I’ve been away so long and neglected this ‘thing’ . I refuse to call it a blog. For one, I don’t like the word and secondly I relate blogs to having some sort of agenda. I don’t have any agenda, this is just a record of some stuff i’ve done. I suppose it is a journal of sorts, but as with my attempts to write in my diary last year, i’ve just been too lazy. I prefer using Twitter to let people know what i’m doing.
Anyway, with 2012 well under way, I thought i’d give this another crack of the whip. Letting you know what I think of things i’ve seen whether they be exhibitions, films, watching Lincoln City slump to another defeat, gigs, etc. For the last 18 months i’ve been enjoying walking round London following The Capital Ring route and i’m currently over half way through the longer London Loop. More of that later.
On Friday evening I caught the Postmodernism exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, taking advantage of their late opening, which I should do more often. I didn’t know what to expect aside from aspects of fashion, architecture, music etc from approximately 1970-1990. I was delighted and surprised in equal measure, and also a little fed up of teapots by the end of it.
The exhibition has now closed, and it took me long enough to get there. It opened with a look at architecture, and the work of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott. I wasn’t aware that he was responsible for the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery. Venturi formulated a style of architecture that moved away from the functionality of modernism and his works include a lot of ornamental and decorative design, which would become a defining characteristic of post modernist architecture.
A lot of the artists/architects/designers were new to me, such as Ettore Sottsass, who amongst other things designed a number of teapots, of which there were many examples on show (not all by Sottsass I hasten to add).
Whilst all was well and good about half way through the exhibition I was struck by a familiar sound from an adjoining room. I could hear Klaus Nomi singing ‘Lightning Strikes’, followed closely by Talking Heads’ ‘Girlfriend Is Better’ from Stop Making Sense. How absolutely majestic, two of my favourite artists. Hurrying through, I marvelled at the sight of Klaus Nomi’s tuxedo costume on show, with his Baroque era operatic outfit beside it.
This is Klaus, just weeks from death wearing said outfit performing ‘The Cold Song’. . Utterly beautiful.
I could barely contain myself with joy, and then turning round I could see David Byrne’s ‘big suit’ from Stop Making Sense. I wish it had been at eye level just to get a better sense of how ‘big’ it is, but I was too busy dancing to the clip of ‘Girlfriend is Better’.
For me, merely seeing these items of iconic stage wear justified the admission price. There followed some items from Factory Records, and Peter Saville’s wonderful design, as well as examples of post modernist record sleeves and contemporary magazines. Sadly, the exhibition shop didn’t stock any replica big suits or Nomi tuxedo costumes, but you can’t win them all.
