MIGRATION

Migration is part of an exhibition that has taken place in two Capital cities over the past two months. In August, London based illustrator, Hellovan installed his drawings of abstracted birds outside of the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane in London. The flock of abstracted birds will then be moved to New York and installed on a billboard outside of the Espeis Gallery, leaving the impression that has work has literally migrated.

HALO

Lancashire's answer to the Angel of the North. This structure is part of a unique scheme to install public artworks at key gateways across the North to enhance the image of the region, improve its quality of place and increase tourism and economic growth. Designed by John Kennedy of LandLab, 'Halo' is an 18m-diameter steel lattice structure supported on a tripod five metres above the ground, which sits at the top of the Rossendale Valley.
Carolyn Wilkins, Chief Executive of Rossendale Council said that "This is a genuinely eye-catching and innovative piece of landmark sculpture which will become a unique visitor attraction for Rossendale. Moreover, as part of the overall project, we reclaimed a former landfill site and created a very pleasant recreational amenity for local people and visitors to explore."
The huge sculpture which sits at the top of Haslingden in Rossendale is shaped like a UFO, as the area is a 'hotspot' for sightings. It has cleverly been designed so that when people drive into the Valley from the South it looks as though the halo (UFO) is actually hovering over the hills. By night its illuminated which makes for an effective impact.

GIANT SPIDER ATTACKS LIVERPOOL

Ive just been watching the lunchtime news and found that a giant spider has hit Liverpool! Madness! The mechanical spider is in Liverpool this week as part of a street theatre project, and is central to Liverpool's European Capital of Culture programme.


Going by the name of 'La Princess', the beast is spreading its way around the city after appearing during Sunday night to shock the commuters at Liverpool Lime Street on Monday morning. The massive monster is Liverpool's first glimpse of the La Machine exhibition, being held in the city this weekend. The spider weighs 37 tonnes and stands 50 feet high and will appear at different locations around the city and will be manually operated to walk through the streets of Liverpool over the next few days. The spider is made out of steel and poplar wood and will be operated by 12 people strapped to its frame in order to make it move when it comes "alive" on Friday.

Such an original way of informing people and creating interest. Brilliantly ambitious! I look forward to seeing what else the project will reveal at the weekend, rumour has it there is going to be a "spectacular finish" on Sunday.

The people behind the innovative project are the same people that caused a stir in London in 2006 with Sultan's Elephant where an estimated 1 million people went to watch the elephant move around the city.

To see more visit La Machine

URBAN PLAY

This year there is a new design festival being launched in Amsterdam, Freedesigndom will be running from September 18th- November 2nd. Within this a new exhibition "Urban Play" will be launched, focussing on the theme 'Space and Place' exploring the city as a landscape that we have shaped through design and inspiring people to be creative in the city. The exhibition will move across cities in Europe showing off the latest street art and highlighting how creative urban intervention is something that happens in every city.

"droog event 2: urban play' will be a display of international unauthorized collaborations and urban designinterventions:- often seen as a form of vandalism, the public interventions which are part of this exhibition are the newest waves of projects to hit the streets, challenging public expression in our major hubs as well as altering the language of creativity which is generally spoken in the city." Initiated by droog design and curated by Scott Burnham. http://www.droog.com/presentationsevents/droog-event-ii--urban-play--the-spirit-of-the-city/

LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2008

13th - 23rd September

THE DESIGN COUNCIL

This weeks 'DesignWeek' magazine has announced that one of the highlights of the 2008 London Design Festival will be launch of a new event, 'greengaged' focusing on sustainability in the design industry.
Sophie Thomas, one of the 'greengaged' founders, explains the need for such an event by saying that it is time to 'focus the design industry on the urgent problem of climate change and start one big conversation'.
DesignWeek break the event down like so:
• A creative space for designers, suppliers, clients, researchers and students
• A place to meet, exchange ideas, share expertise, learn new skills and debate sustainability issues and new roles for design
• A platform for debates, practical workshops, seminars and focus groups, exhibitions, tours, knowledge-sharing, networking events and film screenings
• Events will examine ecological imperatives, political and social drivers and sustainable design strategies across all disciplines.
The Design Council says that a 'Green manifesto' will be drawn up at the conclusion of 'greengaged'. This is definitely a very topical issue and it will be interesting to see what the result is once the festival is over. Hopefully this will help clean up the design industry and make us all much more informed.

PAINTING, DESIGN AND MODERN LIFE IN VIENNA 1900

Gustav Klimt
30 May - 31 Aug 2008.
Liverpool Tate.

GAME ON

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne, 2008.
In order to celebrate years of gaming, "Game On" shows off the development of video games from the very first computer and vintage arcade games to the latest consoles highlighting how the industry has grown and thrived over the years and allows the public to play their way through the history of video games. Having a keen interest in design, I enjoyed seeing the packaging of some of the older consoles as well as admiring the original sketched illustrations of world famous characters, such as Sonic and Tomb Raider that were on display. Definitely worth a visit even if you are not an avid gamer!

BODY WORLDS

Gunther Von Haegens' Body Worlds
The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.
22nd Feb - 29th June 2008.

300 ART WORKS, ONE CITY.

ANDY WARHOL.
GALLERY OF MODERN ART, BRISBANE.
8 DEC - 30 MARCH 2008.

I was lucky enough to share my time in Brisbane with the most comprehensive exhibitions that Australia has had. A Retrospective with Andy Warhol was the "talk of the town", if you will, and having been I can certainly understand what all the hype was about! With 300 pieces of artwork, including paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs, films, videos and installations, the creative genius of Warhol is unquestionable.

The exhibition was truly inspiring and deeply informative, and I would recommend everyone to go if the opportunity arises! I am a big admirer of Warhol's work anyway, and am familiar with many of the works on show but there was something about seeing these famous prints first hand which made them more honest and spectacular. The inclusion of unfinished prints engrossed me as you could really see how he worked and it almost made you appreciate his work more. Also, the inclusion of his time capsules, self portraits, photographs of Studio 54 and his films gave the audience a fascinating insight into the private life of the talented yet mysterious artist. I found it intersting how despite creating the majority of his work in the 60's and 70's his work, seems to speak louder today than it did then. Particularly his focus on consumerism and marketing (Campbell's soup) which is ever so prominent in today's society.