Changes

Today was all about highs and lows. This morning I had some time before catching the train back to Glasgow, so I made my way across London to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Luckily both exhibits I wanted to see were in the same building.

The new Furniture Gallery at the V&A has had a lot of rave reviews. Situated at the top of the building on the sixth floor of this gothic creation. This long, narrow gallery is surrounded on all sides by opulent carving, intricate marquetry and lustrous lacquerwork.

Now they say some people may find the design and layout of the Furniture Gallery disturbing. I am one of those people, as I believe you should see the furniture in context as the artist had designed it.

One of the displays that I did like in the Gallery, was the folding hammock chair, designed by the Irish artist, Eileen Gray, 1938. Eileen was a designer first, then an architect; It is like seeing architecture in miniature: every piece is doing exactly what it should. The sycamore frame supports a low-slung piece of leather, and the chrome joints hold it all together.

She designed it for the house she made for her lover, Jean Badovici, which was all about its aspect overlooking the Mediterranean. Inside, it was a clean, simple space: straight lines and lots of light. Every piece of furniture was designed by her: it was an opportunity for her to create a total environment, which is what we all aspire to do.

Now my real frustration about the New Furniture Gallery is that there is no mention of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I think this is a big oversight by the V&A.

After queing for about half an hour I managed to get a ticket for the 11.45 viewing of the "David Bowie is" exhibition.

With full access to the David Bowie Archive from around 1972 and the ability to supplement from its own collection and occasional borrowings, the exhibition successfully makes you feel you have entered the creative mind of an astonishing cultural icon, a figure whose influence and significance far exceeds his notional role as rock god.

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

So now my head was full of Bowie songs, I could not help take this picture of the red telephone box as it seems to merge into the gothic architecture of the V&A.

Andy Warhol where are you? See them as they really are.