What on earth can I give my lovely dad on Father’s Day?
With two weeks to go why not choose food? There’s time enough to order and receive a pie or two from Adams & Harlow.
An interesting variety of pies with unusual ingredients to choose from we rather liked the sound of the pie with seasoned pork and a layer of Lincolnshire Poacher cheese through the middle, topped with sweet roasted baby onions. It looks very tasty. We were rather taken with the named pies with pastry lettering.
You might even be interested in the hamper entitled The Way To A Man’s Heart… £35.00, consisting of the following;
- 2 x 1lb Traditional Pork Pies (Serves 2-3) The most extraordinary of all pork pies.
- 1 x 1lb Huntsman Pork Pie (Serves 2-3) A jellyless pie, layered seasoned pork meat and tender chicken breast topped with a classic sage & onion stuffing.
- 1 x 1lb Poachers Pork Pie Seasoned pork with a layer of Lincolnshire Poacher cheese through the middle, topped with sweet roasted baby onions.
- Sloe Gin Chutney (220g)
- 2008 Berrys’ Good Ordinary Claret (75cl)
Where to buy: The Father’s Day Pork Pies will be available from www.britishfinefoods.com & Fortnum and Mason. The full range of pies and where to buy on www.adamsandharlow.co.uk
Another suggestion: Take your dad to a Fyne’s restaurant for some super fish dishes. We’ve eaten twice here and both times loved the menu offering interesting and tasty dishes. The presentation is always excellent.
Loch Fyne smoked salmon fishcake served with baby roasted vegetables
Their menu is seasonal and for Father’s Day a Specials Menu has been carefully put together. Could be brunch, lunch or dinner. Dining after 6? Then you will receive a complimentary glass of prosecco or a bottle of Old Golden Hen beer.
The specials on offer include the Fisherman’s Plate starter, a feasty combination of potted and peppered Scottish mackerel, classic Loch Fyne smoked salmon with capers, Brandan Rost fillet, Kinglas fillet sashimi style, rollmop and Madeira-marinated North Sea herrings with crusty brown bread.
Mains include a half lobster tail with chargrilled octopus and clams and, for those unable to decide between the delicious meat and fish dishes, there is a Father’s Day Surf & Turf option, tender sirloin steak with a half Canadian lobster tail served with bernaise sauce and french fries.
There are some mouthwatering desserts, or a luxurious cheese choice served with a dram of Glenfiddich whisky.
If your dad isn’t a fish lover there is an a la carte menu that includes a large selection of meat, poultry and vegetarian dishes.
To find out more information or to make your reservation visit:http://www.lochfyne-restaurants.com/
However if pies and restaurants are not your thing, why not make him a really luscious strawberry dessert.
Sweet Eve is a new variety promising a sweet full flavoured berry. This impressive Strawberry Victoria Sponge is easy to make, so great for kids to prepare ahead for Father’s Day, with a little help from Mum. Serve Dad up a mighty, manly slice.
There are more recipes to choose from, have a look at http://www.sweetevestrawberry.co.uk/recipes/serving-ideas.html We were impressed!
Whatever you choose for your dad I’ll bet he’ll love it! It’s good for you both to make him feel special.
Lucy Trengar Guest Food writer
A Fantastic Overnight Stay – Cumbrian Hospitality
thIt’s not often an overnight stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast is anywhere near as comfortable or pleasant as being at home.
The offending sugar bowl at a five star hotel
All too often beds are uncomfortable, or the bathroom has mould in the grouting, or the carpets need a real clean in the corners, or the windows rattle, or worse they don’t open. Or there are just not enough towels, or the heating won’t turn down, or the air conditioning needs attention – too noisy! The breakfast is fine but the seats are uncomfortable, or the cutlery needs a polish, or there are fingermarks on the sugar bowl plus a ring of coffee on the base – that happened in a five star hotel in Birmingham. I passed a photograph to the manager. He promised to post it on the staff noticeboard! Which all reflected badly on the establishment which was a shame because the eggs benedict was scrumptious.
As you probably gather I have stayed overnight a lot as a travel writer in mostly top quality hotels in many different countries and I am so pleased to say we were very impressed with our night’s stay at Swanson House in Brough, Cumbria. Booked without recommendation or from a list of where to stay, just a search on the web for somewhere to stay in the nearest town to where we had a meeting.
We found the room welcoming, the beds comfortable, the decor pleasing, the en suite a good comfortable size and beautifully clean. In fact everything was clean and appealing, not in the least pretentious. The complimentary beverages were high quality. Fresh ground coffee in a well sealed container, crockery was clean and shiny as was the cutlery. There was a sitting room next door we could use with complimentary fresh baked cake to sample and for those who wanted to, there was a microwave to heat up anything required.
After a good night’s sleep – the room was at the back of the building, away from traffic and street noise – we went down for our breakfast. We can’t face a full English first thing in the morning and we had requested a continental breakfast. It was just right. Not too much, not too little. Appetisingly presented, great to taste, the table laid out with crisp white tablecloths, sparkling cutlery, glass and crockery, fresh coffee, beautiful curled butter pats, prepared fresh fruit in bite sized pieces. The effort Pat Jones, the owner, put into presentation made it a memorable breakfast and how many times have I ever written that? I think this is the first!
The picture was taken from Brough Castle, courtesy of The Westmorland Gazette.
Before becoming a consummate cook and most welcoming host, Pat was sub-Postmistress. She ran Brough Post Office with her husband Philip for many years before it was closed in the Government programme of closure about 5 years ago despite tremendous resistance from the local community. A protest march was held, a local resident dressed as Queen Victoria, and told the crowd of her displeasure at the proposed closedown. Then around 130 local residents gathered to show the strength of feeling in the community by spelling out their plea to save their village post office. All to no avail sadly.
Pat and Philip decided to renovate and convert the Post Office into a restaurant with bed and breakfast and continue living there. Swanson House is now a popular restaurant for locals and tourists alike.
Rural business is having a hard time economically and Swanson House is an outstanding example of triumph over adversity, it was ‘Good Taste’ winner in the Upper Eden Business Awards 2012 and 2013 runner-up.
So the killer question: Would we go again? The answer? A resounding yes, and yes again!
Swanson House restaurant
Next time we will be sure we allow enough time to sample the mouthwatering menu. And be sure to book in advance, giving details of our choice from the menu. This is Pat’s way of making quite sure your meal will be cooked to perfection using the highest quality local fresh produce, a hallmark of your visit to Swanson House.
The wine list was attractive too … Ooh, can’t wait to go again!
Val Reynolds Editor
Art Exhibition Confronts Fashion For High Heels
A humorous exhibition of kitsch ‘unwearable shoes’ by award-winning artist Anne Tilby entitled ‘Tortured Soles’ will open to the public on Wednesday 15th May in the heart of London’s Soho, and aims to subtly confront women’s fashion choices in wearing high-heels, given the potential health issues this can cause to their feet in the future.
The free pop-up exhibition will run for three weeks at 23A Frith Street, Soho, London W1 until 7th June 2013, and then goes on tour around the UK. The exhibition features over thirty kitsch handmade women’s ‘unwearable shoes’ and ‘shoe art’ created by Tilby, together with lush prints, an animated slide show of associated and philosophical issues, and fun workshops.
While the shoes are stunning works of art in their own right, http://www.bigfrieze.com/portfolio-item/tortured-soles/ the exhibition aims to confront the real health damage high-heels can cause to women’s feet in the long-term, and is designed to inspire women to reflect on their fashion choices. In the US and UK over 80% of foot surgery is performed on women, often as a result of their long-term choice of footwear and Tilby hopes the exhibition will provoke discussion and debate around the issue.
The ‘Tortured Soles unwearable shoes’ range from the sublime to the surreal and have been created in a wide variety of unexpected materials such as nails, seashells, twigs, metal, paper, peanuts and even one from cow dung entitled Shit Shu!
There are shoes with legs, shoes wearing rollerskates and even a shoe ‘couple’ kissing! Tilby has a particular talent for creating kitsch recycled chandeliers, so there is even a ‘shoe chandelier’!
Some of the design is so appealing, it is highly likely Tilby will be inundated for commissions for real shoes like those she has created and for other commissions for her art and design. In fact Tilby is currently designing a ‘fried egg flipflop’, which she hopes will be ready for the launch next week.
Tilby has a long history of creating stunning modern art and pushing boundaries with humour.
This is the second time she has used bodyparts as inspiration for her work, having previously created the cheeky ‘Twin Cheeks’, a surreal range of painted ‘bottoms’ which were depicted variously as plum puddings, landscapes, and Minnie Mouse, for example. These too can be seen on her website www.bigfrieze.com under her portfolio.
Celebrity Julian Clary, who has been a client of Tilby for many years, and for whom she produced a giant motorized glitter shoe for one of his shows, says of her:
“You have to learn to go with the flow with Tilby. Her imagination can suddenly take a turn for the surreal, and if you can’t hitch a ride at a moment’s notice, you might miss out!
Other well known clients have included the Royal Opera House, Spitting Image, Father Ted and Ken Russell, plus significant private and corporate commissions and Tilby has worked nationally and internationally.
Tilby also runs Trash Factory which offers workshops for adults and children to turn everyday recycled materials into stunning and useable pieces of art, furniture and fashion – such as hand decorated chairs, recycled chandeliers, waste-paper baskets made from waste paper (!), hats, edible fashion and jewellery. Customised workshops can be arranged.
For further information on Anne Tilby’s art, the Tortured Soles exhibition or Trash Factory please visit Tilby’s website at www.bigfrieze.com
Tortured Soles will also be on tour around the UK at the following locations throughout 2013:
Hatfield Galleria Shopping Centre
Birmingham Theatre
Lythe in Scotland
BookArt Bookshop in Hoxton London N1
Bad Behavour, Brixton
Other locations and dates for 2013/2014 will follow and full details for all exhibitions will be posted on Tilby’s website.
This article has been reproduced from Stylezza, www.stylezza.com
Would you like publicity for your work? Get in touch to talk about your ideas.
Val Reynolds, Editor
Facelift Gone Wrong? Bodged Botox? Lumpy Liposuction?
Should I tell her? Part of the frieze round The Meeting at St Pancras
I would guess most women have thought about having a beauty enhancementat some time in their lives. Certainly when my throat started to look a bit turkey like it occurred to me. But the idea of something going wrong has kept me from venturing into that land of uncertainty.
However, with people like Katherine Whitehorn advocating it and most celebrities looking unnaturally young, I do occasionally yearn to join them.
Then there are the naysayers – it will make you look stretched, your mouth will look odd, your eyes will go awry, all kinds of warnings. Did you watch Last Chance Salon? The unbearable results of procedures that went wrong are miraculously righted by experts in the field.
A second series is in the making and the search for suitable disastrous case studies is on.
Have you had disastrous plastic surgery or a beauty treatment you need help fixing for free? Maverick TV are making “Last Chance Salon” with world renowned experts in beauty for the face, hair or body and we can help you put it right. Has your plastic surgery left you physically and emotionally scarred? Do you have a terrible trout pout or bodged botox? Or did a trip to the hairdressers leave you with the hairstyle from hell? Maybe it’s a DIY beauty fix which has left you unhappy and wishing you’d gone to the professionals? Our world renowned cosmetic surgeon, award winning hairdresser and skin doctor to the stars are waiting to hear from you. This is one beauty appointment you can’t afford to miss.
Email a.keeler@mavericktv.co.uk or call 0121 224 8439 for a confidential and no obligation informal chat.
Val Reynolds, Editor
Food, Glorious Food!
I am often invited to press events featuring new food lines. The most recent was the M&S Delicious and Nutritious introduction.
Persian Duck with Basmati Rice, roasted butternut, spinach with pomegranate dressing. £4.49 (350g). One of a range of eleven to choose from, this is the one that hit my tastebuds. Stunning!
Then Mini Macaroons – six flavours: pistachio, lemon, raspberry, vanilla, strawberry and passion fruit. 12 in a packet £1.50 144g – really great flavours, very very moreish!
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And this, the Summer Fruit Tart, that really ticked all the boxes. The most delicious tart I have ever come across. Crisp all butter pastry, filled with lemon and vanilla custard, topped with a summer fruit compote. A really piquant fruit mix, I detected cherry, raspberry … at £4.99, 530g. It deserves a drum roll! I will be looking for this every visit to my local M&S!
I was specially impressed with one of their ales, Citra IPA Ale. It was light, flavoursome and satisfyingly alcoholic without being heavy.
As you can imagine there was a lot more to try – you can see more on their website. Some are ideal as picnic food, or sitting out in the sun in the garden. Do give them a try … we can’t rate them highly enough!
Val Reynolds, Editor
Now that Spring is Here … Time to get out and about!
Now that Spring is here … and with the hope that Summer will follow, time to cast off winter clobber and take advantage of the open air cultural events that are on offer this time of year.
There are a plethora of offerings around London for the next few months, and not just the usual favourites such as Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and The Globe. But that’s not to say that they should be ignored; the programme for the former has been out for a while now, and this year they are kicking off the season with an adaptation of the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird. During the hot (maybe!) summer months they’re putting on The Sound Of Music, which I’m sure will pull in the crowds.
Shakespeare’s Globe is, as usual, concentrating on works by the bard and this year is offering The Tempest, Macbeth and that perennial favourite for outdoor performance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There’s also a smattering of modern plays to increase variety at this most interesting of theatres where you can still stand as a groundling for very little cost and often be part of the action.
But don’t forget that London is now home to a number of summer festivals where sometimes the events are free and rarely cost a fortune.
There are four in particular really worth mentioning. First up is the London Festival of Architecture that happens in June – I’ve frequently gone along to their offerings which in the main are geared to non-professionals and which give eye-opening views on all aspects of architecture and related subjects. It really is very varied; last year I particularly enjoyed going to a number of the recently refurbished Cameron Mackintosh theatres in the West End one Saturday morning.
Then there are two music festivals I’d like to mention both of which also run non-music related events. The Spitalfields Festival centres on the market area and beyond and a number of the concerts are held in its beautiful churches.
And The City Of London Festival also avails itself of its churches and guildhalls within the square mile, not to mention venturing further afield to Canada Square in the centre of Docklands.
Finally, the area around City Hall is home to the More London festival, with the Scoop amphitheatre (right next to the London Assembly’s building) hosting all sorts of events, most of which are free.
If I’ve whetted your appetite, then the links below will give you a lot more information. Summers come and go, some shorter than others, some wetter than others, but come rain or shine you’re never short of a cultural treat in London!
http://www.morelondon.com/events.asp
http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/
http://www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk/whats-on/summer-festival-2013/
Jeannette Nelson, Arts Correspondent
A bit of a culture vulture, Jeannette enjoys art exhibitions, cinema and classical music, but her main interest is the theatre. For several years she ran theatre discussion groups for which her MA in Modern Drama together with teaching skills stood her in good stead. She prefers to concentrate on the many off West End and fringe productions as well as that real treasure of the London theatre scene, the National.
Life and Death: Pompeii and Herculaneum
Herculaneum, Bay of Naples, Italy, 2012 Copyright Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei / Trustees of the British Museum
It’s a well known fact that these two Roman towns were buried under mountains of ash, lava and rubble from Versuvius, with the horrifying result of wiping out both populations, grim indeed. However, the latest exhibition at The British Museum, though set in the context of the disaster, is focussed on people’s everyday lives and their possessions. The things people commissioned, talked about, bought, loved, were proud of, sometimes broke, sometimes threw away, nevertheless things owned by real people. It’s a new take and a welcome one, as the unusual circumstances of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption leave a unique opportunity of glimpsing the civilisation that was the Roman Empire. And although Herculaneum is often seen as the smaller sister of Pompeii, it’s given almost equal billing here.
The exhibition revolves around the home, its interior, its gardens, its kitchen and also the streets and shops. The artefacts are clearly explained with Latin inscriptions helpfully translated. One fresco that particularly strikes a modern chord is of drinkers gearing up for a brawl; indeed, you felt yourself thinking on many occasions, that life hasn’t really changed that much since AD79!
The pyroclastic flow that hit Herculaneum was so much hotter than the ash and rocks. People were instantly knocked to the ground, their bones broken, their bodies burned to the bone. Items were crisped and carbonised, so amazingly we’re able for instance to see a loaf of bread from Herculaneum, and even the stamp of the baker on a loaf of bread. His name, Celer, means speedy. Speedy was obviously proud of his ability to turn out loaves of bread. The child’s wooden cradle that still rocks serves as a poignant example of everyday life.
Wall painting of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife. From the House of Terentius Neo, Pompeii. AD 50 to 79. Copyright Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei / Trustees of the British Museum
From the artefacts it’s clear that many slaves became freed men and women and integrated more fully into everyday life in both towns. Also highlighted is the important role of women which throws into the air our ideas that they were generally considered to be second class citizens. One of the most beautiful and telling exhibits is a beautiful fresco, showing a man, and his wife, standing side by side, he holding a scroll, she a wax tablet, on which she kept domestic and business accounts; so who was wearing the toga in that household? Women may not have been able to vote or be elected to public life but they seem to have had equal say in everyday life.
You are encouraged to enter the lovely home and garden with its wonderful frescos of birds and flowers, to make yourselves at home and view the wonderful items of Roman life many of which have never been seen in public before. And as you enter the final rooms of the exhibition, you can also see a few of the famous casts of bodies from Pompeii, a reminder of the tragedy that struck but still telling you that these are real people.
Gold bracelet in the form of a coiled snake, 1st Century AD, Roman, Pompeii. Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum
Look out for the dormouse fattening up pot! The gold jewellery is fascinating, you can buy a replica of a beautiful snake bracelet for £120 in the inevitable shop at the exit.
Jeannette Nelson Arts Critic A bit of a culture vulture, Jeannette enjoys art exhibitions, cinema and classical music, but her main interest is the theatre. For several years she ran theatre discussion groups for which her MA in Modern Drama together with teaching skills stood her in good stead. She prefers to concentrate on the many off West End and fringe productions as well as that real treasure of the London theatre scene, the National.
Preparing to Move House
Moving house is a traumatic event, or at least it has been for us, and we haven’t even moved yet!
First stage was to have the house assessed by a surveyor of our choice. He reassured us our concerns were nothing to worry about and gave us advice about what he thought we could do to make the most of the best features of the house. So all those little things we kept putting off like settlement cracks were dug out and filled, the chimney was repointed, the conservatory roof cleaned, plasterwork repaired, decorating throughout, carpet cleaning and, best of all … an oven clean! Yes, I recommend it to anyone who has let their oven become an overwhelming task. I only wish I had had it done earlier, the new house owner will benefit from it more than me.
So now we have an exceptionally clean, bright, and rather attractive house to sell. Ah, but what about clearing out all that stuff we have accumulated over the years – there are even boxes of stuff we brought with us that have never been opened since we moved in and there are some from previous houses! That’s where I found some 70’s clothes I couldn’t bring myself to throw away.
We heard of an organisation called Freegle. We just announced on the website items we would like to give away, chose whoever we thought would benefit best from them. The items were collected and lo and behold our garage, loft and cupboards were cleared in just a few weeks. So all is now neat, clean and tidy … a bit of a job to keep it that way.
I did hold back some stuff I thought might sell on eBay. Being an eBay virgin it took me time to get into what seemed to be endless pages of How to Instructions.
I gradually eased my way in … by buying rather a lot of stuff! Oh well, I’ve now successfully sold a perfectly functioning camera, a kitchen shredder and some clothes. The clothes seem to go for peanuts, but the camera and shredder sold for decent amounts.
We’ll be writing more about eBay experiences in the near future.
In the meantime we’re off again to view more houses. Having had two refusals of our offers we are a bit sensitive to rejection, but ever travelling hopefully we will continue to offer what we think each house is worth to us.
Next step, sell our house.
Val Reynolds, Editor
Spring into the Garden! Are you ready?
corsican hellebore
It’s that time of year, when we have bright sunny days, and many gardeners get the urge to get out and do things in the garden. It often coincides with the time when the frogs start getting busy in the pond! Or you notice an early bee on a dandelion flower, or maybe a plant that has been growing steadily, like these hellebores when I noticed them today, 12 March.
So, where are your gloves, the trowel, the fork etc. Having laid your hands on them they may look rather worn out and need replacing.
Replacement gloves are needed in my case – I tend to wear mine out within a year. A couple of pairs are useful, I don’t always remember where I left them last! This year I’ve decided on another pair of Showa gloves, Floreo grip 370. They are great for wet or dry jobs, very flexible, the palms don’t tear or wear away, very comfortable – hands are free to move around rather than feeling they are in a strait jacket and machine washable at 40º. I’ve chosen a purple pair and XSmall, sizes go up to XLarge. 
For heavier work I’ve chosen Flourish gardening gloves by Joseph Bentley. These have a suede palm with a breathable mesh back. The cuff is reinforced to protect wrists. Available in most garden centres and of course on the web.
A fabulous transplanting trowel that really does the business even in stiff clay is our favourite 2013 tool. Made of stainless steel it has a scale on it to take away the guesswork of how deep to plant plugs and bulbs. The leather thong to hang it up is a welcome feature. Manufactured by Joseph Bentley this will last a lifetime and give confidence to the least confident gardener. £7.99 with free postage from Amazon is we think a good investment.
We notice Tesco are offering a whole range of items for gardeners at £1 each! Their garden scoop is ideal for dealing out compost from those plastic bags that always fold in on themselves just as that trowel full of compost reaches the top of the bag. At £1 we thought it a good idea to get two – the bright yellow one will surely mean I don’t lose sight of it easily.
Tesco Garden Scoop – £1
Sow Seeds suggest growing salad leaves at this time year, satisfying the urge to grow and eat your own healthy food as soon as possible. They offer varieties that can be picked again and again. Mizuna, mibuna, rocket, lettuces, babyleaf spinach, babyleaf swiss chard, pak choi, microgreens. Have a look at their website, I’m always inspired to try some and it means we have fresh own grown greens year round.
It’s not easy to raise vegetable seeds to grow well early in the year. If you start them indoors you will have to keep turning them to face the light and even then they may go very leggy. What’s the answer. To be honest, best to buy plugs at a later date! But if you are like me and begrudge the cost of plugs, after all seeds cost a fraction of the price, seed raising is the most attractive option.
So yes, I start them off on the windowsill, and turn them every day. Later I have to pot them up which takes up more space. My solution is to just sow a few seeds from each packet. Sometimes seeds have remained viable for a year way beyond the plant by date and I have been able to get results. This is very satisfying. The one vegetable I sow in bulk is the leek. We never tire of eating them! They are spread throughout the garden, I don’t like to see rows of anything, it looks unnatural, and dotted around the garden they add interest to flower beds.
Anyway, now I have lots of little pots with plants growing enthusiastically but it’s still too early to put them outside to withstand the weather. The answer really is give them shelter, an unheated greenhouse, or in the garden under a cloche, or even just fleece has been successful. Or perhaps a cold frame.
I have ordered this cold frame made of plastic, UV resistant it won’t quickly go brittle, it’s easy to assembly – no tools required, rustproof and has double-sided ventilation, manufactured by Keter at £39.99 from Homebase. I used to have a cold frame made of aluminium and glass which was difficult to put together and supplied without safety glass. The Keter one gives far more protection from wind and rain. Here are the instructions to assemble it, see what you think http://www.keter.com/files/Gardening/assembly/cold_frame_.pdf
Secateurs – I have yet to find a really good pair. I am trying out some bypass secateurs, gold cut, by Joseph Bentley, with titanium coated blades. Why titanium? It gives a longer lasting blade life and resists wear and corrosion for longer it’s designed to prune and cut back all kinds of green wood. Like the anvil secateurs, designed for mature wood and dead wood, they come with a lifetime guarantee. Both types of secateurs can be used by right and left handed gardeners.
Bentleys also offer secateurs designed for the smaller hands of women with soft handles and coloured pink – again a plus feature, easier to see where you put them or dropped them in the garden.
Anything else? I’m looking for a pinafore to hold tools, string, labels etc as I work. Also a new wheelbarrow. The last one had an inflatable tyre. Excellent, but not easy to repair if it got a puncture and that happened three times. So I was quite pleased when the body split and couldn’t be repaired.
I’d dearly love a fruit cage and am looking into that too.
And, my real dream – a turntable composter. I have my eye on one made by Keter. In fact I have to admit I have one on order … Can’t wait to use it! I’m looking forward to turning the handle, having compost within 6-8 weeks and never having to turn the compost heap over ever again! If you are curious to know how it works go to http://www.keter.com/files/a-2160-0_print.pdf
Finally a greenhouse is my ultimate dream. One that will stand up to hard and heavy weather. I might on the other hand I might go for a small poly tunnel – we’ll see!
Val Reynolds Editor
David Bowie, That boy from Brixton
The new V&A exhibition, David Bowie Is, shows the fantastic imagination and creations of David Bowie spanning five decades.
Exciting, dark and theatrical it is bursting with material, providing an insight into Bowie’s mind through a multitude of collaborations with artists and designers. A spectacular and multi-sensory show bordering on immersive theatre, mirrored and faceted projection, sound installations, videos, preparative drawings, sketches, scribbles, lyrics, and models for his staging and costumes.
The sound-scape is rich and experiential, tuning into zones and exhibits, as we move around the exhibition, designed by the company 59 Productions (of the Olympic opening ceremony) and innovative sound technology from Sennheiser.
Bowie’s clear vision and hands-on approach, is apparent, influenced by a varied host of artists, culture and politics ranging from Marlene Dietrich, Kabuki Theatre, Lindsay Kemp (from whom he mastered the art of theatrical tension), Kubrick, Kraftwerk, Mao, Jung, German Expressionism and Berlin life.
At the beginning we read:
“All art is unstable. Its meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author. There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings” signed David Bowie
Indeed – Bowie is a master in borrowing and deriving art-works from everywhere!
Bowie’s collaborators affirm he was a perfectionist, yet easy to work alongside, confident to entrust his team with creative freedom. His costume designers such as Burretti and Yamamoto were delighted to work on an androgynous model such as Bowie with chiselled features and the ideal tall angular figure to carry avant gard silhouettes and flamboyant suits.
Kathryn Johnson – young assistant curator reveals she was most encouraged and relieved to discover Bowie had been supported by a range of talented individuals, support and teams rather than producing his projects alone and that his creations were not all the product of one mind. The range of characters Bowie creates, explores and plays out to entertain us is amazing. Although the exhibition is densely packed with over 300 exhibits, Kathryn says it was hard to whittle down the content from so much available. Bowie supplied most of it, although he had no wish to be involved in the curating.
BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE !
Of the Bowie movement, many people say “It spoke to me “ – he gave us the license to be ourselves, be individual, be liberated. In the context of the 1960s and 70s he challenged gender convention and gave a voice to gay liberation (which had only been legalised 4 or 5 years prior to Bowie’s emergence onto the pop scene)
I believe Howard Burrell compared Bowie’s influence today, to that of Mozart or to Bach in their time – the bad boy popular appeal.
Bowie deliberately remains elusive and mysterious (very Dietrich) with an edginess and perhaps strategic recklessness derived from Iggy Pop.
The new album is already a best-seller – Bowie at sixty-six in the Sinatra spot … and why not celebrate age?
The exhibition embraces every technology, projection, stills, sound, installation fabric, manuscripts and scraps – small booths and large staged exhibits against black space.
The exhibition is packed with an extensive amount of material, a sensory overload – there is too much to decipher – but yet something for everyone, be you a fashion student, designer, musician, anthropologist, a fan, or a dreamer.
I defy you not be inspired.
“AND THERE HE IS MESSING WITH OUR MINDS AGAIN …” but that is the job of the artist – to evoke otherworldly feelings*.
Curators: Victoria Broach and Geoffrey Marsh
David Bowie Is – at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 23rd March – 11th August 2013
Anne Tilby: Film, tv and theatre production designer and mixed media artist Clients include Julian Clary, Ken Russell, Spitting Image and Father Ted, opera design for Covent Garden Royal Opera House, Chicago Lyric, Moscow, ENO, Madrid … Trash Factory bubbles alongside other activities and is symbiotic – a social enterprise for creative recycling in the community and schools. Trash Factory needs for other interested eco-centrics – so do contact us via www.trashfactory.co.uk
Photography provided by V&A Museum archive
In Balance 