Past Week

This past Sunday I got to hang out with James all day. He came over and saw my apartment and then we walked to the Tate Modern to get some lunch and browse the museum. Very interesting exhibits I must say.. I'm not a huge fan of modern or contemporary art. I did see some art I recognized like that of Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol but most of the time it was kind of humorous for James and I to try and interpret some of the very ambiguous work. Eventually the museum started to close and we walked out by the river and crossed Millennium bridge towards St. Paul's. We got some coffee at Costa's and chatted until he had to go to his last dinner with his Calvin group. I walked back and it was nice to stroll along the river.

Monday I already posted pictures about the Letterpress which was pretty awesome. Such tedious work but I love it so hopefully I can go back again and print something more worth while.

Tuesday I meandered down to Westminster bridge just to get a feel for the area. I'm still trying to find a running route so I like to get my exercise by walking for now while scoping out safe places to run.

Wednesday I went to the Science Museum which I really enjoyed. I always love science museums just because they show you how things are done and how they were made which is so intriguing to me. There was one exhibit called "Who Am I?" and it was all about the human body, its emotions, background, facial expressions, body language, orientation, pretty much everything. It was a really fun exhibit because it was so interactive with different games you could play and tests you could take. I also enjoyed an exhibit called Launchpad because it was basically a whole bunch of science experiment type things that were also all hands-on. The first picture is the view of the main hall of the science museum taken from the third floor. The picture to the right of that is the "Who Am I?" exhibit. The first one on the bottom is watching water crystalize and freeze. And the last one is me looking at myself through a thermal camera.

Thursday I went to class to watch some presentations given by people in my graphic design program. I didn't have to because it was reflecting on past projects and their process through everything. It was pretty informative to watch though and see what kind of things everyone was doing. That night I hung out with Paige and Kinne and we just hung at the apartment and made some delicious pasta and had wine. Quite classy.

Yesterday I worked on some projects and went shopping with Paige at the 99p store which we discovered we love because it's so inexpensive. Later on Kinne and Sam joined us to go eat Chinese and we brought it back and hung out here the rest of the night. Paige made guacamole and it was delicious.

Letterpress! *click on any picture to enlarge it*

 

Getting Involved

On Wednesday I visited the Imperial War Museum which is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. It was a beautiful old building, like most buildings in London, and had great exhibits inside. The foyer was full of war artifacts like the German V2 Rocket, a replica of 'Little Boy' the atomic bomb, tanks, submarines, and planes hanging from the wide open glass ceiling. I can't imagine something as small as 'Little Boy' killing 70,000 people. I wandered around for awhile admiring and reading about their histories and how they were used and then stumbled upon the Children's War exhibit. This was the war seen through an English child's eyes and what they went through when they were pressured to evacuate for their safety. It was so saddening to see the graves of little children and hearing the stories of those who actually lived through it all. After walking through the model of a 1940's English home I exited the exhibit to walk upstairs to see some more old planes and walk through the nose of a Handley Page Halifax B Mark VII, the most versatile of the British heavy bombers during WWII. There was an exhibit of John Singer Sargent's works but I didn't go in. (sorry Dad I know you like him)

I eventually made it to the top floor which is where the Holocaust museum is. I knew it was going to be tough to walk through and it was heart wrenching, but I got to see some footage I had never seen before of Hitler and Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. Maybe I wasn't paying attention in high school or something, but I never really knew why the Jews were so harshly persecuted. I watched a video describing how the early Christians persecuted them because they blamed them for Christ's death, it was quite disappointing to hear about the cruelty of people that call themselves Christians. What I really liked about the exhibit was hearing the stories of the survivors and what they went through and what got them through, it took courage to tell that to the world. It really makes me think about all the psychological studies they've done about the Nazi's and how they could have done what they did in those concentration camps, that really intrigues me. After an emotional roller coaster that was the exhibit, I wandered through the Secret War exhibit and then eventually I had to leave. All in all, the Imperial War Museum was very educational and interesting to me.


Thursday I went to school for a meeting about the books we're making. My objective now is to make as many little mock up books as I can, different structures, different content, but still all revolving around London and it's skyline.

Friday I had a Letterpress workshop which was absolutely fabulous. I've always enjoyed typography and the sort so it was really cool to learn about using the original letterpress. Some fun little facts we learned: The saying "Out of sorts" comes from typesetting. A sort is a piece of type representing a particular letter or symbol. So if you were 'out of sorts' you would be in trouble because you wouldn't be able to finish whatever you were printing. Another little fact, the & symbol is supposed to be the combination of the letters 'e' and 't'. 'Et' means 'and' in Latin. Also the phrase 'mind your p's and q's' comes from typesetting, reminding you to be careful when writing something out with p's and q's because you're writing it backwards when you set your type. Anyhow, I stayed and ate lunch and then went back to the letterpress shop to work on making my own postcard which I am not quite finished with. Typesetting is very laborious but I find it really enjoyable! It took me almost 3 hours to just composite a single one sentence quote and I still have yet to print it. I'm going to take pictures of it tomorrow hopefully. Then last night I went to Shoreditch with my flatmate Paige and her friends which was really fun.

Museums

Today I visited Pollock's Toy Museum because it was something my course director Jim recommended. They had toys dating back to the early 1800s and neat little trinkets. Mostly the place kind of creeped me out to be honest hah. I hate dolls so I quickly sped by that room. I did enjoy the paper theatre sets which is why I went. Jim thought it would be good to look at because my book that I'm working on reminds him of them. The museum itself was in this little old house dating back to the late 1800s in the middle of the neighborhood Fitzrovia in central London. I think the structure and ambience of a museum sometimes intrigues me more than what's actually on display. I picked up a pretty awesome present for my niece Grace in the museums store so hopefully she'll enjoy that when I get back :) After the museum I found a place called London Graphic Centre and picked up some supplies. Then I strolled the streets of Fitzrovia and wandered into a book shop. I think I could sit in a library or book store for days on end. There are some many interesting things to read about! Alas I did not buy anything because I am already in the midst of Great Expectations which should take me some time.

The other day I visited the Victoria and Albert museum (aka V&A) which is pretty gigantic. So gigantic that there are 7 miles of galleries in it. Again, it's a beautiful massive building just packed with all different kinds of art dating back from as early as 3150 BCE. There are plaster castes of Michelangelo's sculptures, including David, and of Trajan's column that's split in two to fit into the room. I found some paintings by Joseph Mallard William Turner that I really liked that were waterscapes, which I am always partial to. I also saw some gorgeous jewelry displayed in a beautifully lit room with a winding glass staircase in the middle. In the entrance hall a massive floating Chihuly sculpture intrigued me as it hung freely. Its blue and green dancing arms made it hard to take your eyes off it. What I really enjoyed in the museum was watching this short video on how they do or how they used to caste bronze sculptures, it was fascinating! And so much work. In the same hallway they had miniature ivory sculptures that of course I would like because I'm obsessed with miniatures. I would have taken pictures of them but my camera died :( The whole museum was so big that it also had kind of an eerie feeling. It may have to do with the fact that not many people were there and almost every exhibit I walked into it was empty but also some of their displays were just poorly lit and uninviting. All in all I enjoyed it though. They had a lovely little book store where I found an awesome book about making useful items out of every day objects. Unfortunately I did not buy it. Below is the Chihuly sculpture.

It was surprisingly nice today, not really warm, but sunny! Which as you probably know is quite unusual. I've been walking around my neighborhood trying to find a good running path but have yet to come upon a good one.

Sunday

I haven't found a church here yet but thankfully I can still listen to an awesome sermon by Rod. Thanks Crossroads! Rod's Sermon on Romans 6:1-18.
"The gospel is not achieved, it's simply received. We've been taught that any time theres a good thing to take hold of, we have to achieve it. But with the gospel you don't achieve it, you just receive it as God's gift. But that raises the question if it's all God, then why can't I just live any way I want? Chapter 6 answers this question."- Rod
"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." -Romans 6:13-14

Videos

Check out a new link I posted (vimeo.com) in the right hand column of my blog to watch my videos! Enjoy :)

London Learning

Today I learned that Oxford street is a very dangerous place. I only got the chance to go into two stores, Zara and River Island. Both classically London so I can get my own little European style :) I actually bought something and realized River Island is one of my new favorite stores, and a new weakness. I got new shoes, a shirt, and a jacket. (thanks mom!) I also learned some of my other weaknesses: nutella, shortbread, and Frosties (aka Frosted Flakes). Things I've learned about riding the tube: the Bakerloo line is disturbingly loud and old, the Circle line is always crowded, and the upside to millions of stairs is getting in shape!

Foreign Learning

Well the first week of school is almost over and I think I'm starting to understand what it's like over here. They teach a little differently across the pond. The way I explain it is that there are two course directors for my BA Graphic Design program and one of them acts like my advisor, his name's Jim. Jim gives me projects I have to do and I have to meet with him at least once a week. So during the day I am to work on these projects or attend seminars, lectures, or workshops they offer which are apparently all optional and some can only be attended if you sign up in advance. My project now is working on a book. Each project is pretty individualized unless it involves working in a group. So Jim suggested I design my book around something about London. I still have to think of an idea... any suggestions? I've been going to multiple museums so that's fun and I plan on walking around more this weekend and taking more pictures for inspiration. It's hard getting inspiration in the shady part of town where my apartment is hah but central London is only a 5 minute tube ride away. I'm meeting up with James and the Calvin kids tomorrow so that should be fun to see some familiar faces again!