Weekend Off at the Hayward Gallery

Another one in Gormley's series of 'Figures' quite literally re-presenting the body. It was an exercise in descriptive study of the human body and a simple projection onto concrete as a material. There was a side narrative of accumulating marks and character - shutter patterns from the timber, bird droppings from outdoor exhibitions, stains from weathering, etc. The hardiness and its initial and temporal plastic character of concrete lent itself well to this.
This installation immediately reminded my of Diller & Scofidio's Cloud building.

The experience inside was rather amazing and one's sense of space shifts to the immediate vicinity. Left, right, up and down, all one could see was whiteness. Without the benefit of relying on sight to situate oneself, one's skin was as far as one could expand the mind's eye toward. It was like one was floating but without the sense of weightlessness - disconcerting perhaps because of that. I was just acutely aware of me and the occassional other bewildered visitor passing by.

This was the other installation in the exhibition. Slightly w&-k.

3/4 hour wait, 2 persons in there each time. Enough said.
Look closer - there is a body from the Matrices series there. The antithesis of the one below.

It was a small (typical Hayward Gallery) show but big in his consistency and his focus. Gormley's sculpture activates thoughts of spaces, the body's that inhabit it, the body's space within and without and the sentient body.

Love ... & a good night's sleep

This morning at 3am , I returned home from this pile of crap on my desk



to find this by my bed!

It's the same story every summer for a few years now - non-stop sneezing in the morning and evenings, my nose tingles with an itch that buzzes around the eyeballs that can't be scratched down or run off, a runny nose that well up well into the eyes and force me to blow it out, and a blocked nose when lay my head down to rest, and a dry throat that eventually turns painful after a few days of rerouted breathing in the dry night air while asleep and worst of all, being awaken by my nose that starts to unblock and run with wild abandon at about 3-4am.


This year, whatwith my long hours and very hectic schedule to match the accelerated construction programme, it has been unbearable. I think I was running on 60% efficiency every day and I wasn't happy at all. Then, the love of my life comes to my rescue - M goes and SHOPS (!) ... for an Air Purifier! She went straight to the shops after work but not before doing due diligence online and finding out the store that still had the machine in stock and got me the ticket to a night of rest.


The proof is in the pudding and I am happy to certify that the little whirring electric inverse fan is working wonders. I slept through what was left of the night and work up feeling like my batteries have been recharged. Boo for my carbon footprint, hooray for a caring wife!

Originally rambled on 19/09/06

women and shopping
women and handbags

(the scene: mandarina duck), straps, loops, straps through loops, chains, sparklies, chains of sparklies, you get the picture.

such a lot of thought! into the bags. which they spot, they notice. they notice because they care. they put a lot of thought into them - the women.

what more can a woman want. someone, guy or girl, preferably tom ford, sitting down for hours on end, on weekends and in the wee hours of the morning, dreaming about what they need, what they want, the hours that he spends with the idea of the bag, the bag which will in turn allow her to spend hours with.

such reciprocated attention, mutually fulfilling love.

that is why women love their handbags. that is why women love handbags.

that and kate moss bringing it all to their attention in the first place.