While driving around L’Isle Sur La Sorgue recently, I had noticed posters for a Japanese art exhibition at the Hotel Caumont in Aix-en-Provence. Sunday we decided, was the perfect day to go there. Having never visited the Hotel Caumont, which incidentally is not a hotel, it’s a beautiful old historic house, we decided to leave Bailey with a Kong full of peanut butter and go there. On arriving at Hotel Caumont, we headed outside to take a look at the formal garden which was of course perfect and manicured. A sign described the design which dated back from the 16th century. Back in those days gardens were designed to mimic the patterns on ornate fabrics and laces. That made particular sense when viewed from above.
The exhibition contained a collection of Japanese works by three masters from the Edo period: Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro. There was also a video showing how paintings were achieved using wood block carvings. On the wall in the room you could see the blank page and how each wood carving achieved the final design. Such meticulous work. This approach enabled them to achieve faithful reproductions every time. However the work that went into carving the particular part of the scene and then applying the correct colors in just the right amount must have been painstaking.
There is a very famous wood carving – the Great Wave of Kanagawa by Hokusai that was displayed in a beautiful wood armoire with a vivid orange lacquer on the interior in the final room. This painting was brought to life via sound and images projected floor to ceiling across all the walls in the room. The effect was incredible and it really brought the art to life. What a wonderful surprise in an amazing exhibit. We made our way out of this beautiful historic building and into the buzzing scene in Aix where Christmas is starting to come to life.
I took a short trip to London this week and was determined to take in the Olafur Eliasson exhibit “In Real Life” at the Tate Modern while I was there. We had watched a documentary on Netflix, Abstract: The Art of Design of the artist and his method and so I was eager to see what surprises were in store at the Tate. His approach is very much one of encouraging people to engage with the art. In one part, there was a big sphere affixed to the wall and you just felt you had to go closer and stare into it. What was not immediately apparent was the other side of the wall, people could see into the other side of the sphere where your features would be turned upside down and magnified. It was funny and people were wandering back and forth and laughing with one another when they realized.
There was not any particular way to experience the exhibit, but the Tate Modern curators had suggested a path for those who preferred to have more of a guided experience. Not having followed that path, I came to a door where one of the museum guards was standing. I had no idea what to expect on the other side of this door. All I knew was that it was the distance of 39 meters, about 100 feet I told myself. She told me that I could come back out if I found the experience disorienting. She opened the door and I walked into a thick cloud of fog, which was made of a food grade substance I later found out, and therefore suitable for everyone including vegetarians. I could barely see my hand in front of me and although it was not dark, I started to panic. After about five seconds, I turned around and made my way back the way I had come. The guard was still there and asked if I was ok. I told her that I thought I needed to go in with someone and she told me that might not have the same effect as if I was alone. However, my only thought about being alone was that I might have a full scale panic attack and start screaming. That would have been a little off-putting for the other visitors about to come in through the door. An older couple offered to go in there with me and we proceeded through what now seemed like snow blindness. The light changed from a subtle orange to purple and occasionally you could see a very faint shadow of someone in the distance. 39 meters seemed like forever and I was sweating by now. Then I discovered that I could touch the wall and I ran my hand along it to keep myself calm. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard a door creak and thought that we must have been close by now. Interestingly, it took quite a while to reach the door. When I emerged from the room, I stopped and caught my breath for I was sweating and quite relieved to be out of there. People were coming out of the room, some bewildered and some exhilarated and we were talking to one another as if we were survivors of some terrible atrocity. The artist had wanted us to engage with the art and engage with one another. Mission accomplished, I thought as we chatted before continuing on with the exhibits. The final part of the exhibit was more like a work room where kids and adults sat around a table that was strewn with objects with which to make models. Meanwhile, on a video screen there were recordings of interviews with the artist and even a weekly live video broadcast would take place. A series of giant pin boards, a bit like the ones you always see detectives grouped around in crime shows, displayed what could only be described as the mind of the artist. There were clippings from articles and images and it was so fascinating to have this window into his thought process. What a different experience than that which I normally have when visiting an art exhibit. Normally, I look at the art and think of it only as beautiful or complicated or whatever. However, this type of experience captured my imagination and the sensations I had have stayed with me.
Now for art of a different type. Jillian and I met at the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel which was beautifully decorated for Christmas. There were also some cool lego installations. I made my way to the bar and saw that there was a man seated at the piano, playing and singing. He was quite the crooner. One of Jillian’s favorite tunes is Mr. Bojangles and she asked me if I would request it from him. I didn’t really know the song and wasn’t sure he would know it, but of course he did. What was I thinking, this is the best bar in the world after all. Well it was in 2018 and had only slipped to number two in 2019 I was reliably informed. The music played, people chatted and I thought what an amazing experience. London was beautifully illuminated for Christmas and everywhere was busy with people shopping. I checked out the window installations at Liberty’s of London which were of course the stuff of dreams. Each window told part of a story and was full of the gorgeous products from the store. It is indeed a magical place
Now for my final experience of the week. Jillian had booked me in for a stretch experience at her pilates studio and again, I had no idea what to expect. What took place over the ensuing seventy five minutes could only be described as very active massage with a ballet dancer. I knew I would not do this justice with my description, you just have to experience it to understand. The website describes it as one to one assisted stretching, but it’s so much more than that. One of the first exercises I did with Amy, my ballet dancer stretcher was quite an intense breathing exercise. Having experienced the Olafur Eliasson exhibit the day before, it seemed that my senses were extremely heightened and I was very aware of myself and what I was feeling. I used to love things but that was probably for the experience of those things. Now, as I am getting older, experiences matter so much more. Time spent with friends and family and Bailey of course, making memories that we can treasure for the rest of our lives is all that matters.
Thanks for reading!
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