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London
Being, as I occasionally am, bored of Cambridge on a dull Saturday, I took myself off to London for a cultural day out.
I decided to visit the Saatchi gallery. I did this with some trepidation as I wondered - would I actually like Britart up close and personal? The answer, slightly to my surprise, was yes. I think to appreciate Damien Hirst or Tracy Emin you have to see it in the flesh - a shark or sheep in Formaldehyde is strangely moving when it's right there in front of you - and even Emin's unmade bed is impressive.
Of course there is a lot of bad art there, some dull paintings, and some very poor photography. Why do conceptual artists take poorly composed and badly lit photos of themselves? To sooth their massive egos I suppose. Two things, though, impressed me. The decision not to rope off works, so it felt like you could tidy up Emin's bed, or touch the scarily lifelike sculptures; and placing it in the formal surroundings of County Hall, with all its dark panelling and pillars.
On to another impressive building - the Natural History museum - with its elegant neo-romanesque style and multicoloured bricks, like some vast italian cathedral. Unfortunately the inside doesn't match the outside. They've gone for an "experience" style, with lots of push buttons and artists impressions of dinosaurs, great for kids, but oddly patronising for adults. They cram so much in you can hardly see the building, which is a shame as all the walls I could see are covered in carvings of fish and plants, but they're all hidden behind hoarding and scaffolding. You're forced to walk round in a fixed path so I spent most of my time trying to get out of each gallery.
I escaped as soon as I could to the V&A across the road. What a contrast! The V&A is an old-style "glass cases" place, and it's wonderful, partly because it was almost deserted. It is amazingly eclectic, I was looking at tomb effigies of English kings, turned the corner into a gallery for modern architecture, and on to 20th century furniture (including the dining table from my old college room, Corpus haven't changed their furniture since 1950). From 17th century clavichords you segue to 1970's dresses by Ossie Clarke.
It's fabulous, and deserves to be better known, but that might spoil it of course
I decided to visit the Saatchi gallery. I did this with some trepidation as I wondered - would I actually like Britart up close and personal? The answer, slightly to my surprise, was yes. I think to appreciate Damien Hirst or Tracy Emin you have to see it in the flesh - a shark or sheep in Formaldehyde is strangely moving when it's right there in front of you - and even Emin's unmade bed is impressive.
Of course there is a lot of bad art there, some dull paintings, and some very poor photography. Why do conceptual artists take poorly composed and badly lit photos of themselves? To sooth their massive egos I suppose. Two things, though, impressed me. The decision not to rope off works, so it felt like you could tidy up Emin's bed, or touch the scarily lifelike sculptures; and placing it in the formal surroundings of County Hall, with all its dark panelling and pillars.
On to another impressive building - the Natural History museum - with its elegant neo-romanesque style and multicoloured bricks, like some vast italian cathedral. Unfortunately the inside doesn't match the outside. They've gone for an "experience" style, with lots of push buttons and artists impressions of dinosaurs, great for kids, but oddly patronising for adults. They cram so much in you can hardly see the building, which is a shame as all the walls I could see are covered in carvings of fish and plants, but they're all hidden behind hoarding and scaffolding. You're forced to walk round in a fixed path so I spent most of my time trying to get out of each gallery.
I escaped as soon as I could to the V&A across the road. What a contrast! The V&A is an old-style "glass cases" place, and it's wonderful, partly because it was almost deserted. It is amazingly eclectic, I was looking at tomb effigies of English kings, turned the corner into a gallery for modern architecture, and on to 20th century furniture (including the dining table from my old college room, Corpus haven't changed their furniture since 1950). From 17th century clavichords you segue to 1970's dresses by Ossie Clarke.
It's fabulous, and deserves to be better known, but that might spoil it of course