Of factories, façades and phenomenal Lynch

This blog is about connecting some dots that don't seemingly have anything in common, except, they make sense to me .
The first one is David Lynch, followed by the Tate London and random memories, and if I can't pull out of this one; I'll fetch an eraser head.
David Lynch's exhibition at the Photographers Gallery London, is an ode to his haunting universe. The B&W pictures were taken in run-down factories in Germany, Poland and England.
At the exhibition, just as with his films, we are surreptitiously transported to another space and time. The feeling may be enhanced by the soundscape he composed and that moves along with us through the room bringing elements of motion, three dimensionality and suspense.

While looking at the prints I remembered my own fascination for such spaces and the imposing shadows they cast. Their rust and abandonment.
The first formal job I held was located in the outskirts of the city. The area is literally called "The industrial zone" and the landscape is dominated by factorie's long tentacles and breath.
Most people would have found it gloom but it was rather interesting to me.
Some of the first charcoal drawings I made are influenced by fumes and smoke.

More or less around the same time; the final year of university, my father gave me a photography book on aspects of life across the vast ex-USSR with larger than life pictures of young punks, working people, life in the city, derelict concrete sites and the inhospitable far away places. Exacerbated nationalism, human struggle, beauty and hope.
And Film was my best buddy along those years.

Days after Lynch's exhibition I visited the Tate Modern in London.
The Tate is situated in a former power station by the Thames Southbank.
The dramatic character of the façade can be seen from far away across the Millennium Bridge and beyond. It's a most perfect sight for art in all its force.


Excerpt from the Photographers Gallery documents cited for this exhibition:

"I got a taste for a certain kind of architecture and a feeling for machines and smoke and fear. To me, the ideal factory location has no real nature, except winter-dead black trees and oil- soaked earth. Time disappears when I'm shooting in a factory, it's really beautiful".

David Lynch

View of the Tate Modern London.

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/the-factory-photographs

David Lynch on photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ow6C-4pyjw

MOMENTUM

 March 23rd. I immersed into the choreographic work by United Visual Artists (UVA)
which is currently taking place at the Barbican.

Light in motion, drawing patterns in the darkness.

More on UVA

Haze lens

7:30 AM. 10º C

Changing stitches

The London Museum of Design is housing a retrospect on the work of fashion designer Paul Smith.

The first object we encounter as we step into a 3x3 room -the size of his first shop: Paul Smith Vetments pour l'Homme, Nottingham 1970- is a black and white portrait of him and his wife Pauline. Underneath which it reads:

"For Pauline, without her this would not have been possible" Paul's signature below.

This sets the tone for an exhibition that feels more like an open house which comes as no surprise upon realisation that Paul co-curated the work, interweaving sources of inspiration throughout his life with the end-products of multifaceted collaborations.

Walls are crammed with framed images of all kinds, portraits, photographs, lithographs, posters, drawings; Paul has always collected images and he took to photography while still very young.
The eclectic display speaks of its author. We see Bowie and Patty Smith more than once, Frida Kahlo, Giacometti at his studio. Also, sketches, pictures from his trips, presents from friends and altogether there's texture, colour, composition, contrast; a myriad of visual information.

If the space were a book, by this stage, we have merely finished the prologue and are about to start the first chapters.

The following rooms are occupied by the fruits of his work.  They are not what we would conventionally expect to see at first glance. There isn't (yet) a single garment, cyclist jersey aside. But instead, we find beautiful, desirable objects such as the Leica x2 camera in a glass case or a Stelton bike*

Paul Smith has had a number of creative collaborations with artists like the Talking Heads and David Bowie while his advertising campaigns have been photographed by some of the best: Bailey, Sandro Solano, Julian Broad and Testino.

Eventually, we come across a longitudinal room that exhibits his designs and by this point, it is clear that Paul Smith is a well-rounded designer, a visionary, and a man who draws inspiration from ordinary experiences like delving into markets.
He always has a camera with himself.

His first exhibition was held in a hotel room in Paris. It was comprised of 6 shirts, 2 jumpers and 2 suits and only one person turned up at the end of the day.
"That was the beginning of my business"

Need I say anything else?
Hanka. London 2014.

* Paul Smith had a bicycle accident when he was aged 17. The title of this blog references this event. More on his biography can be found on the link below. It is worth a read.

SHAPE, SIMPLICITY, PROPORTION

"I hate shops that all look the same. I love individuality"

     

"My father taught me abstract photographs"

   

Company | Paul Smith

  My name is Paul Smith