The Cornershop

Reason No. 3,467 to miss London: LUCY SPARROW

Where else do you have artists producing so many amazing contemporary works that you can't possibly see them all? Honestly, people -"Tired of London, tired of life".

Great Minds...

Yesterday after my swim, I braved the pouring rain, and headed to Chapters to return a book. On my little adventure I noticed a painting in one of the South Granville galleries that looked awfully familiar.

London's Best (and oldest) Pie 'n Mash Shop.

Yesterday, 'M' took me on an adventure to an authentic Pie 'n Mash shop in Bermondsey. After a little research, I found out, it wasn't just a random pie house. It's the oldest surviving eel and pie house in all of London. It is called M. Manze.

It was tasty comfort food. I didn't have the jellied eel, and neither did 'M'. I'd tried them before, so he let me off the hook. Phewf! As you'll see, the place hasn't changed in years, the customers are devoted, and the menu is basic. Do you want a pie, or do you want a pie with mash? There were no 'Mushy Peas' but I'm told that technically mushy peas belong with Fish 'n Chips, not pies. There was another foreign green substance to take their place (it is called 'Liquor'). 'M' says it's like a parsley gravy. I'll take his word for it. It was good. We washed it down with Sarsaparilla (also a first for me). The pies were delicious, but the atmosphere was priceless. It was definitely an experience to be had.

Bermondsey is a neat area of London. Here's a little look around the neighbourhood...

Check out these characters..

This shop was VERY 'Lovely'.

I dragged 'M' into the White Cube Gallery (slightly kicking and screaming...but I know he secretly liked it). 

This room was very cool. It looked like you were about to walk into three large panels of glass, but it was an illusion. Trippy. It took 'M' charging through them for me to be able to get anywhere close.

You can't tell, but these were hundreds of blue erasers, slowly whittled away (the bottom ones are tiny, and the top ones have not been touched). The eraser 'shavings' are filling up the frame along the bottom edge. We liked it.

I was loving the old and new (below).

On the way home we stopped off at Selfridges and grabbed some Jeans for 'M', and then headed to pick up some shirts that he had made at a Tailor near London Bridge (I'm a good personal shopper). He's a huge fan of this place. Champagne while you wait. Large leather chairs, and friendly unpretentious staff (ahem..unlike other more renowned areas of London).

Where was this guy when I spent the year lost in London?

Neat place hey?

I'm awarding 'M' top honours for terrific London adventures, as so far his batting average is pretty darn good.

After saying our goodbyes, I spent the evening quite mopey (again sad about leaving...I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing that, but I can't seem to shake this tightness in my chest, and tears so close to the surface every time I think about getting on a plane).

I did some work on my exhibition, made dinner, and then began to work on this post. It was at that point that a friend sent me THIS. Yes, we (Miriam, Daniela, and Me) made the final cut of Celebrity Master Chef. Apparently our episode aired last night (but I wouldn't know as I don't have a television!). If you watch it, NO, I don't remember saying any of that! The experience was fun, the food TERRIBLE, and gaaaad do I ever look like the living dead. Oh well, another silly story to add to this wonderful year.

sidenote: if your link doesn't work, it's because it will only show in the UK (suckers!..guess you can't watch it!)

The Hat Show.

Some of you may know, we are off for an adventure in Italy this week, so you can expect tales from our travels upon our return.

I wanted to share a small show I stumbled upon in Kensington last week.

These pieces (Hats) resulted from a collaboration with a Millner, an Art Therapist and some at risk youth from across London.

The children were asked to create a hat depicting a certain feeling, and these are their creations...

I found this a very interesting show, and was left questioning the extent to which the adults involved took part. Each hat was so carefully planned, and it was clear that the elements of design incorporated by the students were chosen intentionally to evoke specific emotions. Impressive results.

The Contested Spaces Show.

Last Saturday we had our Exhibition for our module, 'Critical Pedagogy of Contested Spaces'.

As promised I will show some of the work.

My partner Rose and I were interested in how people navigate space, and protect their personal space in public places. We focused on the unspoken etiquette (Western) of personal space, subtly shedding light on this engrained knowledge using the format of a station poster. We brought the posters into the gallery, and added public seating for people to use. By recreating a public space in the gallery space, we hoped people would question their actions, while giving them the opportunity to physically navigate such a space. The video on the wall shows footage of our posters (being ignored) in Waterloo Station.

My apologies for the quality of the next two photos, but I wanted to show you all four posters.

   

Below are the works of some of our classmates. The pictures will only give you a small idea as to what the work is about. In order to truly understand the pieces, you really needed to see them in person, watch the films, and read the artist statements. As many of the works focus on the process over the product, what you can see in front of you is really not the most important aspect of the work undertaken by the artist.

And here are a few pieces from the Revisiting Practice Module (exhibiting at the same time)...