1 boat, 2 trains, 4 tubes = 2 galleries & 1 museum visit

due to engineering works on both the railway and underground lines, and road and water works on the bus routes, what should have been a reasonably straight forward visit to the Capital to make notes and see a variety of art for our Curation essay, turned into a mini military exercise!

Visited the Van Doesburg and the Avant-garde exhibition at the Tate Modern (going on a Sunday Morning is a much more pleasant experience..much less crowded). Discovered a new fascination of De Stijl (not too sure about their manifesto but appreciate the work itself), and the similarities between this art movement and my current work was clear. However, the main point of this visit was to observe the curation of the exhibition more closely.

Laid out chronologically, we see Van Doesburg's work span from his early work, through influences of Dada and Constructivism, into rooms containing other De Stijl artists (Mondrian, Huszar...), through influences of Dada and Constructivism, and rooms showing interdisciplinary aspects of the movement and artists, including moving images and sound. It was in these rooms (called New Visions) that the curation worked very well. Each room had a central 'sculptural' element, constructed of the same materials used in the design and architecture pieces, and painted in the same primary colours used predominantly in the images that surrounded it. By using these materials, the colours, the method of construction and the same layout in a selection of rooms, echo's the repetition, order and mathematical control of the work on display. An enjoyable exhibition which I'm glad I saw (those of you who haven't yet been only have a few more days to get there to see it.

Whilst at Tate Modern, we popped down to see Michael Rakowitz's 'Strike the Empire Back', and interestingly small exhibition which highlighted some bizarre links to the Western blockbuster 'Star Wars' film series and Saddam Hussein's regime. The most bizarre elements being the samurai, WWI helmet and gas mask, Darth Vader mask and Fedayeen helmet display...all eerily similar!! the largest room contained a replica of the Baghdad crossed swords 'Victory Arch', constructed to resemble 'light -sabres' (the Empire Strikes Back poster is hung behind this, suggesting the continued influence the film may have had on the regime), with a video installation of iraqi troops marching through the arch to the films iconic theme tune!...a truely bizarre exhibition in which one leaves feeling slightly unsettled and not fully knowing what is true, what is fantasy or what is propaganda - or maybe thats the point!?!