The Tate Modern, Opening 2000

...and here is a nice example of a bit of stencilling that didn't need to be quite so resilient (still bright and clear over 13 years later on the pavements of Southwark)...The Tate Modern, in case you didn't notice, is opening in the year 2000... ;)

"Before I die" by Candy Chang

Spotted in Southwark the other day...it's basically a huge blackboard and hundreds of bits of chalk, part of the "Merge Festival"...Spotted another one on Borough High Street, in a very similar condition... ;)

Good fun... ;)

Potters Field Brass Map

World Record Breaking 3D Art

Wow, had no idea all this was going on at West India Quay yesterday or I would have popped over to have a look, guess I know where I'm going at 1pm...!

Lots more information about all the things I missed over here...

Peter Randall-Page - One Canada Square

Well, that's my best guess anyway, it's appearance certainly seems to have coincided with the start of his exhibition of sculpture, and the "new, temporary work made especially for Canary Wharf" could well be what we are looking at...while they were installing it though, a number of theories were heard in the lift up from reception, including that someone was drawing a giant poo or that perhaps One Canada Square was going to be transformed into a giant model giraffe...I'm still not entirely sure what we're looking it (even now it is finished), but it's much better having these random installations than not, just to keep things interesting... ;)

Fishbourne - Statue of Child Nero

Wow, funny that this bit of news has surfaced just after our little trip to visit the Roman Palace at Fishbourne, but there you go! It turns out that a couple of weeks ago some scientists from Bournemouth University headed down there with a 3D laser scanner to take a look at the bit of statue we saw while we were there (my picture above) and confirmed that the fragment isn't of some mysterious Anglo-Romano youngster that lived thereabouts, but actually an incredibly rare bust of the Emperor Nero (one of only three surviving examples in the entire world)!

We should have stood and stared at it a bit longer! ;)

Art Exhibition Canary Wharf - UEL Fine Art Students

Just had to share this...spotted it this morning pasted to one of the windows in reception in One Canada Square...really made me smile - "I'm late! I'm late!"... ;)

Will have to have a proper nose around at lunchtime, there seem to be little works of art peppered all over the place by these fine art students, like another person has stuck lithographic lettering just by our security barrier reading "Just passing by"...

Actually some of the more interesting and amusing pieces to have been exhibited here (IMHO... ;)

Mysterious Cave, Canary Wharf

Popped over to West India Quay yesterday at lunchtime, just to enjoy the glorious sunshine and see what I could see (as there are often things to see around here for a chap with a camera), and (after briefly being groped by a statue-style mime artist to much hilarity from everyone watching), I did actually find something worthy of a picture...from most angles it looks slightly less than impressive -


- certainly not worthy of the little sign next to it -

- claiming "scientists have been baffled" by the sudden appearance...*until* you peer at it through the specially positioned lens at one end -

- my shot (taken with my cameraphone) *almost* manages to do it justice, it's really, really clever... ;)

Not quite as good as the artist's concept art for the project, but still rather impressive... ;)

Green Canary Day - Cardboard Canary Wharf

More art, sorry to keep being so cultured, but I spotted this last week in the lobby of One Canada Square, it's called (ever-so-inventively) "Cardboard Canary Wharf" and was constructed by artist Nicky Burrell in order to help celebrate "Green Canary Day" (which actually seems to go on for two days, and is now in it's seventh year apparently), there were supposed to be a lot of other things going on in order to promote environmental friendliness, but this was the only bit that I managed to stumble upon (a number of them only taking place on Saturday or only between the hours of 10am and 3pm which kind of ruled my participation out)...

Still, quite a clever piece, I especially liked the little Jubilee Park, complete with tiny cardboard water features and trees...wouldn't have fancied making all those little windows on the buildings though...actually it looks like the artist got a bit tired of it too, the closer you get to the river the less detail seems to be in evidence... ;)

Wonder if it went in the recycling afterwards?

(only kidding ;)

Testa Addormentata by Igor Mitoraj - Sculpute in Canary Wharf

Time for another little bit of culture, spotted this in Bank Street the other day, and my goodness did it grab my attention, at first glimpse I was convinced I was witness to a decapitated Statue of Liberty...and I know the US aren't quite pulling their weight at the moment (in the global economic sense) but I really did think that this was perhaps a step too far... ;)

Of course, on closer inspection it wasn't anything of the sort...as the sign below quickly told me this was a bronze cast made in 1983 by one "Igor Mitoraj" - a Polish artist who (interestingly) was born in Germany in 1944. Apparently it was first installed in Canada Square (where I would have had much more of a chance of stumbling over it earlier) but now it's outside number 40 Bank Street (if you fancy coming and having a look yourself, it's only two minutes walk from the tube)...

The most striking thing about it, for me at least, is it's completely classical look...a big dose of the surreal is added by it appearing to be just a small part of a much larger classical piece, left, as it were, in it's imperfect form, for later generations to wonder over...It's really very clever to juxtapose those two ideas - that this is a perfect, whole piece of post-modern art mimicking the remains of a damaged masterpiece...

Clever... ;)

Love-Love by Julien Berthier - Sinking Boat at Canary Wharf

In the midst of all this financial chaos, it was rather amusing to find (in a wry sort of way) on my walk to the office "quarterly briefing" this morning to spot this art installation (bizarrely called "Love-Love") twisting in the breeze in the middle of South Dock...It's total coincidence too (barring unprecidented artistic precognition) as it's part of the planned event "Drift 08" taking place along the Thames currently - apparently it is (despite appearances) actually perfectly sea-worthy, and can be moved around powered by an electric motor in exactly this configuration - I bet that raised more than a few eyebrows when it was sailed up the Thames..."Non, non, I am fine! Really!!!" ;)

Apparently, the French artist responsible - Julien Berthier - has actually now sold the piece (although probably not to a wealthy London Banker) for £50,000, but it's staying put for the time being if you want to come and take a peek at it spinning mournfully, perpetually suspended at the moment before total catastrophe...(the boat that is)...

Caution - Random Jack in the box cleaning system

Spotted in the toilet on the 1952hrs train out of London Bridge, looks like several vandals have made attempts to peel it off and then suddenly realised what it was and tried to stick it back on again...the sign reads "Caution. This toilet is fitted with a random jack-in-the-box cleaning system.", it's installed on an enormous steel trap door in the wall directly in front of the toilet (meaning if it were true you would have a good chance of losing your head should it decide to "go off")...

Very funny... ;)

"Couple on Seat" - sculpture, Canary Wharf

Time for another bit of culture (for lack of anything else coherent to offer) situated in Cabot Square (named after John Cabot (c. 1425 – 1500) and his son Sebastian (1474 - 1557), Italian-born navigators and explorers who, in the reign of Henry VII, sailed to Nova Scotia, which he claimed for England)...not relevant to the artwork, but at least you can say you learned something today... ;)

This one is on the side of the square, looking out over the bridge that spans the dock to the north of Canary Wharf, it was sculptured by artist Lynn Chadwick back in 2000...dunno why but they kind of make me think of superheroes having a quick break before they go and do their supermarket shopping... ;)

Paper Tiger - Susan Stockwell

There is an interesting installation in the lobby of One Canada Square at the moment (back to Mexico shortly), from the sounds of things it was put together by the artist (Susan Stockwell) with the site in mind. The pieces are quite intriguing, all of them looking like they may be functional, but in reality freakishly tall (you would need stilts to wear this one) -

- or these ones (look like quilting) but are actually made from cleverly sliced maps -


- or an impossibly long train, and all made from scrunched up or folded layers of rice paper...

"Original Form" - sculpture, Canary Wharf

Time for another of my local sculptures now, this one, called "Original Form" was carved by Salisbury resident Keith Rand (an ex-cartographic surveyor, turned artist) in 1999. It's set by the bank at West India Dock (in fact almost below West India DLR station) and from the sounds of things was formed from a single Douglas Fir tree (obtained through the forestry commission), which is incredible, because even from fairly nearby (in fact, until you get very close) it's almost impossible to assume it's anything other than purely rusted metal.

Knowing a little more about it, it's actully much more impressive, had I troubled myself to go over and actually make contact with the piece before just assuming what it was constructed from I would have been both suprised and extremly impressed at the efforts gone to in order to construct it (even before discovering that the artist likes to work using the same tools that violin makers favour)...in my mind, it being made from cast iron turned it into a smaller object somehow...as for the name...for those that carve, I suppose the challenge is to find the shape hidden within the object you start with, in this case, the outline and vague shape of the trunk have been retained (so I conclude that we were supposed to *know* what it was made from (whoops!)), then, if you look at the openings the artist has created, (I, anyway) seem to feel a resemblance to burst seed pods, so perhaps a hint at the circular form of nature? Maybe I'm reading too much into it... ;)

It's a lovely thing anyway, just a shame it's a bit hidden away where it has been situated...

Man with Open Arms, Canary Wharf

I love this sculpture, it sums up so much about how I felt when I first came to work here (and indeed how I feel now), I think the original artist (Giles Penny) intended it to appear to be a direct appeal to heaven, but to me it just shouts out feelings of optimism, gratitude, excitement and limitless possibility...a fantastic piece of work in a fantastic location...

I'll take a shot that does it some justice when the weather is better...(sky is far too white today)... ;)

I might just go round and try and find some other sculptures around the place, I have seen about 15 or so just meandering, but I know for a fact that there are more, 40 in fact, just on my little "Canary Wharf" map - a good little project for those sunny summer lunchtimes to come perhaps...? ;)

Sculpture in the Workplace - Grenville Davey - Little Emperor

Just took a couple of snaps in the lobby this morning when I got to work, as some rather interesting pieces have been installed (ten in all I think) by Cornish artist "Grenville Davey" (born in Launceston, funily enough), I must say it is nice to get a bit of culture with my commute, even if I don't know a lot about art... ;) -

- this one particularly caught my eye, entitled "Chess", I was drawn immeditately to the high contrast and then lingered, curious as to why there are three colours of pieces engaged -

- this one is "Eye/Engine" (see it from another angle in the background of the next shot), it's quite a large piece, I like the muted reflection in the dishes, it made me think of those chinese lion drums (for some reason) even though it more closely resembles a gong arrangement, but judging by the title I have the wrong end of the stick completely ;) -

- and finally "P's and Q's", which is quite a pleasing piece, if I had more time I might work out what word is being skewered at the bottom, I've seen a picture of it in a rural setting and it actually looked a *lot* more impressive, somehow, a lot of the impact is lost because of the staggeringly imposing surroundings, put it outside in Jubilee Gardens and it would draw a lot more attention I think...

Space Invader Mosaic - Borough High Street

The tube was *packed* again today, so everyone is definitely back at work (worse luck), still, by taking my secret shortcut to the Borough High Street entrance I spotted a little art installation high up on the wall above this railway bridge -

- (click that picture to enlarge the image and you'll be able to see) it's a tiny mosiac, playing on the iconic "I (heart) NY", but instead spelling out "I (space invader) LDN", a touch harsh, perhaps...even if the tube network might deserve a bit of hot plasma, there are some nice other bits worth saving... ;)