As sharp as a nib.

Excerpt from Dante's Inferno that provides an epigraph to the poem below. Read before listening.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot is one of my favourite poems of all time. His reading always fascinates me, as the intonations that Eliot himself makes are very different to those that I would naturally make.

When the evening is spread out against the sky 
Like a patient etherised upon a table;  

The Guardian once did a series of articles centred on 'the writer's room', in which they published a photo of the space where a number of writers spend their writing time. Here are a few that I like.

Craig Raine

Roald Dahl

Virginia Woolf's garden toolshed writing room

Sebastian Faulks (I didn't expect this! Note the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster!)

Martin Amis - another garden shed conversion

I'm not usually a fan of cartoon artwork, but the witty work of Posy Simmonds is an exception:

Use of space.

Heike Weber is a German artist who caught my attention for her interiors created by drawing with marker pen on vinyl-covered walls. The transformation of the rooms is striking, and the different patterns create vastly different atmospheres. My favourite is the third image, Dorotheum 300, for the awkward juxtaposition of the random non-linear red lines encroaching upon the luxe of the museum's red carpets.

Utopia, 2008

Utopia, 2007

Dorotheum 300, 2007

Whirlpool, 1998

Room 104, 2000

Salonstucke 6

Utopia, 2009

Another interesting use of space can be seen in this innovatively designed mobile unit, the 'blob VB3' created by the Belgian architectural firm dmvA. I love the use of space and the interchangeable nature of the shelves - sleeping space / bookshelf / food stores. I don't know how you would be able to live without chairs or in such a confined space with more than one other person, but I most definitely prefer this to the traditional British caravan.

My third interesting use of space is the cardboard art installation by Chilean artist Luise Valdes. 'Casa de karton' has been entirely created from collected cardboard boxes of various sorts, painstakingly made into a life-size recreation of the artist's own apartment. Valdes then whitewashed all of the boxes to create the sense of uniformity, and created detail by use of marker pens. It seems to embody the fragile nature of personal space - lovingly created yet vulnerable to the inevitable meaningless of material possessions.

Another eye-catching work - street installation of a cardboard car crash. 

Tangential ramblings.

I am so excited to hear that Lilly Heine is now selling a couple of items in Topshop! I blogged about her MA collection from Central St Martin's earlier this year. I LOVE the t-shirt below... if only I could afford the £250 price tag I would be having a very trendy Christmas...

Following a tangent, I stumbled across these amusing snippets from Vogue magazine in 1924:

The November 1924 Vogue cover - why don't we have such glamorous cover art any more?

So now you know the answer to such pressing questions as those above! I especially like the disapproval of "too exaggerated fashions" - I wonder what the then Editor of Vogue would have said if she could have seen the flamboyant and expressionist fashion around today.

And to add another tangent to my already fairly random post, Talkin' Bout a Revolution by Tracy Chapman was brought onto my radar by a friend last night. Since then I have been totally hooked by her soulful voice and meaningful lyrics. The theme of fighting back against unjust systems that block progress is very fitting, in my opinion, for the current climate of societal change engineered by the Tory government. Let us optimistically hope that progress is not blocked from anyone, with regards to the incoming fee hike and education reforms. 

To become.

Ludovico Einaudi is an Italian pianist and composer. I recently discovered his music, and it is now an integral part of my daily life. I generally listen to Einaudi whilst studying, and find that his music is calming and peaceful as well as vibrant and creative. The track in the video above, Divenire, (which is the verb to become in English) is a beautiful piece of music. I also recommend: Le Onde, Eden Roc, I Giorni, and Dietro Casa. Below is another of my favourite tracks: Oltremare (which means overseas in English). 

This is the view from my bedroom window at my parents' house one evening back in the summer. I loved the rolling pink-tinted clouds, and find it quite fitting for the piece of music.

When I listen to Einaudi play, I feel that he is totally absorbed by the music, putting his whole soul into its composition and tone.

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you."

- Maya Angelou

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.Alfred Lord Tennyson
For me, I think I have only recently found 'passions' to absorb me so. Studying Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience really inspire me, and the discipline as a whole entices me for its potential to make greatleaps of science and pioneering discovery. I have also taken up rowing as a past-time, which helps me to focusand settle down to studying during the week. Being out on the water is incredibly peaceful, especially at dawnwhen the dawn chorus is in full swing and the sun casts itself over the river.

  My crew training on the river one morning.

As still as a statue.

This Antony Gormley statue stand atop Blackwell's poster shop on Broad Street, Oxford. From the street, the figure looks eerily calm in the shadow of Exeter College chapel, especially at night where the figure could plausibly be a real man standing guard over the spires.

Another artist's work that I have recently become acquainted with is that of Jason de Caires Taylor (http://www.underwatersculpture.com/). The artist meticulously models statues of real people, which he then submerges, usually in groups, into waterways in South America. Over time, the statues are claimed by the underwater life and gradually become unrecognisable as human form. The work is often incredibly shocking, reminiscent of the figures of Pompei or some tragic disaster that has left people frozen in a moment of time. I shall say no more and let the images speak for themselves...

The 'talking statues of Rome' is an ancient tradition dating back to the 16th century, whereby citizens can anonymously express their political views by posting criticism in the form of poems or witticisms on well-known public statues around the city.

Talking statues first appeared as a voice through which Romans could criticise the pope. For example, Nicholas V was sharply criticised for a brutal repression of a conspiracy in the short poem:

Da quando è Niccolò papa e assassino,

abbonda a Roma il sangue e scarso è il vino.

Since Nicholas became pope and murderer, 

blood is abundant in Rome while there is lack of wine.

Pasquino (above) was the first talking statue and is still used occasionally. The name is derived from the word pasquinade which means a short satire exhibited in a public place. Ruling popes wanted to rid the city of such statues, but feared ridicule for punishing a statue. They put Pasquino under surveillance, which inspired an increase in the number of talking statues. The statues would then have dialogue between one another, allowing conflict of opinion and discussion.

What an interesting method of communication and dissent! Who would have thought that statues could be used in so many different ways?

Aesthetic satiation.

I'm feeling random, so I thought I would compile a few photographs / artworks / images that satiate my aesthetic needs. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have done. 

Nothing is beautiful, only man: on this piece of naivete rests all aesthetics, it is the first truth of aesthetics. Let us immediately add its second: nothing is ugly but degenerate man - the domain of aesthetic judgment is therewith defined. - Nietzsche 

The two photographs of installations below by Brusse at http://www.ilovebrusse.com/ are fantastic and very quirky. I can imagine that you would be very touched if someone did this for you!

It pleases me to see that this girl has a Nintendo Gameboy in her handbag! The Opera Glass is also very cool - I wonder whether she was on her way somewhere, or whether she just has really poor eyesight...

This guy below is at the height of cool.

And, speaking of bikes, I would be over the moon to have a bike with my name on like this one below! I think I would like an olive green frame, however.

And I found this remarkable little cartoon and poem too, which is fairly sad but nonetheless thought-provoking. It suggests that you can only conceive of what you have experienced. Is this true? I'd like to think not - that creativity is alive and well. The little bird's lingering determination makes me think that he'll get to where he wants to be.