What are We Like?

 At Manchester Art Museum last month they had on an exhibition called What Are You Like.

The exhibition is based around a parlour game from the Victorian times that asks you to describe yourself with images of your favourite things: (illustrating 8 from a list of 12)

favourite....

+animal

+book

+item of clothing

+comfort

+food

+past time

+place

+possession

+music

+shoes

+weather 

+pet aversion (the thing they love to hate!) 
 

The exhibition is 45 famous names including Eric Clapton, Quentin Blake and Paul Smith, revealing their favourite things through wonderfully thoughtful illustration.

The result is a delightfully eccentric exhibition.

 

This 3d illustration by Laura Carlin, was very different to all the other pieces and you had to look at it from every angle to fully appreciate the full illustration. The fact that there is no colour adds to the simplicity and the delicacy of it all. Not my favourite but very high up.

This illustration by Sara Fanelli  is very different to Laura Carlin's piece and less delicate but it has a very laid back feel to it, it reminds me of the doodles I used to created when very bored at school! It still looks very artistic and interesting.

  

This was one of my favourites by Jan Pienkowski, it was very textural although you can't tell from this image, but it was a montage of all Pienkowski's favourite things, unlike the other illustrations this made a complete image rather than treating each favourite thing as a seperate illustration. Then to make clear of which questions he had answered they are listed in the top left hand corner.

  

This was a very fashionable piece done by Paul Smith, very quirky and also reminds me of Paul Smith advertising and how they fashion their shop fittings!

These are just a few, more can be found at: http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/wayl.php

The Complete Roberta Breitmore at the Whitworth.

By far one of the most complicated exhibitions I have ever seen, even after I left I was still wondering about it.. is this maybe a good thing?

Lynn Hershman investigates a simulated person who interacts with real life in real time.  

Roberta is constructed through drawings, clothing and wigs and then four years later she is exorcised.

Roberta Breitmore was for FOUR YEARS a private performance of a simulated person.

It is so bizarre, Roberta was given childhood data before she was allowed into the world and her first action was to place an ad in a local newspaper for a roommate.

People who answered became part of the performance, "As she became part of their reality, they became part of her fiction."

The artist : Lynn Hershman, was often accused of being Roberta, although she insisted she was her "own women" Roberta represented a large part of Lynn. Lynn states: "For years my daughter denied she was related to me. People assumed I was schizophenic."

It was really interesting to see all the paper work for example; physciatrists notes etc and art work of this fictious persona. It also included clothes and Roberta's wig.

To fully understand this surreal exhibition more information can be found here:

www.lynnhershman.com

State of The Art: New York

I recently went to a Exhibition called State of the Art: New York, it focuses on the influence that the "Big Apple" has on artists from America and around the world.

One artist it drew my attention to was: Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung.

Residential Erection is devoted to the 2008 US Presidential Election, although I believe its audience to be a more American side, this witty cartoon montage is quite funny. Tin-Kin Hung has many followers due to his intersection of popular culture, mixed with current affairs and his talent of manipulating different media.

This animation casts the 2008 Presidential candidates into different identities including: Borat Obama and John McCain the Donkey-cheerleader, which left my friend actually asking; "can they even do that!?"

Some of the content is so naughty!  The Fagbug, 50 Cent the Crossdresser and nothing containing American stupidity is complete without Britany Spears half naked.

The animation along with its precisely researched narration takes a huge dig at the hypocrisy of recent political times. The music which adds more insult along with the internet-scavenged imagery and original animation creates a hugely intriguing piece of art work.

Unfortunately I can't get a you-tube video: http://www.tinkin.com/arts/residential-erection/

Hot Rods and Car Exhibitions

I recently went along to a car exhibition, it was very informal taking place in a large pub car park, with everyone pint in hand wandering around.

Just outside of Macclesfield, starting at about 5pm, lots of men and women drive up to the Cheshire Lounge in their cars (many of whom have classic car tax on) and park them in car park for all to see, most of these cars are left unlocked for you to look inside too.

The audience was a crowd of car adorers, who, if asked a question could tell you every thing to where the car originated from to when the last one was made.

The cars themseleves were quite incredible with no one genre, there were American Dodges, Italian Maserati's and quite a few Ford Hot Rods. Two inparticular caught my eye, the first being a Ford Fairmount, a car made in the 70s and 80s, that had been restored to an old American Police Service car; complete with an old style siren and flashing lights. Note: the flashing lights were also in the front grille.

When we were there the man who had restored it had just finished painting the outside to put on stripes and a state county badge. He showed us around the car and he had restored the car with something that it would previously never had, a camera that films and a playback facility in the boot and also a speedometer! It was really something, although there is probably lots of these about, the man talked about his work so compassionately, it reminded me of art, because what he has created is art. I recently went back to ask if I could get a photograph but he wasn't there that month, if I do get one though it will definately go on here!

The other car was Dodge pickup truck I'm not sure what type but it was massive, the owner was actually disabled and the back of the truck had a bumper sticker reading: CAUTION! DISABLE DRIVER. For me to get into the truck which would have originally had 5 seats in it, I would have needed at least a 3 step ladder to get up to it, so when I saw this man demonstrating how he got in it and drove, I was amazed.

He had modified the passengers door, so that it was a 'suicide' door (meaning it opens the opposite way) from this door there was a ramp that came down with the help of some wireless controls, when it was firmly on the ground the man wheeled onto the ramp and started the controls so that it took him up so he was able to board the car, the front seat was actually missing and his wheelchair became his front seat. Having never seen anything like this, I was so intrigued, I obviously know they modified cars and such other things for people with disabilities but this man had done it all himself and on such a huge car. The way I have described this sounds like it took him about half an hour to get into his car but it was all over within 2 minutes. It was fabulous.

Since then I have looked more into restorations of old cars and the art that is hot-rodding and classic car restoration. It is very interesting and well worth having a look into.

Andrew Brooks

After looking at what local art exhibitions are on in Manchester, I found an interesting artist called Andrew Brooks with an exhibition called hidden manchester. His website showcases some fantastic work which actually makes me want to go and look for all these mysterious places dotted around manchester. In college a did a textiles project on decay and abandonment and used pictures from around manchester and these images took me back to the ones I took. Andrew Brooks; very interesting well worth a look at!


Big Humpty by Andrew Brooks 2008



Doorway Club Night by myself 2006

http://www.andrewbrooksphotography.com/