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VIVA CATALONIA! (Kitty went to Barcelona)

Barcelona. Culture capital of Spain. Birthplace of Modernisme.

So back in November, I went to Barcelona with my History of Art class.
Sadly, upon arrival, I realised I didn't charge my camera, so these are my friend Amy's photos.

Barceloneta

Casa Batllo/Sagrada Família

The wonder of Gaudí: a true original, this guy. By using an industrial medium like concrete (in a building like Casa Batllo), but marrying it with elements of nature, he emulates forces like the sea by pouring the concrete instead. The result: an incredibly smooth, flawless facade with a playful side - notice the bone-like mullions in the windows and balconies. The colourful, broken pieces of glass and tiling (trencadise - his trademark) gives a wonderful, dragon scale-like effect that glints in the sun.

And, of course Sag Fam. I felt insanely tiny standing underneath this gargantuan building. It's such a shame, Gaudí didn't get to see his life's work completed in his own lifetime. Even more shameful that it's been under construction non-stop since 1881, with political interruptions to the construction due to the Spanish Civil War. There have been offers for it to be converted into a train station (absurd) - after all this construction, why change its original function?

Miró Foundation

Top: The view from MNAC
Below: Can't leave without a bit o' flamenco...

Parc Guell

In Catalan spirit, here's a drawing of Catalan artist Dalí I drew in Summer 2010

Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want

"Art is an extended act away from the being, art is something else. Not everything can be art, and just because you're an artist doesn't mean everything you touch is art. You have to decide and know what is art, and you have  to be separate from yourself."

-Tracey Emin -1st August 2009-

Well said, Emin.

The problem with contemporary art nowadays is that it can be irritatingly quotidian, or wants to draw attention to itself or it comes with an invisible 'SHOCK HORROR' banner. As are the Tracey Emin's works: exposed and autobiographical. As Emin so eloquently said 'Not everything can be art', how can we approach her works as pieces of art?

Her recent exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, 'Love is What You Want' spans through every aspect of her artistic career, exploring all media; paintings, drawings, memorabilia, needlework, photography, neons, films, expressing a spectrum of sentiments resulting in an equally wide spectrum of works.Works which of course have a sprinkling of her light-hearted playfulness, ironic wit and frank nature:

My natural childish impulse meant that I found myself sniggering in the dark corridors where these were displayed...with other people. Neon has its seedy parallels, but our Tracey finds them 'sexy' and 'pulsating'.

Questionable is her section about her abortion, in which she openly talks about the procedure, her thoughts on motherhood in 'How it Feels' of 1996. This provides the sugar coating to the 'memorabilia' around it; her used tampons in particular (though shrivelled they are) saw many wrinkle their nose is disgust and disapproval (I chuckled again, obviously.)

The films cover themes of tragedy and comedy, (see above, 'Why I never became a dancer' of 1995, shows her free-spirited dance after recalling being rejected for dancing. The music in her low-tech videos play a key part.

Wild, public drunkard though she may be (or was now, I believe Emin has shed her skin) Tracey Emin does heavily consider what people think of her (yes, SHOCK-HORROR), although most of the time it appears she does not take herself seriously. She is, vulnerable and longing and motherly; something I discovered in her section on abortion. She's not what we all thought.