Europe

Getting Arty in London

Since this trip to London was planned, the Saatchi Gallery has been one of the places firmly on my ‘to visit’ list and we decided to make a day of it and see lots of art in London.

Art isn’t really my ‘thing’ per se: being a rather uncultured gal, I just don’t really ‘get’ most of it. Especially the pretentious stuff like a piece of concrete balanced on a zimmer frame. Really? However, some pieces caught my eye but the exhibition I most wanted to see was 20:50 by Richard Wilson. Basically, it’s a room filled halfway with oil but it creates an interesting illusion of space. You can see what I mean from the images below:

The first picture was taken of the ‘floor’ and reflections in the oil, while the second shows more of the walls and windows. It seemed pretty surreal even just looking over it, although the smell wasn’t pretty.

Next, we walked down to the Victoria & Albert. Probably one of the hugest museums I’ve ever been in, we didn’t even make it halfway around before heading to the nearest Costa for a well deserved sit down. It was beautiful though and I particularly enjoyed the part that showed fashion through the ages. One of my favourite rooms was the Beauty and the Beast lookalike library: filled with technology and furniture, I just couldn’t get enough of how gorgeous it looked with books overflowing from the shelves.

On our last day, I was heavily influenced by The Londoner to visit the Hayward Gallery and see Martin Creed’s exhibition ‘What’s the Point of It?’. With a price tag on this one, I still didn’t begrudge paying as we checked out the many random but strangely fascinating pieces on show. While we weren’t quite fans of the projection screens – one showing people pooing and throwing up, the other showing a close up penis – ‘Half the Air in a Given Space’was definitely my favourite part of the gallery You force yourself into a room crammed high with latex balloons and wander around with no sense of direction. It’s completely different than anything I’ve experienced before although I wouldn’t recommend trying to get a brush through your hair afterwards!