I don't think I'd ever gone to a gallery, where I didn't understand what the exhibition was about but ended up spending time in there more than I expected. Isn't it usual for one to skim through uninterested objects? As much as I like seeing famous paintings studied in art history class, but at the end of the day, I do get sick of them sometimes. I mean seeing Picasso for the first time was an omg experience, but what different does it make when you've seen different paintings by Picasso but in a same style every time.

For me, the experience at White Cube Gallery at Bermondsey was something new. White Cube's hallway reminded me of some scientific fantasy movie especially with the use of parallel white fluorescent from the huge glass entrance through the end of the gallery. 

In the South Galleries II, an exhibition by Cerith Wryn Evans was in display. There were four sculptures in display. By sculpture, I meant white neon lights in organic shapes suspended from the ceiling. The exhibition felt empty with the gallery's spacial architecture comparing to the size of these circuits scattered in the distance. However, I felt this strange intimacy between myself and the art pieces because everything else was so empty, therefore, I could focus on the unidentified forms of light. The abstract nature of this exhibition made me even more curious of what it was that the artist was trying to communicate, and also I was trying to create my own interpretation while walking around each sculpture.

Strangely enough, there were three plants in the pot scattered around the gallery as well. The pots were placed on the platforms that actually spin around very slowly. There was a juxtaposition between the organic objects (plants) and artificial organic forms (sculptures) which I found very intriguing as well as the artist's intention of movement by having the viewer doing the work by walking around the gallery in order to experience his work.

Besides Evans' work, in smaller galleries in White Cube, the work by Robert Irwin was being shown. His work was somewhat similar to Evans' but more minimal and perceptual. For this two columns of acrylic, he said, ‘you don’t think about whether it’s art or not art. It’s just about what you’re seeing or not seeing.’ Well, yes. A lot of people may argue what art is and what it isn't. For what was being exhibited in the White Cube; to me, it was just about the experience and how I interacted with the objects being displayed. Personally,  if the visual was striking enough or was unusual than what I saw in everyday life, then yes, the artist had accomplished what he or she had to bring to the creative table especially in nowadays culture, where everything is available for our eyes in an intense digitally. It is a demanding task to stay unique and be interesting at the same time. 

White shirt from COS, blue vest knitted by my mom, kaki pants from Uniqlo, boots from Louis Vuitton, satchel from Calvin Klein

Despite the long queue in front of the Saatchi Gallery, Chanel Mademoiselle Prive exhibition didn't impress me like the Louis Vuitton exhibition at the Strand back in October. I'd say the overall experience was somewhat similar to the LV, but with more separated sections. There were also workshops like embroidery available for anybody who booked the seats in the Mademoiselle application in prior. Unfortunately, everything was booked out so quickly, I didn't have a chance to try them out. 

What was unique about this exhibition was its application for smartphone. A Mademoiselle application designed to create an interaction between the exhibited surrounding/object and the audience. I didn't get a change to screenshot my iPhone screen because I was overly excited about the feature of this application. Basically, it required a wifi for location service to mark where we were at the exact location of the gallery so that the app could display a certain screen to us. For example, I saw Coco Chanel through the opening door in my screen instead of just a painting of  door in the below photo.

I'd say the overall experience was so-so, there was nothing I learned more from the brand except from the joy of getting freebies of a tote bag and an exhibition poster home. The part I enjoyed the most was probably the couture section, where patches from different couture collections were put into frames allowing the audience to see the amount of work behind each of the garment. It made me think that perhaps fashion is art too, somehow.  Nevertheless, having to wait in the winter cold was not something I wish to do again in the future. 

Royal Academy of Art presented Ai Wei Wei exhibition which had just ended recently. I went to this exhibition ages ago and was meant to update my blog before the show ended. Of course, I didn't. I'd been fairly busy with uni and such, but now that Christmas Break has started, you're going to be seeing a lot of new posts in your feed, whether you like it or not.

So, who is Ai Wei Wei? He doesn't physically do the art pieces by himself. It's questionable whether his work should be considered as art because a lot of them have some kind of political statements he wants to claim to the public and most importantly, the Chinese government. Let's say, Ai Wei Wei uses art as a medium to express his messages to a broader audience than just to his hometown population.

The exhibition was unexpectedly crowded. People were lining up outside of the academy to buy tickets. Even in the gallery, there were little room to walk through, so it was impossible to capture the pieces without including strangers' legs or heads. However, the number of spectacles didn't stop the communication between the work and myself. The pieces were made to inform what's been happening inside China through the perspective of the artist.

Bed

Ai Wei Wei used hardwood tieli, which commonly known to be used in framing building and furniture. In 1993, he purchased these woods from a temple since Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that was recently dismantled due to rapid development of cities. The piece is China in three-dimensional map that has been flattened out on a floor.  

Table with Two Legs on the Wall, 1997

Ai Wei Wei has obviously brought the forgotten objects into attention by changing the perspective of how the public would view them. For example, these traditional furnitures from Qing Dynasty are no longer desirable objects to a lot pf people. By obstructing the practical purpose of these objects and transforming them into something modern and aesthetically appealing, Ai Wei Wei has created art that people are able to enjoy and see the value in these neglected Chinese furnitures.

Straight (2008-12)

On May 12th, 2008, a powerful earthquake strutted Sichuan province in China. About 20 schools collapsed causing more than 5,000 casualties of Chinese students. Ai Wei Wei had this installation built as a memorial to the students who had died and also to the families' lost. Occupying the big gallery space, on the floor lies thousands and thousands of steel bars in different sizes in the wave manner. The steels were purchased by the artist from the remaining structure of the collapsed schools as a sentimental material. He is making a statement that these children should not be forgotten despite Chinese government's intention to forbid further information about this incident due to its initial fault in poor construction. 

Surrounding the steel installation up on the walls, are the lists of children who had died. Their gender and date of birth are also included. It was quite sentimental when I was looking through the names and imagine how hard it would be for the parents to lose their child in such a young age due to somebody's carelessness. At the same time, the lists fascinated me of how little our lives could mean to other people when there are so many names up on the wall and not every name would be read through by the spectacles.

This is a question Ai Wei Wei has raised about the authenticity of an object. He has been purchasing pottery from Qing Dynasty, which is known to be antique and expensive. Fakes are abundant in the market, while the sellers claim that they are real. By applying paint on the originals, the artist is making a statement, then what is the value of the original vast when they are tainted? Can they still be considered a high value historic vessels or are they just a tool for contemporary art?