Walthamstow: E17 Art Trail

THE E17 Art Trail begins this Friday, September 2, running until Sunday September 11.
Featuring more than 300 exhibits at 160 venues across Walthamstow, organisers are promising this year's event will be the biggest and best yet.
Highlights include the Walthamstow International Film Festival and the first ever Walthamstow Poetry Trail.
The film festival features 145 short films across five venues, with a variety of wacky screens including a giant mock iPhone mobile and a huge retro-style television.

For more information go to http://www.e17arttrail.co.uk/

Film Review: From Prada to Nada

We watched From Prada to Nada on a recent trip to Cyprus although I think it was probably out in the UK a while back.

'From Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility' read the opening credits, ‘A long way from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility’ might’ve been more honest, like the Jane Austen novel the film has two sisters, one of whom is sensible (reads books) while the other is more flighty (likes to shop); but Jane Austen also had a feminist slant, the sisters weren’t allowed to inherit their father’s estate because they were women, whereas here they just become poor. And of course the sisters in Jane Austen were unable to find men because of the strictures and conventions of 18th-century society, whereas here Nora (the sensible one) has a rich, handsome, totally eligible lawyer declare his love for her at the end of Act 2, only to reject him because she wants to save her energy for her career (as a lawyer) and Mary, the spoiled-brat sister, defines herself thus: “My iPod is full, I don’t wake up before 10, and no habla espanol!”.
All that changes when beloved Daddy keels over on his 55th birthday, revealing a hitherto-unknown half-brother and a precarious financial situation. In a word, Daddy’s bankrupt, meaning Nora and Mary have no inheritance, the half-brother and his bitchy wife get the house, and the girls have to move from Beverly Hills to the wilds of East L.A. “No more shopping!” wails Mary; “No high-protein diet!”. The barrio is a whole other world, with its colourful murals and signs in Spanish, but their auntie, who agrees to take them in (because family is “what counts”), tries to reassure her: “Not everything that stinks is caca,” she opines.

The film then runs out of steam. It only takes a few scenes for the girls to adapt to their new environment, there’s not much to adapt to, except chicken-soup for dinner and a bunch of illegal immigrants sewing clothes in the living-room – and a few more scenes before they’re salsa-dancing and downing tequila shots at the big family party. The film could’ve ended right there, but of course we still have half an hour of romantic entanglements, Nora realising she maybe shouldn’t have turned down that rich handsome lawyer (duh!), Mary having to choose between the clean-cut poshy and the stubbled neighbour who fixes her car. One of these men turns out to be a cad, the other teaches neighbourhood kids how to paint murals. Can you guess which is which?

So it goes. Nora proves her brilliance as a legal mind by winning a case for some cleaning ladies she meets on the bus and Mary actuallygoes to work. Nora calls Mary a whore, Mary calls Nora a spinster, but they kiss and make up of course. From Prada to Nada is a harmless movie, even amusing at times and its unlikely to offend anyone. Except possibly Jane Austen.

Insight with Kamin Mohammadi: Rediscovering Iran - Frontline Club

Kamin Mohammadi fled Iran aged 9 in 1979, at the time of the revolution.  She didn't return for 17 years, despite having an extended family remaining in the country.  This talk and her book, the Cypress Tree (http://www.bloomsbury.com/Cypress-Tree/Kamin-Mohammadi/books/details/9780747591528) are about her gradual reconciliation with and appreciation of her country of heritage.  Told through the medium of a personal history covering three generations of her family, Kamin explores what the revolution and her subsequent exile meant to her, and reflects on the process of getting comfortable, after many years of denial and rejection, with her Iranian identity.  Her description of her rage, shame and anger as a teenager were particularly resonant and compelling for me.  I agreed wholeheartedly when in a conversation at the end of the event about reconciliation with home country she said, "it feels so good, doesn't it?".

The Frontline Club deserves a mention all of its own.  This wonderful NGO upholding freedom of expression and excellence in independent journalism invariably puts on a fascinating schedule of events in comfortable and stylish surroundings - see http://www.frontlineclub.com/events/.  Anyone can go.

SB

Salt of Life (Italy)

Dir:  Gianni di Gregorio
Italian with English sub-titles

Barbican Cinema 15 August 2011

Nothing much happened in this meandering but rather charming film about a middle-aged Italian, Gianni, forced into early retirement and surrounded by active, assertive women - his working wife, his casually self-centred daughter, his lively, vivacious but completely barmy 96 year old mother, his gorgeous downstairs neighbour, and a whole slew of attractive women who inadvertently flaunt themselves before him.   Gently amusing in many ways, the film showed Rome off to great effect - its beauty and vitality, its gardens and mature trees casting a lovely shade in the glowing Mediterranean climate.   Gianni's patience and forbearance in dealing with all the demands on him, reasonable, unreasonable and totally outrageous (like a summons from his mother to drive across Rome in order to push in the slightly loose plug of her TV aerial!) raised both a smile and an eyebrow.  

All the characters had the same names as the actors playing them, including Gianni.  Director Gianni di Gregorio made sure he got exactly the performance he wanted by casting himself in the lead role!  

A pleasant enough way to while away a couple of hours, especially in the company of good friends.  But....and there is a but....not quite enough happened to sustain interest throughout.

SB

Keith Rand - Original Form, Canary Wharf

Keith Rand's sculpture is inspired by the natural world, Original Form was conceived and made specifically for Canary Wharf as part of the Millennium exhibition Shape of the Century.

Horrible Bosses

Three friends with horrible bosses decide to murder them (like you do). The film is not laugh out loud funny, indeed the humour is moronic at times and crude, lewd and vulgar which is probably why it has done so well at the box office, give the people what they want and all that!

All the actors put in good performances, the three budies (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis), the three bosses (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey) and a 'murder consultant' (Jamie Foxx) called Dean 'Motherfucker' Jones, nickname earnt when he stole from his mother. Apparently in the original script he was going to be 'Cocksucker' Jones but the actor argued that this was too much.

Screen 17 - Walthamstow Pop-Up Cinema

Waltham Forest has a new, regular cinema based in Walthamstow showing films twice a month and a kids club as well. Email link below but beware, it has a music track which becomes very annoying after a while so you may wish to mute your sound.

http://www.screen17.co.uk/

Do Vassilakis-konig - Sasso Cosmico, Canary Wharf

Sasso Cosmico means 'Cosmic Stone' in Italian and the reflective surface captures the surrounding planting, foliage, architecture, sky, clouds, weather and changing seasons especially on a lovely bright day such as when these photo's were taken.

Late Night Prom 4 August 2011

Officium defunctorum (Requiem 1603-5) and other works
Victoria

The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips
Having joined an early music chamber choir in the last year, I couldn't resist the opportunity to hear the Tallis Scholars perform the music of Renaissance polyphonist, Tomas Luis de Victoria, who died 400 years ago this year, especially as the outing also included dinner and socialising beforehand with friends from my new choir.  Given the strong possibility that we may perform the Victoria Requiem ourselves next year, we felt we should go at least in the interests of research.

The great cavernous space of the Royal Albert Hall is challenging to say the least for a capella performance, and having been disappointed in the past in seats that were simply too far from the stage to allow the listener to hear at a good enough volume, let alone to truly engage with the performance, I made sure that we got stalls seats as close as possible to the stage.  It was certainly the right decision, as the performance at that distance was wonderful. The music, simple and sonorous, yet complex and emotional, calms and energises, and the Funeral Motet sung towards the end of the work and dedicated on this occasion to the Norwegian nation following the terrible events there just a few days before, was very moving.

This review wouldn't be complete without a mention of the Lamentations for Good Friday sung earlier in the evening, also by Victoria.  Having sung some of the Lassus Lamentations quite recently I enjoyed this performance of these settings by Victoria tremendously.  The intensity and beauty of their despair matched those of Lassus, whose works are quite extraordinary.  The alphabeticised openings of each verse, decorated and anticipatory, were particularly lovely.

Really hoping to be singing Victoria in the near future.

SB

Lawson Oyekan - Trial with Light, Canary Wharf

Like many of the artists whose work is on display at Canary Wharf Lawson Oyekan can be said to be a truely international artist having been born in South London, raised in Nigeria and having also lived and worked in Denmark. Four works are on display in the lobby of One Canada Square (the main tower), they are rough hewn terracotta vessels that Oyekan describes as reflecting emotional experiences in their surfaces.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A prequal to the original films Rise of the Planet of the Apes' basic storyline is that of a (good-guy) scientist with a father who is suffering from Alzhiemers, who discovers a drug with the potential for a cure. The drug is tested on apes but the experiment is abandoned when an ape becomes violent and all the apes are destroyed. The scientist then discovers a baby ape in the lab and realises the reason for the ape's violence was not the drug but because she had been pregnant at the time of being brought to the lab and was merely being protective of her youngster. The scientist decides to rear the baby ape at home and gives the drug to his father who makes great progress. However the baby ape, whom he names Caesar, as well as being remarkablely intelliegent grows into a large and extremely strong ape (as they do). It is decided that Caesar has to go and live at a facilty for apes who, as well as providing the apes to laboratories for experiments such as the Alzhiemers one, also has a psychotic guard who abuses the apes. This eventually leads to a rebellion led by Caesar who has realised that the drug has improved his cognitive powers no end and therefore procures more of the drug and gives it to the other apes. The rebellion makes for an action packed ending to the film, taking place on the Golden Gate bridge in San Franfrisco. However this is not quite the end of the film as after the credits start to roll the film goes on to explain how the apes came be in charge of the world in the original film so don't leave before the final credits have finished.

Like most good science fiction Rise of the Planet of the Apes reflects the concerns of society, whereas the original film, made in 1968, was made against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in America and was therefore heavily concerned with racial politics the current flm explores the arguments concerning experiments on animals. An good film that I would recommend although I'm not sure if I would call it enjoyable as there is an all-pervasive sadness to it throughout.

Igor Mitoraj - Centauro, Canary Wharf

Igor Mitoraj was born in East Germany of Polish parents and initially studied classical painting in Kracow before moving to Paris in 1968, he now divides his time between studios in France and Italy. He began experimenting with sculpture and embarked on a series of trips to Greece to study classical sculpture. Centauro shows the mythological beast the centaur ready for battle.

The Yard - Hackney Wick, E9

Hackney has a new temporary theatre, The Yard, open until the end of October. It will feature theatre, dance and opera and also has a bar/cafe.

The Yard, Unit 2, Queens Yard, White Post Lane E9 5EN

http://the-yard.co.uk/

Konstantin Grcic - Six Public Clocks; Canary Wharf series no.3

Grcic, a German designer based in Munich and better known for his furniture and product design, won a design competition with Six Public Clocks for the area between Canary wharf underground station and the main tower, a prime site seen by many thousands a day. The judges got this one right I think, the installation, based on the Swiss railway clock, fills the space well and has become an iconic Canary Wharf site. The clocks look great and are a little playful, each face has only one numeral although I couldn't work out on what basis each number was chosen (or excluded).

Supernormal Festival - August 19-21

Leytonstone artist & KC follower Joshua Raffell has advised of a festival that he will be taking part in next weekend in Oxfordshire (link below). The Supernormal festival is billed as 'an experimental, artist-led event, set in the magical looking-glass world of Braziers Park...a spectacle of cult live music, performance, discussion and cutting edge contemporary art' is promised.

It sounds like it should be alot of fun, get along if you can aand say hello to Josh.

http://www.supernormalfestival.co.uk/

http://joshuaraffell.blogspot.com/

JG Ballard - High-Rise

This weeks awful scenes in London and across the UK put me in mind of JG Ballard's novel High-Rise, for my money his finest work, and caused me to re-visit it (every cloud and all that). The story tells the story of the affluent tenants of a tower block who become hellbent on an orgy of destruction and, as the blurb puts it, 'society slips into a violent reverse as the inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, recreate a world ruled by the laws of the jungle'.

The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland

We've been wanting to visit the Alnwick Garden in Northumberland since it opened about 10 years ago.  We finally got our chance at the end of July, when a hurriedly rearranged holiday took us to County Durham.  Alnwick was only another hour and a half away and well worth it, too. 

The centrepiece is the Grand Cascade, a modern update on the idea of a tumbling fountain.  Curving sensuously, with changing jets spurting across an accessible walkway to the delighted shrieks of children and adults alike, the Cascade is as exciting close up, somehow thundering and cool at the same time, as it is at a distance.  

 Adjoining, the Serpent Garden contained many beautiful and interactive water features.  The faces of the visitors here universally reflected the delight that interaction with water seems to generate. 

The Tree House, the biggest in Europe, is a complex of fairy-tale construction, housing a cafe, restaurant and two rope bridges that the children and adults in our party gleefully bounced across.  The restaurant fittings were all made from wood, and the menu was delightful - good value and great quality.  

The locked Poison Garden, accessible only on a guided tour, was memorable and added a little frisson to our day, especially when we realised that we grow quite a few of the plants it features.... And of course the Ornamental Garden, with its mix of fruit, veg and flowers, gladdened my heart.

Lastly, as a new garden Alnwick was superbly laid out, with the needs of the disabled visitor firmly in mind.  Most parts of the garden, including the Treehouse, were fully accessible, and what's more, a motorised scooter was made available for free, enabling our whole family party to join in with most of the day's activities.  Thoughtful and lovely shelters, seats, nooks and crannies were provided throughout for resting, contemplating, waiting, and just taking in the lovely space.

The only fly in the ointment was that the new Vegetable Garden, Roots and Shoots, was closed on the day we visited.

A wonderful day most highly recommended.

SB

Giles Penny - Man with Arms Open

Wandering around the Canary Wharf estate in London I realised how much public art there is to see (some appeals more than others to be honest but hey! that's art isn't it). Therefore (drum roll please) this will be the second (the review of Five Symbolic Images by Christopher Le Brun on 4th August being the first) in the official 'Kunst Critique of Pure Reason' Canary Wharf series which will be rolled out (bit of corporate speak as befits the location) over the coming weeks or months.

Giles Penny's Man with Arms Open is a bronze figure with head thrown back and arms outstretched. I'm not sure if he is laughing or merely stretching or maybe looking to skywards in exasperation but I like this sculpture, I find it amusing trying to think of all the possible causes of his posture.

Warwick Castle

We made the trip from east London to Warwick as the actor who plays Merlin in the BBC series was apparently going to be appearing from 11am - 2pm. We arrived at 12.30pm but he had gone which was a bit of a let down for the kids. The castle is impressive, the orginal building was started in 1068 by William the Conquerer and was rebuilt in the reign of Henry II, but it was incredibly busy with so many stalls and events going on that it was hard to try to imagine the castle as it was in days gone by. The castle is privately owned as an entertainment venue, orginally bought by the Tussards group in 1978 but since then sold on a couple of times and the owners obviously have to make money but I felt that by trying to cram so much in they take something away from the experience. We went in a new exhibit, The Dragon Tower as it was to do with Merlin, but to be honest it wasn't worth the half an hour queuing as it was quite disapointing, just a dragon on a screen talking to us.

All in all Warwick castle is worth a visit but because it is so busy with people and clutter it lacks the atmosphere of some other historic places (although to be fair kids possibly enjoy it more which I guess is the point).

 

Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse, London...press night coming up on 9th August‏

Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie's life changed forever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away and sets sail in search of a new beginning.
Eugene O'Neill's epic Pulitzer Award-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman's longing to forget the dark secrets of her
 past and hope for salvation
Ruth Wilson's portrayal as Anna ranges from the hardened drinking prostitute in the bar scene to a woman struggling with her emotions when she begins to fall for stoker Matt played by Jude Law. The duo give sterling matched performances when Anna confesses her past as Matt wants to marry her. His passions  violence, distress and finally his love all make way for glittering performance all the more poignant  by Wilson's perfect depiction of the troubled Anna.

The minalmist set and storm scene are captured beautifully, our emotions are held throughout this wonderfully timed performance

Performances are currently sold out but 10 tickets are available each day at 10.30 although you may be lucky and get returns as I did.

Sue Catten

Alnwick Castle

Unusually we were all agreed on the destination for our day out in the Northeast, everyone voted for Alnwick but for different reasons. The adults wished to see the garden whereas the kids were interested in the castle. Alnwick Castle was built just after the Norman Conquest, is the second largest inhabited castle in England and is home to the Duke of Northumberland and his family. None of this was of particular interest to the children though, they wanted to visit because it appeared in the Harry Potter films. I am reliably informed that it was the setting for the broomstick flying lesson in the first film. The castle itself is impressive, in good condition and not too crowded with either people or temporary structures even after the increased interest that appearing as Hogwarts must have brought. An interesting feature of the castle is the battlements are surmounted by amazing carved figures which apparently date from around 1300. They were presumably erectred to fool attackers into thinking there were more people defending the castle than there really were.

Angel of the North

On a recent trip to the Northeast we managed to take in the Angel of the North, Anthony Gormley's huge steel sculpture located in Gateshead, England. It is, unsurprisingly, much more impresssive 'in the flesh' than looking at pictures of it; however it is at its most awe-inspiring at that moment when you get to the top of the hill on the A1 and first catch sight of it. It must be an especially welcoming sight to exiles returning to the Geordie nation.

 

Five Symbolic Images:Bronze and Plaster Sculptures by Christopher Le Brun - One Canada Square, Canary Wharf

Christopher Le Brun is known primarily as a painter and printmaker and he came to sculpture relatively late in his career. In the leaflet that accompanies this exhibition he says that the sculptures represent an inner journey but they are not explicit as to their meaning. I must admit that most of the works here are not really my sort of thing, scuptures of wings seem to recur alot; possibly I'm missing the symbolism because it isn't explicit enough but to paraphrase Morrisey it say's nothing to me about my life. The beauty of going to see art though is that you nearly always find something that you enjoy or that interests you even if the exhibition isn't really your thing and I did rather like 'Stand' a bronze and steel sculpture pictured below.

What's Cookin' 4th Leytonstone Festival Sunday Picnic

The Fabulous Penterators / The Hightown Crows / The Curst Sons /
Benjamin Folke Thomas Band / Simon James Onions / Graham Larbey &
The Escape Committee / Texas Tea / The Lucky Strikes / The Dog Roses

Henry Reynolds Gardens in Leytonstone, E11 was once again the venue for the annual What's Cookin' picnic, which forms part of the Letonstone Festival. It was a lovely afternoon and the music was of the usual high standard. Highlights included The Fabulous Penterators who topped the bill and rounded of the day with rock n roll that got the audience dancing. The Dog Roses who are becoming big WC favourites with their bluegrass, Texas Tea a deut from Brisbane, the female singer had a good country voice although I preferred their more uptempo songs to the slower ones and my personal favourites The Lucky Strikes who have lost their singer and gained a banjo and fiddle player since I last saw them at WC. They were good before but I have to say I think they have got better, the bassist who has taken on vocal duties is good and the banjo/bass have given the band a more rootsier sounds and the songs more depth.

The large crowd suggests that the WC picnic has progressed from an event attended by locals to one that
people travel to from miles around. With the announcement, reported in yesterday's blog, that WC will no longer be based at the North Star pub we can only hope that another venue will be found near by and that the 5th annual picnic takes place next year.

What's Cookin' leaves North Star

What's Cookin', the Americana music club, has left the North Star pub in Leytonstone, its base for the last year. Here is Ramblin Steve's mailout : OK, a bit of news. This week will see our last shows at the North Star. So catch us while ya can! ... And then thats it for What's Cookin' for the foreseeable future. We do hope to have have 'What's Kickin'...Vol.5' out around September, and I think we'll find somewhere nice to do a release show for that. And tell ya what, Vol.5 is an absolute solid gold cracker, yer gonna love it... Have a good summer everyone!

http://www.whatscookin.co.uk/wchome.html

John Hoyland 1934 - 2011

Some images by John Hoyland, one of the greats of British post war abstract painting, who has died aged 78.