Telling Tales Exhibition

At

The Victoria and Albert Museum

After having a lecture on how to set up a blog we had to go the new exhibition “Telling Tales” at the Victoria and Albert Museum where we would get set 6 Questions to answer at the exhibition and then upload them onto our blog.

Telling Tales exhibition showcases furniture, lighting and ceramic designs in the spirit of story telling, here are the works by a new generation of international designers, notably from the Netherlands, many of whom are under 40!

Question No 1.

What is your immediate feeling on entering the gallery and seeing the works? Is the work compelling, repelling, beautiful, confusing, moving, inspiring, strange or familiar?

When arriving into the exhibition I did not know what to expect. However when I entered into the room I could hear magical birds tweeting away in the music I looked around and each piece of furniture was an amazing piece of work.

There was some very strange work and pieces of furniture but to me that made the exhibition, as with out them it could have been very dull just looking at beautiful pieces of art.

Some of the work was also very creepy which made it seem exciting, as it was something to talk about during and after the exhibition.

Question No 2.

Chose a piece of work from each section “The Forest Glade”, “The Enchanted Castle” and “Haven and Hell” and list the feelings and response that the work generated in you and why.

Heaven and Hell:

The piece of work that really caught my eye in this section of the exhibition was the Moleskin slippers. These are by Niels Van Elyke and Minan Van Der Lubbe both born in the Netherlands.

I found these slippers really interesting, and what garbed my attention was the caption below them.

“ Moles are caught as pets, but here their fur had been used to make luxurious slippers. The designers invite us to question our attitudes to fur. It is a contest material in both fashion and design- for some luxury material, for others a product of cruelty to animal. “

This really made me question the slippers. The first thoughts that where coming to my head when I saw this piece of work was-

-Shocking

-Evil

-Cruel

All these words that came to my head straight away related to Hell and showed the complete opposite to heaven I think the main reason for this is because the art work is showing a death, not a natural death but a cruel one as someone would have killed these moles to make the slippers.

The Enchanted Castle:

In this section the piece that caught my eye was "Robber Baron- Jewel Safe" by Job Smeets and Nyke Tynagel.

The words that first came to my mind when I saw this was

-Cheeky

-Polished

-Disguised

I thought this work was very clever the way the safe was disguised; this makes the piece very magical and secretive as no one would ever know that it is used for something. What I loved about it was the use of color and the shiny surface of the piece.

The clown had been painted beautifully and then varnished so you just wanted to touch it.

The Forest Glade:

In the last section of the exhibition I loved all the furniture, I really thought it all related to the title of this section but the piece that really stood out was “Petit Jardin” chair by Tord Boontye also born in the Netherlands.

Looking at this the first thing that came to my head was

-Elegant

-Delicate

-Precious

-Magical

All of these words really relate to the furniture as it’s so exquisite and looks so delicate I really think it relates to the forest glade as the laser cutting is so intricate and magical making it look like a wild jungle.

Question No 3.

Notice the display of the objects, their relationship to each other and their lighting. How might these evoke feelings of drama, interest and tension?

In the “Forest Glade’ there was magical music playing of birds singing and tweeting which made the section of the exhibition seem wild an =d untouched. To divide the furniture they used forest twigs and the lighting was done in spot light. On each piece of furniture a spot light would be shining showing shadows where needed and reflecting patterns around them making it look like natural lighting trying to get through all the tree branches above trying to create a real forest effect so everywhere else around the room was dark apart from the spot lights on the furniture.

“Enchanted Castle” had mirrors around the room making an elusion, as every object was shiny, sharp edged and clean. They all showed reflection and richness, the room was a lot darker but the spot lights on each object was very sharp, clear and brighter than in the “Forest Glade”.

The Music in the Room was upbeat. On one section of the room was classic wallpaper showing tradition and boldness. The layout of the room and furniture is set like a sitting room and the colors are all well thought out having the dark furniture in the center and the lighter on either sides.

“Heaven and Hell” this room was very different to the other two sections. The room was angled like a tunnel. Going into Hell the section had red light above head and the object had a white spotlight on them and everywhere else was black so you could only see the object making it seem very creepy as you don’t know what else is around.

Question No 4.

How might these inspire aspects of your table theatre?

What inspired and gave me ideas for my table theatre from looking at this exhibition was the collection of pieces that where gathered together for each section and related to each title. This then gave me ideas on how to present my table theatre and what I could create with the collection. It also made me think about materials and colors as at the exhibition each category was made very clear, from the use of color to the use of material. For example in the Forest Glade section a lot of the furniture was made from woods relating it to the forests and woods.

Question No 5.

Take Notice of the title of the exhibition and choose to analyze and discuss under 300 words.

The title of the Exhibition ‘Telling Tales’ is a interesting title as its makes you question what the exhibition is about and what story it is going to be telling.

When I read further about the exhibition and found out it had three sections named ‘The Forest Glade’ ‘The Enchanted Castle’ and ‘Heaven and Hell’ I felt they connected to the title and made it clearer.

When I think of the title ‘Telling Tales’ to me I think tales means a short story, a enchanted story, for example Beatrice Potter, as to me I always knew Peter Rabbit as a short tale or Winny the Poo. So this then made me assume that the exhibition is made up of short exciting stories to be told. All of these stories are tales, made up of fantasies that got children like me excited and gripped, which suggest that this exhibition could be full of gripping story’s that cannot be missed.

Question No 6.

Which designers or pieces particularly caught your imagination and / or inspires you?

Picture

‘Do you hear what I hear?’ by Kelly Mccllum was defiantly my favorite piece out of the entire exhibition; it will be a piece that will not be forgotten in a long time.

The fox inspired me as I loved the gold shiny maggots coming out of the fox’s ears. I love the fact it has been taxi durmeed to look alive but actually it is very much dead not only because it is not moving but it has wiggly maggots coming out of its which suggests death as they are eating the fox’s insides. This is a real show of heaven and hell, which works well as, that’s the category the piece is showcased in.

I also love the fact the maggots are so shiny that they are gleaming in the bright spot light, they are also gold in color suggesting richness, heaven maybe yet they are eating something dead.

This has really inspired me as I think its so clever, to the use of color and the way the fox is positioned everything about it is a very clever piece of art.

Rough Guide Task

Research on the Area

The area I was allocated for the rough guide project was Dover Street Market, Bond Street and Piccadilly Circus. This is a wide area in Mayfair, however as it was so big to cover I stayed around Bond Street and Dover Street Market as I found this areas really interested me.

As you know Bond Street is a major street for luxury shopping in the West End, that runs through Mayfair, (as many people know from a Monopoly board it is a very expensive area). So the main attraction is the High end shopping all on one street and the culture there is to show, for example the Royal Academy which is just off Old Bond Street.

Bond Street has been a very fashionable shopping street since the 18th Century. What many people never actually realise it the name "Bond Street" does not actually exist as the southern section is known as Old Bond Street and the northern section is New Bond Street. However more people use the term "Bond Street" in there everyday language.

When walking down Bond Street it really is special as all the building are so beautiful. below is a picture I took on Old Bond Street. There is just so much detail in every building.

Bond Street in the past was best known for top are dealers and antique shops such as Sotherby's auction house which has been in Bond Street for over a hundred years. Many of these art dealers remain however most of the shops are now are now fashion boutiques including the leading high fashion design brands. There are also many upmarket jewellers such as Graffs, Cartier and the traditional Tiffany's pictured below, both of these stores are located on Old Bond Street

As a division from Old Bond Street and New Bond Street there is a comical statue by Lawrence Holofcencer of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt portrayed sitting on a park bench in casual conversation.


This area if a very expensive area, people who visit this area are Tourists who want to see traditional beautiful buildings. Many people also come for the luxury shopping and culture there is to show down Bond Street.

There are also a lot of offices. On New Bond Street Armani have their Press Office, and Conde Nast Magazine Company have a large office on Old Bond Street where Easy Living and Glamour Magazine are. The reason why there are so many offices around W1 is because the rent is so expensive so only the most successful company's and residents live around this area.

My Chosen Objects From this Area

For this task we had to go back to our areas we were researching and find 3 different objects listen below:

Found Object:
Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt causally sitting on a bench

Product/Object from a Shop/Boutique:
The Cartier Love Bracelet

Painting/Artwork from a Museum or Gallery
Dame Laura Knight, On the Cliff at Sotherby's Auction House

All of these objects are from areas on Bond Street.

My found Object:

Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt statue on a bench was my found object, even thought it is places in between Old and New Bond Street it really caught my eye. The life size statues made from bronze sitting on a wooden bench look so realistic and have a really comical pose to them.

The key words that come to mind when I look at the statue is:

Comical, relaxed, regal, captivating, realistic and thought provoking.

This Object really makes me think when I look at. Both Churchill and Roosavelts pose seems to natural and relaxed it really makes me wonder what they would have been talking about? They are both such iconic figures that seemed so lade back in such a diverse setting.

The Context of this statue makes this small space between Old and New Bond Street more exciting and interesting. As the poses of both the iconic figures are so relaxed I could see this statue being placed in a park near by but it would only suit being outside because of the wooden bench that is always found outside in parks and on pavements. it would seem very out of context if it was placed in a department store.

The Second Product I chose was the Cartier Love Bracelet.

When walking down Bond Street there is just so much to look at, however what caught my eye when walking past Cartier was the Gold Cartier Love Bracelet. This is a very simple gold band with screws around the band.

The Key Words that come to mind

Precious, meaningful, simple, stylish and sophisticated

What I love about this bracelet is that its such a simple design but has such Strong meaning. The fact that it is called a love bracelet and is from Cartier makes it so special and meaningful. The markings around the bracelet to my symbolise strong love, as screws are very Strong and do not loosen easily, so this is referring to love. It also being made from Gold a precious metal symbolises that is really is precious

The Context of this bracelet fitted in perfectly to this area, it was in a smart shop in a sophisticated area with spot lights shining on it on Old Bond Street. I could never see it on a market stall or a department store but maybe in many years to come it could be in a Gallery just for the simplicity of the bracelet that has a lot of meaning. The bracelet is meant to be very precious so would only be on show in high end stores and locations around London.

My Chosen Painting

As there are a few art dealers and auction houses on Bond Street I really enjoyed looking for a painting or sculpture to look talk about. The first place I wanted to go into Sotherby's. in this fabulous old building it stores some of the most moderns and some of the most classic art in England. So when I was looking around I wanted to look at the art that is about to go onto auction. This painting by Dame Laura Knight is just exquisite! It is called 'On the Cliff' and I cant stop looking at it. Its Oil on Canvas and is so eye catching. It is to go on auction at Sotherby's on December 17th. It could be sold for up to £350, 000 which is just outstanding!

The Keywords that come to mind when I look at this painting

Colourful, modern with period qualities, happy, relaxing, outstanding and beautiful

Looking at this painting 'On the Cliffs' depicts two girls seated at the cliff edge enjoying a late afternoon sun. it makes me think of memories of a summer day sitting outside on the grass or even on the beach, it just gives you such happy thoughts. i love the use of colours, makes it seem like a natural summers day. the way Dame Lauren Knight has painted this makes it seem so natural, the girls on the cliff look as if they are really enjoying the summers day and taking risks but sitting so close to the cliff's edge.

The Context of this painting is just perfect where it is, on a large white wall in a spacious room so everyone can enjoy the painting as much as i have. it would ruin it beauty if it was on a shop wall or in a department wall as it seem so special that it should be in someone house on show so everyone can look at it.