walkingwalkingwalking

A week in France walking from Cassis to Toulon - stunning views and great weather. The terrain was fairly easy with beautiful calm, isolated beaches and gentle ridge walking. There were some tough climbs into and out of coves and up to ancient lookout points, initially semaphore and now hi-tech military spaces. These where bookended with the 'psychogeography' of walking into and out of towns through suburbs and areas where man has taken control and ownership of the land.

Extraordinary food and drink accompanied the views, with many plat du jours eaten. A part of France where il floatant is king but closely supported by the cafe gourmand. A particular shout out to the excellent food at Et Bon Vent in La Ciotat @etbonvent. Toulon had an exhibition of Claude Viallat's work which inspired some ideas around flags for the opera I have become involved in/with at Sizewell. The naval museum was devoid of pomp, focusing on the military opportunities connected to the sea. 

At the end a quick trip to Aubusson via train to Marseille then TGV to Crest and a 6-hour car journey to see an exhibition by Matthew Tyson. The town has an excellent tapestry museum with a conservation area where you can talk with the conservers and look closely at what they are up to.  It was fascinating to hear about the choices around materials and colour. I went out to see tapestries in situ in a small chateau out of town.

lisbonmagicandvision

 4 days in Lisbon- what to say - looking at endless tiled spaces has renewed my love of repeat pattern. I became particularly interested when one pattern juts up against another- this will be the starting point for the next body of work. 

Religious imagery was a large part of the break and was very powerful and particularly gruesome both in its depiction of cruelty and excessive materiality of the trappings involved with being the conduit of faith. Some of the best 'capes' ever - again something to return to re science/art capes. The collection of reliquary in the Igreja de Sao Roque  is one of the most comprehensive - I have never seen  part of the crib before. 

There are so many elements to the trip, more will come out later but for now - some great art - the Gulbenkian in Lisbon is always a favourite of mine - it reminds me of inside spaces within the Barbican. The collection is housed within 2 'old school modernist' buildings using tasteful materials set within glorious grounds. The walk taken from Lisbon’s centre takes you past monumental landscaping with its own seemingly monolithic monuments. The new contemporary art space MAAT with its swooping roof had two shows - digital highway last seem badly hung at the Whitechapel - here the hang gave the work space and a clearer reading. https://www.maat.pt/en Tension and Conflict Video Art after 2008 was an excellent and internationally broad show of video work and had some exceptional work. I have become interested in a concept introduced to me by Barbara Klare, that of artist as first responder and this lemon tastes of apple by Hiwa K is a particular version of this, after 2 months of protests in Kurdish area of Iran the video documents a single simple act that evolves and takes on numerous roles within the video. https://vimeo.com/52581227

And then there is the food - I ate some of the tastiest, creative food ever - grilled octopus that was set on fire and lamb couscous with spearmint sorbet were just two notable dishes - recommendations - Casa dos Pecados, Carmo and Oficina do Duque.