Research: London Day 3 - Old Spitalfields Market, Whitechapel Gallery, Nelly Duff and Camden Market
Street Art at Brick Lane
The third day started with a brisk walk down Brick Lane, the street art was inspirational as it protested (or encourage) social issues rampant in today's society. There were quite a few poking fun at particular world leaders, others critiquing dating sites and so on but I found I really enjoyed the satire of the pieces. They also dealt with current issues and I want my work to emulate that, to be relevant and deal with things that happen now. We then went to Old Spitalfields Market which was the actual bomb! I found a stall selling old letters, marriage settlements and postcards from people to people. This was an absolute goldmine for my project on relationships and though I want to look at more modern things, the past is still relevant. I couldn't buy all the things I wanted to there, but it did give me the idea to see if there are any auctions around home that may sell off old letters or postcards and if not to raid the local charity shops or hit up eBay.
Letters, Photos and Postcards obtain at Old Spitalfields Market
After the market, we went to Nelly Duff, an art shop/gallery that supports independent artists. I liked Nelly Duff a lot because the work has more of a Graphic Design feel than the Fine Art that we'd seen in the more traditional galleries. I also like that artists go and work there in workshops at the back of the store, it made the place feel very current and contemporary and lived in unlike the other galleries that are purely for show. The whole area felt very creative and artsy and turned out to be worth the walk, even though my feet were screaming bloody murder. Though I think I want to do more of an installation piece, it was exciting to see more design and typography based work as these are key areas of art that I am interested in and their Instagram aesthetic is absolute goals.
Nelly Duff Sign
some pieces shown at Nelly Duff
We then walked back down to the Whitechapel Gallery where I was keen to see the 'ISelf Collection: The Upset Bucket'. Though it was nice to see the work of Linder and Ai Wei Wei - two artists I have studied before, I didn't think much of the actual exhibition itself. To me, it didn't really explore the relationships I thought it was going (i.e. the artists own to themselves) but was more about recycling material and so on. Maybe I missed the point, but it made me a little disappointed. I did enjoy some collage pieces by Chantal Joffe about people, but it didn't seem all that relevant to my project.
A Marble Chair by Ai Weiwei
Feeling a little dejected we left Whitechapel and headed to Camden Market where we had the most amazing, morale-boosting Dutch Pancakes, honestly thought I was going to die they were so good, I would highly recommend. We then explored Camden, taking inspiration from the quirky stalls and the street art surrounding. I also loved the architecture, a lot of the buildings are interconnected in a kind of maze like structure all nooks and crannies filled with stalls. I really enjoyed being in a such a creative and busy place and the food was delicious. Though we didn't see any galleries in Camden, just being in such an arty place was inspiration enough and I felt very excited about being there.
Camden Market Entrance
We then went back to the hostel to regroup and celebrate our last night by putting our feet up and relaxing. I really enjoyed the trip and it definitely provided a lot of inspiration and got me thinking about my project and the presentation of a final outcome, though I don't know exactly what that is at this point in time.