2011 is revving up to zoom off into the past, and to leave us all in its resultant dust. It was the year of Van der Memes, the London Riots and the great PCP takeover. So I think it’s fair to say there’ve been both extreme highs and lows in the past twelve months.
But over all, pretty good, right?
♪ if you live with me, I’ll die for you, and that’s a compromise ♪
Eh, I’ve just about had enough of serious questions, and the resultant discussions, this week. So let’s bring on the levity instead!
Round here that means that it’s time for another Search Term Sunday- looking at, and mocking, the things people have googled that brought them here this week.
promiscuous harlot
You know what I’ve noticed? I do not write about myself enough on here, and that’s a shame cos I’m fascinating. And awesome.
Case in point: while impersonating a Benetton advert a few of us went to the Taryn Simon exhibition, A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, at the Tate Modern.
I really enjoyed the exhibition and would recommend it (especially as it’s free, which is my favourite price) but the fact that some of my visually challenged friends- including Miss Penn- had a bit of a problem reading the small print used for the explanatory text panels reminded me just how lucky I am to have good eyesight.
So as a sort of companion piece to my discussion of the noses of pop culture, here’s an ode to how good my eyes are. Read the rest of this entry »
Well alright, that titular Buffy quote was from a vampire called Sunday (pictured above) and not- at least as far as I know- an anthropomorphic version of the last day of the week. But when you think about it, it’s kind of true. Sundays practically do kill you sometimes.
You’re liable to be horribly hungover and terribly tired from your weekend activities- whether they’ve been wholesome or debauched. Or, if you- like quite a few of the PCP crew- spent your Saturday night entertaining a baby while necking booze, a bit of both.
So you’re all tuckered out- and you don’t even get to really relax because another week is just around the corner demanding your attention and energy. Sundays are hard.
However they’re also they day of search term sifting- I’ll be perusing the things people have googled to end up on PCP. And possibly flailing around in confusion.
pics of dean winchester with a little girl
That sounds borderline inappropriate, but the show does feature a lot of creepy kids- many of which like attacking poor Dean: Read the rest of this entry »
The search terms that lead people to PCP typically make me snigger or roll my eyes, because they’re so bizarre. Sometimes they make me smile, because they remind me of something pleasant, like a classic episode of a favourite TV show. But lately, I’ve noticed they’ve also been serving as little lessons, opening my eyes and mind to things I’d never have imagined otherwise and teaching me obscure phrases in foreign languages.
So this Sunday, here’s a chance to get schooled, along with the usual dirty laughs.
got pop culture
That we do. You’ve come to the right place.
Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography
Victoria & Albert Museum
13 October 2010 – 20 February 2011
£5
I, Captain Fancy Pants- the newest addition to the PCP team, love photography. We were lucky enough to have a fully functional black and white darkroom in my secondary school, and I studied Photography at both GCSE and A-Level. Having had my interest piqued by being exposed to a variety of photographic techniques as a student I now attempt to devour art exhibitions (especially the more atypical ones) like a gluttonous fiend. So off I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum for the Shadow Catchers photography exhibition, and with my silver tongue managed to obtain a free ticket!
Needless to say I had high expectations for this exhibition, and I am happy to say that it certainly didn’t disappoint. It certainly left me with huge respect for the artists involved and my mind filled with inspiration.
One of my first experiences in a darkroom was learning how to produce a photogram, initial introductions showed it to be a fairly simple technique. Some of the earliest photographic images produced by William Fox Talbot were created in this way; exposing photosensitive material to light, anything placed in front of the light source will interfere with the light and produce an image.
Aside from photograms there are two other commonly used techniques for camera-less photography, luminograms and chemigrams. All three of these styles are shown in the main exhibition.
One of the most prolific artists to utilise this style of photography was Man Ray, one of my favourite artists, whose work always seems to capture aspects of the surreal and look beyond photography as just a means for capturing simple images. Man Ray is hailed for the dynamism of his “rayographs”, at least one of which is among the examples the V&A has conveniently placed in its free photography gallery in an accompanying exhibition, A History of Camera-less Photography, which is on until 27 March 2011 (for more info check out their listing of current exhibitions).
The Shadow Catchers exhibition encompasses a summary look at five artists whose photographic works are all produced unconventionally, i.e. without the use of a camera. The techniques on display vary from the sublimely simple to the meticulously complex. The beauty of the works is matched and balanced throughout, I found it hard to pick a favourite.
Floris Neusüss (Germany)
Predominantly whole body photograms, the result of placing the subjects directly onto the photographic paper, silhouetting them in positions which appear quite intimate and intriguingly diverse in there form and intent. And a recreation of one of Fox Talbot’s original ‘photogenic drawings’ from Lacock Abbey.
Pierre Cordier (Brussels)
Most well known for producing the chemigram. His approach is described as scientific, the results are a selection of insanely intricate geometric forms and mazes, some of them seem so delicate that it’s actually mind boggling.
Gary Fabian Miller (Bristol)
A colourful selection, which uses both natural forms from plants and abstract colour blocks and shapes. In some ways simple, his work contains some seriously bold and striking detail on the boundaries of reality.
Susan Durges (London)
Some wonderfully stunning work, centred on the use of water. A lot of her shots were produced by placing the photosensitive paper in aluminium trays under the water in streams and rivers and flashing them with bright light, capturing a micro-second of the torrent. There are also some beautifully crafted montages.
Adam Fuss (London)
A great collection of both colour and black and white images, some of which captured motion amazingly. His interest in snakes plays a big part in his work, as well as a non morbid interest in death and a wicked variety in techniques.
The centre of the exhibition has a short film which gives a short bio and almost ironic snapshot of each of the artists. My only complaint, as minor as it is, is that as you progress through the exhibition you arrive at the film in between viewing the artists’ works. I’d have preferred it either at the beginning or the end, as either a primer or something to reflect on as you leave. Really though that’s just me picking the tiniest of faults in what was an otherwise brilliant display.
I enjoyed it so much I could go again, although I think I might have to actually pay for my entrance the second time around as my charms aren’t endless. Luckily the book is cheaper on Amazon than in the V&A shop…
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