South Bank

Despite the rainy Easter weekend there were still crowds this Saturday at the South Bank. I braved the drizzle and ventured out all on my own to soak up the atmosphere and culture.



At the BFI I browsed some books in the shop about making short films and was as usual, in awe of their wonderful DVD selection. In the gallery there was an exhibition called ''Unfolding the Aryan Papers''about a film ''Aryan Papers'' that Stanley Kubrick never made, but planned and researched extensively. The installation was made Jane & Louise Wilson, considered the best artists currently working with moving image in Britain. The way it was shot- using film and the actress originally planned for the movie, but not acting out any of the scenes, was very interesting. In the other gallery some old James Bond movie posters were on display. The cafe on the river side has been closed for refurbishment for a while, but now the riverfront bar & kitchen is open and looking better than ever. Still serving benugo's great food and offering a wide selection of drinks at the fabulous looking bar side.

At the National Theatre all the plays for the evening were unfortunatley sold out - unsurprising really, even given the current economic climate, due to the Travelex-sponsored 10 pound tickets, which are selling like hot cakes. The War Horse is getting rave reviews and is proving to be hugely succesful, even if not all the critics completley agree. I would like to get a chance to see that and decide for myself though.

At the Tate Modern I went to see the TH.2058 for the umpteenth time, it is closing tomorrow but as it is the subject of my dissertation I needed to get the most of it still and spend as much time in there as I still could. It got quite boring after a while though and I ventured higher up in the building and discovered that the Material Gestures wing has reopened after being closed for a while. It is my favourite part of the Tate's collection and I was glad to be able to see some of my old favourites like Fontana (pictured here one of my all-time favourites: ''Spatial Concept: 'Waiting' 1960 by Lucio Fontana) as well as works I have never seen before. I really enjoyed the whole Arte Povera display, especially the whole room devoted to Jannis Kounellis, whose work I wan't familiar with before. During his influential career he has been trying to establish 'a unity between art and life'. And in 1987, the year I was born, he already wrote something that I would sign for today: 'I want the return of poetry with all means: of practice, of observation, of loneliness, of the word, of the image, of the aversion' - brilliantly put.

I would like to introduce a ''artwork of the month (or week) section to my blog, because I'd like to highlight a piece that really impressed me:

Film Star 1960 by John Latham
(Books, plaster and metal on canvas, object: 1600 x 1981 x 228 mm, relief)

This work was titled Film Star because it appeared in Latham's film Unedited Material from the Star. It incorporates books whose pages have been painted in twelve colours. Because the books can be opened at different pages, the work can exist in different states. The film consists of static shots of opened books. During production, Latham would stop filming at various points, turn the pages of the books, and start filming again. When the film is shown, the books appear suddenly to open, close and change colour. (From the display caption March 2009)

It's impossible to show or describe it here - this has to be seen up close and preferably with the video alongside it, but I'm not sure how to get a hold of it. A fascinating piece though, love it!