Alice Woods

Where can you buy Seabrook crisps in London?Did you also grow up...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 22:56:19 +0100

Where can you buy Seabrook crisps in London?

Did you also grow up in Yorkshire? Then you’ll no doubt remember the superior taste of Seabrookcris…

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Fancy a unique box or book as a treat for yourself, or as a...

Sun, 26 May 2013 23:39:05 +0100

Fancy a unique box or book as a treat for yourself, or as a present?

Then head over to my Etsy shop! Click the link below:

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BookBoxShop?ref=si_shop

I’ve been neglecting my tumblr recently due to a move over...

Sun, 26 May 2013 23:32:00 +0100

I’ve been neglecting my tumblr recently due to a move over to wordpress so Id thought share a little of what I’ve been doing over there… this was my last blog post from Paris:

ARRÊTÉ! C’EST ICI L’EMPIRE DE LA MORT! (A visit to the Paris Catacombs)

by alicejanewoods

Wedged in between the mountains of Irensaga, Starkhorn, and the Dwimorberg, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn take the Dimholt road through the Paths Of The Dead and summon a deadly force enabling them to defeat the armies of Mordor. Long ago the men of the mountains swore an oath of alliance to Gondor, but when the time came and Gondor’s need was dire, they fled vanishing into the darkness of the mountain. And so Isildur cursed them, never to rest until they had fulfilled their pledge……

This scene from Lord of the Rings lingered with me throughout my visit to the famous underground burial sites in Paris. The Catacombs, which have been open to the public since the early 19th century, are the most un-tourist of tourist sites.

In 1786, behind a procession of chanting priests, began a parade of black-covered bone-laden horse-drawn wagons that continued for years. The bones of 6 million people were distributed throughout the abandoned stone quarries beneath the Parisian streets and workers arranged crosses, urns and other necropolis memorabilia recovered from Paris’ overcrowded and rancid graveyards. In a bone-labyrinth, which inspired Victor Hugo and was used by the French resistance during World War II, you can wander through this ossuary whose subterranean tunnels and caverns extend well beyond this boneyard for 300 miles into the abandoned mines which remain largely unknown. Unfortunately this uncharted area is not open to the public, and we are kept on a well-lit route of dripping tunnels and bone walls.

Aside from this 2km that has been made into a rather unique tourist attraction, the rest of the Paris Catacombs are explored by close communities of urban adventurers known Cataphiles. Illegally they descend into the tunnels. Secret entrances exist throughout Paris, and it is sometimes possible to enter the catacombs via the sewers, metro, and certain manholes. Then ensues a cat and mouse game with the French police tasked with patrolling the tunnels, the Catafics. Sound intriguing? The Cataphiles are notoriously difficult to make contact with and finding a guide who will indite you into the secret community of the underworld is a task akin to delivering the ring of power to Mordor…..

However if you fancy the somewhat tamer version, 8 euros (only 4 for students) will take you into this metropolis. The entrance is next to Denfert-Rochereau, and you must be prepared to walk 2km and there is only one exit so once you are inside there’s no coming out. Not for the faint hearted or those with a nervous disposition. Having said that, one particular Catacombs warden I spotted (final photo) seemed to find the environment relaxing – he had fallen into a deep sleep and rocked back and forth snoring loudly, and was at times, spooking visitors more than the bones.

TEN TOES: G-SHOCK AND DAZED SPIRIT OF TOUGHNESS AWARD - VOTE FOR JOHNNY

Sun, 26 May 2013 21:28:44 +0100

TEN TOES: G-SHOCK AND DAZED SPIRIT OF TOUGHNESS AWARD - VOTE FOR JOHNNY:

northlondonnative:

IF YOU CAN’T BE ARSED TO READ, CLICK THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM AND VOTE FOR JOHNNY. just click “like” how easy is that?

This is Johnny (left) , those who have seen my documentary “Johnny be Good” may recognise him. (If not i’ll post it up here after)

He has been nominated for Dazed’s Spirit Of…

Vote for John!

Some Offset Litho Printing A little of what I have been up to in...

Mon, 06 May 2013 21:14:29 +0100

Some Offset Litho Printing

A little of what I have been up to in my last few weeks in Paris -

Above are some photos of my recent offset printing project. After making my book sculptures (click here to view) I started looking at the sides of the pages where the text can be seen but only in the form of dashes and lines. The slicing of the book seemed to create automatic drawings revealing a trace of the letters and words within.

Taking these sliced up book parts I made scans of the sides and played with the images, enlarging them and selecting parts to make into stand-alone drawings.

I decided to create prints using my final image (3 book sections seen through 3 basic shapes) with an offset printing technique whereby you expose your image onto a chemically treated metal plate. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat metal plate to carry the image and obtains ink from rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

The colours for the print are taken from the CMYK printing model used by modern household printers. It is subtractive printing model where Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are used to create the rest of the spectrum. I wish to explore and bring together the impact of different technologies in history and by taking images from the ancient practice of book-making and printing them with an early 20th century lithographic process, in colours associated with modern home printing, hopefully I am combining and using technologies from across the ages!

Fancy a little Wordpress?

Mon, 06 May 2013 21:11:22 +0100

Fancy a little Wordpress?

Open House Exhibitions

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:43:47 +0100

Open House Exhibitions is a continually expanding venture focusing on providing emerging artists, performers & collaborators with a platform for sharing their work. We provide opportunities for participatory art events with an emphasis on addressing the problems of living in the modern world by approaching them with creative solutions.

Are you an: artist / performer / musician / curator / venue or location ? Then we want to hear from you if you want to be involved in our collective!

Following the success of ‘To Be Confirmed’ at the Curios Duke Gallery last year, Open House Exhibitions is launching a new ‘event based’ exhibition celebrating and sharing different approaches to learning.

Our group of artists have recently finished exchange programs with art schools around the world, from Paris to Japan. Now we wish to bring our global experiences back to London and combine the work we have made into a dynamic and thought-provoking show, which promotes the sharing of ideas and importance of community.

This will be explored through visual arts, performance and collaborative practices which will be supplemented by opportunities for open discussions and platforms to share ideas prompted by the works in the show.

Venue / Dates TBC. Contact alice@alicewoods.co.uk for more info.

A visit to the Rachael Whiteread at the London Gagosian...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:41:56 +0100

A visit to the Rachael Whiteread at the London Gagosian prompted a visit to the Paris equivalent. Steven Parrino at the Gagosian’s Paris space (just of the Champs Elysees) is a punky show with tugged canvas and modern abstraction making for an interesting cross section of work. Not everything is a winner but nonetheless Parrino’s work, (which is presented alongside European counterparts spanning two generations: John Armleder, Martin Barré, Daniel Buren, Simon Hantaï, Olivier Mosset, Michel Parmentier, and Niele Toroni) literally conveys a deconstruction of formal painting practices, and his piercing ripping and twisting of the canvas makes for good viewing. The space itself is fabulous and entirely suitable to his work, polished grey and white marble adorn three floors which twist and turn ending with my favourite group of works – a serious of drawings and other mixed-media works on paper. Here you see where the strong shapes and block colours of his paintings come from, and the grouping of these particular works creates a nice little dialogue. Minimalism meets punk, this show and is an excellent supplement to perhaps a visit to the Grand Palais or the Palais de Tokyo.

4 rue de Ponthieu
75008 Paris
T. 33.1.75.00.05.92 F. 33.1.70.24.87.10
paris@gagosian.com
Hours: Tue-Sat 11-7

RACHEL WHITEREADDETACHED, GAGOSIAN GALLERY During my flying...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:31:00 +0100

RACHEL WHITEREAD
DETACHED, GAGOSIAN GALLERY

During my flying visit back to London I managed to get a chance to visit the Gagosian at Kings Cross before hopping back on the Eurostar.

The gallery space is magnificent, (as is to be expected from a gallery whose flyers are printed on mount-board) and the presentation of Henry Moore’s work last year brought home to me the pure vastness of the space where it encapsulated his usually outdoor sculptures with a splendiferous grandeur. However for me, Whiteread’s work and the Gagosian’s Britannia Street space were not a match made in heaven. The largest room contains her 3 shed castings, whose concrete colour was somewhat lost in the grey expanse of flooring. The catalogue photos (and interestingly the photos the Gagosian chooses to put on its website) are of the sheds situated in outdoor green spaces where I felt the pieces stood with much more poise. The overwhelming grey-ness in the gallery seemed to mask the details in the concrete and rather washed-out the works taking away from their ghost like form which does indeed beautifully suggest a disquieted trace of human existence.

The other works included castings of doors and windows in coloured pale resins. Watery greens and submersive rose hues bring a beautiful quietness to an object whose function has been removed. It is interesting to inspect the surface of each piece whilst constructing their age, material and time period through just the textures captured by the resin cast.

A tranquil exhibition which is well worth a visit, but perhaps could have worked well in a stately home type environment adding some contrast to the minimalistic nature of Whiteread’s work. Sometimes simple beauty works wonderfully on its own, other times the viewer needs to be reminded how beautiful the simplicity is.

GAGOSIAN GALLERY, BRITANNIA STREET, LONDON

RACHEL WHITEREAD
DETACHED
APRIL 11 - MAY 25, 2013

‘Light Show’ at the Hayward Gallery, London An...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:03:00 +0100

‘Light Show’ at the Hayward Gallery, London

An interactive and dynamic exhibition, ‘Light Show’ at the Hayward Gallery is another winner following a truly outstanding run of shows. Anthony Mccall’s piece (fist image) consists of beamed curved light in a pitch back space with a smoke machine, making the light tunnel seem almost solid and when you stand inside, it appears as if you are shrouded in smokey walls and the rest of the audience are ghostly figures with their limbs and faces briefly appearing inside your tunnel.

Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Chromosaturation (second image) is divided into three coloured rooms and when immersed in the space you can only see in that colour, making everyone appear in different shades of green, blue or red. Each room has a slightly different mood as if everyone was subconsciously affected by the colour, the blue room felt cool and silent, whilst the red area was more upbeat and people were chatting and moving around.

Featuring over 20 artists ‘Light Show’ is a visual treat and a reminder of the importance and prevalence of artificial light. At times there are moments of serious reflection, Jenny Holzer’s LED circular text column displays words from official US Documents about the war on terror, and Iván Navarro’s mirrored phone-booth, puts the viewer under semi-involuntary surveillance and uses one-way mirrors that are also used in interrogation rooms. He grew up in Chile during the dictatorship of General Pinochet and Navarro draws much of his work from the regime’s systems of control and repression.

The grand finale is a truly spectacular feat from Olafur Eliasson, a row of fountains sit in a pitch black room, where strobe lights pound and create an illusion of the water flow being stopped in time. Minuscule droplets and edges of the water appear immobilised, and for a second you can see the frozen shapes of exquisite foundations.

Hayward Gallery, Southbank, London

‘Light Show’ ends 6th May (book tickets as this show is extremely popular!)

Eurostar Arrivals. Where is Mr Boodoo???

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:04:50 +0100

Eurostar Arrivals. Where is Mr Boodoo???

Ron Mueck, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain,...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:29:00 +0100

Ron Mueck, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris

I first discovered Ron Mueck’s work at Belsay Hall in Northumbria a couple of years ago, and was instantly struck by the immense detail he puts into his hyper-real sculptures of figures and still life. By dint of that, this exhibition, presented by the ‘Fondation Cartier’ is an winner for all whether you have an interest in modern art or not. Just seeing his skilful mastery of the process will delight even the most reluctant of visitors.

A range of works are presented, with perhaps the highlight for me being the old couple under the umbrella. His larger works have more presence and the sheer scale of them means the viewer must navigate around the space to inspect all the little details, from the toenails, to the ear hair and the varicose viens. Although the people he depicts are all of very different stature they all possess a physical Mueck-esque quality with the facial features and postures often resembling his own, perhaps a product of the pain-staking hours he spends with each piece in his North-London studio.

Shown along side the exhibition is an hour long video of Mueck creating the works. Although mostly silent, it is extraordinarily interesting to start understanding the processes of Muek’s creations.

The ‘Fondation Cartier’ is worth a visit even if you don’t go inside due to the architectural design and indoor outdoor feel of the place. Great glass and steel limbs jut out into the landscaped surround, temporarily transporting you from Paris to a surrealist future where city and jungle are one.

Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
261, Boulevard Raspail, 75014 Paris

Open every day, except Monday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Tuesday until 10 p.m.)

Rates
Entrance fee: 9.50 euros / Reduced rate: 6.50 euros

(Photo: iPhone Screenshots) As a quick follow up to the post...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:10:35 +0100

(Photo: iPhone Screenshots)

As a quick follow up to the post below about how to play original Nintendo games on your iPhone, I thought I would also share a quick link on how to play the games on your laptop.

1. Go to www.coolrom.com

2. Click on the ‘Emulators’ tab and choose the option that you would like (Mac users clock ‘Macintosh’ and here you will find all Mac compatible platforms)

3. Download your chosen platform (and unzip if necessary)

4. Then click ‘Rom Files’ and select the correct platform, i.e. Gameboy Colour / Commodore 64 / Sega Dreamcast etc

5. And the games are listed by popularity, select the one you want, then click download on the next page

6. Now when you launch your download games files the will open up on your emulator (where you can change settings like screen size / tracking speed / sound options etc using the preferences tab)

N.B The ‘save’ feature works differently from the originals, usually you just need to select ‘freeze game state’ from the File menu

Enjoy!

Want to play your old Nintendo games on your iPhone?...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:12:00 +0100

Want to play your old Nintendo games on your iPhone? Here’s how!

So you are in Paris, and have spent one too many evenings shrouded in cigarette smoke indulging in wine and cheese and you think “Hey! What else can I do with my evenings?” Well here’s what - rediscover the golden age of gaming, 8-bit graphics and polyphonic sounds - but now on your iPhone - what could be better?

Thanks to my good friends Amanda, Grace and Imre and the discovery of our mutual love of Pokemon (and finding an old Gameboy Colour at a Paris flea market) I decided to re-ignite the fire.

OK - so here’s how to get all the Pokemon games, and any other Nintendo games that you want on your iPhone!

First things first - you need to jailbreak your iPhone. This can be done simply, quickly and for free using the Evasi0n software. Download here. I used this software with no problems whatsoever, my iPhone rebooted as normal, with no loss of data or any need to redo settings.

The folks at iClarifed have made a handy step-by-step guide should any confusion occur. Click here for the instruction with pictures! Essentially the Evaisi0n jailbreak software opens up whole new horizons for your iPhone making it much more customisable, even better after installing Evaisi0n it automatically reboots with the Cydia app installed. Cydia is like an alternative app store however it comes with all the apps Apple would not authorise for use in it’s own app store.

After you have completed the jailbreaking process Cydia will appear in your apps and you are ready to go and get installing your Gameboy Colour for iPhone!

So now for the Gameboy Colour emulators!

1. Launch Cydia from your apps

2. There are several emulators however I like ‘gb4iphone’ and ‘GBC AD +’ the best

3. Search for them in Cydia’s search function then hit ‘install’

4. After the installation has finished they will appear in you Apps list

5. Both ‘gb4iphone’ and ‘GBC AD +’ have inbuilt search facilites for Gameboy Colour Games.

6. SImply use the ‘find game’ facility within the apps and search for ‘Pokemon Crystal’ or ‘Donkey Kong’ or ‘Super Mario Kart’, the possibilites are endless….

7. This ‘find game’ facility will usually take you to a third party site where you can click on the games you would like, select download and within a few seconds the files will be stored in a list within the gameboy emulator app.

8. After you have downloaded a couple of things you like, all thats left to do is to find them in your ‘games’ list in your gameboy app and tap them to launch!

9. You can adjust settings within the gameboy apps, for example in ’GBC AD +’ I like to choose the orientation as ‘Port 2’ (as you get the biggest screen size whilst stil retaining the original controls) and here you can also toggle the sounds, cheats and other bits and bobs.

Happy Gaming! Enjoy the warm sense of nostalgia when the Pokemon Yellow theme tune fires up and Prof. Oak gives you your very first Pokemon……. Pika *^_^* Chuuuuuuuu

(Any questions, comments, suggestions, or other iphone hacks, please feel free to submit!)

Ten Belles Café After a visit to a flea market nearby to Canal...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:55:15 +0100

Ten Belles Café

After a visit to a flea market nearby to Canal Saint-Martin we took some respite at the nearby Ten Belles Cafe, definitely worth a peek if you are around the area, I had a delicious hot chocolate with warmed fruit scones and jam, and I hear the coffee is meant to be superb, often attracting other known baristas on their days off.

It’s a lovely intimate atmosphere, with a small outside seating area plus a balcony level inside. The staff are delightful and you won’t encounter any Parisian attitude that is unfortunately often given to foreigners. The decor is London / New York perhaps via Sweden, its often very busy so you might have to wait a while for a seat or you can take the option of ‘emporter’ and enjoy your cappuccino by the canal. Of course cafés are a huge part of the French culture and it’s nice to see a one of high quality that makes a departure from the regular bistros that can sometimes rely a little to heavily on the fact that Jean-Paul Sartre or Picasso once sipped their drinks there.

Ten Belles

10 rue de la Grange aux Belles 75010 Paris

Tel: +33 6 22 71 28 15

Open: Tue-Fri, 8am-6pm, Sat & Sun, 9am-7pm
Metro: Colonel Fabien/ Jacques Bonsergent

imretrevino: Photo Credit - Vanessa Haddad Canal Saint-Martin

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 03:37:29 +0100

imretrevino:

Photo Credit - Vanessa Haddad

Canal Saint-Martin

imretrevino: April in Paris Today in Paris! Canal Saint-Martin

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 03:34:25 +0100

imretrevino:

April in Paris

Today in Paris! Canal Saint-Martin

Antoine D’Agata, Anticorps

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:23:48 +0100

Antoine D’Agata, Anticorps

ANTOINE D'AGATA, ANTICORPS

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:19:00 +0100

One of the most powerful things I’ve seen in Paris so far is the exhibition presented at Le Bal by photographer Antoine D’Agata. He delves deep into the underworlds for his collections of deeply disturbing and thought-provoking photos. Rarely using flash, many are blurred and out of focus further emphasising the dank and miserable conditions in which they are taken.

The images are in a way the antithesis of traditional photography, they feel more like a snatched moment, abducting certain situations in a chaotic and horrifying manner.

D’Agata is clearly drawn to the edges of humanity, and subsequently draws the viewer into a world on the fringes of existence constantly grappling with a downward spiral to depravity and death. The horrors of sexual suffering are drawn into sharp focus and the images have now been imprinted into my conscious. Only once have I experienced a similar phenomena at Jane Evelyn Atwood’s ‘Women in Prison’ at Side Gallery in Newcastle, both exhibitions speak to the viewer in such a way that not only conveys the pain of its subjects but forces the audience to accept them as truth.

D’Agata avoids the unpleasant cliché of ‘voyeur’ and the artist’s involvement with the women he photographs could not be further from the casual ‘eroticism’ of popular culture. He presents to us the ‘collateral damage’ of contemporary capitalism uniting the populations of the so-called ‘under-classes’ with a terrifying realsim.

ANTOINE D’AGATA, ANTICORPS

Le Bal, 6 IMPASSE DE LA DÉFENSE, 75018, PARIS

Metro: Place de Clichy, lines 2/13

Bus: 54, 74, 81

http://en.le-bal.com/

★★★★★ A must see exhibition if you are in Paris (finishes on April 14th, just one week left)

(Side Gallery, Newcastle: http://www.amber-online.com/)

Julio Le Parc, Palais de Tokyo, Paris

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:35:10 +0100

Julio Le Parc, Palais de Tokyo, Paris