Focus week 1-7 November

The first Focus week has started .... and it has already finished. For that module we had to create an online diary of our work during that week. Or the so called blog. So here it is. 

As a start I first need to explain the aims of that module. Focus weeks are ideal chance for us, students, to explore our needs, to identify our individual interests and to possibly use inspiration from different projects in order to apply them into our work. There are much more places and projects to see beyond the borders of Kingston University. 

Firstly I decided to separate my work in 2 parts because we had to complete approximately 40 hours of work, either by visiting places or by exploring something else, such as software program or any other personal research directly relating to our studies. So during the week my friends Tommy and Alex and I have dedicated 2 full days of visits all around London. On the first day, Thursday we made a plan and a list of the places we want to see. We started with the furthest place which was Hyde park. When we reached the Serpentine Gallery I actually remembered that last year we were there and we saw a curvy metal structure which was quite impressive. But now instead of it there was another installation in progress. Anyway inside the gallery we were very disappointed to see series of extremely weird videos which had no relation to anything else existing on the planet. Of course that's my own opinion but a lady smashing a bike with a metal stick in hands is not very interesting or impressive. Or the same lady throwing random objects such as stones and wooden pallets in rivers in USA or Germany doesn't work well either. 

After these unpleasant scenes we went out of the gallery to find ourselves in the middle of series of installations across Kensington Gardens. They were done by the born in Bombay artist - Anish Kapoor.

Firstly we saw the C-Curve, which is actually a mirror, that turns the image upside-down. That's also the name of the whole exhibition - "Turning the world upside-down". 

Panoramic view from the back of the mirror

Front of the mirror

Upside-down picture makes it all look "perfectly" fine

What was interesting about the mirror was that your interaction with it is essential in order to see how it works. By staring at it you are able to see the surrounding park from a different prospective. Yo can move, jump, watch other people watching it. It's interesting because of its perfection.

Following the map in the park we reached the first sky mirror. Big and red, silently gazing the sky it animates the moving clouds.

At the other end of the park was the second, much bigger sky mirror which only by its size is more than impressive. 

Of course in the beginning you can't actually say why are these ... shapes there, what is their purpose and what are they related to? But slowly you realize that they reflect all the nature and movement around the visitor. Anish Kapoor himself explains that in an interview:

In between the 2 mirrors we found the smallest object - The non-object. It's difficult to explain its mathematical shape but i'll do that with the next picture:

That thing made us explore it really. The top part, the tip of it reflects the ground we step on, and the lowest part of the mirror reflects the sky above. That's from my eye's point of view. Following that way of thinking I concluded that if your eyes are at at least 45 degrees or even 90 degrees you should be able to see the ground from the other side of the cone reflecting on the bottom of the cone. Sounds complicated but it could be proved if we build somehow the same object in a 1:2 scale. I even wanted to climb the nearest tree and see what happens.

After that we were to meet with Tommy somewhere near Russel square to try to find the New London Architecture, but we couldn't. Instead we only found the Architectural Association School Of Architecture where the only interesting thing that I liked was the roof of a small part of the building:

At only 50 sq.m in my view we were able to see a great diversity of materials as shown on the picture above. For me that proves that a diversity like that is feasible enough to be used as an idea in a project as long as it has the correct proportions and balance of colors. 

On the way to our next place we popped in to the Borough Market to grab a snack and explore the thousands of smells around us. The next place in our list was the good old Tate Modern - my personal favorite because of the great number of exhibitions you can see any time all the time. I already knew what I wanted to se, something amazing, a monumental project - The Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei. We weren't allowed to touch them, however the closest we could get was the few pictures we made

and a truly extraordinary video which shows the whole history of the seeds (from the rock to Tate), the amount of people that have been involved during that extremely long process of making the seeds in such a small village 1000 km away from the capital of China Beijing. My brain was struggling to digest the fact that such a vast amount of seeds was created so that people could only watch it and enjoy it.

On the way back to Waterloo we were walking all along Southbank, mainly investigating the pavements, the coherence between it and the surrounding trees, the combination of lights and benches, the play of shapes and patterns. All of those elements were combined into one living creature spreading all the way up until London Eye. In fact all the riverside is a very pleasant place to be and watch.

Very very simple combination of trees, benches, pavement and lighting.

And that was the end of our first relatively interesting day. 

Saturday came and with it our hunger for new places to see as well. So we went for a second round. But this time I saw something I have never expected it existed. Barbican! A place in the heart of London with its own society, vision and character. a fantastic place for relax and entertainment. It was my first time there so I was stunned. We spent there quite a lot of time and it was worth. As a definition: "The Barbican is Europe's largest multi-arts and conference venue presenting a diverse range of art, music, theatre, dance, film and educational events It's also the home of London Symphony Orchestra". Huge 40 floor towers watch over the area and its inhabitants like guards. Big premises with people living, school, fountains, birds, waterfalls, people, benches, music, art, coffee shops, walkpaths, bridges, trees, great views - all of these are a small part of Barbican's uniqueness.

Above the water is a walkway and above it are flats.

School for girls, behind the fountains.

One of many fantastic ideas.

We spent some time in the main exhibition building exploring the floors, views and live music. Until we decided to see the place that caught our attention for the first place. It was Damian Ortega's "The Independent". Fantastic series of installations and figures. What's amazing and what I actually liked very much was the unique and purposeful approach of the Mexican sculptor.

   "Each day he took inspiration from a newspaper; whether a news item, a photographic story or graphics selected from local, national or international press which he translated into a physical interpretation, be it a sculpture, installation, proposition or prototype for a future project. The works made over this period have become both a sculptural chronicle of this period of time – and a dynamic reinterpretation of the notion of an art commission."



That quote was taken from the official Barbican website: www.barbican.org.uk, and it says it all. Furthermore here are some pictures that were downloaded from Barbican Art Gallery's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=287758&id=183156123827. 

I personally find these 'sculptures' very interesting and interactive because they make you think, they make you calculate, measure, read, compare and investigate as we did. Once you see them you are already part of them. What we do is: first we look at the installation, then think what that might be and then when we read the article we realize the meaning. For example the next image is not very clear because my camera's flash made the shadowed area too bright and the effect of it is lost. However the big square is actually a small mountain in a small island in Senegal if my memory isn't wrong. The small squares under the shadow represent the houses on the island and the curviture of the land. Of course the idea (like all the others) has been taken from an actual article and a picture of the island itself.

The lighting in the room was placed in a way so that it creates exact shadow over the small squares. 
The following image is another example of an interesting idea:

It's called: Watching you without me

The next stop in our schedule and unfortunately last was the Peninsula Square Greenwich and the O2 Arena. And again as I say: The last, but the best. Yes, I've been there before but never with a purpose. Now I had one. I don't know how describe the whole thing. When you go out from the underground station you see a big square. Its pavement is consisted of three different types. The medium sized pink-ish blocks are the main feature of what the pavement is made of. The bigger grey slabs (which direction is 90 degrees rotated from the pink ones) form a guideline for people to follow. The grey pavement is a formation of several 'lanes' starting from North Greenwich Station, following the curve towards the O2 Arena. Their ending seems to be random and accidental but it also matches the edges of the buildings opposite the station. One of them ends where the 45 m pillar stands. Furthermore the edge of the grey pavement is framed of lights which create an astonishing atmosphere at night. All the lights change in most of the rainbow colours and are synchronized by a computer. 

The third type of pavement crosses the other two on several occasions. Its colour is black and on quite a lot places the history of Greenwich is written. Years, dates, facts, quotes and important names. Another interesting feature of the site is the 45m steel spire. Pointing at the sky and twisting up high it stands proudly above the surroundings. 
So after being there I can say that I would definitely go again and would recommend it to anyone.