I wanted you to know the amazing website of “Design Real” exhibition at serpentine gallery, london, curated by Konstantin Grcic.
This website, wich will remain a permanet and free online resources for designers, to me is the soul of the whole show: it si full of usefull information about products, materials, production processes, design history and more; Internet lacked such a great database for designers.
I haven’t visited the exhibition yet, but I already received the nice catalogue, wich features an interesting introduction by Jonathan Olivares (that you can find here) and an interview to konstantin Grcic by Serpentine’s curator Hans Hulrich Obrist.

Design Real is the new exhibition showing at the Serpentine Gallery, which reflects the growing impact design has on our social world. The exhibition is designed by German designer, Konstantin Grcic in collaboration with Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni.

The works Grcic had chosen for Design Real consist of everyday functional objects, such as a battery (see left), a suitcase and a step ladder.  These mass-produced items are all taken from the current decade, produced by leading international designers. By presenting everyday things in an artistic fashion, the exhibition inspires new perspectives and new design ideas.

Grcic’s interest in contemporary design stems from how the material used affects their ‘language and their quality’. Where he identifies a product as technical, the function clearly determines the object. However, he defines other products as ’signature’, where the designer’s name enables the object to stand out.

The space used in Design Real was specially designed by Grcic and uses a website: www.design-real.com which is central to both the exhibition and the concept.

Design Real: 26 Nov – 7 Feb, Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA. http://www.serpentinegallery.org/

「Design Real（デザイン・リアル）」は、サーペンタイン・ギャラリー初のデザインをテーマにした展覧会。ドイツ人プロダクト・デザイナーKonstantin Grcic（コンスタンチン・グルチッチ）に展覧会のオーガナイズを依頼、この10年間に大量生産された、日常生活の中で使用されている、「リアル」で実用性のある、優れたデザインの製品43点が集められた。家具や家庭用品から技術的製品・産業機器までを網羅した展示品43点のうち、深澤直人の加湿器、安積伸のメガフォン、京セラのナイフ、Daiwaのルアー、タタメット、ヤマハのEZ-TP、三宅一生のA-POCの7点が日本の製品だ。

これらのアイテムの配置・展示方法も、グルチッチが担当。デザイナーらしい、ユニークな展示も特徴だ。通常の展覧会と異なり、展示品には、椅子、ベッド、ほうき等のカテゴリー以外、商品名を含めていっさい説明はない。展示品について知りたければ、無料展示ガイド（下の写真の「Design Real」と書いてある紙の裏）の作品リストの他、ベンチ代わりとなる砂袋が円形に積まれたギャラリー中央の部屋に設置されたアマゾン・キンドル（電子ブックリーダー）から、展覧会専用のウェブサイトwww.design-real.comにアクセスすれば、詳細を知ることができる。

普段見過ごしがちな、日常生活の中のデザインを取り上げるというコンセプトは、アート専門のギャラリーとしては画期的なのだろうが、デザイン・ミュージアムあたりが企画しそうな展覧会で、デザイン界では目新しいものではない。また43点と言う展示品数も、見終わった後にこれだけ？という感が否めず、大規模デザイン・ショップの方がより充実してるんじゃないかと思う。色々な種類の製品を一個一個展示するより、一つのカテゴリーに絞って、例えば、世界から良いデザインの椅子を一堂に集める、という企画の方が面白いんじゃないだろうか。ちょっと批判的になってしまったが、展覧会のウェブサイトは、よくできていると思う。白と黒のシンプルなデザインもスタイリッシュだし、知りたい製品をクリックすると、製品説明、会社説明、デザイン、歴史等、情報が盛りだくさんで、ゆっくり時間をかけて見てみたくなるウェブサイトに仕上がっている。

Design Real is the Serpentine Gallery’s first exhibition dedicated to design. The gallery invited German product designer Konstantin Grcic to curate this exhibition of contemporary product design. The exhibition presents a total of 43 ‘real’ items produced in the last decade: a wide range of mass-produced products that have a practical function in everyday life, from furniture and household products to technical and industrial innovations.

Grcic was also in charge of the gallery space and his unique exhibition style is worth to mention. There is no information about the product whatsoever except its category, such as chair, broom, and bed, – no product name, no explanation, nothing. If you want to know more than that, a piece of free exhibition information (printed “Design Real” in the photo below) can give you very basic information such as product name, designer, manufacturer, or you can access its dedicated internet site www.design-real.com via Amazon Kindles, sitting on the sandbags piling up in circle in the dark room in the center of the gallery.

The concept of exhibition, to focus on the design of everyday life objects maybe groundbreaking for an art gallery, but it is common project that place like Design Museum would plan or have planned already, and nothing new to the design world. Though Serpentine is a small gallery but still only 43 items barely fill up the space and we were like “that’s it??” after we saw everything –a large design shop may do a better job than this exhibition. Maybe they should have focused on one category instead of presenting so many categories of products: for example, to show 43 well-designed chairs from all over the world would be more impressing. However, I have to admit that their website is well-done – black and white simple but sophisticated interface design, and its abundant information about the items, manufacturers, designs, histories are well worth to take time to explore.

1. Influence over the production of art internationally.

2. Sheer financial clout.

3. Activity in the previous 12 months.

Above are the three criterion where the entrees of artists, collectors, gallerists, curators,  auction houses, politicians, museum directors, foundation directors, critics, talkshow hosts, and websites are ranked. A panel of international experts making the selections published yearly for the ArtReview Power 100 in the November issue of ArtReview magazine. Basing from the results, the most influential figure in the artworld in 2009 is a WHITE MALE ** (no surprise there) the diagrams of Profession, Gender, and Nationality below clearly shows that the people who dominates the Art Industry are the “WHITE AMERICAN MALE GALLERIST”. Its really hard to be a minority in every single sector of the world’s industries, in the top 10 alone, a Mexican Female “Julieta Aranda” of e-flux.com shared the #8 spot with a Russian and an American Male, #9 spot goes to a White Female, the rest of the top 10 including the #1 spot goes to the White Men (4 White Americans and 5 White Europeans), 94% of the list are Caucasians, Asia and South America is 6% combined on the Power 100. This numbers means a lot of things, the shakers and movers of the artworld are strongly dominated by one Race and one Gender in the history of the world, who will be the next Pollock? Warhol? Picasso? (all white men) as an evidence, the most powerful artist in the world now according to ART REVIEW MAGAZINE in 2009 is another caucasian male in the name of Bruce Nauman, a contemporary American artist from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Although the leader of the “most powerful” nation in the world at the moment is a “half-White”, like any other industries (Fashion, Architecture, Politics, Media, Web, Finance,  Real Estate, Medicine, Science, Literature, and Religion) Art is of no exception, is it just a mere universal coincidence that the White Man decides what is”art” and its price tag? or am I just dangerously naive?

**a future article you’ll find here in Dangerously Naive.

Profession 2008/2009

Gender

Nationality

______________

1. Hans Ulrich Obrist

Category: Curator

Nationality: Swiss

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 35

- Founder of the Museum Robert Walser.
- Curator of the Migrateurs program at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris for contemporary art.
- Co-Director, Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, in London.

______________

2. Glenn D. Lowry

Category: Museum Director

Nationality: American

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 3

- Director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

______________

3. Sir Nicholas Serota

Category: Museum Director

Nationality: British

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 4

- Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London.
- Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.
- Director of the Tate, the United Kingdom’s national gallery of modern and British art in 1988.
- Awarded a knighthood in 1999.
- Chairman of the Turner Prize jury.
- Driving force behind the creation of  Tate Modern, which opened in 2000.

______________

4. Daniel Birnbaum

Category: Curator

Nationality: Swedish

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 13

- Principal of the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main.
- Director of the exhibition centre Portikus, Frankfurt.

______________

5. Larry Gagosian

Category: Gallerist

Nationality: American

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 2

- American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries.

Locations:
- New York City (Madison Avenue, West 24th St. and 21st St.)
- London (Britannia and Davies Streets)
- Los Angeles (Beverly Hills)
- Rome
- Athens

______________

6. François Pinault

Category: Collector

Nationality: French

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 8

- Billionaire French businessman who runs the retail company PPR.
- Forbes List of billionaires (2008) he is ranked 39th in the world, with an estimated fortune of US$16.9 billion.
- His holding company Artemis S.A., owns Converse shoes, Samsonite luggage, Château Latour, the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, and Christie’s auction house, Executive Life (now Aurora Life) in California.
- Owns one of the biggest collections of contemporary art worldwide.

______________

7. Eli Broad

Category: Collector

Nationality: American

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 10

- American billionaire who presently resides in Los Angeles, California.
- Known for his philanthropy and extensive art collection.
- Founder of the financial giant SunAmerica.
- Ranked by Forbes as the 93-richest person in the world, with an estimated current net worth of around $5.2 billion.

______________

8. Anton Vidokle, Julieta Aranda & Brian Kuan Wood (http://www.e-flux.com/)

Category: Website

Nationality: Russian, Mexican, American

Race: Caucasian, Hispanic, Caucasian

Gender: Male, Female, Male

Last year: Reentry (99 in 2004)

- Founders/creators of e-flux (eflux.com) is an international network which reaches more than 50,000 visual art professionals on a daily basis through its website, e-mail list and special projects, based in New York.

______________

9. Iwona Blazwick

Category: Museum Director

Nationality: British

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Female

Last year: 76

- Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
- Head of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Modern.

______________

10. Bruce Nauman

Category: Artist

Nationality: American

Race: Caucasian

Gender: Male

Last year: 45

- Contemporary American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance.

______________

11. Iwan Wirth
12. David Zwirner
13. Jeff Koons
14. Jay Jopling
15. Marian Goodman
16. Agnes Gund
17. Takashi Murakami
18. Alfred Pacquement
19. Peter Fischli & David Weiss
20. Mike Kelley
21. Barbara Gladstone
22. Steven A. Cohen
23. Dominique Lévy & Robert Mnuchin
24. Adam D. Weinberg
25. Marc Glimcher
26. Amy Cappellazzo & Brett Gorvy
27. Cheyenne Westphal & Tobias Meyer
28. Ann Philbin
29. Matthew Higgs
30. Matthew Marks
31. Tim Blum & Jeff Poe
32. Gavin Brown
33. Ralph Rugoff
34. Liam Gillick
35. Anne Pasternak
36. Dakis Joannou
37. John Baldessari
38. Isa Genzken
39. Paul McCarthy
40. Michael Govan
41. Eugenio López
42. Cindy Sherman
43. Ai Weiwei
44. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
45. Annette Schönholzer & Marc Spiegler
46. Diedrich Diederichsen
47. Richard Prince
48. Damien Hirst
49. Bernard Arnault
50. Massimiliano Gioni
51. Amanda Sharp & Matthew Slotover
52. Joel Wachs
53. Victor Pinchuk
54. Udo Kittelmann
55. Marina Abramović
56. Michael Ringier
57. Gerhard Richter
58. Richard Serra
59. RoseLee Goldberg
60. Kasper König
61. Roberta Smith
62. Monika Sprüth & Philomene Magers
63. Germano Celant
64. Emmanuel Perrotin
65. Peter Schjeldahl
66. Beatrix Ruf
67. Okwui Enwezor
68. Nicolas Bourriaud
69. Karen & Christian Boros
70. Isabelle Graw
71. Maurizio Cattelan
72. Charles Saatchi
73. Jerry Saltz
74. Jasper Johns
75. Louise Bourgeois
76. Thaddaeus Ropac
77. Mera & Don Rubell
78. Thelma Golden
79. Sarah Morris
80. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
81. Anita & Poju Zabludowicz
82. Paul Schimmel
83. Jose, Alberto & David Mugrabi
84. Sadie Coles
85. Daniel Buchholz
86. Victoria Miro
87. Maureen Paley
88. Johann König
89. Nicolai Wallner
90. Maria Lind
91. Massimo De Carlo
92. Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi & Maurizio Rigillo
93. Rirkrit Tiravanija
94. Toby Webster
95. Long March Space
96. Nicholas Logsdail
97. Harry Blain & Graham Southern
98. Claire Hsu
99. Peter Nagy
100. Glenn Beck

_________

info@navostudios.com

http://navostudios.com/

©2009 Dangerously Naive

©2009 Naiveboy.com

Odeio aquele deslumbramento típico de brasileiro que acha que tudo que vem de fora sensacional. Nós temos artistas, galerias e museus incríveis! Esta semana entrevistei aqui em Londres Hans Olbrist, o curador da Serpentine Gallery. Ele foi eleito pela New York Review como a pessoa mais importante das artes e ele confirmou isso. É encantado pelo trabalho da carioca Lygia Pape (1927-2004), a escultura, gravadora e cineasta, contemporânea de de Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) e Lygia Clark (1920-1988). Olbrist conhece com detalhe o trabalho de curadoria de Walter Zanini, nas Bienais de São Paulo. Para mim, o que diferencia, e as vezes distancia, o Brasil de lugares como Reino Unido, pelo menos em termos de arte, é história e educação.

A japonesa Suki Cha faz videoarte e parece ser uma das favoritas

Nesta semana, a BBC 2 lançou um reality show chamado “School of Saatchi”. Esqueça o “Big Brother” e seus pares, trata-se de uma competição de arte televisionada, que intercala fascículos de aula de história, e supervisionada por Charles Saatchi (escrevi um perfil dele na Serafina que está hoje nas bancas). Ele é o galerista e colecionador de arte responsável por descobrir gente como Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin e Jeff Koons. Reuniu todos eles na exibição Sensation (1997) e assim fundou o grupo chamada de Young British Arstist, os YBA’s.

Dentre as milhares de inscrições, sobraram 12 participantes. Esses puderam apresentar seus trabalhos para uma banca formada pela artista Tracey Emin, o colecionador de arte (conhecido como o Saatchi do Norte), Frank Cohen, a curadora do Barbican Centre Kate Bush e, o crítico mais conceituado de arte contemporânea do Reino Unido, Mattew Collings.

Um a um, os candidatos tinham dois minutos para apresentar seus trabalhos e ao terminar eram questionados: “Por que você acha que isso é arte?”. Um dos pretendentes a pupilo de Saatchi amassou duas folhas de papel, dois e-mails impressos, colocou uma ao lado da outra e disse: “Isso representa a nossa comunicação hoje”. Foi desclassificado e saiu aos berros: “Vou encontrar alguém para fazer a minha cama!” Ele estava se referindo a instalação de Tracey, “My Bed”, que a revelou para a Saatchi e a colocou na lista curta do Tunner Prize, o principal prêmio de arte do país. Tá, a arte era meia-boca mesmo, mas o protesto foi ótimo.

Seis candidatos foram selecionados. Entre eles um paquistanês, que faz vídeo instalações questionando sua identidade cultural, uma japonesa que também trabalha com vídeo e quatro ingleses. Entre eles uma menina que fez os olhos de Tracey brilharem. Ela pendurou um apito num gancho e disse que havia ali conotação sexual. Nesse momento, entra um vídeo sobre Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), um dos precursores da arte conceitual e o pioneiro na idéia de “ready made”. “Ela não criou uma peça, ele selecionou um objeto, retirando a função dele e colocou no museu”, explica a curadora Kate Bush.

Ben Lowe nunca frequentou escola de arte e trabalha por encomenda (faz quadro para combinar com sofá), o que irrita profundamente Tracey Emin

Ainda no primeiro epsódio, houve uma prova realizada a pedido de Saatchi. Uma mulher na casa dos 40 e tantos anos entrou no estúdio de roupão. Tirou e deitou nua em uma espreguiçadeira. Outro vídeo entra para contar a história do desenho vivo na história da arte. Além de deixar claro o que o anfitrião do programa está buscando. Os resultados foram quase engraçados. Só dois dos seis selecionados mostraram habilidade em desenho. Apesar de todos terem encenado aquele gesto clássico de segurar a ponta do lápis, virando-o para a horizontal e vertical, tentando medir as partes do corpo da modelo para dar proporção ao desenho. Muito bom e bem divertido. Mais divertido ainda é ouvir a Tracey fazer suas análises, com um palavreado que remete automaticamente à Aracy de Almeida (“Nunca ouvi tanta merda na minha vida…” ou “Por que você não coloca esse treco no Youtube?”), enquanto a curadora Kate usa o mais inglês mais “posh e polite” da TV britânica.

Saatchi não deu o ar da graça. Apareceu apenas numa imagem formada por uma fumaça (tudo bem, o padrão BBC é altíssimo, mas essa foi punk). Dizem que ele só aparecerá no quarto e último capítulo. Nos três seguintes, os candidatos terão que cumprir tarefas, dessa vez irão criar obras diante das câmeras. O vencedor participará da exposição Newspeak: British Art Now, que será realizada em 2010 em uma das galerias do Museu Hermitage, em São Peterburgo, na Rússia. Além de ganhar um estúdio bancado por três anos por Charles Saatchi e se tornar o próximo Damien Hirst ou Tracey Emin da arte contemporânea britânica.

Oops it’s been some time since my last post and unfortunately I won’t be too elaborate today either And that is because I have to still finish a lot of things at work, and then I have to run home to pack for my secret birthday getaway!

Yes my husband is taking me somewhere and I don’t know where We’re going away tomorrow and are back on Monday night.

But I can already promise that I will tell you all about last night’s design event at Victoria & Albert Museum in London with Alice Rawsthorn and Konstantin Grcic about the Design Real exhibition he curates at the Serpentine Gallery right now and man, was it good! So stay tuned and you’ll hear more after I’m back!

ps. UPDATE: 5 min ago I found a letter in my office inbox, and guess what that was – a ticket to PARIS!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!

———

Tak wiem juz duzo czasu minelo od mojego ostatniego wpisu i niestety dzis za duzo tez nie napisze A to dlatego ze musze skonczyc jeszcze sporo rzeczy w pracy a potem lece do domku pakowac sie na sekretna podroz urodzinowa!

Tak, moj maz zabiera mnie gdzies ale caly czas nie wiem gdzie, i wracamy w nocy w poniedzialek.

Ale juz teraz moge zapowiedziec ze po powrocie opowiem Wam wszystko o ‘pogadance’ (no naprawde czasem czuje sie jak analfabetka – jak odpowiednio po polsku powiedziec ‘talk’, ale taki mniej formalny niz wyklad?) miedzy Alice Rawsthorn i Konstantinem Grcic o wystawie Design Real w Serpentine Gallery ktorej jest kuratorem, a byla to bardzo ciekawa… pogadanka… (naprawde czasem mam ochote zostac tylko przy angielskim )

ps. UWAGA: 5 minut temu znalazlam list w skrzynce biurowej, i zgadniijcie co bylo w srodku – bilet do PARYZA!!! Super co nie

Ah Thursday, the middle child. Not quite the end of the week, but close enough to incite that rush of weekend anticipation. Don’t worry, the mydeco team are here to ease your restlessness with today’s selection of the best design news.

mydeco’s pick of the top three stories:

1. Design Boom: Real Design Exhibition at Serpentine Gallery London

Image credit: Design Boom

We love a good exhibition at the mydeco office (even more so when they are accompanied by free wine). However, there is no alcoholic incentive needed for Design Real: the first show at the Serpentine Gallery devoted to contemporary design. Curated by Konstantin Grcic and designed in collaboration with Alex Rich and Jürg Lehni, the exhibition examines items which have a function in everyday life. And yes, before you ask the above image does fit into this category – it is simply a textile wall constructed from interconnected foam tiles. Nothing unusual about that at all.

2. Inhabitat: Dallas Hill-filled design wins Re:Vision Dallas competition

Image credit: Inhabitat

Hard to believe, but the television show Dallas was not always an accurate reflection of reality. The real city is not all high-glamour, sex and murder; in fact some areas of this gigantic metropolis might even be described as ‘run-down’. Not for long however, as the winner of Re:Vision Dallas – a competition to create a completely sustainable community in the downtown area of the city – was announced yesterday. The hillside design runs entirely on renewable energy, has vertical gardens and can grow its own food. Construction is due to begin in 2011.

3. Moco Loco: Springtime chair

Image credit: Moco Loco

This design is the brainchild of Frank Winnubust, who researched various types of springs (Frank is single) in order to create a chair that would provide optimum comfort. Notice the knitted covers on the top layer, which were added to stop the chair from looking quite so much like a torture device. Cosy.

The best of the rest:

dornob: 10 eccentric eco homes of the far east

Design milk: Klein bottle house by Mcbride Charles Ryan

Inhabitat: Eden-falls skyscraper

The Telegraph: Ski property: Buy into the high life

The Independent: Art websites: DIY designer furniture

The Independent: House hunting goes high-tech

The Independent: House doctor: ‘We’re self-employed – will we find a lender?’

Daily Mail: Mel B’s California dreamin’ as she moves her family to L.A.

That’s all from us today, but make sure you check in again tomorrow for your last fix of daily news before the weekend.

“Design Real” is a contemporary design show currently on view at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The exhibit, curated by German product designer Konstantin Grcic, focuses on “real,” mass-produced products that have been made in the last decade. The objects highlighted range from household products to industrial innovations that have had an impact on everyday lives. There is an accompanying website, www.design-real.com, which includes additional information on each object in the exhibit.

Grcic is also the focus of a solo exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago entitled “Konstantin Grcic: Decisive Design. Grcic, currently one of the world’s most important industrial designers, is known for his “logical” designs that are conceived based on what an object will do rather than how it will look. Below, are his Myoto chairs (2008) which were produced by Plank.

Alice Rawsthorn has written an article entitled “Eloquent Ode to the Simple” in the Design/Arts section of The New York Times (online) discussing, in brief, the work of designer Konstantin Grcic and the motivations behind his choices for the new show at Serpentine Gallery (London) entitled “Design Real” which she calls his “paean to industrial design”.

Whether you’re a fan of Grcic’s work or otherwise, his highly informed curation of the Serpentine show is well worth your attention.  The show opens tomorrow (thursday 26 november).  The website accompanying the show, www.design-real.com, though currently quite static, once active promises to be quite excellent.

So, if you don’t happen to find yourself in London to see the show, you can at the very least curl up in your Chair_One and see what it’s all about.

designalog@live.fr

The oh-so-great Serpentine Gallery in London is stretching its design wings with the opening of Design Real on 26 November. They’ve brought in Munich-born industrial designer Konstantin Grcic (you know, the one who made these for Magis) to curate the show, and I think his tendency to embrace the practical will make for a good collection. Plus, anyone who’s work is part of the permanent collections at both the MoMA and Centre Pompidou  is someone I’d like to learn more about.

More on the exhibition here.

Tiendas del Camden Market

El sábado lo comenzamos con un rápido desayuno en un Starbucks cercano al hotel, para coger el metro hasta Camden. Pasamos un par de horas recorriendo los puestos y las tiendas que hay en Camden Market y alrededores (Fer aprovechó para comprarse unas Vans) y paseando por Camden Lock (la zona del río, con las esclusas, es muy bonita), donde compramos unos regalos para Cristina y para Laura.

Camden Lock (detalle y Fernando en unos asientos muy originales)

El río y detalle de las esclusas (Camden Lock)

Un puesto de Camden Lock (con una vendedora muy peculiar)

Interior de Koenig Books

Desde Camden cogimos el metro hasta Charing Cross (os recomiendo leer 84 Charing Cross Road, de Helene Hanff –y ver la película con Anne Bancroft, que en España se tituló La Carta Final–), ya que quería ver libros en Foyles, Koenig Books (especializada en libros de arte, fotografía y diseño –en el nº 80–) y en otras librerías especializadas que hay en esa calle. Después pasamos por el barrio chino, Regent Street, New Bond Street, etc., y finalmente dimos media vuelta para terminar comiendo en Spaccanapoli, un muy buen italiano que está en Dean St. (lo curioso es que estábamos buscando un Pizza Hut que no acabábamos de encontrar y, cuando ya estábamos sentados en este restaurante, vimos a través del ventanal un cartel que decía “Pizza Hut just around the corner”).

El barrio chino y los musicales son parte fundamental de la imagen del Soho londinense.

Leadenhall Market

Después de comer, paseamos por Oxford Street (fuimos a HMV y a Urban Outfitters) y después cogimos el metro hasta Bank. Ya en la City (totalmente desierta los fines de semana, parecía una ciudad fantasma), vimos el famoso “pepino” o “The Gherkin” (Swiss Re HQ, 30 St Mary Axe) de Foster, el Lloyds of London de Richard Rogers y el precioso Leadenhall Market.

The Gherkin (Foster) y Lloyds of London (Rogers)

Detalle de "The Gherkin" (Norman Foster)

Una calle muy "Ziggy Stardust"

La tarde-noche la pasamos en la zona de Brick Lane, un barrio estilo Lavapiés, pero mucho más “currado”: han reconvertido una antigua fábrica de cerveza, la Old Truman Brewery, en un espacio de ocio y cultura donde hay galerías de arte, tiendas de ropa, cafés, restaurantes como Al Volo, bares, pubs y clubes como The Vibe Bar o Café 1001, tiendas de discos como la de Roughtrade Records (en el Soho, en el 34 de Berwick Street, hay una tienda muy buena que se llama Sister Ray –venden por internet a través de Amazon.co.uk–), un mercado, etc.

Roughtrade Records y el bar Rootmaster, en Old Truman Brewery

Un original collage de la exposición "Young Masters"

Estuvimos en la Cynthia Corbett Gallery viendo la exposición “Young Masters” (obras de artistas jóvenes, inspiradas en trabajos de maestros clásicos), compramos un par de vinilos (Girls y The XX) en Roughtrade y estuvimos haciendo tiempo tomando una cerveza en un pub de Brick Lane (teníamos una reserva para cenar un par de horas después).

Instalación hecha a base de billetes de lotería y vista de la exposición “Young Masters”

Cena, música y espectáculo en The Brickhouse

The Brickhouse

La cena fue en The Brickhouse, un curioso local con tres pisos, mezcla de club, restaurante y cabaret. Cenamos estupendamente y lo pasamos mejor, tanto por el entretenido espectáculo de cabaret como por el ambiente y la fauna que allí había.

Al final, entre la cena (un menú de precio fijo con cinco platos), el vino, la propina y el espectáculo (actuaciones de cabaret que incluían a una contorsionista, a un travesti y a un presentador polifacético), la noche salió un pelín cara, pero mereció la pena.

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Kensington Palace

Y llegó el domingo, último día de nuestra visita a Londres (medio día para ser más exactos). Como sólo teníamos la mañana, aprovechamos para pasear por los Kensington Gardens (el Palacio de Kensington, el Round Pond, la Serpentine Gallery, etc.). En la Serpentine Gallery vimos la exposición de Gustav Metzger y el Pabellón de 2009, obra de Kazuyo Sejima y Ryue Nishizawa, de SANAA.

Kensington Gardens

Serpentine Gallery (2009 Pavilion, de SANAA)

Por último, fuimos paseando hasta Harrods (pasamos por el Royal Albert Hall, el Science Museum, el Natural History Museum y el Victoria & Albert Museum) para comprar un par de regalos y un encargo (sí, la dichosa bolsita de Harrods).

Royal Albert Hall y Victoria & Albert Museum

Museo de Historia Natural

En estos tres días y medio de visita a Londres lo hemos pasado estupendamente bien y, además, hemos tenido buen tiempo. Eso sí, nos han quedado un montón de cosas pendientes para la próxima visita. ¿Quién se apunta?

O Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 foi o primeiro projecto construído na Inglaterra pelo lendário arquitecto Frank Gehry. A estrutura espectacular foi projectada e desenvolvida em colaboração com a Arup (global firm of consulting engineers).

Toda a estrutura foi ancorada por quatro colunas de aço maciço sendo composta por vigas de madeira de vários tamanhos e uma complexa rede de planos de vidro sobrepostas, que criou um dramático, espaço multi-dimensional. Gehry e sua equipa obtiveram inspiração para conceber o Pavilhão a partir de uma fascinante variedade de fontes, incluindo a elaboração de catapultas de madeira desenhadas por Leonardo da Vinci, bem como as paredes listradas de barracas de praia de verão. O Pavilhão é muito parecido com um anfiteatro, concebido para servir como um local para eventos ao vivo, música, performance, discussão e debate. Este brilhante espaço, foi construído em 2008, dando este ano lugar a um novo pavilhão, o que é um pouco inglório para uma estrutura como era o Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008.

Les photos du pavillon de la Serpentine Gallery à Londres par SANAA, ici

Click on image to enlarge

Click here to visit B&W Gallery

10月1日より、テート・モダンの新しい展覧会「POP LIFE: Art in a Material World」が始まった。アンディ・ウォーホルは在りし日、「Good business is the best art.（よいビジネスは、最高のアート）」とのたまったが、「POP LIFE」は、1980年代から現在まで、商業とメディアを巻き込み、自身を「ブランド」として確立したアーティスト達に注目。ポップ・アーティスト元祖のウォーホルから始まり、キース・ヘリング、ジェフ・クーンズ等のアメリカ人アーティスト、ヤング・ブリティッシュ・アーティスト(YABs)の代表のダミアン・ハーストとトレイシー・エミン、そして日本代表・村上隆と、マスコミ露出とセンセーショナルな作品で名を売ったアーティストたちの、カラフルで派手、良い意味でも悪い意味でも「POP（大衆的）」な作品が、一堂に展示されている。ブルック・シールズが10歳だった頃に撮影されたヌード写真が、当局によって「わいせつ物」として撤去されたとのエピソードや、一卵性双生児を自身の作品の前に2人揃って座らせるというダミアン・ハーストのアイデアも、ニュースになった。

露骨な性描写あり、動物のホルマリン漬けあり、馬の死体あり、巨乳のフィギュア（ヒロポン）あり、映画の中のナチスドイツ将校のポートレートありと、挑発的な作品のオンパレード。サーペンタイン・ギャラリーで行われた「ポパイシリーズ」の可愛いキャラクターものと打って変わった、クーンズの、自身と元妻＆元ポルノ女優チッチョリーナの絡みの巨大な彫刻と写真で一部屋を埋め尽くした「アート」は、アートと呼べるのか？「ポップ」にリタッチされた以外は、ポルノ以外の何者にも見えない。マスコミお騒がせアーティスト、エミンの作品は、私生活暴露とアートの境界があやふやで、露出狂＆悪趣味の代表格。村上の作品は、外国人の「奇妙な日本人」のステレオタイプを増幅するだけ。メイドカフェとか原宿のゴスロリ系の少年少女たちのおかげで、悲しいかな、イギリスでは日本と言えば「変な国」のイメージがかなり定着してるのだ。この展覧会では、ウォーホルの作品が、至極まっとうに見える。子供連れの方はご注意を！

と偉そうに言っている私も恥ずかしながら、アーティストの罠にはまり、密かに展覧会を楽しんだ、ゴシップや下世話なことが好きな大衆の一人なんである。

A new exhibition of Tate Modern “POP LIFE: Art in a Material World” started from today. Andy Warhol claimed “Good business is the best art.” – Tate Modern brings together artists from the 1980s onwards who have embraced commerce and the mass media to build their own ‘brands’. The exhibition includes; American pop artists Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jeff Koons; YBAs (Young British Artists) Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin; and the Japanese king of pop Takashi Murakami and more – who have created sensational ‘arts’ and their own styles, have happily exposed themselves to media, and as a result, have sold their works for millions. Their artworks are colorful, loud, and ‘pop’ in good ways and bad ways. There were some episodes hit the news: a nude photograph of Brooke Shields when she was 10 years old was withdrawn after a warning from Scotland Yard that it could violate obscenity laws; and Damian Hirst was looking for identical twins to let them sit in front of his painting.

Bald sex scenes, a female figurine with big breasts,  a baby cow immersed in formaldehyde in a vitrine, dead horse, Nazi officers in movies – full of provocative works there. On contrary to his funny & cute “Popeye series” at Serpentine Gallery, Koons’ huge sculpture and photographs of himself having sex with his ex-wife and ex-porn star Cicciolina, filled in one entire exhibition room – are these ‘arts’? For me these are mere pornography other than the fact that they were retouched to look ‘kitsch’ to moderate its obscene nature.  Scandalous artist Emin’s works are exhibitionistic and vulgar. Murakami sadly reinforce the stereotypical image of eccentric Japan – unfortunately many British have a image of Japanese as ‘weirdos’, thank to Maid cafes and girls & boys in gothic lolita fashion in Harajuku, often seen in the British media. In “POP LIFE”,  Warhol’s works look the most decent among all others, after all. Be aware, if you have small children with you!

Sounds very critical, but I am one of the masses who like gossips and craps, and I fell the artists’ trap and quite enjoyed the exhibition, pretty embarrassed to say,…

Serpentine Gallery London. Actual artist: Gustav Metzger – “(Gustav Metzger Serpentine Gallery)” – Exhibition dates are 29.09.09 – 08.11.09. Get more information about Gustav Metzger – Museum or Gallery informations: London, Serpentine Gallery by Wikipedia.org / Portal:Arts. Buy arts from Gustav Metzger or find objects, articles or web-projects? Art online: Gustav Metzger by adaweb.com | Biography – Textportrait from Gustav Metzger by Gustav Metzger. Articles and texts:

Textimages: Kate Moss (Ralph Ueltzhoeffer 2009)

Ralph Ueltzhoeffer: Textportraits.

EXHIBITION – artist: Gustav Metzger, location: Serpentine Gallery London, date: 29.09.09 – 08.11.09 / current exhibitions at: Serpentine Gallery London 2009. Artistinformation and biography-text from: Gustav Metzger Serpentine Gallery London CATEGORY: art, modern art, projects: TEXTPORTRAITS Gustav Metzger by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer and Laura May. More information about Gustav Metzger Exhibition Serpentine Gallery London, United Kingdom.

New entries: actual 0

Kate Moss / Portrait (TEXTPORTRAIT).

textportraits by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Serpentine Gallery London; Künstler: Gustav Metzger; Betitelung: (Gustav Metzger Serpentine Gallery) – Zeitraum der Ausstellung: 29.09.09 – 08.11.09. Kunstausstellungen (England) aktuell: Serpentine Gallery London (2009). Weitere Informationen über: Gustav Metzger: Biografie/Biography — | Galerieninformationen/Gallery: Gustav Metzger — Weitere geplante Ausstellungen: Serpentine Gallery London von Gustav Metzger — Gustav Metzger Kunstportal: Wikipedia (http://de.wikipedia.org). Mehr aktuelle Informationen über Gustav Metzger Serpentine Gallery London.

Beitragsforum Kunst & Kultur allgemein:

Textportrait: Kate Moss.

Textportraits – Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Just saying, this annual achievement  is pretty amazing…wish is was closer to home.

Welcome to ‘Spotted,’ a weekly post that shares great stuff I have seen, heard, experienced, found, discovered, sought out or just loved each week. My first post is this brilliant, somewhat ironic,  take on the classic ‘bunny’ chair. Spotted in the Serpentine Gallery’s outdoor cafe after a trip to the Jeff Koons exhibition ( brilliant by the way) I fell in love instantly. Decadantly girly with its fluro-pink bunny ears this one would definitely be confined to the study by my fiance.

Os Pavilhões construídos no Serpentine Gallery – localizado dentro do Hyde Park em Londres – a cada ano mostram novas soluções para o que chamamos de uma construção efêmera. O programa é simples: consiste em uma estrutura com área útil de aproximadamente 300 m², desmontável, para uso no verão. É aberto ao público como café durante o dia, transformando-se à noite em espaço para palestras e projeção de filmes, sempre tendo a arquitetura por tema.

Eventualmente também pode ser alugado para a realização de eventos privados. “O pavilhão é parte do nosso programa de exposições de arquitetura”, explica Julia Peyton-Jones, diretora da Serpentine Gallery. “Em vez de montar uma exposição convencional, com fotos e maquetes, optamos pela construção de estruturas arquitetônicas temporárias, que ofereçam ao público a oportunidade de vivenciar o trabalho produzido por arquitetos de renome internacional que nunca tenham construído na Inglaterra.” (Projeto e Design. Edição 283. Setembro de 2003).

É difícil dizer qual destes Pavilhões possui estrutura mais propicia para este evento, já que a cada vez os arquitetos surpreendem com suas variações que vão desde estruturas simples, à estrutura metálica mais pesada e até mesmo concreto.

Exemplo de estrutura simples foi o primeiro pavilhão, projetado por Zaha Hadid em 2000. Neste, ela reinventa de maneira radical e inteligente o conceito de tenda, utilizando estrutura metálica simples, dando a forma triangular facetada à cobertura e, a mesmo tempo, o seu interior permanece um espaço amplo de 600 m². A mesma arquiteta criou em 2007, outro pavilhão utilizando também lona e estrutura metálica. Possuindo uma altura de 5,5 m de altura, a forma foi inspirada na complexa geometria natural das pétalas de uma flor. São três volumes semelhantes, dispostos lado a lado como um círculo, de maneira que quase se tocam. A instalação é aberta por todos os lados tornando o acesso livre. Um aspecto da visão de Zaha Hadid é o interesse em relacionar arquitetura, paisagem e geologia, integrando a topografia natural aos sistemas produzidos pelo homem.

Pavilhão de Zaha Hadid em 2000

Pavilhão Zaha em 2007 VEJA

Pavilhão de Niemeyer em 2003

Niemeyer também foi convidado a expor em 2003, porém criou certar esistência à proposta afirmando “Minha arquitetura é em concreto, não é temporária”, concordando somente quando a diretora do Serpentine argumentou que poderia ser desmontável utilizando concreto. Foi utilizado então aço, alumínio, vidro e paredes pré-fabricadas em concreto, dispondo quatro colunas para sustentar todo o edifício elevado 1,5 m do chão de plataforma 25×10 m.

Construção e Implantação do Pavilhão de Niemeyer

Em 2006, Rem Koolhas projetou seu pavilhão utilizando estrutura inflável na cobertura, como um balão semitransparente, que flutua sobre a base feita com perfis de aço e vedada com policarbonato alveolar em forma de círculo. A construção funciona como café e fórum que abriga eventos públicos, como palestras, debates e filmes. O edifício não se restringe apenas a seu interior, sendo em seu entorno utilizado cubos dos mais diversos tamanhos como mobiliário, podendo ser dispostos de maneira diferentes pelos usuários. Alguns destes pavilhões apesar de serem desmontáveis, nem sempre transparecem seu caráter efêmero.

Pavilhão de Rem Koolhas em 2006 Rem Koolhas

Interior do Pavilhão de Koolhas

É o caso do pavilhão criado pelo artista Olafur Eliasson e pelo arquiteto norueguês Kjetil Thorsen, que permanece de Agosto até Novembro de 2007. A estrutura é toda em madeira e o edifício curvo, aparece envolvido pela rampa espiralada que dá duas voltas completas levando o usuário do gramado até a parte mais alta, espaço para permanência, vislumbrando a paisagem. O programa proposto pelos arquitetos ao edifício consiste numa maratona laboratorial em que o objetivo é estudar a arquiteturados sentidos. A cada ano não somente um tipo de estrutura é usado de forma diferenciada, mas também a maneira de delimitar o território, a preocupação com o usuário e o evento dentro abrigado vem evoluindo, abrindo uma discussão mais séria e abrangente sobre arquitetura contemporânea e sua interatividade com o “usador” e a maneira como se integra com seu entorno.

Pavilhão de Kjetil Thorsen em 2007

Pavilhão de Toyo Ito (2002)

Projeto do escritorio MVRDV não realizado em 2004

Pavilhão em aluminio de Daniel Libeskind que faz alusão a um origami

Pavilhão de Alvaro Siza e Eduardo Souto de Moura baseado em um grid retangular distorcido.

Pavilhão de Frank Gehry em 2008 Frank Gehry

Projeto de 2009 por Kazuyo Sejima e Ryue Nishizawa do escritorio SANAA. Produzido em alumínio e colunas em aço. SANAA

Jeff Koons at the Serpentine Gallery.

NEW YORK MINUTE poster pack by O.H.W.O.W.

KAWS x Interview Magazine.

NY Times Magazine 5th Anniversary Cover by Frank Gehry and others.

This weekend, I finally made it to the lovely, yet always-child-filled Serpentine Gallery to check out the Jeff Koons exhibition…

I was a big fan of some of his older work, especially the Easyfun montages and the gorgeously simplistic big-and-shiny installation pieces.

The Popeye Series seems to be a bit (shudder at using this phrase) marmite. It’s a love it or hate it situation. Some of the “inflatable” work, especially the multiple iterations of the lobster, although fun, does get a bit much at time. It’s the big montage pieces like Olive Oyl (below) that made me stop and stare for longer than I usually would and really think about what I was looking at:

The exhibition is on until 13th September so get there while you can.

Sepentine Link

Jeff Koons Website

Co-produced by Andi Studer/Cenatus, supported by PRS Foundation’s New Music Plus

Reflective, swooping, hard-edged and crystal clarity – and that’s just the inspiring architecture of this year’s Pavillion at the Serpentine Gallery. Perfectly set under the gleaming aluminium roof,  British drummer Charles Hayward (This Heat, Camberwell Now) and Japanese prog rock musician Tatsuya Yoshida brought a rhythmic maelstrom to a peaceful summer Hyde Park.  Andi Studer, one of the producers on our New Music Plus programme, had co-produced this night with the Serpentine Gallery and OTO projects, and the rapturous capacity crowd spilled out onto the park around creating a appreciative festival vibe.

Charles Hayward’s first set married his percussive wizardry with live electronics and vocal dexterity, fleet of foot and hand while teasing delicate resonances and bombastic gestures from his kit. Tatsuya Yoshida’s haunting vocals raised the second set as the sun dropped. Renowned for his prog rock in Ruins and YB02, and as ‘the indisputable master drummer of the Japanese underground’, his fans pressed forward in eager anticipation. The briefest of breaks and they were both back for an astonishing duo, improvising with trays, ding-dong hand-overs and delightful wit. 

More to come from both Yoshida care of Cafe Oto that weekend, and more to come from Andi Studer’s production on 9 October (Phill Niblock, Nelly Boyd) at the Pavillion.

Charlotte