This time last week Mr K & I took a lunch break together, and went along to
Brighton University on Grand Parade for some tucker and to view the last day of the
end of year degree shows for the
Faculty of Arts & Architecture.
Lunch in the canteen was a total bargain at around £2.50 each - I had ricotta tortellini and it was lovely. Highly recommended for cheapness and tastiness, plus ambience - there was a jazz quartet playing in the marquee in the courtyard :)
The shows were great as always - I feel so proud to live in a city with such an
amazing art college. Here are a few tasters, from architecture to ceramics:
The textiles were as wonderful as always (sadly no pix as visitors are understandably forbidden from taking photos), but my favourite this year was these wood cuts:
I just love the jolly pussycats' faces :)Well done and thank you to all the students whose work I enjoyed - sorry I can't credit you (I will try and remember to make a note of people's names next year - it was all a bit whistle-stop this time unfortunately).
The quality and abundance of all this beautiful work made me realise how important it is to
keep campaigning for more affordable creative workspace in Brighton & Hove, especially for young
artists and makers who are just starting their careers.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Afterwards,
en route to the local party office to stuff some envelopes for the
Goldsmid by-election, I passed through the
'Walking Woods', a temporary 700-tree mini-forest in
Victoria Gardens, just outside the
Sallis Benney building.
Ben Duncan wrote an excellent
post about this installation, which was designed by architecture student Lucy Palmer, and partly funded by
SEEDA as part of the
'Places from Spaces' project.
‘
Places from Spaces’ aims to encourage new design thinking for urban public spaces. By working with students from local universities to create temporary landscaping installatons, the theory is that communities can "test" creative schemes for transforming public spaces, asking "what if?" – what might be possible in reinvigorating our shared places?
What a pleasure for the senses. I was sorry I didn't have more time to just hang out in this wonderful temporary
arboretum and enjoy it - but it started to rain and duty was calling.
As I left the Gardens and began to make my way up North Road, I couldn't help pondering the vast ideological chasm between
SEEDA's laudable intentions and the local Tories' plans (or lack of) for Victoria Gardens, and the green spaces to the south and north of the site (known collectively as
Valley Gardens).
Praise where it's deserved: under the last Labour administration, officers had begun work on
radical plans to transform Valley Gardens, reducing car traffic and making pedestrianisation a priority. The car-obsessed Tories have now dropped this like a ton of hot bricks.
More recently, in our response to the
Core Strategy for the emerging
Local Development Framework, Greens criticised the lack of provision for local food growing within the inner-city, and suggested that parts of Valley Gardens could be used for
community food projects. Again, this went down like a cup of cold sick with our Conservative chums.
I wonder if David Cameron knows how short-sighted and blinkered his colleagues are in Brighton & Hove? Vote Blue Get Green my
derrière.Thanks nevertheless to Lucy for a beautiful if temporary glimpse of what the future might hold. What if, indeed?
PS The brown grass in the forefront of this picture is not part of the installation. It's the annual post-Ladyboys of Bangkok witherment... (hmm)
Tomorrow is Samhain - or Hallowe'en if you prefer [*Christian appropriation of Pagan festivals face*].
Our pussycats stayed at the RSPCA kennels in Patcham last weekend while we were Up North seeing my folks.
The other thing which made my day today was watching Spinal Tap at Glastonbury on the telly. 'This Is Spinal Tap' is my favourite ever film ("rockumentary, if you will") and I was just pmsl at their performance this afternoon.
The textiles were as wonderful as always (sadly no pix as visitors are understandably forbidden from taking photos), but my favourite this year was these wood cuts:
I just love the jolly pussycats' faces :)
What a pleasure for the senses. I was sorry I didn't have more time to just hang out in this wonderful temporary arboretum and enjoy it - but it started to rain and duty was calling.
Mr K & I took a stroll along the seafront yesterday. The AQUA studios on Madeira Drive were open, and the piece on the right caught my eye, warming the cockles of my heart :)
Gorgeous day today. Mr K & I headed for the seafront, taking in Chloe Hanks & Lou McCurdy's Dirty Beach exhibition on the way.
