The Saatchi Gallery is the world’s largest, free entry contemporary art museum, and last week it opened in a new location, showcasing modern art from various artists from China.
Gallery 1 contains a model plan of a city made entirely of dog chews
The head below is made out of burnt incense and is a self-portrait of the artist (Zhang Huan)
There were so many amazing pieces that I didn’t take pictures of. Here’s a short selection of what I did take.
This installation called “Chinese Offspring” is by Zhang Dali, and it represents migrant construction workers.
Probably most famously, “Old Persons Home” by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu depicts world leaders, moving around on wheelchairs, looking withered and senile. They’re so life-like, it’s actually quite scary.
I have to say this is probably the best art gallery/installation I’ve been to since the Tate Modern’s Weather Project a number of years ago, and these pictures really don’t do it justice. It was bonus bumping into Jake Gyllenhaal who was out with Reese Witherspoon. I did politely ask him for a picture but grumpy Miss Witherspoon (who I didn’t recognise at first) dragged him away, leaving him apologetically having to say no. They then put their shades on, because of course then no one would recognise them! Bless ’em. It must be quite horrid being famous when all you want to do is enjoy a stroll around a gallery.
If you’re ever in London, check this exhibition out. You won’t leave disappointed. It underlines my view that London has the best art scene in the world, speaking of which..
I went back to Leake Street to see how the graffiti from a few months ago during the Cans Festival had changed.
The tunnel is completely different now, with pretty much all the original work gone, but it’s great to see people are still adding their own stuff to it.
I could not agree more:
Major disappointment – all of Brick Lane‘s graffiti has been scrubbed off. It’s a travesty!
The Telectroscope was installed in London at the start of June, linking London to New York. It was described as a “secret tunnel running deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean”, but in reality, it was a snazzy giant real-time webcam.
So we queued up in the rain and got to see this!
Hello random New Yorkers! At least they’re getting good weather. There wasn’t much else to do apart from wave and grin. Me and my friend did try to think of something original to do but all I could think of was to jump, so basically look like a freak. I passed on that idea.
The organisers had kept boards to write stuff on, but apparently people had been writing nasty things so they were removed. Boo.
The woman below had planned to “meet” her son on the other side.
Surely it would have been a better idea to just webcam at the computer or to make a phone call! Nice idea, though.
Randomness around London:
It seemed to be a shoot for a music video – it sounded very ambient and trip-hop like.
Bush was in London for his farewell tour, so naturally there a protest against this. What a ridiculous waste of tax payers’ money to pay for all the security to protect this man. I must have got to the protest too late because I didn’t see any of the chaos that apparently ensued. This was about the most interesting thing I saw:
I was in Newcastle for the day and stumbled across a Yoko Ono exhibition called Secret Piece III. This consisted of three blank canvases which the public could stick messages to, relating to their idea of love.
Maybe I’m a snob, but I still haven’t figured out why it’s so “cool” to write “ur”. In text messages, fair enough, but in normal written text on a piece of paper?! I guess it’s a pet hate of mine. Spell properly, people!
George Sampson was the winner of Britain’s Got Talent, if you’re wondering.
The canvases are going to be shipped to Yoko Ono in the States once the installation is over. The whole thing had an air of tackiness about it, but nevertheless I liked it. I’m all for interactive art installations.
I was also back in Dublin recently.
Windmill Lane is the only place in Dublin where graffiti is legal. It’s not exactly Cans Festival-esque graffiti, but still a nice sight I think, particular since it’s located in quite a bland area of Dublin.
It’s also known as the U2 Wall as U2 recorded their first three albums in Windmill Lane Studios.
Taken in the famous Temple Bar area:
“No to Lisbon” relates to the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland which the Irish voted against recently. If you want to read more about the Lisbon Treaty, click here, and good luck!
I can’t remember the last time I saw a rainbow..
I always look forward to going to Dublin. The people are so friendly and charismatic, from taxi drivers, to shop keepers to random people on the street (minus the druggies and chavs!).
