More design stuff - Jordy Fu this time

These lamps from Jordy Fu (http://www.jordyfu.com/ - also a very nice website, worth to take a look) are just amazing. I've seen them in real life and they look so nice. Talking about an amazing design to add to your home ... They cost about £ 115 for one, you can decide yourself if that is too expensive or too cheap ;)! I know I'd get one (if I'd have a house that is)!

Some concerts, some pics

Last Friday was a very good Friday. We headed down to the Royal Albert Hall for a Jools Holland concert, which includes Jools Holland (obviously) and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, and some other guests, amongst them Ruby Turner with her amazing voice. This gig was a text book example of how a concert can run super smoothly: a full on band of great musicians, a host and lead singer who is jamming away on his piano with the ease of putting down his autograph, and some guest singers who give it all they got. As I said, Ruby Turner absolutely blew me away. She opened her mouth and pure soul came out. The concert was of a very high standard, going fast, changing setting, changing instruments, changing singers. You could tell that there 's a proper show host and awesome musician running the show. However, even though it all seemed so nice, sometimes you want a bit of imperfection, some proof of mortality, some more extraordinary highs, even if it implies a low. Or maybe I still prefer a little hall where you're closer to the band, creating a more intimate setting. I know, I'm a sucker for small gigs.

PS: Thanks to Will Wang for the pictures, excellent shots

Me me me! Eat your feet!

Some more finds (the bunnies are from the Pop Up Design Christmas market at the Truman Brewery as well), how cool and cute right? (Well, if you're a girl I suppose ...) The first are two "Eat Your Feet" designs, and there are more where these came from! The website is absolutely amazing if you ask me, I really like it and the designs are very cool. They're basically tats on neclaces. Check it out: http://www.eatyourfeet.com/! The bunnies are actually porcelain pendants and are from http://www.madebymememe.com/. I saw them at the market, they're really cute! Christmas presents guys, read my lips, christmas presents!

Til the next!

Pop up design market finds

Check this out: a pendant light (in an obvious very English style) and hoody salt and pepper shakers. 2 things I saw at the Pop Up Design Market at Truman Brewery (Brick Lane) this weekend. I picked up a flyer that told me that I can buy them online on their website http://www.hiddenartshop.com/ and I can highly recommend it: I love their stuff!

What they say on their website: "For over 20 years Hidden Art have been supporting and promoting talented designers and designer-makers to transform their passion into products."

According to a lady on the market, I could only buy something there at the spot or get it delivered by ordering online. So you can't buy it in any shop or at let's say a weekly market booth somewhere in London, which I find weird and a missed opportunity (although of course it cost avoiding or profit maximizing in a way). I'm gonna phone in soon because I saw something I want to have by the end of next week, and I'll ask them and let you know!

Tate window

Nice set up outside Tate Modern in one of their windows which made a cool pic I think. I've been looking for the explanation of this on the website, trying to figure out what it means but I couldn't find it. Next time I go by (probably within a week) I'll ask and let you know. The words I can make up are "languages, speaks, loud squeaky voice". Quite curious to get info on it.

Also on in Tate Modern now is the big black box by Miroslaw Balka. I highly recommend to just walk in. Don't spoil it for yourself and use a mobile to find your way, or look back, or use a flash camera. It's a sensational experience, in the way that it tickles your senses. You can only see a bit (after adapting to the almost pitch black), what you hear sounds slightly different, and you end up putting your hands where you're going to not bump into someone or hitthe wall. Once you reach the back, turn around. It's cool how much you can see then, all of a sudden you literally see the light and see just about everything and you're back to normal. Very cool.

I've also visited the Pop Life exhibition. My companion hated it, I loved it, but then again, I'm a Pop Art fan. It is indeed a celebration of pop culture which is what makes it so controversial. The funniest display to me was the video of Kirsten Dunst "turning Japanese", a video that was a collaboration between director McG and artist Takashi Murakami, whose style I recognized from Kanye West his album's artwork. Even funnier, I tried to find it on YouTube and I noticed that I wasn't the only one looking for it judging by the comments of people who saw the clip at Tate and as myself could only find a series of pictures of Kirsten Dunst during the shooting. Well there you go, if that isn't pop culture ... People see exhibit, find something they like, look for it online on the most popular video website YouTube so they could at least find or even own a copy, can't find it but comment on it and on each other's posts therefore communicating with strangers across the world about one object that is the embodiment of pop culture ... Think about it.

You'll find out in my blogs: I like pop culture, and I'm not afraid to say it :)!

Update

Good afternoon my dearest blog readers,

it's a beautiful day in London, a bit chilly but not too cold, blue sky and nice sun, My kind of day ...

I am still living in the amazing city that is London. I have decided to make a few changes to the lay out and content of my blog. I think you all know by now that I've settled in ok, that I am finding my way around the city and that I am enjoying every minute of it. Therefore, from now on my blog will be less of "Hi family and friends, I'm still alive" and more about the fantastic city of London and what there is to find, to see, to hear and how I interpret and experience all the wonderful things in London. As you may have noticed, I'm very much into culture (music and arts in particular) so I will make this more into a lifestyle and "whats on" blog with some tips, reviews, and reporting on interesting bits that crossed my path. I am doing this for my own personal gain of reflecting on things and maybe I can inform others along the way.

My family and friends are of course still welcome and the new blog posts will show you that I am still doing alright, and I'll post the occasional picture. Let me know if you want some more of something, and I'll adjust! Reactions are always very nice of course :)!

So look out for my new blog post!

Camille DG

Hello

Like Prince is singing on my iTunes at the moment: HELLO !

Simple and to the point: Hello! How are you all? I have now been in London for almost 2 months and I am still loving every minute of it. This weekend I had 2 visitors from Belgium, Emilie (flatmate last year and bf) came Friday til Sunday, and my mum came Sunday til Monday. The visits were very fun and I had the change to show of my recently gained knowledge of London and Emilie and my mum had a very good time. I took Emilie around the London Bridge area (Southwark, Tate, St. Pauls) and we had the obligatory coffee and cake along the way of course! Emilie was very happy she could have caramel shortbread again, her favorite cake she always had in Aberystwyth but couldn't find in Belgium! I of course had a chocolate muffin! Friday she joined me and some CCE students to an art gallery opening up in Hackney, really cool! We walked on an indoor, artificial and wobbly wooden pier over a white coloured lake - you had to be there - and we watched a Melrose Place installation including actors very dramatically practicing a scene from the show. The next day we went shopping to Spitalfields and Brick Lane - awesome of course! Saturday evening we were invited for a dinner at Sibylle's place with her flatmates. On Sunday my mum arrived and we also went shopping to Spitalfields to show her a shoes shop I discovered there the day before (both bought shoes ghihi) and walked around a lot, concluding with a very nice meal near London Bridge. The next day we also walked and went shopping to Regent Street. That was, in a nutshell, my weekend!

The days are filled with uni, uni work and research, and going to see a lot of things which is also uni work basically. For example today, Nada (an Egyptian girl from my class) and I went to the Whitechapel Gallery to see Sophie Calle's photography, the Institute of Contemporary Arts to see clips and photography by Rosalind Nashashibi and we also went to the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Particularly this last one was extremely fun, very visual, abstract and touchable all at once. Especially when a canon shot a blob of red painted wax on to the museum's nice white wall!

So basically, London has much to offer and I'm taking up as much as possible!

Greetings, Camille

Hope you are all well!