Admittedly, it is easier on the ears than some of his records, but today marks the day that Blackbridge Communications Limited listened to a Sun Ra album. Without a great deal of protest either. This is progress. They’ll love jazz once I’ve finished with them. They’ll love it.
He’s an incredibly exciting artist, Sun Ra. Anybody even vaguely interested in him should read this. Or this to start with. And watch this.
“What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits…” Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1958.
I can’t compare my lifestyle with that of a flighty courtesan, more’s the bloody pity, but I can understand this all right. Though for Tiffany’s, read the food shops of the John Lewis Partnership. Oh yes. A Waitrose has opened its doors on St John’s Street. All is well with the world.
So this is what Friday nights can be like. Last week instead of doing the after work drinks, I went to the Anish Kapoor exhibition at The Royal Academy. The last art exhibition that really blew me away on a sensory level was Antony Gormley’s Blind Light showcase at the Hayward in 2007. So you could say I was overdue another killer gallery experience.
I went into the Royal Academy not knowing at all what to expect, although the large piece in the courtyard should have been a good indication. I guess the most shocking thing was the sense of scale. Standing next to some of his pieces reminded me of those scales in books comparing the size of a human to blue whales and other large animals. Tonnes of exploded red wax (pictured), expansive yellow holes in walls, right down to sculptures made with fine sediment. It was engaging and totally art for boys and girls. Art that evokes an immediate emotional response. And that’s the type of art I like to experience.
I recommend prebooking and going to this on weeknight. It was less crowded and much more comfortable than during the weekend (the queue for tickets was so long on a Saturday we didn’t go in.) It runs until the 11th of December.
So, my friends Christopher and Ivan were passing by Blackbridge today and kind fellows that they are, bought me a truly wonderful present. Two Eccles Cakes from St John.
Eating these required a certain something else so I strode manfully up to Whitecross Market to the Neal’s Yard stall and bought me some Mrs Kirkhams Lancashire cheese.
