tO thE citizenS oF thE WORLD

To all travellers long and short haul.
To the weary, the wise and the bleary eyed.
To the suits, weekenders, fashion baggers and affair-havers.
To the explorers, adventurers and dreamers.
To all locals of the world from Amsterdam, Boston and Cairo to Zagreb.
To all who travel the world with wide eyes and big hearts.
To all who are independent yet united in a desire for positive travelling.
To those who are smarter than a dolphin with a university degree and
realise you can have luxury for not too much cash.
To those who need a good bed, a cold drink and big fluffy towels.
To all who are mobile citizens of the world.
citizenM welcomes you all.

This is truly a great place to stay in Glasgow - especially after a long trip to the Scottish Highlands. Make a note of it - they are now opening one in London too.

More stories from Scotland coming soon.





photos by Olga&Arek

AllSaints Spitalfields

My recently favourite place to shop in London.



Their clothes were made to look well worn-in and seem to have that rock-inspired formula with a special distressed shabby chic look. Things in grey, beige, black and battered denim and the Victorian-style boots without laces look like they've just stepped out of a music video.

Their trademark motif is a ram skull which goes well with the interiors of edgy rails and rusty lamps, wooden floors and vintage sewing machines. These days I could easily wear this everywhere. But I really wonder how long it will take before this becomes another boring Zara...








photos by Arek

Artsy Post Tonight

A couple of pretty great things for tonight I wanted to share with you, guys..

.......First of all let's see if you enjoy this multicoloured blurrrinesss:

Untitled from yeji on Vimeo

Secondly, here are my current 2 favourite things from Tate Modern - these amazing hand crafted and hand painted ceramic sunflower seeds by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was detained by Chinese authorities this year and spent several months under arrest for political reasons.



images via Google

And this floating gauzy red staircase by the Korean artist Do Ho Suh.


image by Arek

Actually, another interesting work by Ai Weiwei is the one below. The caption to this self-portrait of him, called 草泥马挡中央 or "grass mud horse covering the middle" sounds almost the same in Chinese as 肏你妈党中央, "Fuck you, the Communist party central committee". Grass mud horse or 'Cao Ní Ma' is a Chinese Internet meme widely used as a form of symbolic defiance of the widespread Internet censorship in China. The 'horse' is actually what he is holding in his hand.


image via Google

Do also check out this Atlantida-esque underwater exhibition by Jason deCaires Taylor, it is very impressive - especially with all the algae on top of the sculptures, which created some sort of art of their own.


image from underwatersculpture

Lastly, I'm dying to go to this musical here in London based on the movie also called Backbeat, which was my favourite movie when I was a kid.

Let me know what you are up to these days and if you know about any other interesting things going on close to you around the world :)... G'night..

PENETRATING, PROVOCATIVE and Somewhat BLURRY

Sharing some of my recent sunny and blurry London impressions... I liked the way autumn colours came out on the blurry pics I took. Also, I'm currently having a big blurrrrr of experiences here in London. With so many things going on, one needs to really choose what to do here and life is happening very fast (this apparently is with exception of getting an internet connection, which took us almost a month, hence all my lack of posting!). But the choice of what to do for fun (and where to fly cheap!) is tough and seems to be almost endless :)

Some of the things which happened to me over last month which I enjoyed most are The Alternative London Tours, textile field in V&A, Tate Modern - over and over again :), Greenwhich market and probably Inamo restaurant, where (good Japanese) food is being projected on your table before ordering and each table has a touch pad to order. Also, if you are yet not sure whether ice cream is sexy - check-out The Icecreamists - the SCREAM of ice cream (they even serve human milk ice cream - if you fancy trying that :)). If not, they serve their other delicious vice creams in black cones and martini glasses.


The Icecreamists

Oh, and I almost forgot! By pure luck our friends and us ended up in the House of Commons watching this very debate on a referendum on the UK leaving the EU - live. After this I surprisingly concluded that politics is kind of exciting :). For less exciting debates in the UK Parliament check out this site.

If you are interested in some more fun to do in London do check out this great book and this site!

Hope you all are having a good autumn!








V&A textile field








Inamo restaurant


all images by Olga & Arek except for those of Inamo, Icecreamists and V&A

Ready :)

So I think I'm now ready to tell you about my summer adventures and share some photos. Here comes a little preview..




images by Olga

It Makes You Wanna ... Paint

I'm growing a little tired of the subject 'India' at the mo - I figure so are you, so here is something different for a change. A very inspiring video - it's like a boost of creative energy!

SUPAKITCH & KORALIE - VÄRLDSKULTUR MUSEET GÖTEBORG

BæDTIME

In bed these days, getting bored and restless... had previously thought higher of my pain threshold. Trying out some new tricks with the blog here and there - bigger pics and ink spot links (what do you think?)

Some art that caught my attention:



Yasumasa Morimura
Via brain burner



Camilla Engman
Via camilla engman



Adrian Ghenie
Via nikodim gallery

IT IS EASTER AFTERALL

Image via wooster collective

Have a happy one!

Here is the Banksy bunny for you from The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, one of his recent projects. If you are in New York - this is definitely a place to see.

Call me, Sheep

These are Jean-Luc Cornec's sheep made of rotary telephones from the Museum of Telecommunication in Frankfurt. I keep being amazed at the ideas which can arrive to some peoples minds and how enormously creative they can be..!

If I ever count sheep to fall asleep - my sheep will be special :)

Revenge

'Revenge' video by Lernert & Sander



Video via Vimeo

Again, I'm quite curious about your opinions :)

Debate: Is This Art?

The Rotating Kitchen by Zeger Reyers was put into motion during the opening of the exhibition 'Eating the Universe' at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany. It will keep rotating slowly till February 28th 2010.

I am very curious to learn your thoughts and opinions about this installation. What do you think of this?


Video via Vimeo

""44""

In continuation of my story about the fascinating LaLaLa arthotel the next room to get all the attention is Room 44.


Image by LaLaLa

That obscure object of desire and a furry-woody baroque surprise... Dreamy thicket, generator of difficult dreams, inspiration for naughty children. Here a strange narration is taking place - about crime, forbidden delight, a forest outing with no end, being lost in dreams; the Little Red Riding Hood meets the Wolf, sticking out her tongue at him and showing him the finger... The wall is adorned with blood-red and black mural by Jakub Rebelka and red antlers from Mr. Zastrozny's collection. The furniture has been picked up and the wall covered with a pitch-black (obviously artificial) pelt by Iwonka, Time for cuddles. Dripping crystals, antler-hangers, the door bears a black knocker in from of a male cherub and the gate to another dimension is guarded by two ravens and an owl. The overall ambience is oneiric, erotic and criminal.

Room designed by Jakub Rebelka and Iwona Cybula


Image by LaLaLa

Mummies, skeletons, robots... and treadmills!

These 2 music videos which are quite different from each other both in their music genre and the way of interpretation. Still both of them are similar in their clever concept and seamless presentation. The first video is directed by the genious Michel Gondry, famous for his 'The Science of Sleep' and 'The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind' movies.

Video via Dailymotion

'Around The World' song has its distinctive structure: the music is great in its simplicity, the repetition is always used, and it stops just before it's too much. It is an attempt to bring choreography into music videos.

The second one is probably less famous, but is also very interesting:

Video via Dailymotion

This music video is arguably responsible for 'Here it goes again' song's success by Ok Go. It is an elaborate performance of the band dancing on treadmills in a single continuous take - another attempt at bringing organized dancing to music videos.

Is it just me or do you also see something similar in these 2 videos...?

~~38~~

Image by LaLaLa

Image by LaLaLa

Room #38, Lalala artHotel. The land of Mrs Roe-Deer and imps. On the chest of drawers a pair of silver stilettos for ladies or gentlemen - for tap-dancing, dances and beating out rhythms at nights. Wood and nude azure, mosaic and crystal. Curtains embroidered with frisky giraffes. The whole world dashes along those curtains. Honorata peeps from her self-portrait, combined with na ve drawings. The room has its fairy and protector. The walls glisten with Ulcia's collages and vermicules. An interwar bed heavily serves dreams of an idyllic village. Next to it there stands an arabesque chaise longue intended for quick day sleeps and reading sessions. A place for gourmets, perfect for drinking cordial from crystal glasses, accompanied with raisin halva. The land of Hrabal.

Room designed by Honorata Martin and Ula Wasielewska

Image by LaLaLa

Image by LaLaLa