The canal continues onto Kings Cross, Camden Town, past the London Zoo and Lisson Wide before culminating at Maida Vale (where that stretch of the canal is fondly referred to as ‘Little Venice."‘ For hundreds of years, workers moved people and goods along this waterway, not without risk either (severe storms could be perilous) and being able to work the boats in all weathers and tides was a job that required skill and knowledge. Many of them lived on these boats…
Kusama has, over the years, suffered from panic attacks, hallucinations and had more than one nervous breakdown. These began when she was not even in double digits - as early as aged 7, Kusama heard dogs, pumpkins and violets talking to her (indeed, pumpkins would become one of her leitmotifs, later in her career) and had auras where all around her, she saw objects glittering…
It’s actually quite pleasing to my eye - a very unusual installation indeed. It’s about 9 metres long and a classic spiral design - all swirly and continuous - which some might even feel to be a bit of an optical illusion. I did some research before I set off - it was constructed in 2004 by a Danish artist by the name of Olafur Eliasson. In German, it is called ‘Umschribung’ which apparently means ‘euphemism…’
Wandering aimlessly through Covent Garden, I walked inside the doors of the London Transport museum and found myself in its gift store. There, I found an enormous collection of vintage Underground posters - colourful, vibrant, dazzling. Having taken the tube from a young age and, now living abroad, buying a couple of prints like a fine idea. After all, there’s nothing like the Underground to make a Londoner feel warm and fuzzy!
My favourite piece in the Library, without a doubt, has to be the Astronomical Clock. Deigned by Raingo in Paris, it has been French polished to a marble finish It’s a highly complex mechanism. showing an intricate model of the solar system...the rotation of the earth on its axis and the phases of the moon...
