Psycho Buildings- Artists Take On Architecture

This is one of those brilliant exhibitions that's fun, fascinating and people friendly.  It's not too wanky as far as modern art goes.  There are 10 exhibits in total, ranging from an eerie village of 200 lit up dolls houses to a room frozen in an explosion.

The exhibition takes place both within and outside the Hayward Gallery, with the outdoor exhibits being more interactive.  The first is a boating lake that's been built on one of the terraces.  It's a surreal experience rowing above ground looking down on London.   The downfall is that we queued for almost an hour to have a go, which wasn't exactly worth the time.  So if you go and there's a long queue, just take a peek as you'll get the idea.

My favourite outdoor exhibit was the "Observatory, Air-Port-City" by Tomas Saraceno.  It's a transparent dome with a roof that allows people to walk about, giving the illusion that they're floating.  Inside, is a space that's protected by an air lock door which keeps the atmospheric pressure balanced.  You lie down, looking up at the people floating above being supported on the pillow of air.   The best way to describe it is to imagine yourself as an ant trapped inside a transparent ball.  A pretty cool experience for £10 I think...    

ChickPizz

I was in Stoke Newington on Friday night and came across this delightful restaurant.  Now this is a prime example of signage that's straight to the point.  There's no confusion about what they sell here.

And to illustrate the point further, they've added a cute little picture of what's on the menu. Mmm appetizing...

Frieda Kahlo

During my time in San Francisco I couldn't help but notice images of Frieda Kahlo's work all over the city.  Publicity for her exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was plastered everywhere.  So being the sheep that I am, I thought I'd follow the crowds and check out what all the hype was about.  The queues were huge to get in and you had to get in with a special timed ticket.  But it was well worth the wait. 

 

Although her work isn't something I'd necessarily want hanging up in my room, it is amazing.  Her folkloric style is influenced by her Mexican roots and many of her paintings have a Surrealist feel to them.  Although she denied she was a Surrealist, stating "I never painted dreams.  I painted my own reality".  It's this reality about her life and thoughts, that makes her work so intriguing.  It's shockingly personal and you can't help but get sucked in by the tragedies in her life, wanting to discover more about her.  

Doritos Collisions

Continuing my work for Doritos, last Thursday I went to the most random event to launch their new line called "Collisions". It's basically 2 flavours in one bag (Crraaazzy!!). And to launch it, they had a wrestling night.  First of all was some Lucha Britannia action, then the flavours got down and dirty in the ring to fight for champion. I was supporting "Tenacious T" (representing the oh so tasty T Bone Steak flavour). He's the brown cuddly bull in the picture above, about to get squashed by "Feathered Fury". He eventually made it through the trauma and won the championship- hurrah!  The event was a great way to promote the new product as it was entertaining, different and perfectly suited to what the product is about.

Beggars to Exiles

While I was in San Francisco, I popped into this great little art gallery called the San Francisco Art Exchange. It's located on Geary Street which is crammed full of lots of lovely independent galleries (and obviously a dozen Starbucks- you just can't get away from them!!) This exhibition follows the Stones' evolution and captures the rock n roll lifestyle that you can only dream of having. It's based on the photography of Michael Cooper and Dominique Tarle. Michael Cooper captures images from 1966 to 1970, while Tarle's images are from 1971 when the band recorded "Exile On Main Street".

The exhibition not only features The Stones, but the women that influenced them including, Marianne Faithful and Anita Pallenberg (seen above). While we were looking around the gallery we got chatting to one of the art dealers who kindly showed us parts of the gallery that weren't available to the general public. We were taken to the store room that had stacks and stacks of original artwork from bands such as Pink Floyd to Yes. It was amazing!! The stuff in that room must have been worth millions. If only I could afford a square inch of one of those prints...

Slick Design in Seattle

These magazines caught my eye when I was in Seattle last month. They're free weeklys about the city, providing info about what's on that week. I was quick to scoop up a copy of each as I love the design, particularly the covers. The artwork, colours and typography really grab attention. They're printed on newsprint which gives them a raw, down to earth feel, which works well with the retro designs. I like the way the two magazines compliment each other, especially in that both cover headlines are attractively morbid!

Doritos Ad Competition

So, over the past year I've been doing bits and bobs of work for a company called Face. They're a youth marketing agency and they get young people to think of the ideas behind big brands. So far I've done work for Sure, Lynx and I'm currently working with Doritos for the next year. A couple of months ago they had this national competition to get the public to make their next ad. I think it's a pretty genius idea as it's fun and it gets the consumer involved in the brand. They also offered a whopping £20,000 for the winning ad which was to be aired during the World Cup and it was also the first ad to be beamed into space!! I helped judge the entries, and week by week we whittled them down. Unfortunately I couldn't make the final judging session but this is the winning entry:



Personally, this wasn't my favourite. Considering over 900 people entered, I thought this was a pretty disappointing choice. It's been well executed but it lacks edge and excitement. One of my favourites was this one, which I think is hilarious:



I think it's quirky and witty. I love how they've elevated Doritos to being currency- something that's of value. They're selling Doritos from a different angle to your typical snack advertising which I think would have made this ad stand out on TV. If you want to see more of the ads go to

http://www.doritos.co.uk/