Culturally Speaking

I've had a little break, partly due to being away but mostly due to being so sick I couldn't raise the enthusiasm to use my brain! So I thought I'd have a recap on the cultural things I've been up to.

A couple of years ago I decided I wasn't doing anything cultural in my life... because I realised sitting in the pub drinking pints of coke, while being sociable with my friends, was definitely not cultural. After some discussions with one of these friends, we decided that the best thing to do was at least once a month go and do something cultural... and that we did. But it lasted exactly a year... it was a good year... but I really should have challenged myself to it again and kept up with everything!

So in the last couple of months I've tried some new, and some old favourites. Where to start? At the beginning I suppose, which happens to be February... I missed January by a hair... never mind!

Arnolfini

According to their website...

Arnolfini is one of Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary arts, presenting innovative, experimental work in the visual arts, performance, dance, film, music and events, accompanied by a programme of learning and participation activities.

So... sounds interesting right? This is the only the second gallery that I have been to that I haven't really enjoyed. I'm fine with all kinds of art, some of it is not for me but I can still understand the concept even if I think it's a little bit weird. When I went here with a friend we were treated to two different rooms with videos running of the sea... a rough sea. Getting my head round some film concepts is tricky... surely it's a documentary... so surely it should be in a film festival... or a cinema where you can sit and watch the whole thing and not just wander in and stand uncomfortably for a few minutes?

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

M Shed in Bristol had this on for a couple of months, it was only a small exhibit but at £5 a ticket it was a great way to spend a morning.

I would have been interested to see the same exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London and make a comparison. The room on the third floor of M Shed is quite small, it was difficult to tell what they'd selected to have on show. The collection was fascinating, there's no denying that, some of the pictures were truly amazing. But it did raise some questions about where photography blurs into other art forms.

The first photos you see when you walk in the door are the ones by the youngest entrants... 10 years and under... yep, I said 10. Instantly I realised that I have nowhere near as much discipline as these kids. They speak about laying out in hides for hours waiting for the right shot... I can lay somewhere for hours too, as long as the duvet is warm enough.

Some really were breathtaking, but others left me confused. Nature is amazing, so I fully expected to find some hard to grasp as perspective makes an enormous difference. One in particular, the last photo as you walk round looks like an oil painting. Which it was, a painting with a hole torn in it for birds to fly through and the photo captures such a moment... and it's truly mind-boggling.

The blur I spoke about though, the digital effects. Where do you draw the line? Some of the pictures had been adjusted so much that they weren't really recognisable as photographs any more. Is that still a photograph? I honestly spent too long contemplating that one.

Kinky Boots

The theatre is a great way to spend an evening, Whether it's something serious or something funny, there's always a great production on. The problem is just trying to pick which one to see!

But you know what's different these days? The cost. It isn't always cheap to go out in town, but you used to always be able to get a good deal. Last Minute used to do theatre and dinner meals from £30, which when you're going out in London is an amazing deal... but that seems to be a thing of the past. Not such a cheap night out as we're used to but still good fun.

If you want pure entertainment you have to see Kinky Boots. The film was great, but this cast were just... well, the only word to describe them is fabulous. Lola was incredible... I wish I had legs like that. The show really does make you want to get up and dance. Watch it, watch it now.

Serpentine Sackler Gallery

This gallery appeared completely by accident when I was out exploring with a friend in London. If you're wandering around Hyde Park you'll find this hidden along the road that goes directly through the centre.

In all honesty we had no desire to go in this one but it was spitting with rain and we needed a toilet. Confusing is a word that could be used for this place... strange is another. It's a tiny little place and even if I gave you ten goes I don't think you could guess what the first thing we saw was when we walked through the doors... shall we just give up on the guessing? Want to know what it was? Boobs, it was big neon boobs. A huge wall with long pink neon bulbs as the outline and then red neon circles outlining the nipples.

The rest of the exhibition was equally mad, shadowed paintings on the wall of people in profile and cabinets of individually crafted bits of body... fingers, bits of face... I have no idea!

Science Museum

When was the last time you went to the Science Museum? Unless you've got kids I would imagine the answer is when you were a kid. But let's be honest, you're never too old to go to a museum to press the buttons!

There's a massive collection of time pieces there when we went... a lot of them. I'm not going to lie, after the first dozen it gets very samey. But there were some beautiful ones and a beautiful collection of engravings.

Lots of interactive things to play with... and to be honest, while we were two grown adults we were definitely not the only ones playing with them. My recommendations are definitely to play with the solids, liquids and gases crank handle and go and see the materials exhibition. A giant piece made of all the samples they have there and a see-through human being with implants inside... you'll giggle... we all did.

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So, those were some of the cultural things that my friends and I have been getting up to, and lots more to come I hope.