chelsea book sale, hunterian museum, the long goodbye, sir john soane museum, wellcome collection, borough market
today was our book sale at chelsea. we first set out all of the books in the vis com studio for a pre selection/buying for the librarys collection. in the end, i used letraset letters to print out each word. it did take a while, but it looked better than if it would have been simply printed out on the computer. . i linked ballad/love song lyrics together to make a long song. i emphasized on how long each word was sung by playing with the addition of extra letters, capitals and lowercase, and its placement. the books were all placed in the cafeteria to be sold. both of my books sold, and one to a woman who was writing for a japanese magazine, and was asked to purchase things over her journey in london. fun!
the whole vis com class have been given a "5 minutes a day" sketchbook/visual journal to complete every day over the next 6 weeks. heres my first page:
wednesday brought us the second session of our film screenings. this time we saw robert altman's film noir adaptation of "the long goodbye" (1973). it was based on phillip marlowe, a fictional character created by the novelist raymond chandler. unlike the novel, based in the 50's, altman decided to place it in the 1970's los angeles. the film was poorly received in the usa, despite the new york times having listed the long goodbye in its "10 best list" of that year. as many high established actors (humphrey bogart, dick powell, robert mitchum) played the role of phillip marlowe prior to elliot gould, most critics were shocked as to how altman appeared to be "mocking a level of achievement" through his laid back and easy-going version of marlowe.
also thought it would be a good idea to hit up a few exhibitions. i went back to lincoln's inn fields to see sir john soanes museum. i had never been before, but heard it was a "gem" and a must see. sir john soane (1753-1837) was an architect and designed his house specifically to live in, but also to store all of his collections and works of art. an old man greeted me outside to make sure i understood not to touch anything inside. there were 3 floors open for exploration, but there still remained a few that were closed. i really enjoyed looking at everything inside, however i think there could have been more information given on all of the artifacts. the one that intrigued me the most was the sarcophagus of seti i (c.1370 BC) and the bust of a roman lady (c.60 AD).
after that i went to see the "high society" exhibition at the wellcome collection. it explored the use of drugs in history and culture. i felt that the curators of this exhibition weren't sure as to how much they could actually show on the effects of drugs (especially in present days society) without causing controversy. it felt quite constrained as an exhibition.
on thursday i went to the 2nd drawing location- borough market (just by london bridge tube). i had never been before. it was buzzing! even though i managed to finish a sketchbook, i only really like 2 of the drawings i did. i found it quite difficult to focus (there was so much movement!) and felt a bit embarrassed as people were peering over my shoulder to see what i was doing...therefore my drawings were quite rushed. i need to learn how to blank out everyone and draw with confidence.
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