One of the (many) advantages of being, well, me, is that I seem to gravitate, through accident or unconcious design, towards extremely talented people, particularly in the creative arena. Most of my friends have exceptional gifts, be they manifest in music, poetry, art, photography, web design, modelling, writing, cinematography, animation or comedy [and a few of the bastards are just good at bloody everything they put thier mind to].
One of the disadvantages of this is that, on occasion, you can feel a bit overwhelmed and inadequate when surrounded by such talent. That's okay though- it forces you to lift your game up and get going, which is a good thing. It's daunting, yet inspiring.
One such of these occasions was last Thursday, when I went to opening of the art installation that a friend of mine, Nicky Deeley, has been slaving over for the last year or so. Although- it's more than a simply art installation. Nicky has completely transformed an entire bar using her own unique asthetic.
Little details lurk in every corner. A flock of crows from one piece sits on a power line above the bar. An oilcan in the staircase can be found in the corner of one of the paintings. It's not a series of disparate works- it's almost as though you're inside a single cohesive artwork, which manifests itself in many different ways, all around you. It's brilliant.
These photos (and there's more on flickr and at the squidbunny) simply don't do justice to being in the bar and soaking up the atmosphere. And no still picture can prepare you for the moving tentacles!
So if you're in the Old Street area looking for somewhere to meet for a drink, you could definitely do far worse than to head over to Dreambagsjaguarshoes, 32 Kingsland Road. I recommend it.
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Dan, your page doesn't look good at 800x600. Pete says you will laugh at me for using 800x600, but I know you are too good natured to do that, and anyway, he gave me the poxy monitor.
The design is mostly my fault. It should msotly work at 8x6, but we know a cry for help when we see one.
Pete, buy Karen a 21" montior. Size counts you know.
Yeah, it's tough to tell how it will appear to other people- Adrian tells me he sees it differently than I, as well.
As far as I know, I'm a pretty regular computer user with a pretty regular monitor, so I try and make things look cool to me, in the hope they look cool to others.
(Pete, Karen CAN'T VIEW MY PAGE PROPERLY. Surely this calls for a 21 incher?)