What is the strange cult of love that chains us to the railings of social conformity? Why do we follow the crowd regardless of the destruction we may be causing? Sentimental tokens of mutual love are universal, but not all are harmless. According to Wikipedia, a love lock is a padlock which is attached to a […]
Luxury is ubiquitous, craft has been commodified and, according to Peter York, “authenticity is a con.” When luxury is no longer luxurious and limited editions can be purchased at Primark, only ultra-luxury will do. This means finding something that no one else can have, or afford – be it bespoke, vintage or antique – perhaps a pair […]
In anticipation of the British Museum’s forthcoming Indigenous Australia exhibition, we look at the rise of Aboriginal textile designs in fashion and interiors. Indigenous Australians’ oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime – a sacred era when ancestral totemic spirit beings created the world. […]
“We don’t have codpieces now, but we have pretty tight jeans,” says Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum. There is now a noticeable interest in romantic male accessories and man-bags – a trend we pointed to in Tudor-themed Visuology Issue 1. These are the sorts of items mentioned by Matthäus Schwarz in a Renaissance […]
No, it’s not a load of bollards, though there is one in the V&A’s latest exhibition, All of This Belongs to You. The stainless steel bollard in question (SP 400 by ATG Access), located amongst the railings and public signs of the ironwork gallery, is the type used in many of our public spaces, including […]
We thought you might like to hear more about the Visuology Lecture, which took place at Viktor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities recently. The star attraction (apart from innumerable specimens of taxidermy, twisted ephemera, macabre and medical memorabilia) was Savile Row tailor, Richard Anderson. One of the most experienced tailors in the world famous street, Anderson […]
The main difficulty with an all encompassing design competition is that, ultimately, it does not compare like with like. Some of the entries are life changing, or could affect us all in the future. Others seem more of an artistic expression, designed purely for our amusement. There is the added complication that, whilst some of the […]
Commercial yet contrarian, Lee Alexander McQueen inhabited a parallel world to most of those around him. Being so rapidly catapulted from council house kid to multi-millionaire couturier must have been psychologically unsettling, but his morbid feelings were sadly compounded by the rigorous demands of his trade, by bereavement and a bad drug habit. Referred to in the V&A’s new exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty […]
Having a joke at the expense of the art buyer, or even the portrait sitter, is something of a tradition with artists. But what about the tax payer? The Gift Horse, a skeletal sculpture by German artist Hans Haacke, with live Stock Exchange feed ticker tape, is the latest expensive addition to the London public art scene. […]
The night air is filled with dreams. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicates the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there […]