Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: good things, artist, art, wakefield, west yorkshire, gallery, barbara hepworth, clare woods
In the unusually mild first week of January it was my 23rd birthday, and myself, T and T took a trip to The Hepworth in Wakefield.
It was the first time we’d visited the gallery which only opened last summer. I wasn’t quite sure what we were heading to – and when we arrived the approach to the building was quite as odd as I had thought when looking it up beforehand. The gallery is situated beside a small jetty in the River Calder and surrounded by the corpses (or near-corpses) of boats and barges. This crumbling, industrial, waterside setting is similar to what you find on the “wrong” side of the Imperial War Museum North. I myself find this kind of industrial urban decay aesthetically exciting and there’s no denying that this particular locale had been genuinley neglected before the arrival of the gallery. However, it surely does not do quite the same thing for everyone – and it seems an odd choice of location for a new, active, free gallery whose target audience should surely be “everyone”. Still, I can imagine how on a day when the grounds are not shrouded in wet January mist and the river not so full of tree debris and litter, the surroundings become less overbearing.
I don’t profess to be au fait with scultpure as a medium, but Wakefield-born Barbara Hepworth is an outstanding woman artist of the 20th Century and there’s no denying that this collection is very impressive. The first room of the collection presents the breadth of her sculpture using landmarks from across her career (my favourites being Figure (Nanjizal) (1958) and Two Forms With White (1963).)
The collection includes just the right amount of biography and context. The room set aside for examples of her prototypes and working process with notebooks, sketches, letters, and photographs allows visitors to access some of Hepworth’s personal savour. There are little gifts in such things as photographs of her socialising in France with Henry Moore, and a great focus on the inspiration she took from St Ives. The inculsion of her contemporaries in the permanent collection by no means detracts or confuses your tour of the galleries, instead contirbutes to a rich and balanced presentation of Hepworth’s career.
The current exhibit is Clare Woods’ The Unquiet Head – three rooms of powerful large scale paintings (enamel on aluminium) derived from hundreds of photographs of British wilderness – rocks, landscapes and geology. The largest pieces resemble beautiful underground caves with layers, shapes and patterns that combine abstraction and detail to present the “dark and untamable nature” of landscape. While her smaller paintings are just as engaging, with faces and figures more defined than they appear in the larger pictures – in which they are secreted in the shadows and highlights – Woods’ larger works are truly, beautifully striking. If it weren’t for young T discovering the volume of stomps she could make in the otherwise empty hall I could have stayed lost in them for ages – but we thought it best to keep moving.
I was struck by a certain amount of child-unfriendliness and disapproval in the gallery, from both patrons and the gallery’s employees. She was behaving as well as I’ve ever seen her behave in any museum and was enthused about what she saw – the echoes of the odd excited “look at this!” rang out loudly to break the almost oppressive silence. This may have been more apparent because we went on a quiet day and she was the only kid in there (along with some lone adults and a group who would have given the impression of self-importance and fun-bypasses whether she was there or not). I hope I am mistaken about the tone of the place, because I think the amount of space inside and outside of the building could – and I’m sure will – be used for some brilliant events.
Though all was forgiven by the time we got to the shop and cafe for our tea and birthday cake. I really appreciated the – for want of a better word – modesty of the shop. It has a good selection of books pertaining not only to the gallery’s own interests, but it stops short of being the type of shop you find in other large arts institutions (i.e. prohibitively expensive, in the way of the entrance/exit, arrogant and somewhat snobby). And of course I appreciated the cake. The cafe’s menu is most tempting and – again, thankfully – not needlessly dear.
In all the Hepworth is a brilliant and worthwhile institution and I’m sure will be the site of exciting and valuable exhibitions and events, for which we will be returning. I encourage anyone with the means to get themselves there before Woods’ exhibition ends at the end of January, and I am excited to see what will happen next for what is undoubtedly an important northern gallery.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m currently taking much inspiration from this song and it’s video *applies bad makeup, plays guitar while looking bored*.
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I’m struggling to find anything to post about but I am still here and I will stop neglecting this blog soon.
In the meantime here is something brilliant I’ve found today – Photography Matters. It aims to collate material and information pertaining to contemporary, historical and found photography from the Leeds area. The most recent post, about the found photographs of a man called David Voss, is something I find fascinating having discovered orphaned photographs and negatives myself. I’d love to know even a tiny amount about the makers of this stack of work I’ve kept alongside my own negatives for a few years. The post on Mr Voss also inspired me to bring more of a documentary element into my photographs, because in just 20 years his environment and the people who surrounded him have doubtless come to appear very different. Perhaps it is with a certain arrogance that I presume my photographs will be of interest to other people in 20, 30, 50 years time, but if by chance my children come to develop as much of a passion for vernacular photography and the visuals of the past as I have, then I will be able to give them something wonderful. And if strangers should happen upon my work, as with Mr Voss, perhaps it will satisfy a certain amount of curiosity for them too.
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I have to say that this exhibition didn’t move me. The faces of the crouching men (in the latter photos) were the only parts that I appreciated. As a whole I found the installations quite plain and forgettable. I didn’t see them lit up at night, admittedly, but the majority of visitors won’t see that, and I feel that on their own in the daytime they offer very little. Still, we had another glorious day at YSP with Tom’s family last weekend. I really feel like it’s one of the best free attractions in the north of England, regardless of whatever the current exhibition is!
As the commencement of my PGCE has been delayed by a year, I’m seeking valuable experience as a TA to boost my skills, knowledge and – somewhat selfishly – the strength of my GTTR application next year. But, while I wasn’t presuming to walk into a TA position, I am finding it a thousand times more difficult and competitive than I expected.
Most positions advertised currently, in the Leeds/Bradford area, are for primary schools. I intend my PGCE to be in Secondary English, but this by no means negates my passion for gaining experience of all levels of education. I completely recognise the importance of the right help and encouragement to KS1+2 kids in shaping their cultural and intellectual development, and I would truly love to be involved with them. However, upon further inspection, 90% of these ads state that the successful applicant will have had at least a year’s experience along with relevent educational references. I can understand this stipulation when advertising for assistants for SEN children, but I find it such a negative thing to deny even the prospect of an interview to any applicants without specific TA experience, no matter how strong their application is otherwise.
Surely the key traits of a TA are their passion and understanding for and of the role, and surely it is in the school’s interest to meet with any applicant showing that promise in order to find the best person for the job, regardless of how specific their experience or training is? And in a purely practical sense – how on earth are people expected to gain experience if the opportunity for that is denied?
On a similar note, I am confused about just how efficient the application process is. The application forms I have been sent are little more in-depth than ones I have filled out to work in Tesco or Marks and Spencers in the past. While I understand that there are certain criteria that simply must be met – criminal checks, eligibility to work, etc – I truly believe that a 2-page-long application form does a disservice to people who have spent time very carefully and thoughtfully constructing their CVs and cover letters in such a way as to best express their personal traits and promote themselves for positions – such things as which cannot be expressed in a tiny answer box.
When all’s said and done, I may not like it, but this is the way these applications work, and I must spend the time transposing my personal statements, CVs and cover letters onto these forms (tiny writing required!) if I have any hope of progressing to interview. Teaching really is something I am passionate about making a career out of, and when I come up against such negative attitudes to inexperienced applicants and restrictive application processes it’s hard not to get disheartened.
Having said all this, reading such articles as this one about the experiences teachers have with their assistants inspires me to succeed and prove myself worthy of what I believe is a privileged career to be in. Kids are fantastic, and imparting knowledge to them and helping them grow sounds to me like just about the most rewarding thing one could do. So I will suck up the clunky application process and dejected moods to secure a job as a TA for this year, because in the end it will be worth it.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 20th century, design, furniture, good things, home, homeware, house, inspiration, shopping, style, vintage
First thing’s first – I finished my degree this week! It’s all over! A bit of a re-submission in August due to a family illness last year, and then I am free of that pesky degree for good. I loved it in parts, but I hated the rigidity and monotony of it more often.
So onwards with the move to Leeds!
Like I said, my new house is not lacking much at all, in fact it’s completely lovely. But adding an extra adult to the household requires a bit more “stuff”.
As I’ll be going back to studying next year, and as I’m a bit OCD about workspace, storage etc, I’ve been on the look out for my own desk. I’d kill for this one:
But £950 is completely out of our budget. The prices of reproduction modernist furniture leave me spluttering – a grand for a desk which actually has a quite niche aesthetic appeal is just ridiculous! However, Ikea are saving the day yet again:
It’s not Ercol or Eames, but in the flesh it’s nice and classic enough.
Some other bits (mostly Ikea, as it is excellent at the moment) that have recently caught my eye (and my debit card). Not as practical as a desk, but pretty all the same!
- H&M Home door mat – got!
Ikea TOBIAS desk chair - on my list
Eames/G-Plan style mirror (eBay) - lost 
- Ikea Stockholm coffee table – ‘spensive
1960s placemats (eBay) - lost
Vintage handkerchief bowls - Cheadle Collector's Yard/Stockport Vintage Village
- Ikea fabric for curtains – to be continued…
Amphi Multi cushion from Habitat - purch'd!
Vintage Broadhurst "Gina" plate (eBay) - won!
Brass swallows - Stockport Vintage Village - earmarked for the loo!
Habitat Sundae bedspread - being used as a sofa throw
Ikea SLIPAD knife block - got!
Habitat Navajo rug - so beautiful, so expensive
wee ceramic Duck pot! - Cheadle Collector's Yard
No doubt to be continued… not that there’s space for much more stuff.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: (c) Jessica Campbell, 20th century, Manchester, shopping, Stockport, vintage
Vintage clothing has arguably become “big business” over the past 5 years, and while Topshop et al are stuffed to busting with imitations and eBay features thousands of mediocre, musty old jumpers and smock dresses, there has also been a rise in prominence of The Vintage Fair. Every city and town with a university or college seems to have their own vintage fair, and frankly a lot of them are a bit crap. Overpriced, rubbish quality, boring clothes being touted for silly money because they are older than the people buying them.
It’s rare nowadays to find a vintage fair committed to beautiful stock. However, the Vintage Village at Stockport Market Hall (10-4, every second sunday of the month) does just that, and without being disingenuous, it’s the best vintage fair I have seen around Manchester. It is run by people committed to, in their own words, “quality authentic vintage clothing and accessories for men and women, vintage jewellery, homewares and collectables, upcycled vintage pieces and locally handmade crafts… at very affordable prices” and I would agree wholeheartedly that the quality of the stock and the friendly mood of the fair is stunning. Because the fair is run and attended by people with a real passion for 20th century style and design, the clothing is of quality you simply don’t get in places like Ryan Vintage or student union fairs, and the prices are equally exceptional – for example, £15-£35 for perfect 1950s and 60s dresses, less than £60 for beautiful suits, unique vintage jewellery and accessories often for less than £10. The homewear stalls range from the lovely and kitsch to the simply stunning – West German pottery, beautiful mid-century ceramics including a healthy and too-tempting amount of Midwinter and Woolworths tablewear, glasswear, soft furnishings, framed pictures and knick-knacks galore.
What makes this fair different from its musty, messy peers, along with the quality of stalls, is its beautiful Victorian market hall setting – with a market place courtyard, and 20th century diners and cafes. The room offers light, air and space for traders to display their wares in such a way as to give each piece it’s dues – as opposed to cramming everything in so you can’t see the gems from the junk.
Some of my favourites are Norwegian Wood, Village Vintage Clothing, TinTrunk, and Stuart Thornley Cake Design. I could have spaffed my whole student loan on things from these stalls alone (and nearly did!). Below is my haul from the 8th May VE Day fair, and other pictures from the day.
Large amber handkerchief bowl – £8
British Film stills – £3
Cupcakes! – £1.50 each
Fir tree brooch – £3
Golden Swirl brooch – £5
Low, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, Stop Making Sense – 3 for £5!!
Brass swallows – £3
The next fair is the 12th of June, and well worth a trip!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1970s, cinema, film stills, music, No Wave, punk
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: design, fashion, inspiration, retro, shopping, style, vintage
All spring long I’ve been looking for some retro style leather clog sandals, a la Swedish Hasbeens.
These beautiful sandals don’t come much cheaper than £130, so I’ve been keeping my eyes open for good imitations – of which there are not many. Most wedge/wooden-soled sandals seems to be stuck in gladiator mode or have unnecessary decoration.
Office do a fairly similar shoe, and these are the closest I had come across. But I am a lady with size 8/8.5 feet and having worked there I have experienced their small-fitting designs, thus I knew ordering these would be a waste of time and money – especially as they are a compromise when it comes to the design I am after.
Having casually mention to my mum that I was looking for some clog style sandals, she immediately insisted I checked the Next website, to which my instinctive reaction was “ew.” I have never bought anything from Next, it puts me in mind of my LibDem-voting-neighbours, and my mother, and those people you sometimes meet who tell you about queueing up at 3am for the knitwear sale – frankly, none of whom one would look to for style tips.
But I checked, and low and behold LOOK! Look how pretty! They not only cost far less than I would have been prepared to pay (and look just like another Swedish Hasbeens style), but they get the traditional Swedish/European style right with rough leather, staples and a pale wooden sole. I ordered the size 8, safe in the knowledge that they couldn’t be as ridiculously small-fitting as Office or Topshop (though it seems that Next shoes do go up to a 9/43).
I cannot WAIT for them to arrive on Monday, though I suspect they and I shan’t be leaving the house due to essays and exams until May 17th. But when I do, I will be wearing clogs and in search of Bulmers Red Apple Blend. Anyone who gets in my way will feel my wooden-soled wrath!
Edit: I’ve been alerted to this H&M/Swedish Hasbeens collaboration by Mrs Purdy Lola. They’re exactly like the ‘real’ SH designs but so much cheaper! All sold out online, but I shall be scouering eBay for these lovely things.
