On Saturday 5th March Andy & I visited London for the day; we managed to pick up a cheap £20 return each with London midland, despite all the changes we had to make we still made it & got to visit Tate Britain & Tate Modern.
We began our day by visiting Tate Britain to see the Susan Hiller exhibition, on the whole it wasn’t what I expected, I thought there would be more installations. There were a few pieces in the exhibition which caught my eye;
Susan Hiller - Hand Grenades, 1972
Hiller’s Hand Grenades caught my eye initially as I thought they were light bulbs, not glass jars. I was curious to investigate further, even when I realised they were not light bulbs I was still intrigued by the ashes inside the jars.
Susan Hiller - Magic Lantern, 1987
Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990
Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990
Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990
When entering the pitch black room of 'An Entertainment' carnival tunes were playing in the background, the four wall projection began around me, they were clips of punch and judy shows which makde me feel trapped, suddenly the happy carnival music began to feel unsettling. The laughter from the children in the videos felt haunting. The end of the films were symboled by a closing red curtain on the video.
Susan Hiller – PSI Girls, 1999
Susan Hiller – PSI Girls, 1999
Hiller's 'PSI Girls' is a five screen
video projection which features imagery from films of girls with telekinetic
powers. The clips featured are from;
Brian De Palma's - The Fury, 1978
Andrei Tarkovsky's - Stalker, 1979
Mark L. Lester's - Firestarter, 1984
Danny De Vito's - Matilda, 1996
Andrew Fleming's - The Craft, 1996
The clips move around anti-closkwise, with
tv static inbetween each clip, with a drumming beat in the background. The
video clips are in bright colours, very popular with Hiller's work.
Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000
Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000
Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000
When walking through Hiller's 'Witness' I
was surrounded by voices, speaking in many different languages about their
encounters with UFO's or unexplainable objects/sightings. Some of the things I
heard were;"and then blotches appeared on my
hand""later 9 orange disks filled the
sky""a formation appeared"I felt like I was in the sea, surrounded
by jellyfish, wanting to go and listen to the voices but afraid of what I may
hear.After
we saw the Susan Hiller exhibition we went on to look at the 'Watercolour'
exhibition also on at Tate Britain. It was an
exhibition which brought together a variety of artists who all use watercolour
as the main medium in their work. I will admit, it wasn't my cup of tea, but
there were some interesting pieces which stood out for me;
Anish Kapoor – Untitled, 1990
Edward Burra – Wake, 1940
Uwe Wittwer – Ruin, 2008
Alexander Cozens – Plate 7, 1785
Rebecca Salter – Untitled RR40, 2009
On route from Tate Britain to Tate Modern we spotted some sculptures outside
Tate Britain which caught my eye. I personally think they were
degree show students practicing for their degree show, however as there was
no-one to ask we continued to Tate Modern. Here are a few photos of some of the
sculptures we saw;
When we arrived at Tate Modern we went
straight to the Gabriel Orozco exhibition, not knowing what to expect. The
exhibition was right up my street! Even though I didn't know what to expect,
what I saw was beyond my expectations. In my opinion there was something for
everyone, there were sculptures, installations, interactive pieces and two
dimensional works.
Gabriel Orozco – Elevator, 1994
Gabriel Orozco – LA DS, 1993
Gabriel Orozco – Four Bicycles (There is always One Direction), 1994
Gabriel Orozco – Chicotes, 2010
Gabriel Orozco - Carambole with Pendulum, 1996
Gabriel Orozco - Carambole with Pendulum, 1996
When I entered room 6 was
amazed to see an oval pool table, it wasn’t what I expected to see. The best
thing about this installation is that it was an interactive piece; viewers
could grab a snooker cue and hit the white ball at the swinging red ball. It
was challenging but fun for all ages … even if it did take me 3 attempts to hit
the swinging red ball.
After we visited the Gabriel Orozco exhibition
we went up to Level 2 of Tate Modern to see a collection of work titled ‘Out of
Place’. One piece that really stood out for me was Cevded Erek’s ‘ShadingMonument for the artist’. I was instantly drawn to the shadows created using
the lights; it was almost like a hidden message on the wall.
Cevded Ereks - ShadingMonument for the artist, 2009
Sadly our time in London was limited due to our cheap train deal, but when
we next return we are intending on staying over for the weekend so we can
squeeze in a show at the theatre too!!
On Sunday 27th February 2011, Andy and I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) for the day to see the David Nash exhibition, as it was the last day of the exhibition! Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a great day out for everyone, you can snap up a Henry Moore, have a picnic by an Anthony Caro or play hide & seek behind Barbara Hepworth's sculptures. And best of all it's free entry!! Only £4 to park a car.
Despite the wind, rain & fog we battled through and enjoyed our day, which included getting covered in mud (thankfully we were wearing hiking boots and waterproof pants).
‘Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a pioneering place that aims to challenge, inspire, inform and delight, welcoming over 250,000 visitors, including 40,000 learning visits each year and spanning over 500 acres of land.’
Map of Yorkshire Sculpture Park
We began our day by getting the free shuttle bus to the 'Longside Gallery' at the far end of the park. There were many David Nash sculptures inside the exhibition, unfortunately photography isn't permitted, however I bought the 'David Nash Exhibition Guide' and I have included a few photographs from inside the gallery.
Here are a few photos of our findings whilst walking throught the fields ...
Winter/Hörbelt's - Basket #7, 2003-4
Andy & I 'trapped' inside
Winter/Hörbelt's - Basket #7
David Nash - Black Steps, 2010
Helen Escobedo - Summer Fields, 2008
Henry Moore - Two Piece Reclining Figure: Cut, 1979-81
Anthony Caro - Dream City, 1996
Anthony Caro - Promenade, 1996
Sol LeWitt - 123454321, 1993
Sol LeWitt - 123454321, 1993
Action Shot!
Dennis Oppenheim - Trees from Alternative Landscape Components, 2006
Dennis Oppenheim - Trees from Alternative Landscape Components, 2006
Sophie Ryder - Sitting, 2007
Sophie Ryder - Sitting, 2007
Peter Randall-Page - Fructus 2009
Mark di Suvero - Nelly, 1986
Elisabeth Frink - Riace Figures, 1986-89
Jonathan Borofsky - Molecule Man 1+1+1, 1990
Jonathan Borofsky - Molecule Man 1+1+1, 1990
Barbara Hepworth - The Family Man, 1970
After a busy moring we decided to stop for lunch & have our picnic we'd brought with us. After lunch we continued our walk round the park, we began at James Turrell's Deer Shelter Skyspace;
'James Turrell has created the Skyspace at YSP within the Park's 18th-century Grade II Listed building - the deer shelter. His work does not alter the shape of the landscape or disturb the tranquillity of the site, but creates a place of contemplation and revelation, harnessing the changing light of the Yorkshire sky. The Deer Shelter Skyspace consists of a large square chamber with an aperture cut into the roof. Through this aperture the visitor is offered a heightened vision of the sky, seemingly transformed into a trompe l'oeil painting.'
Whilst inside the Deer Shelter I created a video to show its interior. It was very peaceful and tranquil sitting inside & gazing up at the passing skies.
James Turrell - Deer Shelter Skyspace, 2006
We then continued our adventure through the Henry Moore Park and the Gardens before entering the Galleries to see the continuation of the David Nash exhibition.
Henry Moore - Draped Seated Woman, 1957-8
Brian Fell - Ha-Ha Bridge, 2006
Masayuki Koorida - Flower, 2008
Nigel Hall - Passage, 2007
Nigel Hall - The Now, 2000
Nigel Hall - Kiss, 2000
David Nash - Black Dome, 2009
David Nash - Three Humps, 2006
David Nash, Black Sphere, 2010
David Nash - Chinese Irons, 2010
David Nash - Lightning Strike, 2008
David Nash - Two Sliced Cedars, 2010
We finished the day by visiting the galleries at the visitor centre/restaurant where you were allowed to touch the sculptures (but not the black ones) and not photograph, indoor photographs are from the 'David Nash Exhibition Guide'
