Category Archives: art

Norway and Sweden

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So I recently went to Norway and Sweden. I was playing a show in Östersund for an old solo music project called peeved. I decided to eke out my time there by letting the cheapest possible flights dictate my travel dates. I managed to find some flights that were so stupidly cheap that even with the necessary cost of an extra night at a hotel here or there, it was still worth it.

Train ride along along Trondheimsfjorden

Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway

A few hours to spare in Trondheim and I stumbled upon Nidaros Cathedral. I only had my phone with me at the time so this picture doesn’t really show how amazing the carvings on this wall are. Their website is in Norwegian, but worth checking out for the pictures: www.nidarosdomen.no

View from the train ride through central Norway and Sweden

Brightly Coloured Jungle Animal Sweets

Even my Swedish friends were surprised at the vibrancy of these colours, explaining that they seldom find sweets this bright since EU regulations over food colouring swept in.

The rather delightful window display of a shop in Gamla Stan, the old town area of central Stockholm.

Woman by the Mirror, Fernand Leger

I managed to pop along to the Moderna Museet, Stockholm’s Modern Art Museum, which had a range of impressive works, even if it was quite small (although maybe I’ve been spoiled with years of trips to the Tate Modern). I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for old Fernand Leger since studying him a little for my MA, so it was nice to find one or two of his works there.

Colourful buildings in Gamla Stan, the old town area of Stockholm.

It was a great trip, if somewhat short. And whilst I did feel like I spent a lot of time travelling, once I was back, heading from Heathrow to Cardiff, I couldn’t help but feel how comparatively boring trains in the UK can be.

Lots more pictures on my flickr feed here.

Eccentricities & Obsessions

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The other day I was walking through the Cardiff arcades and I happened to find this little student art show in an empty shop. I’ve heard talk here and there about cultural or community projects putting empty retail spaces to good use, but this is the first one I’ve seen for myself.

I must compliment the university for arranging this show. I studied a humanities subject at uni, and at times felt a huge gulf between the arts, and the society they were supposed to reflect. So giving the students and the public a chance to interact in this way, seems just great to me.

I also chatted to two of the artists whilst there, Ed and Naomi (do check out their blogs to see some of their work); and more info to be found on the course homepage here.

The show’s been extended to run until Saturday 12th of February, so if you’re in the area (map), do check it out.

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P.S. Also, my friend Will Scothern will be showing his film Queensbury Rules at Chapter Movie Maker on Monday 7th Feb (fb). Its a ten minute short I wrote the score for (lots of piano music), shot on Cannon 5D, and is described as ‘a boxing movie without any boxing’. If you’re about, then I’ll see you there.

second hand books

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I wondered into a second hand bookshop the other day and found a nice little book on Stravinsky. Its from 1947, cost just £2 and like all good books has lots of pictures. This one is probably my favourite:

Artes Mundi and Space Balloons

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Yesterday I happened to look in on the Artes Mundi exhibition at the National Museum Cardiff. There were quite a few nice and interesting works (such as the film from which the image below is taken), but none of them felt really exceptional to me.

A still from 'per speculum' by Adrian Paci.

Then later that day I came across this story. A man who wanted to take some aerial photos of his house attached a digital camera to a helium balloon and eventually ended up with these amazing pictures of the Earth.

One of Robert Harrison's aerial photos.

The tag line at the Artes Mundi exhibition was ‘One World, All Humanity‘ but for me, looking at these pictures and videos of the Earth were a far more powerful statement about what our world is.

This obviously isn’t the first time people have taken pictures of the earth from above, and as Robert Harrison says in the BBC interview NASA have been doing this for years. I was also reminded of this art film of a hot air balloon ascent made by Yoko Ono in 1970. But these professionally produced documents only reinforce our viewing experience as simply that of a spectator. We have all used digital cameras, handled them, carried them with us, and have a thorough experience of using them. Putting one of these cameras several miles above the earth resulted in images that for me, were far more personal and affecting than anything I happened to find on the walls of that art gallery earlier in the day.

images via Saatchi Online and flickr