Life as Art - Ai Weiwei

I enjoyed Ai Weiwei's exhibition at the Royal Academy with Catherine last night. I saw his previous Sunflower Seeds at the Tate Modern and heard about his detention in China on the news, but had not really investigated his work any further.  I was unexpectedly moved by his pieces, which all have a lot of thought and meaning associated with them. One shocking room at first sight had an unusual rolling landscape of steel rods on the floor (150 tons of straightened rebar), which I was looking at when I realised the walls of the huge space had panels on them with small writing.  On closer inspection, the writing was a list of names - over 5000 names of children and students who had died in the Sichuan earthquake of 2008. This is tragic enough, but it forms a political statement because the steel rods are from the remains of buildings - collapsed schools - that weren't properly built to withstand earthquakes.  He incurred the wrath of the Chinese authorities who had tried to cover up the scale of the disaster.  He was detained for 81 days in 2011 - his thoughts about this are also represented in the exhibition as "S.A.C.R.E.D.".  We are invited to spy on him through half life size dioramas in 6 boxes as he was watched closely (and I mean very closely, not more than a few inches away) by 2 policemen at all times, even in the toilet and while sleeping.

I was amazed to see the chandelier (in the distance the top photo) up close - it was actually made from bicycles - the mundane made beautiful and unexpected.

He also has much to say on the freedom to move across borders.  Viewed from above, the bolted- together pieces of ancient temples form the outline shape of China, with Taiwan represented by some joined footstools.  We can't see the shape but are able to walk through it easily, unlike many who live there. 

Traditional craftsmanship, shapes, scale, repetition, unexpected materials (rare wood, marble, crystal, compressed tea) and the value we put on things are other themes.

As the artist said himself, "Life is art.  Art is life.  I never separate it".

See the Guardian review of the exhibition here.

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/ai-weiwei-rules-for-life-and-art 

Stoic Week 2nd - 9th November 2015

Stoicism seems to overlap with a lot of the Coping With Cancer Stress course and also my normal life working in the NHS (Ha Ha). I thought I may as well learn a bit more about it and enrolled on the free on-line course offered by Exeter University, Stoic Week 2015. 
The Stoics aimed to improve their mental, emotional and physical resilience.  
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman Emperor (161-180 AD) are surprisingly applicable to modern life. He is considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers, along with Epictetus, Seneca, Socrates and Zeno.  He did not find the Imperial life of an Emperor appealing, but took the office as he saw it his duty, in line with his philosophy. He was careful and thoughtful in matters of the law.  He was not physically strong but persevered to share the hardships of his reign with common soldiers on the battlefield.

One of my favourite quotes from Aurelius is:

"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present".

He reminds us that we have everything we need within ourselves to face the future - after all, we have got ourselves to this point.

The thoughts of Epictetus, an ex-slave are written in the Enchiridion (Manual of Epictetus) as a short manual of Stoic philosophy. He lived in poverty with the Earth, sky and a cloak.

"Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well".

"If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: " He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these."

The Stoics were quite keen on a bit of contemplation in the morning to help get your thoughts into perspective in order to face the day.  This from Marcus Aurelius:

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."

For other Marcus Aurelius quotes, have a look at this link.

I've quite enjoyed this week of thinking about philosophy, it certainly helps in those tedious work meetings to remember

“....it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.” 

From http://existentialcomics.com/comic/102 

Not Buying It (Traffic Jam)

I read a thoughtful book a while ago by Judith Levine called "Not Buying It" (2006).  It describes her year without shopping which she decided to try with her husband after a particularly fraught Christmas (when is it not?) .  She wanted to spend time and direct her resources towards doing other things instead of shopping (apart from essentials).  It got me noticing more articles about living responsibly.
Buy Nothing Day has been "celebrated" as an international day of protest against consumerism since it was first set up in Canada in 1992.  In the USA it is held on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the same day as Black Friday which is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. I have been thinking about this sort of thing for a while, partly from an ecological point of view and enjoyment from trying to live a bit of the "Good Life" in the urban wilds of Wandsworth and partly for financial reasons.  However, it's also because of the creeping feeling of "Stuffocation", a word coined by James Wallman for his recent book which describes what it feels like; drowning under a pile of stuff. Read a February 2015 Guardian article about experientialism vs. materialism by Wallman here.  It seems a good time to think about it with the "Keep Sunday Special" campaign being debated again after George Osborne's announcement during his budget speech of a consultation of Sunday shop-opening hours (yes, I wrote this a little while ago).
Gradually over the last few years I've been making more and more conscious decisions to spend less money and instead spend time cooking, making things and pursuing hobbies from a back-to-basics approach.  I like making meals from scratch, including most of our dinners, soups, sauces, bread, pies, cakes, jam.  For the jam, I pick blackberries rather improbably on Wandsworth Roundabout every year to make what my droll Dad named "Traffic Jam".  The tally this year is 3.5 kg of blackberries and counting.  

Berry harvest, 14th July 2015

This year has been a bit rubbish for vegetables (even Monty had trouble with his tomatoes on BBC2 last week) but over the last couple of years I've managed to grow some of my own fruit and veg (blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, kale, sage, parsley, rosemary, basil, all sorts of other herbs, chillies, lavender, potatoes, runner beans, French beans, chard, spinach, rocket, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, fennel).  I did rather enjoy the smug feeling a few weeks ago when I passed my local Farmer's market selling kale at a ridiculous price, then a few steps further on picking my own which I planted in our Community Garden.  
My pet worms in the wormery compost bin have been working well for years now; all our food waste goes into it and the busy worms produce a nice lot of compost which goes straight back onto the garden. It probably doesn't sound very interesting or impressive to anyone outside London, but I feel it's a nice achievement in our urban surroundings.  My whole garden is fairly self-sustaining : I dry my artichoke stems each year and use them as bean canes, I weave my hazel clippings around the trellis to reinforce it, rainwater is collected in my water barrel which is an old bin with the swing lid upturned to keep insects and leaves out.  I collect seeds from the veg and flowers to recycle for next year; OK, not a new idea, but it's important to keep the seeds properly (I learnt a lot on a seed collection course at the London Centre for Wildlife Gardening).  On another course at Regent's Park Allotment Garden as part of Capital Growth, I learnt plenty of tips to grow food in containers - one was to re-use half-buried yoghurt pots as water reservoirs in hanging baskets. Hubby's Polish family would be proud - I like to joke that his granny had a part-time job as a witch; she made her own medicines out of deep-rooted traditions and beliefs.  I think she was also ahead of her time - she used to be shocked that grassy roundabouts in England and grass verges were so wasted - why wasn't there a goat on each one? How great would that be? I used to laugh at the idea but now think she had a point.
We don't use our car much, partly because the public transport here is so good, partly because the local traffic jams are so bad (no, not my blackberry traffic jam - that's great!), mostly because I don't like driving.  But anyway we enjoy cycling around here along by the Thames and through the parks.

Cycling along the Thames: 7th July 2015 

I like making my own art - our house has several blown-up photos on canvas from our holiday.  The Camargue flamingo is a favourite.
  

I made a cushion cover to match:

I like making my own birthday cards; this one was for my sister-in-law:

I buy most of my clothes second hand (or vintage as it is known these days) and customise them.  The shirt below (side view) is Liberty silk, found years ago in a Chelsea charity shop when I worked in King's Road (those were the days).  The sleeves became a bit tired under the arms, so I cut them off, reattached the cuffs as cap sleeves, and then added a black and white silk panel from my favourite botanical-inspired designer (Clarissa Hulse off-cuts) down each side. 

The rest of my wardrobe mostly consists of my own old clothes that I alter (OK, make bigger).  The denim jacket below I've had since University and the shoulders recently frayed, so I added a couple of panels of Briar silk for a bit of a camouflage effect.

By spending a lot of time at the gym in the evenings and running (or having a lie-in) on Saturday mornings, it leaves little time left for shopping anyway.  My workplace has no obvious shops nearby to spend superfluous money (not that I have the time either), although it has a nice selection of exotic fruit and veg stalls in the market.
I like to think we have a responsible lifestyle but I'm not claiming to be some sort of eco-guru or anything, I do these things because they absorb me.  It's taken me time to learn techniques and I think it gives me a sense of security that I can do these things from scratch if necessary - make decent(ish) clothes, make cosy furnishings, feed myself from the garden.  I have yet to try knitting but I don't fancy my chances unless one of my arms starts growing longer than the other for some reason.  
I lost a lot of confidence after my cancer diagnosis.  You don't feel in control of anything, even (especially) your own body.  I suspect that I feel better about myself when I can control the food I eat and the environment I spend time in, especially if I can do it in an environmentally-friendly way.
Transition Towns is a movement that promotes sustainable living by creating contacts and wider networks of people, and from this grew our community garden, Bramford, which has really widened my circle of friends and taken me away from the all-absorbing process of feeling sorry for myself.  
Writing the book "Not buying It"and living for a year only buying essentials raised the question for Judith Levine and her husband - what is essential?  She made a list and classed haircuts as essential. I don't. (I can hear my mum - a retired hairdresser- tutting from here). In the end, Levine wasn't too harsh on herself but used the experience to think more deeply about her life choices and why we as humans are naturally acquisitive creatures.  In my case I feel better for not going shopping very often.  I've had a lot of fun doing other stuff instead.  It's a sobering thought that the lifestyle most of us in England live today is beyond the wildest dreams of even the royalty and other rich of the past who didn't have lighting, heating, running water, etc.  Recently having a broken toilet for a couple of weeks has even helped me to truly appreciate a flush!

Savage Beauty

I treated myself to an Art Fund National Art Pass recently; I thought I would be a bit more proactive about using my day off during the week to make the most of London and visit galleries and museums.  This week I was really looking forward to seeing Savage Beauty,  the Alexander McQueen retrospective at the V&A Museum. It didn't disappoint; the creations were well-displayed and each room had different music or sounds which really set the mood.  I found the inspiration from nature really absorbing - I loved the idea of creating a dress from razor clam shells.

A razor clam shell-encrusted dress from McQueen’s Voss spring/summer 2001 collection. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Many of the shapes of the shoes and jewellery or headpieces were spiral-horned or taloned.  Feathers and birds were a common feature - painted goose feathers were particularly effective.

Tulle and lace dress with veil and antlers, Widows of Culloden, Autumn/Winter 2006-07. Model: Raquel Zimmermann at Viva London. Image: firstVIEW

The unfinished last collection from SS 2010 is called Plato's Atlantis, inspired by Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and has animal shapes such as jellyfish digitally printed onto the fabric playsuits with beads or small metal plates/paillettes reflecting light like scales.  An appealing exhibition for a biologist!

Image: Marie Claire

One of the rooms forms an incredible "Cabinet of Curiosities" - filled floor to ceiling with more fetishistic pieces.  Dress No. 13 (SS 1999) is his famous spray painted dress; this forms the centrepiece along with with the film of the robots spraying the model.

I needed to sit down in the middle to take it all in. 

Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum London

You then walk through into a darkened room which reveals an unexpectedly moving hologram .  The lady in front of me even shed a couple of tears.

This exhibition was originally shown at the Met in New York in 2011.  Other people have written about it better than me, see here, here or here, but I found it a fabulous collection and of creative interest to anyone as an example of how to gain inspiration from art, film, nature, foreign and local culture and how to break rules (after you have learnt and mastered them).  McQueen promoted and lived freedom of thought and expression.  I'm all for that.  He was also interested in creating beauty from non-conventionally beautiful or even ugly things.  I was thinking about my cancer and how it has forced me to create a new life from the ugly feelings it left me with.  There is still plenty of room left for beauty and creativity in it.

Young Women's Ovarian Cancer Support Group

I first met K. at Paul's Cancer Support Centre where we were both taking the Healing Journey Course (now known as Coping With Cancer Stress). She immediately impressed with her eloquence about how she felt and the things she was going through.  She had a fantastic sense of humour and we got on very well. Neither of us opened up about what type of cancer we had; for my part I found it was difficult thinking about it specifically, let alone talking about it in front of a group of people I didn't know very well.  But as the weeks passed and the sessions broke into smaller groups to talk about issues in greater depth, K. and I realised we had a lot of problems in common to do with our illness.  We started going out for lunch or a coffee on my day off and she told me she was thinking of setting up a support group to help younger women with ovarian cancer. 
Unfortunately, with a gynae cancer you are often surrounded by older ladies in waiting rooms and gynae support groups.  It can feel even more isolating to have a "rare" cancer at a younger age and you often feel adrift with no-one to talk to who understands.  Friends don't/can't always deal with things and can drift away.  I accompanied K. who had arranged to talk to Bernie, the fantastic manager of Maggie's West London who agreed to start a small support group in association with Ruth from Ovacome, the ovarian cancer support charity. 



I am delighted to say that several years later we are still meeting once a month and the number of young ladies who receive support and advice from the group continues to grow.  It is an informal meeting, 6.30-8.30 on the first Wednesday of each month.  People can raise any issues they are struggling with and there is always a professional available to talk to or point you in the right direction for further information.  We sometimes have a speaker presenting on relevant topics such as HRT or nutrition.  One of the ladies in the group kindly led a set of yoga sessions at Maggie's.  
The building itself is worth a mention. While it is next to Charing Cross Hospital on an extremely busy road, it is designed to provide a shield from the outside world and is definitely a haven, always with a welcome and a place to sit quietly or chat to someone. 

 

Unfortunately my lovely friend K. is no longer with us, but her legacy is a marvellous thing and she herself knew how much it means to all of us.  I continue to go to the meetings because although I am now physically OK (mostly), there are always new emotional hurdles to deal with and in K.'s honour I am proud to attend as a "veteran" and hopefully to help provide support to others going through similar things.

Tea With Ovacome 2015

Wow, what a day! On Saturday 28th, Tea With Ovacome at the Mayfair Hotel was a great success by any measure.  There are thanks due to many people who have been working behind the scenes all year for the event.  It's aim is to raise awareness and funds for Ovacome, the ovarian cancer support charity. Firstly, Adele the organiser and her daughter Zindzi, who are both very inspirational ladies.  The champagne tea was originally Zindzi's idea and she was also an original catwalk model.  
Now in it's 5th year, the event is even bigger and better.  Karen McGhie, Emily Mulligan and Fay Newman at Apricot clothing were marvellous for making sure us models looked good and organising the clothes on the day and on the previous fitting.  Karen even came back from Spain for the weekend especially for the event. She kindly spent literally hours attacking and taming my hair with the hair straighteners and refused to give up on a tough job.  She was helped by Helen who is a beauty student.  Big thanks also to make-up artists Victoria Penrose and Sarah Marie who were sending out masterpiece after masterpiece from their temporary "salon".  Philip the owner of Apricot very generously donated the clothes to the models afterwards. Thank you, Philip!  

Apricot have again designed a dress and bag specifically to raise funds for Ovacome. March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month and this year Apricot have worked with Michelle Heaton, formerly of Liberty X, to promote the dress.

My own Apricot dress waiting patiently on the rail.

Lovely lady Sabrina from Simply Be and her team also gave up some of their own time to arrange a dress fitting in their Oxford Street store, along with plenty of fizz.  On Saturday, Sabrina was full of emotion watching the ladies on the catwalk and was fab behind the scenes, dropping all the clothes off at the hotel herself and making a trip all the way back from Exeter that morning.  It just shows how very generous people are and how much work goes into an event to help it run smoothly.

Sabrina also arranged for Simply Be to kindly donate their evening wear dresses to the models.  I love my quirky monchrome and lime Grazia geo-ombre print maxi dress which will no doubt be getting a lot of wear.  Thanks to my trainer Dan for supplying the muscular arms and the ability to fit into a size 12 again!
The ladies from Barry M nails again ensured we all had our Teal Tips on. 

For the third year, the company is donating 50% of each sale of Aquarium nail paint in Pacific during February and March to Ovacome.  

And look at the K. Middy hair that Karen and Helen achieved for me! (Never to be seen again).

I was so pleased to be supported by my lovely friends Sandra, Janet and Susan, my mum Joy and my aunts Violet and Sandra. Wouldn't be the same without you, ladies!

Act natural ladies and that's a wrap! (Below photo from Karen).

Click here for a write-up of the event in the 2015 Ovacome Summer Newsletter.

Model Behaviour

Today was the first Tea with Ovacome 2015 meeting for the 12 catwalk models to select our Apricot clothes (one causal and one dressy outfit).  I started the day believing I'd gone to the wrong place when I arrived around the back of Wembley Stadium in a deserted retail park. There was definitely tumble-weed in the car park behind a locked gate.  But inside, there was a lunch laid out and a lot of bustle around the rails of clothes.  Apricot have been wholeheartedly supporting the event since 2013 and have designed a second limited edition dress for the occasion; the proceeds of the dress go to Ovacome - last year it raised £17 K for the charity.  It will be on sale in March which is designated Ovarian Cancer Awareness month.

One of the nicely organized dress rails before the hoard of ladies hit it

Apricot's 2014 teal dress beautifully modelled by Adele, the organizer of Tea with Ovacome.

A sneaky peak of the 2015 dress:

And a few pictures from Tea With Ovacome 2013 and 2014:

Must go now to practice my "walk".