Learned Society of Extra Ordinary Objects
Weird but fun exhibition at Somerset House by designers Clarke and Clerkin. The premise of this show was that the Learned Society of Extra Ordinary Objects had been based in Somerset House until it went bankrupt and its collection was seized in 1973. The society had believed that ordinary objects have value if we know their story. The whole thing was presented as if real so it was hard to distinguish what was real and what was made up. The first rooms of the show reflected the history of the society with recreations of possible portraits of members, and a reproduction of the Gin Bar which had started as a floating bar on the river serving various organisations in Somerset House. I loved a story about the India Club Courtyard Cricket Competition played between societies where the aim wasn’t to score runs but to break the windows of the other societies. All very imaginative. I loved a pool table of coloured objects arranged in like colour to produce a wonderful rainbow ...