FOUR DAYS IN LONDON PART ONE:

During the Frieze Art Fair, London is the center of the art world universe. The hype is palpable. So are the queues and the crowds. And the money.

We won’t mention the installation of slides by Carsten Holler in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall:

Or dwell on the exhibition by Swiss artists Fischli and Weiss, also at Tate Mod. Their photographic series Stiller Nachmittag (Quiet Afternoon1984/5) comprised sculptural still lifes made of household objects. The best ones, like The Egoist and Tenderness expressed emotion through form:


Fischli and Weiss, Stille Ettermiddag, 2003. Image: Bergen Kunstmuseum

Nor will we dwell on Rebecca Warren’s sculptures at the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain:

Read more in the Time Out London review HERE

Art really is the new fashion, though. Herald Tribune fashion critic Suzy Menkes was being escorted around the Tate by Dazed and Confused mag co-founder and editor Jefferson Hack.

Directly outside Tate Britain was a sign advertising a sculpture/performance by Chris Burden, courtesy of the South London Gallery. We wondered: “Is this the same Chris Burden who was shot in the arm for a performance artwork in 1971?” It was. The Flying Steamroller, 1996, is a large sculpture by the California-based artist, made up of a twelve-ton steamroller and a concrete block counterweight attached to a pivoting arm. The steamroller is driven around in a circle until it eventually lifts off the ground and spins round and round:

Chris Burden, The Flying Steamroller, 1996. Image: 24hourmuseum.org.uk

More on Chris Burden HERE

7:30 pm. A cab to the opening of the Zoo art fair, the younger sister to Frieze. The crowd outside Zoo truly was a Zoo, rendering our VIP card useless.

Much better to see it during the day, anyway when you can actually look at the art.

COMING UP - FOUR DAYS IN LONDON PART TWO:

The Zoo Art Fair

China Power Station Part I: Art at the Battersea Power Station, London
-The Toyo Ito pavilion, the shop, the show

Anish Kapoor at the Lisson Gallery
-A collaborative work with Salman Rushdie

The Louise Blouin Foundation in Notting Hill
-The James Turrell exhibition