jogroglog

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Art tour - Eastcastle Street to Savile Row

Helen Macalister at Art First

Richard T Walker at Carroll/ Fletcher

Pakpoom Silaphan at Scream Gallery

Alex Pinna at Ronchini Gallery

Jose Parla at Haunch of Venison

Sterling Ruby at Hauser and Wirth, Savile Row

Saturday, 23 March 2013

David Bowie at the V & A

Went to the Bowie exhibition at the V & A - members day so the queue to get in was huge - but we got to focus on marble statues that you'd normally just walk past.

Clever headphone system by Sennheiser that played music and commentary depending on where you were in the exhibit - no photos allowed and all a bit cramped and packed to really see everything - the V & A have clearly underestimated the demand for such a show - next time hold it in a space 4 times as big and invite along Bowie tribute bands to play as you leave - rather than the obvious gift shop ...

Also expect future shows about the Beatles, Stones, U2, David Byrne, Beyonce etc ...

Not sure this was the costume I saw him wear on the 1973 Ziggy Stardust tour at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon - I was an overexcited 16 year old and couldn't believe my luck to be in the 6th row - anyway the costume he was wearing was either this one or ,more likely, the bunny suit shown in the show - there was alot of talk as to the androgynous nature of Bowie, so when his right testicle popped out of his not so tight wool suit, I was both shocked and relieved to see he was clearly a man.

see http://fairfieldat50.ehive.com/ehive/object/96771/ for more Fairfield Hall memories.

Thursday, 21 March 2013

Yo La Tengo at the Barbican

Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley formed the band as a husband/wife duo in 1984. They chose the name "Yo La Tengo" (Spanish for "I have it"; or referring to a female-gender object or person, also "I've Got Her") in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the hell is a Yellow Tango?".