IN REVIEW: Week Two

WEEK TWO: Crossbones Cemetery, Southwark Cathedral, Stephen Wright talk/documentaries, Tanguera, , Sky Garden, Wellcome Collection, British Library, Gordon Winebar, Café in St Martin Crypt, Bach Violin concert

What was the venue like for each of these events? (Include the food-related events as well.) How did the architecture/design of the spaces make you feel, and how did that affect your experiences?

From top to bottom, the venues varied from every imaginable kind of place. The Crossbones Cemetery was a quiet little memorial for those who did not have anyone to bury them; in complete contrast, Southwark Cathedral was a magical place with its very own guardian, the cathedral cat Dorkin. Although each was a memorial for the dead, the ways in which people honored those who had passed was very different – the cathedral being a grand work of art of high value, while Crossbones was simple and homemade.

When outside artist Stephen Wright from the House of Dreams came to give us a talk, the setting was very personal, even though it took place in a classroom. Stephen was very genuine and open with answering questions and allowing us to peer into precious and emotional times in his life; this paired well with the viewing of the Shakespeare in Prison documentary, because it directly tied to that “instinctive,” outsider form of art. Both the artist and documentary showed how being an active participant in art radically changed their lives.

The space of Tanguera wasn’t particularly memorable, but I did really enjoy sitting above the stage, as opposed to having a seat at ground level. I think this gave us a better view of the dancing and there wasn’t any competition in trying to see over someone’s head. Sky Garden was very modern and felt very much felt like a sci-fi Olympia, with its food/drink, wonderfully vibrant/jungle-like garden, and its breath-taking view of the city below (speaking of being able to see over someone’s head, haha).

I think the Wellcome Collection and the British Library were, in a way, similar in terms of space. Of course the exteriors/interiors were different because of the time they were built, but both of the spaces were dark and gave each item in the exhibit plenty of room around it. Both spaces were not particularly crowded, so it gave us plenty of time to view each item.

Gordon’s Winebar and St Martin’s (where we ate in the café and saw the Bach Violin concert) were both very old and made of really, really old rocks. Gordon’s felt like we had traveled down a tunnel and into the Middle Ages, sitting in a crammed space by candlelight, eating bread and cheese. When we came back above ground, it was very obvious that St Martin’s capitalized on the crypt area by placing a café right on top of the tombstones. The inside of the church where the concert played felt like a very appropriate setting for the event; it was very formal, had good acoustics, and seemed like perhaps that kind of music had at one time been played when the original pieces were written.

Did you find some of the events challenging? Entertaining? Surprising? Offputting? Was that response based on the content or on the form of the art?

I think this week there were a few challenges for me. I think the challenge that maybe bothered me the most was being in the presence of an artist that I admired and not being able to confidently ask questions or engage in conversation because I was too intimidated by him as a person, even though he seemed extremely nice and personable. I also wasn’t feeling too well on Thursday because I think I had too much coffee, so towards the middle of the day it was a wee bit difficult for me to fully engage in things. I also had a bit of a hard time immersing myself in the Wellcome Collection because they were either medicine-related (which grosses me out) or more “every day” objects, so it was difficult for me to connect with the collection. The Bach performance was also not my favorite, but I think that has more do to with the fact that Bach is not a composer I prefer to listen to.

The Sky Garden was by far my favorite place we visited that week. It gave me a lot of great photos and I really enjoyed the view. There aren’t very many opportunities for me to be at a height like that and see this different perspective of a city. I also enjoyed Stephen Wright equally as well; again, I have met very few artists who are as open as Stephen when sharing his reasons behind his art. I’m really looking forward to digging deeper and experiencing his form of art/therapy.

Perhaps the most entertaining event we saw was the Tanguera performance. The music made me want to learn tango

Did you find some of the events more “creative” or “artistic” than others? Why or why not?

I think meeting an artist and hearing about their experience, being invited to their house, have a workshop and talk about other artists related to their genre is about as artistic and creative as it gets. I think it was interesting to see a highly regarded and renowned artist like Stephen in relation to seeing/experiencing other outsider artists (i.e. the homemade gifts at the Crossbones Gate, the graffiti/street artists in the East End, the documentary about the prison actors, etc). It really makes art appear to be more available, and not something that somebody has to earn training or a degree for, or even end up in a museum. Art is as much of a form of expression as it is an inward therapy for someone, and I think that is universally important.

What is the most memorable moment from each of the events? What did you feel in those moments? What did you think about?

Crossbones Cemetery: wishing I could go inside to see the graves. We had been to High Gate Cemetery with Laura’s photography class, so I would have liked to see how it compared.

Southwark Cathedral: this is like a smaller St Paul’s (Brianna and I went on Sunday). I noticed a lot of similarities as far as structure and design, but Southwark was obviously a lot more subtle.

Stephen Wright talk/documentaries: I like this guy, but I am very intimated by him. Whenever he said he instinctively knew which one of us he would work with better than others, I immediately wondered which ones he meant.

Tanguera: this made me want to learn tango. I thought the performance was moving and I never had a bored moment, while also following along with the storyline.

Did those memorable moments – good or bad – affect how you feel about that kind of art in general? Do you think you would actively pursue (or avoid) this kind of art in the future?

I would most definitely like to see another tango performance -- I think I personally have not been exposed to very much Spanish art, especially performance. On the other hand, while I appreciate the passion of the musicians of the Bach performance, I would have probably enjoyed a different composer. I know I definitely felt the emotion when listening to the choir at St Paul's, so I was a little disappointed that I did not connect as well during this performance. I also have discovered that I have started to have more of an appreciation for memorial art; I really enjoyed the idea of ordinary people contributing to a larger, homemade art piece, but I also liked the more ornate pieces of memory, such as the Shakespeare memorial in the cathedral.

Did any of those memorable moments change how you feel about, think about, or experience some element of life beyond your relationship to art? Did the experience change you in any way?

I think peering into Stephen's life and how art has motivated him to deal with things that have happened to him has really inspired me as an artist. It made me remember to always push my boundaries and not be afraid to be personal with my work. It also made me think about different kinds of art and to branch out more to other genres to find inspiration.