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MARCH 26, 2013
A TRIP TO LONDON OR INFLUENCE
By Antonia Leslie
I called the visit to London of eight design students "influence" and I wanted to show this through all kinds of places and people. As they explained their lives and work it became clear that change is a large part of influence. Nobody is born a gallery owner, hat designer or uk sales representative. I hope here to share the visit and the influences of the people we met.
We met at 10am next to Macdonald's on Oxford Street to visit the latest flagship store of Primark in central London.This kind of shopping is as tempting and cleverly organised as the luxury end of the market. The stock moves quickly, with an "On Sale" policy of only a few days.They aim to shift many new looks per week this way. The customer is never bored and the lightest of drop down net bags is provided for them to fill, almost unaware. David Latham, the Uk area controller and our store guide, explained that prices are kept low by this fast moving process and not due to hidden poorly paid people far away. See their award to this effect.
To the right of Oxford Street is Fitzrovia, a lovely part of central London. It calmness revives you after the bustle of the Saturday crowds. We rang the doorbell of Fred's gallery, Fred of London and his dog opened it. Fred proved to be a very good person to listen to and talked succinctly of the his place in the art world and his influences. He would like if possible, with his choice of female artists, to redress the balance of the London art scene, without ignoring the men. To this end he has travelled the world and has found people in such diverse places as South Africa, mysterious dreamlike water colours, Israel disarming portraits of young men, and Sweden, paintings with the most complex use of browns. We were let out by the same dog.
The rest of the day was filled with visits to galleries and Dover Street Market, Rei Kawakubo's concept store built into the shell of an old office space on five floors which makes her choice of merchandise even more appealing. She guides you past each object like an exhibition and sends you into dressing room like areas to see more. The shop is full of textures and is never dull. She changed the face of luxury shopping and rendered the previous version tired and asleep.
Kenny Campbell finished the day at the Tate Modern Cafe with a talk about his life, the internet and his magazine. He also set the project for the students to present their work on KCTV.
It seems when visiting London now that one hardly leaves this side, London Bridge to Dalston, which once was the forgotten side, even after the arrival of the Whitechapel Galery. So not a surprise to discover a very good restaurant The White Rabbit with delicious food combinations and a great window facade, in the heart of Dalston. The feeling on entering is of wanting to try the menu and luckily we were ten so we really could picnic with lots of dishes. I will just speak of the smoked yoghurt which was minor part of the meal but I could have had it again for breakfast.
Unexpected Pleasures, a retrospective of modern jewelry opened at The Design Museum and I thought might help fill the seeming lack of contemporary jewelry in London. This was a very nice surprise as it is quite a rare subject for an exhibition and also this is part of the student's field of study. We joined a talk given by the curator and jewelry designer Dr. Susan Cohn, who went on to speak to the students about how how difficult but enjoyable it had been to choose the pieces from a vast array of countries, decades and people. Thank you for the timing and also such a rich choice.
The DLR is a great way to see the changing face of London and somewhat like a fairground ride. Then on to Anthony Gormley at the White Cube for another adventure ride but in on foot in his cavernous tunnel made of a series of huge bronze boxes which you explore with trepidation in the dark. The most recent of the White Cubes near London Bridge, is housed in a beautiful building that reminded me of the Frank Sinatra era of houses in the desert.
The alley leading to the impromtu entrance of The Pale Blue Door restaurant, instantly brought to mind victorian prostitutes and shady villains, especially since we are still in the east end of London. Turn left past the van and through a low doorway and then step into the warmly lit room full of costumes and collected objects that strangely fill the place but leave room to house quite a few tables for the set meal. Everyone enjoyed just looking, which went very well with the gin and tonic. Then very good food is spliced with entertainment which is the Pale Blue Door's final surprise for those who don't know. The resident artist Amantopet, compliments your dinner with theatre on the smallest of stages from where he transports you anywhere, in our case Bethlehem with a performance about baby Jesus and King Harrod's.
The morning in the Tate Modern which for those people who had never been had the surprise of the most spectacular entrance of any art museum. The sweep down to the Turbine Hall. We followed this by a visit to the Mother Advertising Agency (Ikea TV Ads). Like all the people we visited they are very open to change even to the extent of moving the seating arrangements in the agency every so often. They had a "design comes from anywhere" approach to advertising and are pleased to work with many different methods and people. This leads to other projects and broadens the span of the agency. We loved the wall in the reception covered with photographs of everybody's mother.
Paul Bernstock and Thelma Speirs at Berstock and Speirs gave a talk about their vision of design, classic with a twist. This is another form of change. In many ways this can beat brand new as the design faults have been ironed out, and you can play. And play they do, adding net where it is unexpected, using colour to disarm and very small changes that make hats which are already small objects, full of largess and fun. They explained the development of the label and once again a story of flux unfolded. Hat's were tried on throughout the talk followed by empty pocket sighs.
Shopping by appointment only in this rather hidden shop, LNCC so exclusive you could miss it, but don't. Find it and discover the belly of a whale in a wooden ribbed tunnel with cleverly placed orange lighting and individual pods leading off to the right and left. Each pod is designed specifically to house a certain style, from simple grey monolithic for Japanese clothes to dynamic wooden zigzags for the library and music room where you choose your own music to befit your shopping moment. You can finish your day with a drink at their bar. Well we didn't but went on instead to see the smallest gallery of our tour, The White Cubical at the George and Dragon pub, Shoreditch. A gallery in their toilet.
Mr Miyake is busy making origami clothes using recycled plastic bottles. They look beautiful in the flatpack version, hanging or on a body. These clothes are pure design and could almost be engineering. Whilst being worn they turn into performance art, which has always been at the base of the Miyake style, who could forget the bouncing pleats on the catwalk. It seems that everyone who works for this man is a fan and we were shown the shop and clothes by one of these people. Jean Philippe Jallu, who gave up sales and events for organisations outside fashion and moved to London from Paris, was perhaps the person who changed most radically that we encountered. A perfect way to end the influence trip.
Links
See the design students work on KCTV
See Full images from 'A TRIP TO LONDON OR INFLUENCE'
Antonia Leslie
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