Monday 12 March 2012

The Big Smoke

So, a few days ago I promised you an update on my trip to London. Well I had a wonderful time! At first glance taking close on 2 full days out of family life seems purely selfish, however by the time I arrived at the first museum I could officially term it a research trip!

I squeezed in visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Royal Acadamey of Arts and the Tate Britain. My favorite has to be the V&A, the whole experience was magical. I felt like I had slipped in at the back door entering from the subway tunnel, almost like I shouldn't be there. I was like an excited child not knowing which way to turn. I made some great discoveries, got lost in the medieval section and saw some jaw dropping replica structures. There was one picture that I remember clearly; Rosalba Carriera's, The Syracusan Woman. I turned round and she seemed to be almost chastising me for moving throught the exhibitions so fast. Therefore, I have made a promise to myself to re-visit the V&A at some point to do it justice. The David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Acadamey of Arts was also a highlight.

The one thing that I love about London is the amazing variety of characters that are all around all the time. Does anyone else try to guess what peoples lives are like? I find it a very entertaining activity to guess the occupation of people on the tube or train in particular. Try it some time and see what you come up with. I can't help but try to attach a story to everything, people, places, pictures or sculptures. The only thing that struck me on this trip was how sad all the subjects of the paintings or sculptures are. I hope when future generations visit museums and look at 21st century art they don't get the impression that our generation were perpetually moping, life may be difficult at times but I would not say we are unhappy...are we?

PS the research was great and I have come away with loads of fantastic ideas :-D

1 comment:

  1. Love that you're taking time for yourself, I mean, to do research. Good for you.

    And I'd never thought about what future generations would think of us by looking at our art, but I'm with you now that I you point it out -- I hope they see the variety of emotions we experience, so they can see they are very much still like us (hopefully?).

    ReplyDelete

Penny for your thoughts

PS Thanks for taking the time to stop by