Catching up: Doing Art 4
Two RSA Exhibitions
If you think this looks like it might have been a rather strange exhibition, you're quite right. It was bizarre, amazing, horrifying, and beautiful all at once.What struck us most forcefully was the "creative taxidermy", whereby separate parts of different animals had been melded together to create fantastical other creatures. Probably not everyone's taste - but we have strong stomachs and didn't mind at all!
Our favourite piece was Out Bursts My Heart by Ashley
Niewenhuizen.Alice said if she'd had hundreds of pounds to spare, she would have bought it! (Heaven alone knows where she'd have worn it...) The photo here is only a detail, I'm afraid.
And here is one of the artist wearing this necklace / cape, plus very little else, and wildly dancing in it. Wow! She's a real feisty lady.
There's lots more to see on her website by the way. This was under Performance.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an eighteenth century artist, and the Royal Scottish Academy put on an exhibition of some of his etchings in their "Lower Level" gallery. This sign pointed down to the depths indeed. It was very dimly lit, too, so the old prints wouldn't fade. I just loved his Carceri, or prisons, and the one on the poster (open it in a new tab to get full size) reminded Alice of some of Escher's impossible perspectives.
This one of a man on a rack should be pretty gruesome, but the victim appears to be quite calm. Not a very pleasant setting, however! It was really interesting to see how he made his etchings. They had to be done back-to-front, as though in a mirror, so that when they were printed, they came out the right way. The RSA had an example of a tracing he must have made, with pin pricks in it to guide the actual scratching of the wax. Must need a lot of patience. But I'm fascinated by the way these prints make light and dark just with lots of lines.
Alice wants to add that Tenniel's wonderful drawings were made into woodcuts for printing in the Wonderland and Looking Glass books. Yes, yes, that Alice again.
A puzzle for you
Hee-hee! You'll never guess where I am...I've become part of art!
Look here, and pick Summerhall to see the answer.
Alice's friend has kindly put lots of photos on her SmugMug site, so you can see the other exhibition we went to this Autumn.
There's also even more ones of me in my own gallery there. So feast your eyes, my friends...
