Bjork Digital

Disappointing exhibition at Somerset House of digital content and videos from Bjorks new album.

I liked the first room which was a split screen music video with a great sound system which meant you could hear difference elements of the music at different points in the room.

However I’d not realised that the most of the show was virtual reality presentations and I quickly realised that I didn’t like them! You were sat on stools so that you could spin round and appreciate the work properly but I felt too high up and I didn’t like the feel of the headset on my face. I was also unsure whether to wear my glasses or not, everything felt out of focus. All in all quite a claustrophobic experience!  Also once I’d decided I didn’t like it there was no way out so I had to stand in a room watching people slowing spinning on stools in the dark.

By the time I’d suffered the virtual reality I’d rather lost my patience and not being a big Bjork fan the show had lost any engagement I might have had. There was a room of ordinary videos on a big screen at the end and some sort of app which I couldn’t be bothered to work out!

I have realised thought that more and more exhibitions are using virtual reality so I have bought a cheap cardboard headset to practice with at home! I don’t want to feel left out but I think I need to try it out in a less pressured environment.

Closes on 23 October 2016.

Reviews
Times
Guardian
Telegraph

 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my...
Read more

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B...
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was ...
Read more