Thank you to @AmyLouiseGuest for sending me a link to @Londonist ’Campaign To Re-Open Crystal Palace Subway’
Read the full article here: http://tiny.cc/woyciw
Tessellation Appreciation
Regent’s Canal, Islington N1 (part 1)
According to the blurb, these mosaics made by the pupils at Hanover Primary School working with artists Carina Wyatt and Cathy Ludlow in partnership with Cally Arts and the Islington local2global project.
Why? To celebrate the diversity of people, past and present, in the Islington area. Slightly schmaltzy but nevertheless a fine example of mosaics as public art.
Camden Town
I grew up and was schooled in north London, so Camden Town played a big part of my adolescence during the 90’s. For many kids of my generation, grunge may have died along with Kurt Cobain, but Brit Pop gave us a new role model and hope for our future.
Back then only the rich kids had MTV, and there was no internet, but hanging out in Camden on a Saturday afternoon gave us all the popular culture we could handle. The slightest suggestion that Morrisey, Brett Anderson and Jarvis Cocker were a regulars in the Edinboro Castle was enough to keep us coming back week after week. And the on-going debate over who was better, Blur* or Oasis, can still get a thirty-something on their soap box today.
Dodgy noodles, bootleg cassette tapes, sterling silver nose studs and army surplus gear - these were the accessories that made us feel like maybe one day we might grow up to be Graham Coxon or Louise Wener. Or at least do something of note with our lives.
Nearly 15 years later I find myself back in Camden working for a PR agency just a stone’s throw from the tube station. If you’d have told me that back in 1994 I wouldn’t have believed you, or even have known what PR was.
I’m told that there was a fire in Camden Market in 2008, and so today the market has been rebuilt and regenerated for the new generation. The noodles are less dodgy now, the chains have moved in and Cyber Dog is no longer a pop up market stall in a railway arch, but that’s progress for you.
But wandering around the market at the weekend I was relieved to find that the soul, the spirit of Camden as I remember it (albeit through rose tinted glasses) is still alive and well. Joss sticks and feather boas are still selling like hot cakes and the people that work on the stalls are still experts at finding treasures from rare vinyl to vintage platformed shoes - and are only too pleased to share stories about the local area.
Tessellation might not be immediately obvious in the architecture of the area, but I wanted to post a blog about a part of London that has influenced me more than any other. Resisting the temptation to make a cheesy analogy about the rich mix of people who tessellate with each other, instead I leave you with a few images that sum up one of London’s greatest towns and the invitation to come and experience it in person.
*Blur are better, obviously.
Jennie Moncur at the ICA
As you head to the upstairs area at the ICA you are greeted with an impressive laser cut linoleum floor. The curatorial comment explains it’s by British tapestry artist, Jennie Moncur.
Inspired by the tapestries of the Loire castles in France, Moncur uses bold compositions and geometric shapes to create an eye catching design to lead visitors to the first floor galleries.
The flooring was originally installed in 1987 to celebrate the ICA’s fortieth anniversary. In 2008 Moncur was invited back to reinstate her original design to mark their sixtieth anniversary as the original work has been worn away by human traffic.
A delightful slideshow of her ICA flooring and plans can be viewed on Moncur’s website here.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery does what it says on tin. But what a fascinating look through history, from the classic portrature of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I right up to the well known portrait of Blur by Julian Opie.
The BP Portrait exhibition finished last month but there is a Lucien Freud retrospective in February 2012 - well worth a visit I’m sure.
And to prove that the NPG are moving with the times they have a free iPhone app to download so you can listen to cometary as you walk around. It even includes a map. Clever.
You’re not allowed to take photos in the NPG, even out in the corridors and stairwells where I surreptitiously snapped these tiled mosaic floors right before I was told off by the gallery assistant. BadVic.
I found little or no information about these beauties, which to be fair haven’t really come out that well on my camera phone. But worth a mention nevertheless simply because I feel gorilla about the whole thing. After all, isn’t art about breaking the rules?
Elephant and Castle
Exit the London Underground at Elephant and Castle and the maze of subway before you is decorated brightly with mosaics and murals.
A quick Wiki search reveals that the area in South London used to be called ‘Newington’ but as this is the most common place name in England locals began to refer to it as the Elephant and Castle after the pub that stood there. The earliest recorded reference to the new name of Elephant and Castle dates back to court records from 1765.
Dig a little deeper and it is claimed that it’s not in fact a castle at all, but a howdah, a sort of carriage that sits on the elephants back to carry people around, although to the untrained eye it would in fact look very much like an elephant with a castle on its back.
Sometimes referred to as the Piccadilly Circus of south London, today Elephant and Castle is in desperate need of regeneration. With plans for a cross-river tram scheme now abolished by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the projected date for completion in 2014 now seems like a pipedream.
So the initiative has been taken up by many of the Latino residents who moved to the area in the 1980s, together with a group of locals know as The Elephant Amenity Network, to build new shops, homes, a library, opens spaces and an English Academy to transform it into a “Latin American corridor”. Poder del pueblo!
Fun fact: Urban legend states that musician Aphex Twin lives underground in the middle of the Elephant and Castle roundabout. I really really want this to be true.
Open House Weekend
Last weekend saw the annual Open House London event encourage over 700 homes, schools, churches and municipal buildings throw their doors open to the public, and all for free.
Not wanting to stray too far I opted for some local history and culture in the locality of Clapton and Dalston.
First stop, the Round Chapel, where Powerscroft Road meets Lower Clapton Road. A beautiful round building, as the name suggests, now more commonly used for Zumba classes, but nevertheless, an amazing space.
Next up, St.Augustine’s Tower on Mare Street where you could climb to the top of the tower, look out across East London towards the City and the Olympic site, and even ring the church bell.
A ten minute walk to the west and we found ourselves at the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden on Dalston Lane. Probably most easily identifiable is the Hackney Peace Carnival Mural just outside. The garden offers a small green oasis made entirely from found items and by volunteers.
If you didn’t manage to make it to any great buildings this year, I urge you to check out some of your local, or more further afield buildings in Open House 2012. There is an iPhone app to help you locate your nearest points of interest, however many spaces are in fact open at various times throughout the year. Free fun for all the family.
