Turning the World Upside Down - Anish Kapoor
Kensington Gardens
28.09.2010 – 13.03.2011
Philippe Parreno
25.11.2010-13.02.2011
Serpentine Gallery
Non-Object (Spire) by Anish Kapoor (2008)
Last Sunday I headed to Kensington Gardens after brunch to catch the Anish Kapoor sculptures which were not seen a month ago (seen 2 on a sunny day, as you can see in the photo slideshow below) -
Full photo set
Kapoor's mirror-finish sculptures have a subliminal character which goes well with the natural setting of the park. You cannot say they have blended themselves in, as clearly they are all very visible and stand out from the surroundings. However, their existence seems to create an extra dimension to the space they inhibits. The distorted surfaces reflecting the surroundings produce a different version of the world to the audience, something intriguing even you have seen a hundred times. It is poetic sci-fi material, if you agree : )
Afterwards I turned to Serpentine Gallery to get my copy of 032c in their book shop. Since the demise of Borders, it has been a gain in my wallet but a loss in my magazine diet to explore periodical publications in London, with the exception of museum bookshops in Tate, Whitechapel Gallery & Serpentine Gallery.
032c A/W 2010
This is the 20th issue of the magazine. Based in Berlin, 032c has its 10th anniversary this year. Just like the reputation of Berlin being the hippest european capital from the millennium, nobody should judge this magazine from its sketchy graphic layout compared to perfectionist layout like Monocle. The magazine has one of the most lengthy articles I would ever willing to spend $ to buy a copy, and they consistently reach out to people from various disciplines to provide a dazzling spectrum of knowledge to the readers. Having said that, I have to admit the only time I can finish a whole issue is usually on a plane, striped out of any possible distractions so I can focus on reading and digesting the contents due to its "unfriendly" layout to my eyes... (clearly I'm a bit spoilt by conventional layouts!)
Odd addition to the Gallery facade
Before I stepped into the Gallery, I discovered a few little purple gloves on the window-wall. Are they part of the coming Philippe Parreno show?
Actually, the Gallery has just announced 2 weeks ago a new venue inside Kensington Gardens will be constructed and managed by them. Currently the Magazine Building, Zaha Hadid will transform it into the Serpentine Sackler Gallery with the donation from The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.
Back to the bookshop. Apart from 032c, I also noticed Apollo has Antony Gormley on their cover -
Feature in Apollo (11/2010) on Antony Gormley: Figuring it Out
And then this mysterious new title caught my eyes -
The Hub's debut issue - Never Neverland
Turned out it's a new launch based in London. The Hub is essentially like what its name said, a collection of art, culture, fashion happenings selected for its readers - a printed concierge for the urban troops. I like its layout and use of hand-drawn illustrations (at least they appear like so), a stark contrast to 032c! But it takes time to see if this experiment is going to have the same level of success like its competitors, all over the shelf in the bookshop. Good luck!