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Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset were the first artists I wrote about when I started studying art history and I’m so pleased that their project Powerless Structures has been picked for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Too Late at the Victoria Miro Gallery was the first exhibition of theirs that I saw. I got myself completely lost on the way and arrived cold and relieved to be anywhere, this feeling definitely added to the slightly unsettling atmosphere of the installation. My hand was stamped at the door and then I was left to wander alone around the deserted nightclub, discovering locked doors and wondering whether I was trespassing by going through the empty ones.

I love their playful manner of displaying what is serious and of importance to real people. Their installations are moving and accessible; never intimidating but never over simplified, the affect they have on the viewer is almost physical, subtly readjusting their sense of place and playing on their insecurities.

Stefano Marchionini

La jeune fille et l’enfant

  

  

Wide Open Walls

I just stumbled upon this great project via the FucknFilthy facebook page.

ROA

Know Hope

Remed

Freddy Sam

Wide Open Walls is curated by Write On Africa and, though I need to look at it the project properly, the concept and all the work looks really exciting. I was never quite convinced by JR‘s street art project in Nairobi, but this seems to have much more integrity.

All photos from the Wide Open Walls website.

Amanda and Kevin

Excellent American ingredient baking funtimes!

They write about other things too but I can’t get passed the food posts – I want to eat everything in them. Tomorrow I’ll actually do some baking, Lemon cake from Breakfast Lunch Tea I think.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

 

 

I am pretty excited about this film. When my little sister was given a copy of Brian Selznick‘s book a couple of years ago for her birthday I sat down and read it in an afternoon – not sure she was too pleased about that…

Warm and Dry

These wellie boots and some wolly socks, both from MHL, will make for cozy Winter feets.

just be nice, and don’t double park

We might all move to San Francisco.

4SP Films definitely makes it seem pretty appealing, and so do all the American sweets on our kitchen table this week.

I found these nice videos through the Kinfolk Magazine blog.

Chris Makes Excellent Things

Hallowe’en

I’ve been spreading Hallowe’en out, starting with a lovely whole weekend off.

I went to the markets, and bought a pumpkin for carving at Deptford.

A doughnut for eating from The London Particular, and a coffee to drink from Dark Fluid at Brockley Market.

And then carved a second pumpkin that had been grown in Maisie’s garden, which was green and stripy and quite scary.

Tonight there will be Colcannon for Irish Hallowe’en dinner and tomorrow Mexican dinner  and face paints for Día de los Muertos at Lucas St.

This might be my favourite festival. It has always been a day and a night for being with friends and family, walking around together in the dark or staying warm and indoors with masks and carved faces to keep bad spirits away. This Hallowe’en has been my first in London to feel like a proper one: there were trick or treaters on the hill as I walked home and piles of sweets on my kitchen table; the house was full and warm and friendly and the carved pumpkin was sat lighting on the step. Later when I was out walking in the city, a hand made mask hanging from my wrist just in case, it was dark and the strange presence of police vans around Westminster paired with people in costume in central gave the sense that the rules of the city were changed for the evening. But I found all the people I was looking for and after a prolonged wander through quiet streets in Soho we found somewhere friendly and tiny and a bit grubby and we danced till they looked like closing.

No bad spirits.