different editor and designer who took complete control of the magazine.

On show is Andy Warhol and David Dalton’s Pop Art issue including a detergent box cover, and a special British issue with British Knickers, a sewing pattern by fashion designer Ossie Clark, souvenirs found by Peter Blake and The Lennon Diary 1969, a diary of the future written by the Beatles musician. Other highlights include films by Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Morris, recordings by Yoko Ono, John Lennon, William S. Burroughs and Marcel Duchamp, essays by Roland Barthesand Susan Sontag, and a psychedelic issue edited by AngusMacLise, the original drummer from the Velvet Underground.

Whitechapel Gallery Website, http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/aspen-magazine-1965-1971, accessed 7 September 2012

Venice Architecture Biennale until 25th November

Unless you have time and spare cash, you will not be able to get to Venice to see this, the world's largest exhibition of architectural design.  But for those of you who want an insight into the climate of contemporary architecture, look up reviews of this exhibition in the press.  This huge space, which has been curated by the architect David Chipperfield, is called 'Common Ground' to reflect a shift of tone in architecture today from the glittering, superstar 'starchitect' (look it up) to the socially and environmentally responsible approach of many architects today.  However, it looks to me as if the 'Starchitect' element in contemporary architecture is still very visible in the exhibition.

See for example the following reviews in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/sep/02/venice-architecture-biennale-2012-review

If you find an architect whose work you admire, try to find one of their buildings that you can visit.  To write effectively about buildings and interior spaces, it is essential to experience them in real time and space.

Pop! Design. Culture. Fashion at the Fashion and Textile Museum

NB This exhibition closes on 27th October.

In the 1950s a new wave of rock-n-roll and youth culture from America swept the country and the world. The mix of popular images and music with art and fashion would change the way people dressed - blurring the boundaries of commerce, culture and style.

POP! will explore the impact of music, art and personality on the development of the fashion of the times. From the poodle skirts and embellished leathers of the rockers through to the Punk era, this exhibition will take in the cool stylings of the Mods, the high baroque of Psychedelia and the kitsch glamour of 70s retro by designers such as Mr Freedom and Miss Mouse.

Highlights will include items from Elton John’s personal wardrobe, purple flares worn by Donovan, the pop-art fashions of Mary Quant as well as Quant’s early modernist pieces from the original Bazaar, and original pieces from Westwood and McLaren’s Sex. Furniture, original posters and graphics and promotional materials will help to set the scene while an “I’m Backing Britain” display will create a dramatic centrepiece.

The exhibition will provide new insight into 20 years of popular culture from the collection of Target Gallery, London which is one of the most comprehensive private collections of its kind.

Exhibition Dates: 6 Jul - 27 Oct 2012
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am - 6pm 
Last Admissions 5.15pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

Ticket Price:£7 for adults 
£5 for students and concessions
50% off full price ticket for Art Fund members

Tickets may be purchased in person on the day of the visit or in advance by telephone. Tickets are subject to availability; no booking fee applies. Exhibition ticket booking line: 020 7407 8664

(Fashion and Textile Museum website, http://www.ftmlondon.org/exhibitions/future/detail/?ID=69

http://www.ftmlondon.org/exhibitions/future/detail/?ID=69)

Tate Modern: Edvard Munch The Modern Eye

Few other modern artists are better known and yet less understood than Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863–1944). This exhibition examines the artist’s work from the 20th century, including sixty paintings, many from the Munch Museum in Oslo, with a rare showing of his work in film and photography.

Munch is often seen as a 19th-century Symbolist painter but this exhibition shows how he engaged with modernity and was inspired by the everyday life outside of his studio such as street scenes and incidents reported in the media – includingThe House is Burning 1925–7, a sensational view of a real life event with people fleeing the scene of a burning building.

The show also examines how Munch often repeated a single motif over a long period of time in order to re-work it, as can be seen in the different versions of his most celebrated works, such as The Sick Child 1885–1927 and Girls on the Bridge 1902–27.  (Tate Modern website,http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/edvard-munch-modern-eye)

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/edvard-munch-modern-eye

Design Museum: Designed to Win until 18 November

Designed to Win celebrates the ways in which design and sport are combined, pushing the limits of human endeavour to achieve records and victories of increasing significance and wonder. From the design of F1 cars to running shoes, bats, balls and bicycles, the quest for enhanced performance and function is endless.

Coinciding with London's biggest year of sport, Designed to Win explores the various ways in which design has shaped the sporting world. Analysing key moments where design played a significant role in progressing sport, the exhibition looks at themes of safety, performance, fashion, new materials and technology.

Film clips, photography and models are shown alongside interactive displays, sporting equipment and timelines. By examining celebrated sporting moments and the sense of shared celebration and spectacle, Designed to Win also highlights not just how design can influence sport but also how sport has influenced design, art and culture. (Design Museum website,http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2012/designed-to-win)

http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2012/designed-to-win

Tate Britain: The Pre-Raphaelites The Victorian Avant-Garde until 13th Jan 2013

This is the first of the posts recommending current exhibitions in London and elsewhere.  We recommend that Level 4 students visit one of these exhibitions to choose an image or an object for their first essay.

Tate Britain: The Pre-Raphaelites The Victorian Avant-Garde until 13th Jan 2013

Combining rebellion, beauty, scientific precision and imaginative grandeur, thePre-Raphaelites constitute Britain’s first modern art movement. This exhibition brings together over 150 works in different media, including painting, sculpture, photography and the applied arts, revealing the Pre-Raphaelites to be advanced in their approach to every genre. Led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) rebelled against the art establishment of the mid-nineteenth century, taking inspiration from early Renaissance painting. (Tate Britain website, http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/pre-raphaelites-victorian-avant-garde

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/pre-raphaelites-victorian-avant-garde)

Welcome to the Bucks VMC blog

Hello,

Welcome to the Bucks VMC Blog.  I am new to blogging so I don't have a clear idea where this will lead, but I look forward to seeing how the story develops and I hope that some of you will join in, post links to your own blogs and your course blogs to develop the network.  I'm going to start by telling you about places to go, things to see.  For practical reasons, VMC sessions have to be lecture hall and classroom based, but I for one would much rather be out there, looking at art and design in situ - in galleries, museums, shops, exterior urban and rural spaces and so on - so save up those pennies and get out there.  Its amazing how much you can do for free, or at little cost, especially if you book train and bus tickets well in advance.  I will also post from time-to-time  links to web sites, discussions, blogs about art and - anything that might inspire creative ideas. 

So, I'll start by putting some information, pictures and links to things I have seen this summer, or would like to see in the autumn.  Please contribute so that we can develop a repository of inspirational things to do, see, read and discuss.

First of all - here is the object of the year, in my opinion.  That wonderful Olympic cauldron by the designer Thomas Heatherwick. A week or so before that amazing opening ceremony I went to the Heatherwick exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  It was only when I saw the ceremony that I twigged why Heatherwick had a solo exhibition at the V & A.  He was already a famous and successful designer, but he was about to become internationally famous. 

So I urge you to go to the exhibition 'Heatherwick Studio Designing the Extraordinary' at the V & A but you have to be quick as it finishes on 30th September.  The exhibition deals not just with Heatherwick's remarkable objects and spaces, but looks at the design processes including the display of models, drawings and digital renderings.