Seeing Differently

A couple of days ago I went to see the Assembling Bodies exhibition - rather reluctantly as I didn't really think it would tell me much I didn't already know. It turned out that wasn't the point. It was a lot of fun. Mixing anthropology, art, technology and science to look at our bodies from all different angles. Here's just a couple of things that made me laugh.

It's the eyes that caught my attention. The Papuan funerary statue has incredibly realistic snail shell eyes - his gaze is unsettling. The Head of the Blue Chip has two different eyes: one a small camera, the other a large blue eye under which is a video of a real eye, moving and blinking. The camera eye really works: you can see youself on a little screen on the right side of the 'brain'. The blue eye is realistic because it moves, blinks and seems to look at you. But the statue's eyes have a blurred quality that feels to me like the way we look into people's eyes every day - we don't usually stare fixedly at someone's eyes, we just get an impression of them. They are different versions of reality. 

Mariam's holding the cast of a hug! It is the empty space inside of a hug. Such a brilliant idea. We both played around with it, holding it in different positions, trying to find the right 'fit'. It feels cold initially, and rough, and quite heavy. Then it warms up with you, and once you relax and stop feeling idiotic hugging this thing, you can get it into a good position. It feels like it's comforting you.

It made me think of the way that in traditional Iranian towns, the Friday mosque is a space inside the bazaar - it's  not a building with an outside wall and an ornate portal, it's the inside empty courtyard that is important. Where there is silence and stillness and room for prayer.

Cambridge to London

Just got back from London - it was a good day with an old friend but it is always good to be back in the quiet of Cambridge.

We saw the Henry Moore exhibition at the Tate. I liked the innocence and exploration of the early sculptures best - especially two called 'Girl'. At the Photographer's gallery, Sally Mann was showing some of her photos of her children, beautiful but also vaguely unsettling in their rather self-conscious innocence. One room had photos called 'What Remains' - pictures of decomposing human bodies.

Also had dim sum in Soho, rode the bus, explored fabric shops in Berwick St and ate Thai durian from a chinese supermarket.

London was very crowded - especially Picadilly Circus when we were going home. I was caught in a heavy downpour at Kings Cross.

By the time we got to Cambridge the sky had cleared and the air felt fresh and earthy. There was a rainbow over the Addenbrooke's building site for the LMB. On my bike it felt good to be free of the traffic. I headed straight for the allotment - the sky above the cricket field was streaked with red and pink cirrus clouds. It was quiet there. Just the distant sound of traffic from the M11 - the wind is in the west, so it should be good weather tomorrow.