北京を拠点とするアーティスト、Song Dongの展示「Waste Not」がバービカン・カーヴ・ギャラリーで開催されている。この展示は、アーティストの母親故Zhao Xiangyuanが５０年間に渡って集めた１万以上のオブジェクトで構成されている。夫を亡くしてから鬱病に悩み、モノを集めるという行為にさらに拍車がかかった母親の様子にいたたまれなくなったSong Dongは、彼女の気持ちを整理する目的も含め「Waste Not」の第一回インスタレーションを母親と共に作製した。北京で展示されたこの作品は、彼女の個人的歴史と記憶に秩序を与え、ヒーリングとしての役割も果たした。
Beijing based Chinese artist Song Dong’s “Waste Not” is currently on display at The Curve, Barbican Art Gallery. The exhibition consists of more than 10,000 objects that were collected by his late mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, over a period of 50 years. Her desire to fill her life with things became stronger after the death of her husband. It was painful for Song Dong to see his mother in a state of depression and they created the first installation of “Waste Not” together in Tokyo Gallery project space in Beijing, which eventually became a part of her healing process. “It gave my mother a space to put her memories and history in order” as Song Dong later noted.
“Following Song Dong’s father’s death in 2002, Zhao Xiangyuan sank into deep depression. Her desire to fill her life with things regardless of their possible use became more marked and more disturbing to witness. It was clear to Song Dong that his mother had a ‘need to fill the emptiness after my father’s death’. In an attempt to help his mother find new purpose in life and bring her out of the depths of her grief, Song Dong proposed that she work with him to make her possessions – in effect, the family home – a work of art.”
Despite a whole gallery full of gathered items, I guess she never filled that void that was left after her husband died. Song Dong’s exhibition in the Barbican’s Curve Gallery was as moving as it was overwhelming.
Atsuko hadn’t seen the EVOL building stencils in Smithfield market before so when we were in the area today, heading to the Barbican, we took a detour despite the rain to make sure she could see them for herself…
See the details and more photographs in our previous post HERE.
Think you have a tough time at work? I did, but then seeing this particular guard at the Horse Guards gate made me rethink everything. Standing motionless in temperatures below freezing must be tough enough, without a crowd of tourists fighting to have their pictures taken standing beside you. I felt a little sorry for him when I walked past yesterday, its must be exhausting, claustrophobic and stressful, and I could have sworn I saw his sword hand shivering.
The Southbank is a wonderful place to take photos; there’s always something going on. No matter how many times I return, I always find something challenging to shoot and get the chance to learn my camera a little better. For me this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. I watched as long as my hands could withstand the cold, I don’t know how this guy was wearing just a t-shirt!
A small team were filming the skateboarders at the undercroft and actually although there weren’t many people there, the few that were there were really good. It’s rare to see so many stunts actually executed and I started to understand better how rewarding it must be to actually pull off some of those complex tricks. They were jumping from a great height, much to the admiration of the younger skaters. Oh, and the skateboards that do get snapped, they get thrown onto the pillar of the Hungerford Bridge.
Alone while Atsuko is away on business, and with nothing in particular I wanted to see or do in town, I thought I would use my first weekend free from work in a while to walk aimlessly through London; it really is a great city for wandering.
It was one of those doors you almost don’t dare open, but I did and against my initial instincts, went inside and found the walls painted with a random pattern. I now know that currently in the Waterloo, Old Vic Tunnels there is a performance dance event on, today I stumbled across the entrance to it.
The opening event was nicely busy; people drifted in and out to see the work, drink beer and chat and there was a really nice atmosphere throughout the evening. I was able to meet some really interesting people and talk with the fantastically talented Gen Miyamura. He explained the process of producing these inky strokes and which helped me more fully appreciate how such simple variables like pressure and speed at which the stroke is made, are enough to bring infinate possibility and beauty to the works.
Linear Code will be on display until 22nd February, so I truly recommend that you pay a visit when you get chance. The ICN Gallery can be found here.
After the Riusuke Fukahori show, I was asked by the ICN gallery to take some photographs at the following show and opening event; an incredible honour that I was extremely happy about. Now open, the current show is called ‘Image Langue: Linear Code’ by Japanese calligrapher, Gen Miyamura. Miyamura has a deep understanding of traditional Japanese calligraphy and uses this knowledge in a very modern, breath-takingly artful, yet calculated way. Each of the 26 subtly different, vertical forms displayed in this new collection represents a letter from the alphabet which can be connected to form words, just as if it were a graphic font.
You get an overwhelming sense of calm standing in front of such beautiful strokes, and can easily lose yourself for ages uncovering detail differences between each letter. The circular forms were part of Miyamura’s previous collection and work in the same way. Although the direction of the text is not always clear, Miyamura pointed out to me that his hanko is stamped in red at the end of each work. It was a joy to photograph the space, a delight to meet the artist himself and a good chance for some (much needed) Japanese practice.
You can see more of Miyamura’s beautiful work here.
