My oh my, doesn’t time fly

Wowsers!

On Friday, someone at my new job asked me whether I had a blog. Well, I replied, I have a few but I don’t update them often enough. When I came on to this one I realised how true that was so I really REALLY am going to make more of an effort to do blogging. Honest I will.

So, what have I been up to and what’s been good?

I went to see Submarine, written and directed by Richard Ayoade who I’m a bit of a fan of. What a refreshingly lovely, very ‘British’ film full of poignant humour and sweet surreal moments. I even liked Alex Turner’s soundtracking. Here’s a trailer:

I went to the Pick Me Up exhibition at Somerset House, a veritable visual feast from graphic artists around the globe with a bias towards the UK (and especially London-based artists). It was an inspiring and thought-provoking afternoon and I especially loved Anthony Burrill’s workshop room, complete with a DJ spinning some Jean Michel Jarre, and I even purchased a print from the Conrete Hermit shop. I’ll take a photo of it once it’s framed and up on my wall.

I went to see Interpol, naturally, last week at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. They played The Specialist, my favourite ever song which I’ve never seen them play live before. Some clever person filmed it and popped it on YouTube:

Whilst I don’t generally agree with people doing this at gigs (mainly as they out their cameras in my way so I can’t see), I’ll let them off just this once. They also dropped The New and NYC. No Stella or Roland though… but I still love them.

I’ve also recently had a little trip to NYC. We stayed in the lovely West Village, spent our time eating incredible food, wandering round lovely neighbourhoods and found some time to explore MoMA which I’d recommend to anyone who won’t find tourists exploring the museum via the art of taking iPhone photographs of EVERYTHING. Sometimes, technology really does irritate me. There was a cool little Andy Warhol video exhibition hidden away at the top – go see it if you’re there and it’s still on.

Next on my little list of ‘to dos’ is the next Secret Cinema – I’ve been to three now and they just get better and better each time. I also quite fancy checking out the Designs of the Year exhibition over at the Design Museum and Gabriel Orozco at Tate Modern.

That is all for now. Tally ho!

Pop Life @ Tate Modern

On Friday eve I eschewed my usual grotty Hoxton pub eve of cheap vodka and naughty antics and went and “did some culture”. Armed with my newly procured Tate membership I crossed the river to the Tate Modern and headed to the new Pop Life: Art in a Material World exhibition…

Whilst I understand that this focuses on the materialisic nature of our society, I did leave the exhibition feeling a little bit flat. It all feels a bit ‘bitty’. Whilst there is lots of Andy Warhol at the beginning, a re-creation of Keith Haring’s Pop Shop and a whole sectioned off room dedicated to Jeff Koons‘ (far too gratuitous) explicit work, everything else feels a bit cobbled together. Even Damien Hirst’s Spot Paintings was disappointing, though mainly as the appointed identical twins supposed to be sitting under the paintings had nipped out for a fag when we arrived.

There are some good bits, of course, but overall I’d say that Pop Life is worth seeing only if you don’t have to pay for it.

How very ironic.

Pop Life @ Tate Modern microsite

What I’ve been up to…

Super Contemporay @ Design Museum: Hugely inspiring look at iconic deisgn in, around or created in London. Especially loved the maps created for individual’s own London life. On my recommended list.

Coco Before Chanel: 30 minutes too long, too much time spent stringing out the beginning in slummy old Paris, not enough empathy with Coco. I so badly wanted to love it too…

Futurism @ Tate Modern: A little wishy washy but some good pieces to see. Not the sculpture. Do not like the sculpture.

Per Kirkeby @ Tate Modern: A bit angry for my liking.

Moon: Super intelligent film. Love Sam Rockwell. Love Kevin Spacey’s creepy-yet-etheral voiced GERTY. Brilliant artwork too.

Gilbert & George JACK FREAK PICTURES @ White Cube, Hoxton: Bold, brash and brassy, as I’ve come to expect from the Shoreditch-based twosome. Worth a scoot around if you’re in the area.