Floating On Candy Cotton Clouds

Another night at The Regal Room in Hammersmith and never a disappointment. The purpose of this visit was to see Rumer, one of those artist's who sounds so good on her myspace profile, that when she whispers those first few notes on stage, you do a double take. Effortlessly sung ballads of heartbreak and growing up, it's hard to believe Rumer is so young. With a voice reminiscent of Karen Carpenter, Rumer takes us on her own journey of life's sorrow and love lost. Reminding us how even when we're feeling lost and all alone, music can bring us back around.

The Wonder Of Wood

For All To See

Selfridges in London is known for it's lavish window diplays, but this time they've out done themselves. The main windows on Oxford Street features vibrant and quirky scenes of fashion partaking in outdoor activities in some quite bizarre modes. These are courtesy of The White Wall Company Ltd and are most impressive with mannequins contorted into the most impossible of positions and flights of transportation. Although I press you to go and take a look at the cart-wheeling-connect-four playing dummies and their stylish head gear, you must walk to the most westerly window and around the corner for more artist flare.

There you will find the work of Haberdashery London, a collective of artists of many definitions and their simple yet beautiful sculptures and "no tech" scrolling windows into the unseen city you're breathing in standing there. The craftmanship and execution of each display of highly detail oriented simplicity is, can I use the word again, beautiful. Trek down to Oxford Street before 10am and experience these visual delights without the slew that is London's West End.

If Looks Could Kill

Imagine being slapped in the face at the very moment you realized your "true" love has betrayed you or was everything you dispised in human nature. Now put it on a loop and play it through cinematic history. That's one way to describe Liz McAlpine's "Slap" but it goes much deeper than that. Concerned with visual repetition and our obession to see it all up close and personal, McAlpine's work has us questioning what it's all about...which I'm not going to give. Check out "Slap" at Tate Modern tonight as part of If Looks Could Kill festival.

Through The Looking Glass

Visual Clues

With local elections taking place all over this little island and the May Day Demonstrations, my attention is drawn towards politics. Now I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. Anyone who has the right to vote, also has the responsibilty to research candidates and party policies before marking their all empowering check in the box. And I don't care for all the media hype and jovial jabs that are endemic of todays political environment. What intrigues me, is how the participants visually represent themselves on paper. I'm talking about the little guide I got in the mail just yesterday. It describes the elections, how to vote and includes the manifesto for everyone in line for seat at the head of the table for my local assembly, the Mayor of London. The guide itself is great, simple and well designed, giving clear instructions on process, how to use your 2nd vote correctly (don't mark your 1st choice twice) and who is standing for each of the 3 ballots. And all colour coded to avoid the slightest confusion between the 3.


As for the graphic representation of these ever so important individuals...I'm not sure if it's comforting or disappointing, but there were no surprises as to colour palette, layout, font and photo choice for any of the candidates. Rather than describe each one, I'll simply state what 4 of them were visually communicating:

A. Everyman, straight-up, welcoming diversity.
B. Hardworking, green, young urban professional.
C. Energetic, alternative, green, self driven.
D.Patriotic, stable, traditional, strong.

Throughout history we have had visual clues telling us someone's position in society or cultural roots. That identity and defintion continues to expand today defining our political opinion, sexuality and even our taste in music. We wear our most inner thoughts and emotional state on our sleeves for all to see. London is a great city for that very reason. You can be as brazen and outrageous as you like and feel comfortable doing so.