GAME OVER

3 months in the UK has officially come to an end.

Wow.
It was amazing.
Exactly what I wanted and more.

Basically why I kept this blog, other than for family and friends to look at when at they are bored to death, was to force me to go out and do things I could write about. Make, see, do, rest. I didn't want to waste my time here for a second and I found it helped a lot having some element of pressure to keep me busy. If, in some way, it made the reader do something or added to their knowledge even vaguely as well, then that's cool too.

IMAGES FROM THE TATE BRITAIN

Too lazy to tell you what's what. But saw works by JMW Turner, William Blake, Damien Hirst, Lucian Freud, Piet Mondrian and more. It was amazing.

WET WET WET

For the last 4 weeks it has not stopped raining, it has got a lot colder and the days have become a fair amount shorter. Winter is on it's way. But that won't stop the English from washing their cars. Even in the pouring rain like this guy.

Glad I'm coming back to Summer in a week. Whoop whoop.

DESIGNS OF OUR TIME

An interesting exhibition. Basically a collection of the best innovations from the last year, in different categories, including fashion, architecture, design, etc. One of the highlights was seeing some SA stuff in the form of the TBWA's money campaign. A lot of it was interactive which is always nice. The exhibit allows you to have fun while still being able to catch a glimpse into the future of design and advertising.  

A PROJECT BY LINDA BROTHWELL; REFURBISHING BENCHES IN & AROUND HER CITY.

WINNING DESIGN OF THE YEAR. FOLDABLE EUROPEAN PLUG.

BEDTIME STORIES

Throughout my time here in London I've tried to sleep as little as possible. Therefore watching movies has become something of a bedtime ritual. Between 12 and 4am, I live in the distant lands one can only reach through film and other media.  I have compiled a list of the ones I've seen since leaving Cape Town. An asterisk (*) next to the title means I thought it was amazing.

The Shining *
Pi *
True Romance
Prince of Persia
Deception *
I'm Still Here *
The Bad Lieutenant *
Fargo *
Mystic River *
Owning Mahony *
Little Dieter Needs to Fly*
Rescue Dawn*
12 Angry Men *
A Serious Man
The Big Lebowski *
Being John Malkovich *
Tell No One
Merchant of Venice
Primer *
Moon *
It's All Gone Pete Tong *
Dear Zachary
The Godfather *
Grizzly Man *
V for Vendetta *
Synecdoche, New York *
Robin Hood
Cocaine Cowboys *
Touching the Void *
The Wild Blue Yonder *
The White Diamond *

Entourage, Season 4 - 7
House, Season 1

A grand total of roughly 90 hours of watching stuff.

THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN

THE JELLYFISH THEATRE

Believe it or not, this is actually a theatre I walked passed the other day. The structure is made from found and recycled pieces of wood by volunteers of the public. Reminds me a bit of Noah's Ark.

WILD MUSHROOMS

Stumbled upon this near Southwark station. Polystyrene.

GAUGUIN: MAKER OF MYTH

I spent three hours at the latest big show at the Tate Modern on Wednesday - Gauguin: Maker of Myth.

11 rooms and I think a total of more than 170 pieces of mind-blowing stuff. The guy was a master. I managed to get some very discreet photos of some of his more famous artworks.

It was very surprising to see the amount of scuplure and wood carvings he made. Didn't really know he did that stuff and it was pretty insane. It's on until January and I would highly recommend seeing it. Makes you want to paint.

Images: Nevermore O Tahiti, Yellow Christ, Two Tahitian Women

EXPOSED: VOYEURISM, SURVEILLANCE & THE CAMERA

Visited the last day of Exposed, an exhibition taking place at the Tate Modern. The video explains the exhibit with reference to some of the pieces. Overall it was an inspiring and strange show that I was super happy to have a chance at catching.

HYDE PARK

ONE OF FOUR INSTALLATIONS BY ANISH KAPOOR ON THE SERPENTINE.

ANOTHER INSTALLATION IN THE ROUND POND BY ANISH KAPOOR.

SUPER TAME SQUIRRELS.

DUCKS IN A ROW.

DARK ART

Went to quite an interesting exhibition today at the Royal Festival Hall. As the first image says, the art was made by offenders, secure patients and detainees. It reminded me a bit of a matric art exhibit except that even if the piece was really badly crafted, it still had a dark, underlying message that came across. You can't help but feel sorry for some of these people. But you also can't help wondering what each artist has done to get to their position. There were actually some good art works too, including some reasonable oils, crazy drawings and one mad matchstick boat aslo pictured above. I'd love to see what our Pollsmoor buddies could come up with.

LONDON... IS FALLING DOWN

A series of photos taken on my cel phone.

LADY DIANA