In 1924 pioneering filmmaker Claude Friese-Greene set out on an 840-mile road trip across Britain. He recorded his journey on film, using an experimental colour process: the result was a travelog called The Open Road. Restored by the British Film Institute, the BFI National Archive holds one of the largest film and television collections in the world. Dating from the earliest days of film to the 21st century, it contains nearly a million titles. The Open Road is important both as a landmark in the development of colour on film but also as a fascinating social record of interwar Britain.
It has been called best thing to happen to urban gardening with exhibits such as pimped pavements, gardening in a toilet, a Floating Forest and a gnome invasion. The Chelsea Fringe provides a quirky counterpoint to the annual established RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The Fringe is all about harnessing and spreading some of the excitement and energy about gardens and gardening. The idea is to give people the freedom and opportunity to express themselves through plants and gardens, to open up possibilities and to allow full participation.
Its events encompass everything from grassroots community garden projects to avant-garde art installations. Their ‘open-access’ principle means that just about anything goes – as long as it’s interesting and legal, and on the subject of gardens, flowers, veg-growing or landscape.
I thought these photos were amazing and show a fantastic contrasting view of the modern world with the past. After seeing the work of photographer C.A. Matthew in London, photographer Adam Tuck was inspired to revisit the locations of the pictures taken a century ago. Blending his current photographs from 2012 with those from 1912, he has created a new series of compelling images. The people of today co-exist in the same space with people of the past and the photographs capture time passing during the last one hundred years.
One Saturday in 1912, C.A.Mathew walked out of Liverpool St Station with a camera in hand. No-one knows for certain why he chose to wander through the streets of Spitalfields London taking photographs that day. How populated his photos are. The streets were fuller in those days. It is a joy to see so many children playing in the street, a sight no longer to be seen in many parts of London.
From Tuck's website: This project sought to illustrate the continuing influence of a territory's past upon its present. C A Mathew's photography of East London's Spitalfields in 1912 (used courtesy of the Bishopsgate Institute) have been blended with shots retaken at the same spots in 2012, to create the illusion of people and elements interacting across the century.
London-based artist Kate MccGwire uses feathers and wishbones in huge numbers to create amazing pieces of art. She originally started to collect the feathers from a shed taken over by pigeons situated next to her studio. The process is slow and methodical but the outcome is fantastic. She creates intricate patterns that give her pieces flow and movement.
"There are so many reasons I began working with the feathers. I think one of the most important is their sense of otherness. When you find one on the ground they always look so utterly separate from the bird they've been discarded by. It's difficult to imagine when you look at a quill that this flesh-less stem was once attached to a bird. It's part of the mechanism that helps it fly and keeps it warm but seen in splendid isolation a feather becomes detached from these physiological concerns and becomes
something 'alien', an object, and a carrier for meaning in its own right."
"I am not morbid but death is never very far from us. My studio is on the river Thames – everyday I am very aware of the elements and the wildlife around me. It’s a constant battle. A swan laid its eggs right next to the barge. When they started hatching, crows surrounded the nest and stole away the cygnets to eat. Crows also fly low over rabbit burrows, as soon as a young rabbit (Leveret) pokes its head out of the burrow crows come down and swipe them, fly them up high into the sky and drop them to kill them prior to eating. It’s a brutal world."
Under The Baobab Tree is now at The Southbank Centre in London and is part of the Festival of the World exhibition. Students from Chelsea College of Art and Design have created the sculpture from stacked rings of fabric from around the globe. The rings, some 14 feet wide, were used to build the tree before it was covered in 80 different types of fabric. The work was created in a barn and was inspired by Africa's baobab tree, which is a symbol of community. This huge tree sculpture is supposed to reflect the way we live in cities: culture stacked on culture.
Creative director Beatrix Eden: “During the summer of 2012, as thousands of people gather in London, visitors from across the globe will be stepping closer to one another. Inspired by the idea of the space between strangers becoming smaller we created the Baobab Tree as a unique meeting place for chance encounters sparking new conversations. Every culture uses fabrics and patterns, whether in traditional dress, uniform or decoration. Fabrics have always travelled, designs crossing borders, being altered and traded back. Within the fabric of our tree we hope that visitors will recognise threads from their own cultures woven into this meeting place at the heart of a global gathering.”
Timeless – 2010-2011, Final Version: shot by MB Films London
From MB Films site: "This film is intended to capture the spirit and endless energy of London. We decided to shoot it in a mixture of Timelapse and slow motion. We started filming in October 2010 in Richmond upon Thames just on the western edge of the city, and then the ensuing journey took us all the way through the city and back again, ending up just a year later with a final sun rise shot in the Richmond area. This final version features the brilliant new music score is by Rael Jones."
MB Films are a London based production company specialising in corporate video, commercials/promos and short films.
View more of their work here: http://www.mbfilms.co.uk
Fabulous art retrospective from the White City tube station:
100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art
In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the symbol of London Underground and London's transport system - the Roundel - Art on the Underground commissioned 100 artists to make works of art inspired by the Roundel as a contemporary symbol for a world-class transport system. The artists interpreted what the logo means to them today, employing it as a symbolic element of their works as opposed to retaining its use as a brand mark. The Art on the Underground mission:
Provide a world-class programme of contemporary art that enriches the Tube environment and our customers’ journey experience; and continues the long-standing tradition that excellent art and design is at the core of London Underground's identity and services.
A Patch of Shade blog
represents a respite; a place of contemplation; pausing for a time to reflect back and also look forward. It is here where I will post musings about art, inspiration and life.
