I like Banksy; his art makes me think and sometimes it makes me laugh.I was reading about his latest art exhibition Dismaland which is currently set up as a ‘Bemusement ‘ park in Weston-super-Mare. Comedy gold on one hand, philosophical treatise on the other. It led me to consider why it is I think he is such a good artist while other ‘installation experts’ are such poor artists, if they can be dignified with the term. For starters, he can actually draw and paint, but that’s not it. There are whole genres of artwork where those skills are not required. I think what distinguishes his work is reference and thought. You may dislike it, it may seem nonsensical to you, but most people will be able to ‘get’ what he’s going on about unless they have no access to Western influences whatsoever. No matter how whimsical his work may seem, it always has an implicit ‘Why? ‘ embedded in there somewhere. Why are things this way, why is this acceptable, why are we not rioting in the streets about this? That’s what distinguishes it from say, Tracey Emin’s ‘Unmade bed’ which is utterly meaningless to anyone except Tracey Emin. Of course, the exhibition pleases me even more because the entry fee is only £3. Apart from the fact that 3 is one of my favoutite numbers (who doesn’t have favourite numbers? Have you considered the allure of the perfect number 9? Anyway as De La Soul sing ‘3, that’s the magic number’), it means just about everyone can afford to see it.
This artistry can be seen in artworks all down the ages. You do not need to know the subjects or characters in these paintings below for example, to be able to tap directly into what the artist is portraying — pain, sorrow, ease, rest, resignation, fear, loneliness, quietude — all are conveyed without the need for words.
That same ‘Why?’ lies behind most scientific endeavour. Artists and scientists are very similar in their outlooks. Apart from being at the back of the queue when the sanity gene was being handed out, they are alike in seeking to make sense of the world around them. This came to me when I was out walking this afternoon. It has been a boiling hot day and I noticed spongy bumps on the path through the Common. At first I thought I was imagining them, but No, there they were. It took some thought before I realised the path was a solid concrete floor overlaid with a gravel-asphalt mix. The binder in the mix had softened in the heat, and where it was improperly fixed to the concrete, it was buckling in the heat. Difference in coefficients of thermal expansion, seemples, as any fule kno. That’s what links art and science – why does water not flow uphill? why is the sky blue? why does the apple fall to the ground rather than float? why is the underside of the cloud darker than the top of the cloud? why is the colour of the sky different over water, over farming land, over deserts? if two different objects are dropped from the same height, do they reach the ground at the same time? if not, why not? From the discovery of how to make fire to the Nazca lines to anatomical physiology and pharmacognosy, the quest is the same.I’m going to make sure neither my inner scientist nor my inner artist withers away. I hope you’ll do the same.
Dinner purgatory
We’ve all been there– there’s a snazzy new restaurant in town. You read about it in just about every newspaper and blog. You’ve finally managed to snag a table at 5.30pm (because ‘Madam we have no tables free after 6pm until the next millennium’). You can’t search the menu online because the dishes are prepared by artisans who decide what to cook depending on the phases of the moon.Come the fateful day, you get all gussied up and skip all the way to the restaurant.
An hour and a half later, you are £150 poorer and starving to death (Madam, we will need the table by 7pm at the latest for the next seating cycle. No, I’m sorry you can’t sit at the bar). You are shaking with hypoglycaemia and your vision is blurred. You then do what you ought to have done all along–search Google for the nearest branch of Patty&Bun/Shake Shack/BurgerKing/KFC. (Delete according to level of desperation).
This excellent menu above is provided courtesy of my friend Sarah who can always be relied on for good stuff. Take it everywhere lest your dinner become a cautionary tale. If you find more than 3 items that remind you of this menu, fake an attack of botulism and get out of Dodge. In the meantime, here are some dishes providing actual sustenance (Recipes at Design Sponge blog)
Dr Strangelove lives
Having survived what can only be described as a perfectly ghastly week which was made bearable by the lovely people I work with, Saturday has arrived like a beacon in the darkness. It’s cold outside, and the world is apparently going to hell in a handbasket…again. I thought I would cheer you all up by reporting that scientists have discovered that seasickness can be warded off by applying what they call ‘ a short electric shock‘ to the head just before you get on the boat. The comedy applications of this are obviously limitless. Apparently, they are now trying to develop a smaller gadget that can plug into your mobile phone, thereby providing the portable electrocution device the world has been crying out for. What could go wrong when you are administering electric shocks in the wettest environment you can envisage?
This is why I love science and scientists so much. Whatever they are being paid, it’s not enough. I should admit that the scientific principle is actually very sound. However, that takes all the fun out of the scenario. I leave you with a quote from the Daily Mail- ‘A mild electric shock to the scalp makes the feelings of nausea go away, according to experts at Imperial College London’. Yep, that’s because you’ve just toppled into the Solent in shock.
Study leader Dr Qadeer Arshad, of Imperial’s department of medicine, said: ‘We are confident that within five to 10 years people will be able to walk into the chemist and buy an anti-seasickness device.
‘It may be something like a TENS [transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation] machine that is used for back pain.‘We hope it might even integrate with a mobile phone, which would be able to deliver the small amount of electricity required via the headphone jack.
You might want to make a mental note not to put your phone in your jeans pocket. To all the singletons out there, I should mention that the chances of you hooking up with your narcissistic object-choice after they’ve seen you applying electrodes to your temples are precisely nil, or maybe not……… Scientists everywhere, I want you to know my love for you knows no bounds.
Roll Call
It’s been the usual rainy bank holiday weekend, quelle surprise. If we actually had nice bank holiday weather, the whole country would be in a state of shock. Good to know the national equilibrium has been maintained. I decided to count my blessings instead, and say a big thank you to people who have been helpful to me lately (Yes, I do feel extremely virtuous). To BC, who scored me a Dell computer and TWO monitors, a huge thank you. You’re cool, and you know it. To Jase who sorted out the whole computer hoopla, and spent part of his bank holiday Monday testing it out, you’re a gentleman and a scholar. Last but not the least, to Minnie ,Jessie and Daria, a big thank you for your enthusiasm, encouragement and all-round craziness. I hope these beautiful pictures cheer up your rainy day.
Albanian wisdom
Sorry I’ve been AWOL for a while. I’m knee-deep in organic chemistry at the moment, working on new formulations. It’s actually quite good fun;I love organic chemistry. I’m very tempted to fill this blog with equations just so you can see how elegant chemistry is. Instead, I’m posting some images of equally elegant products which will feature in the design shows next month. Not chemistry, but they have their own charm.
London will be abuzz with the shows next month, starting with London Fashion Week and moving on to the Interior Design shows. The usual craziness will ensue, with predictably hilarious results. To get you in the mood, I gift you these jokes. No need to thank me, your groans will suffice.
Q: To what question is the answer 9W?
A: “Dr Wiener, do you spell your name with a V?”
Rene Descartes walks into a restaurant and sits down for dinner. The waiter comes over and asks if he’d like an appetizer
“No thank you” says Descartes, “I’d just like to order dinner”
“Would you like to hear our daily specials?” asks the waiter
“No” says Descartes, getting impatient
“Would you like a drink before dinner?” the waiter asks
Descartes is insulted, since he’s a tee-totaler
“I think not!” he says indignantly, and POOF! he disappeared.
And courtesy of Mr Rick Stein, the following piece of Albanian wisdom ‘The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese’.
photos:Martin Huxford; Aster- Copper & Silk; Ptolemy Mann + Copper & Silk; Ceramics by Regina Heinz
Art & Science
I like Banksy; his art makes me think and sometimes it makes me laugh.I was reading about his latest art exhibition Dismaland which is currently set up as a ‘Bemusement ‘ park in Weston-super-Mare. Comedy gold on one hand, philosophical treatise on the other. It led me to consider why it is I think he is such a good artist while other ‘installation experts’ are such poor artists, if they can be dignified with the term. For starters, he can actually draw and paint, but that’s not it. There are whole genres of artwork where those skills are not required. I think what distinguishes his work is reference and thought. You may dislike it, it may seem nonsensical to you, but most people will be able to ‘get’ what he’s going on about unless they have no access to Western influences whatsoever. No matter how whimsical his work may seem, it always has an implicit ‘Why? ‘ embedded in there somewhere. Why are things this way, why is this acceptable, why are we not rioting in the streets about this? That’s what distinguishes it from say, Tracey Emin’s ‘Unmade bed’ which is utterly meaningless to anyone except Tracey Emin. Of course, the exhibition pleases me even more because the entry fee is only £3. Apart from the fact that 3 is one of my favoutite numbers (who doesn’t have favourite numbers? Have you considered the allure of the perfect number 9? Anyway as De La Soul sing ‘3, that’s the magic number’), it means just about everyone can afford to see it.
This artistry can be seen in artworks all down the ages. You do not need to know the subjects or characters in these paintings below for example, to be able to tap directly into what the artist is portraying — pain, sorrow, ease, rest, resignation, fear, loneliness, quietude — all are conveyed without the need for words.
That same ‘Why?’ lies behind most scientific endeavour. Artists and scientists are very similar in their outlooks. Apart from being at the back of the queue when the sanity gene was being handed out, they are alike in seeking to make sense of the world around them. This came to me when I was out walking this afternoon. It has been a boiling hot day and I noticed spongy bumps on the path through the Common. At first I thought I was imagining them, but No, there they were. It took some thought before I realised the path was a solid concrete floor overlaid with a gravel-asphalt mix. The binder in the mix had softened in the heat, and where it was improperly fixed to the concrete, it was buckling in the heat. Difference in coefficients of thermal expansion, seemples, as any fule kno. That’s what links art and science – why does water not flow uphill? why is the sky blue? why does the apple fall to the ground rather than float? why is the underside of the cloud darker than the top of the cloud? why is the colour of the sky different over water, over farming land, over deserts? if two different objects are dropped from the same height, do they reach the ground at the same time? if not, why not? From the discovery of how to make fire to the Nazca lines to anatomical physiology and pharmacognosy, the quest is the same.I’m going to make sure neither my inner scientist nor my inner artist withers away. I hope you’ll do the same.