cahier de voyage#2
London

I tryed to stick to my very old promise of never bringing responsibilies to my fun moments, but my chaotic structure (or, should I say, my nature and the nature of everything that crosses my way) made me do it again. I was hired for a last minute job and couldn't possibly say no. So, after dinner, my first evening at London was spent in front of the laptop, untill the sun rose at my window.



I was right at Euston Square, very close to the London University College, and a few tube stations away from everything. Yes, I've minded the gap, looked to the right side of the road before crossing and managed to live London as my city. On my return home I've brought with me its vibrancy and sense of modernity, and I brought this secret wish of living there one day.

Feeling the streets of a city is the joy of any psychogeographer just like me. So I picked a map and drew a circular line around random streets of the city centre and wandered like an old time dandy, stopping only to feel the bustling, to hear the conversations, to smell the scent of coffee and tea, to write down my impressions, and to capture moments in a random snapshot.



I must admit I'm improving my sef-portrait skills.



London is a city of culture. Only a city of trully democratic culture makes its most valuable art and history collections available to the public for free. My passion for museums as houses of knowledge made me go wild on a 4 day tour around paitings, sculpures, perfomances, photos and eclectic multi-material compositions. The Tate Museums conquered my preference. On my way to Tate Modern I couldn't take my eyes of the priviledged terrace over the city, with the majestic St. Paul's Cathedral centralizing the spectators' attention.



I had to go there twice. On the first day, for the general collection, vast and comprehensive. On the second day, early in the morning (so early I had, to my own amazement, to wait and queue for the opening) for the Giberlt & George major exhibition.



I confess my ignorance as I barely knew the artists, but I am now able to understand their photos as a means to communicate beyond the narrow confines of the art world. Gilbert and George's slogan is Art for All. Their works are at times sexually charged, and all of them are extremely powerful (in dimension and in social content). Bad Thoughts (number 7, 1975), expressing the artists' own despair, is one my favourites.