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What I did on my Holiday in London

Sunday, October 6th, 2013

Propaganda (now finished at British Library) – Very interesting and far broader than the topic might appear at first glance.  Probably my second favourite exhibition at the British Library after Maps.

Laura Knight Portraits (now finished in London but on Tour) – An interesting exhibition of Laura Knight’s portrait work that will be going on to Newcastle and Plymouth.

Kew Gardens – my first visit to Kew and got good weather.  Probably got round half of it in the day.  Really liked the use of succulents and cacti outdoors.  IncrEdibles festival using edible plants to form interesting borders was also really good.

Comedy Store Players (at the Comedy Store) – Andy Smart, Neil Mullarkey, Richard Vranch, Steve Steen, Josie Lawrence and Lee Simpson were on excellent form.  Oddly reminded me that for no apparent reason I think Steve Steen and Neil Pearson would make an interesting paring in something.

Serpentine Pavilion (Until 20th October) – Just struck me looking at the pictures I posted yesterday that it doesn’t have any bracing to keep the cubes form under load.  Then again its temporary and what sort of load would it have to support?

Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life (On till 20th October 2013) – An extremely comprehensive exhibition of Lowry’s work.  Put aside a good hour and a half for this if you like Lowry’s work.

London Symphony Orchestra  (at the Barbican) – Mitsuko Uchida and the LSO were very good.

Saloua Raouda Choucair (till 17th November at Tate Modern) – I went to this exhibition primarily to see her sculptures which were in a book I read as a teenager.  The sculptures didn’t disappoint but I can’t say her paintings did a lot for me – except her self portrait which is striking.

London Concertante (at St Martin in the Fields) – Another evening of classical music on a very different scale to the LSO.  Extremely effective use of humour between the pieces.  Cushion hire easily worth £1.  Funnily since I started following them on twitter I keep getting followed by classical music stations.

Pearls  (at the V&A until 19th January): a fascinating exhibition about everything to do with Pearl covering how they form, jewellery, artificial pearls, symbolism in art, fishing and more.  The only question it didn’t answer was – how much are they worth – but prices in the shop after possibly answered that a bit.

Much Ado About Nothing (at the Old Vic till 30th November) – I enjoyed this (I know the reviews haven’t been so good).  I didn’t find the move to the 1940s so bewildering or accepting Benedick played by Earl Jones as an elderly service man so difficult.  I do have to agree with the reviewers that while I understand the idea of having the actors speak it with their own accents it was sometimes hard to follow what was being said.

The Future is Here (at the Design Museum till 29th October) – If you’re interested in the revolution in computer controlled manufacturing from 3D printing, computer controlled lathes and computer controlled weaving this is well worth a visit.

Design Museum Collection: Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things (at the Design Museum till 4th January) – a real mix of objects from the Design Museum collection.  Reminded me about the obsession designers have with chairs (is it a Bauhaus thing?)

 

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