MARTIN CREED'S EXHIBITION, SOUTH BANK & COVENT GARDEN

Sunday 27 April 2014

I've lived in London all my life so I'm definitely not a tourist, but I'm still amazed at how beautiful the city can be in the sunshine. I was in the South Bank yesterday because I wanted to catch Martin Creed's exhibition in the Hayward Gallery before it was too late. What's The Point Of It? comprises of some of Creed's best work, charting his development from his earliest self portrait to his Turner Prize winning work.




I didn't take any photos inside the actual gallery, aside from the amazing balloon room. As soon as you enter the gallery, you're greeted by a huge spinning light fixture with the word "Mothers". The entire room is lined with metronomes, filling your ears with clicking sounds as the neon sign spins around your head. 

A lot of Creed's work features the ziggurat - a pyramidal structure with a flat top. The idea of stacking is prominent throughout many of his structures and paintings: he stacks chairs and boxes, ranging from the smallest to the biggest. You're literally left wondering what's the point of it all, especially when you're presented with a penis and someone having a poo/being sick on big screens.

My favourite part was the room filled with balloons. Called "Half the Air in a Given Space", it's a glass room with 7000 white balloons. Creed is making the air around us visible by capturing half of the air that surrounds us inside the balloons. 

There's so much to see, and I don't want to spoil it all. Creed uses the outside space, pianos, cars and bricks to create incredible pieces of art that will make you think for hours after. The exhibition is on until May 5th so definitely check it out if you're near the South Bank.

After the excitement of the gallery, we headed out into the Real Food Market to grab some food. The smells were incredible. The food ranges from Mediterranean dishes to Spanish to Indian and French. I picked a Bombay Potato wrap, which I would have preferred warm but it was delicious nonetheless.  

The sun was shining so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to walk along the river and get an ice cream. I had a triple chocolate ice cream and it tasted amazing! Walking along the South Bank, with the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament in the background, stuffing my face with a chocolate ice cream, was absolutely perfect. Until it started raining, of course! Luckily it was only a shower so we headed to Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden. 

Covent Garden was rammed with tourists but I did manage to pick up a few bits from Mac and Muji. I've wanted some Muji make-up storage for ages so I picked up a set of 5 acrylic drawers. I couldn't leave Covent Garden without buying some new make-up for my new drawers so I finally purchased my first Mac lipstick (haul post to come!)

It was getting late so we made a quick stop into Ben's Cookies before heading home. My cookie was sooooooo good. I love soft, melt in the mouth cookies and the milk chocolate one I chose was amazing. I'm still drooling just thinking about it. 

I love travelling around London. Even though I've lived here all my life, there's still places I'm yet to explore. It's such a vibrant city, and there's so much to do. I'm heading back to Carnaby Street next weekend for a spot of shopping. Monki, here I come!

love, Cally


8 comments :

  1. I've seen a few people post about this exhibition but haven't been myself. I like that you actually spent time appreciating the art rather than taking pictures of it.

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    1. I've seen a few posts too! I didn't want to go round taking photos, it feels wrong to do that in galleries.

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  2. I'm most definitely a tourist in London so loved going to see this exhibition :) when people were making themselves sick on screens it was awful though, couldn't have left any faster! Lots of the other stuff was pretty interesting though and had too much fun with the balloons xx
    www.LaurasHaven.com

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    1. Oh god yeah, I couldn't deal with those screens! But I couldn't help but look haha. I think the balloon room was probably everyone's favourite - such fun! :) x

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  3. It sounds like you had a fab time and even managed some cookies. I want to try and get to this exhibition soon.

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    1. You should definitely go - it's on until the 5th May so make some time if you can :) x

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  4. I love London but haven't spent any time there recently! The exhibition sounds great though and I love the photo of you and the balloons - so cute! You day sounds perfect (I love that market near southbank too!)

    Jo xx

    She Wears Burgundy

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    1. It's so good! I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! Thanks lovely :) the exhibition was amazing. Can't wait to start going to other galleries x

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