A pile of breeze blocks cleverly organised to represent a city. This South Bank structure is inspired Morrinho, an ever-growing social project that takes the form of a miniature city built by the young people of Rio de Janeiro from found material.
Awareness of Global projects such as this usually reaches people via the Internet, this is why I Love London.
Multi-award winning photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon has his first solo exhibition in the UK - I went along to see it.
On entering the show my attention was immediately drawn to the amateurish presentation of the work - A3 prints butted together using drawing pins.
The theme 'cities in upheaval' didn't seem to permeate throughout the exhibition. I felt a little self-editing may have helped – showing only the pictures where the subject shone through.
I'm sure Raymond had a great time travelling various cities of the world, however his pictures left me cold.
My latest 'lunch hour art' trip involved a flock of Zebra Finches and a selection of musical instruments. This would be Celeste Boursier-Mougenot's 'The Wire' exhibition at the barbican.
The sporadic sounds of electric guitar and symbol combined with the bird song of 40 finches makes for an interesting soundtrack as you enter the exhibition via the dark entrance.
Once inside you can see the free flying finches hop from instrument to instrument while the amplifiers and microphones pick up the birds movements to produce a unique jammin session. Everyone from the ages of 6-60 seemed to be enjoying the show; I was unsure whether their enjoyment came from the live music or from the privilege of being very close to these delicate, tame creatures.
"Celeste intended it to appeal to different senses."
It seems that modern art however does not stop the fundamental social nature of the birds. The males had chosen both their mate and their instrument and would run up and down the strings in an aggressive show of territorial defence. The video has been a big hit on YouTube but this exhibition is quite special and - in my opinion worth a visit.
As an A level chemistry student I recall growing copper sulphate crystals and being amazed at how dazzling they were, then I saw Roger Hoirns Seizure installation. Hiorns filled the run down bedsit at Elephant and Castle with 90,000 litres of copper sulphate solution, and the result is stunning.
Hiorns is known for working with unusual materials, and he loves the idea of a solid mass taking over a space which was once someones home. I feel very privileged to have seen the work, as after the exhibition is over, the rundown modernist housing block will be demolished.
