Last weekend I found myself on a hectic art rollercoaster, (metaphorically speaking that is, though a literal art rollercoaster does sound fun!) anyway, I found myself going from a rooftop in Dalston to a basement in Holborn all in the space of a day.
The day began at the Dalston superstore, a chilled out café/ bar full of character, characters and charm, it was here I met my friend for a brunch-beer… (well what weekends for, if not an opportunity of a brunch-beer?!) We then set off to the Bootstrap Company where we became members of the Dalston Roof Park Club.
We were visiting The Rooftop for an afternoon tea party, which was put on in order to raise funds for performance group Skip Theatre and their new act ‘Mermaids Curse’ an interactive site specific theatre performance occurring Friday 30th July and Saturday 31st July in Porlock at 7.00pm and Friday 6th and Saturday 7th August in East Prawle at 7.00pm.
The Roof Top Garden is a charming and relaxing space, especially when the sun is out! Rising above most of the low-rise (for now at least) buildings of Dalston it offers a peaceful distance from the hectic high street. The place puts on regular events for members and some of which I look forward to attending in the future!
From Dalston to Oxford Circus and the Photographers gallery, where the Sally Mann exhibition, which runs up until the 19th September.
Though interesting enough, I have to confess, I didn’t come away from the show with the sense of excitement, inspiration and awe I have had from other shows. That said… I found the works in the final room very powerful and compelling. The black and white images of decomposing bodies, photographed in the federal Forensic Anthropology Facility are both intriguing and unnerving. The bleak compositions of the bodies, all varying in shape and structure as well as stages in decay, almost suggest empty vessels, like larvae that has hatched; it made me wonder whether the photographer was suggesting that these lumps of disregarded flesh are simply empty shells that have been left behind, and offering a sense of celestial optimism to the haunting photographs.
From rooftop to ground level and now to the basement, which ironically was, for me the highlight of the day. The creators project. Set in Victoria House, WC1. The Creators Project was a show that explored the relationship between technology and art. There was a good number of exhibits and talks which all came together to become a great event. One of the strong aspects or theme of the show was audience participation. Whether it was dancing in front of a video camera that was fed through to a large screen in an audience filled room next door, or playing on a spectrum-like (low-fi) computer game, specifically designed by artists; visitors were encouraged in a variety of ways to become part of the art.
A presentation by Joachim Sauter on ’The Renaissance of Space’ almost alone, made it worth the visit. I would strongly recommend checking out his work. The show also offered the opportunity to see Nick Zinner’s, from the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs (one of my all time favourite bands!) photography and 3d sound installation… Which you can see the making of below…
All in all in was a marvelous day out with lots to see and reflect on!
