Showing posts with label VandA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VandA. Show all posts

Friday, 3 December 2010

the bigger the better

This image has been a wallpaper on one of the mac's in the design studio since September and has always caught my eye. So I finally decided to look into the work of American photographer Greg Crewdson. His style and techniques are well known for being large scale and rather elaborate with most focusing on American small town suburbs and rural neighbourhoods. He brings the use of light into the equation due to his fascination of the 'poetic condition of twilight', which give a distinct signiture to his photography. Each image is a staged scene with actors on a large set, a crew and the use of lighting and other special effects like fake rain, smoke and dry ice, all affecting how you see the image.
His collection “Beneath the Roses” came together with work from over six years and was completed in 2008. The image below is of Massachusetts in Winter (obviously) and is hanging in the V&A photography gallery. It is needed to be seen, as this small image does not do it justice. With so much going on, details and aspects of the image can be easily missed. So well brought together, his techniques would prove to be powerful images for an advertising campaign.
You can clearly see from this small selection of his photography, that a lot of time and work goes into setting up the scenes. On a much less grand a scale is a small creeative project I brought together last month using a few Swansea Met Art and Design Students. Below you can see the effort that has gone into staging this image, that was a part of a small series that were meant to play a trick on the viewer. Let me know what you think!

Monday, 29 November 2010

Another London Visit

Just back from another magical yet hectic exhibition filled trip to London...
  • On the top of my list was the Design Museum. Quite happily flashed my student card to gain discount to the two exhibitions - top floor was the Plain Space exhibition - the work of 'The father of modern architectural minimalism' John Pawson and the middle floor was fashion illustration from over the centuries with Drawing Fasion. There were interviews and film clips but nothing took the attention away from the original illustrations. The collection displays some of the most 'remarkable fashion illustrations from the 20th and 21st centuries', so I spent a good while with my sketch book open sketching and scribbling down work by Karl Lagerfeld, Antonio Lopez and more recently Mats Gustafson (illustrated for Alexander McQueen in Vogue China, 2010).
  • My second port of call was the V&A. After standing outside in the cold for what seemed like forever - was dissapointed to find the fashion collection, that always deserves a walk through was closed. Also the photography room was only showing about 8 new images! It was still inspiring as it displays examples of different photographic techniques and saw work by British photographer Nick Veasy, who uses a camera less x-ray as an alternative form of fashion photography.
  • Last on my list was the The Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. It was showing the first exhibition in the UK of Philippe Parreno. Guiding you through the gallery space, it was a small collection of shorts films. One film titled June 8, 1968, (2009) recalled the transportation of assassinated senator Robert Kennedy's corpse from NYC to Washington D.C. It was so interesting I had to see it twice!

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum is not only the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, but is always on my to do list when I head to London.
Not that I have counted, but it boasts 145 galleries and with 12.5 acres of museum space attracting tourists who flock to see the massive collections of post-classical sculptures and South Asian art. The good thing about that is they never make it to the harder to find collection of photography. It is always changing and a great source of inspiration.
The fashion and textile gallery is always worth a look. Spent a while sketching a dress designed but the late Alexander McQueen, that took inspiration from a butterfly. They also have a collection on designer menswear, including now vintage suits from Paul Smith, Yves Saint Laurent and an original and eye catching Tommy Nutter! (Now he is one designer I would have liked to meet). Due to the variety of collection, the newly designed garden space, the grand eating space along with the V&A being a great source of inspiration, if you have yet to visit ... GO!!!