Bakary Cafe

Elephants are everywhere…

Elephants are everywhere…

And there are still a few hours left in the day for you to do your bit… it doesn’t have to be much. It takes hardly any time to make a pledge, for example.

Visit Earth Day 2010 to read up about the current campaigns, learn how you can make a difference… or make that pledge.

Today is the fourth day without any planes in the sky, as a result of the massive cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland.

Whilst this has caused massive disruptions to many travellers and will cost many businesses dear… the selfish person in me loves the peace and quiet of no planes in the sky! Clear uninterrupted blue sky.

London transformed for four days now into a haven of tranquility!

Oh dear… it seems that Antony Gormley’s life-size statues are creating quite a stir in New York!

When the exhibition was in London, I was excitedly trying to see how many of the statues I could see in one go. In New York however, concerned members of the public are phoning the police, worried that people are about to commit suicide.

So… what do we make of all this? Art is powerful and Gormley’s statues are making a big impact on the NY Art scene? Gormley’s statues are impressively human-like? Gormley’s work is yet to be recognised for what it is by the NY masses? Our neighbours across the Atlantic are more caring about their fellow human beings than we are? Answer on a postcard please.

Not quite sure what I make of Somerset House as an exhibition venue for the (free) exhibition, A Positive View.

The building itself is amazing and I must confess that I spent a fair bit of my time there admiring the architecture (and I noticed that they offer guided tours!). But… I was slightly puzzled that the exhibition was split in two, for no other reasons than the fact that it was too big for the space it was allocated in the first place. There was no real theme or century divides that I could see… and so three rooms into it, having just got into it, you have to find your way down the stairs and through a few doors (via an outdoor space) into the remaining few rooms… Weird.

Still… this did not really detract from the good stuff on show and a fair number of images really caught my eye such as ‘Audrey Hepburn at the Ritz‘ (1964); ‘Untitled‘ by Seydou Keita (1952, a man with a bicycle); ‘Givenchy Hat (b) Paris’ (1958); ‘Garlic (1996)’  and ‘Roses‘ (2007).

Even better were the iconic ‘Wyoming‘ (1954); ‘Transvoid Manfred‘ (2008/9); ‘Brian May‘ (1996).

And there there were ‘1404 Pressburg Street, New Orleans 2006‘ and ‘6328  North Miro Street, New Orleans 2006‘ by Robert Pridori and last but not least… ‘A local man walking home from work‘ by Don Mccullin. Stunning.

This made me wonder how such works could be hung in the same exhibition as fluffy images of Keira Knightley or Kate Moss taken purely as advertising shots…

Still, I am getting better at following my New Year’s resolution and concentrating on what I like now, instead of trying to cram it all in and ending up not taking in what appeals to me.

Elephants are everywhere…

Elephants are everywhere…

Elephants are everywhere…

Leaving London Friday lunchtime… arriving Casablanca Sunday night!

The journey went something like this:

- Tube (from work to St Pancras)
- Eurostar to Paris (delayed due to weather conditions)
- Taxi (a race across Paris from Gare du Nord to Austerlitz)
- Overnight train to Madrid (delayed departure; missed our coach connection as a result)
- Train to Atocha station
- Train to Algeciras… had to get off at Araquenta due to engineering work
- Replacement bus service to Algeciras
- Taxi to our hotel
- Taxi to the port
- Ferry to Tangiers
- Petit taxi to the railway station
- Train to Sidi Kacem (engine broke down and had to wait for a long long while for replacement engine to turn up)
- Train from Sidi Kacem to Casablanca (delayed!)
- 5 mins walk to the hotel…

A long long journey…

The highlights undoubtedly were getting off the ferry in Tangiers and getting to meet and talk to so many people… not something you get to do normally when you just have to board a plane!

Would I do it again, hell yes! But I’d take my time and would make sure to build in cushions for delays.

The flight home certainly wasn’t as exciting.