London Design Festival (18-26 Sept. 2010) #1

So I decided to go to London for 3 days and go around town and attend the London Design Festival events.
With a map, a festival guide and tips from ICON under my arm I felt quite prepared.

 

Actually, the most fun part of the festival was that all the events and venues were so spread out over the whole town that I got to see a lot of London. I found funny buildings, views and street corners and I got the chance to see some of the sightseeing's.

I wanted to see and touch this installation object “Drop” of the “Size + Matter” project by Paul Cocksedge. But I didn’t find it. Would have been cool though. The coin is magnetic, in the festival guide I saw rendered pictures of people sticking their change to the big dropped coin. I would have liked to see if it worked out like the renderings.

I did find the Tate museum. It was beautiful and the exhibitions were amazing. Not much to say about that. I once again got inspired by one of Calders mobiles.

For the first time in my life I found myself standing in front of a blue painting for at least 10 minutes. Blue, with a tiny bit of red and yellow. I was intrigued by the intensity of the colors. The painting frightened me a bit. After a while the only thing in my world that existed was me and that painting, or me in that painting.

Clyfford Still (1904-1980) 1953
The tile on the wall next to the painting explained some of the artists words:
‘My paintings have no titles because I do not wish them to be considered illustrations or pictorial puzzles’, Still wrote. ‘If properly made visible they speak for themselves. ‘In a letter discussing this work, he explained that the red at the lower edge was intended to contrast with and therefore emphasis the depths of the blue. He saw the yellow wedge at the top as ‘a reassertion of the human context - a gesture of rejection of any authoritarian rationale or system of politico-dialectical dogma.’
A lot to think about.
But also funny. Provides a name more meaning to a subject. - less meaning because this subject is forced in a corner by it’s given name. It’s name excludes all the other options. Also name giving is often subject of misinterpretations of the subject. The subject could be anything from objects, products, arts, people, groups, countries etc.

More about my trip to London in the future.

Text + pictures: Max.