Super Christmas Market

 Held at Somerset House every year in the lead up to Christmas, a collection of UK based designers come together to give us the Super Christmas Market.

I’ve been to this event for several years now, but this year was by far my favourite. In the past I have come away feeling I had been robbed of my £4 entry fee. This year I didn’t. 

They had a room of designer products, not just the usual tat, but items from well-known designers such as Carl Klerkin and. In the other rooms we had interaction design; ski Somerset where you created your own skiing character out of plastercine and card, and then launched off a ski jump into a sand pit. 

They also had reindeer balloon races- you had to rise up and down on a pump to inflate the balloon in the reindeer’s mouth, and the first to pop the balloon wins. I raced against my mother and I came a close first- she claimed her stirrups were too short! Clearly a sore looser. 

They had a polygraph machine so that the elves could decided who to put on the naughty or nice list, and Turkey Still Standing; you had to try and take the tablecloth off without disturbing the Christmas dinner on top. If you managed this you got points depending on how little the objects moved. Daddy made it up onto the leader board, so my little brother tried to beat him, but sadly could not. Clearly he was just too tall. Apparently there is no height advantage.

Finally they had the pound store. Every item was a pound- items ranging from Christmas cards, posters, badges to silly novelty items, napkin holders to name a few. Like all pound shops it was crammed with people fighting to find the best bargain, and to get their hands on a designer item. Some of the items were worth their £1, some not, so not too dissimilar to a regular pound shop! I bought a couple of items as I’ve failed miserably this year with my Christmas shopping,

Generally it was a very nice atmosphere, my family and I enjoyed ourselves, however if you hate design or craft fairs and fun, this is not for you.

The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei

This weekend I visited the Tate Modern with a particular interest in seeing the installation in the turbine hall by Ai Weiwei.
I had hoped that it would have been more interactive, but unfortunatley you are not allowed to touch the seeds. There is an accompanying video in which Ai Weiwei shows the process and techniques used to produce these seeds. This makes the whole exhibit seem a lot more impressive. On their own, if glanced at quickly you could mistake it for gravel.

"Sunflower Seeds is made up of millions of small works, each apparently identical, but actually unique. However realistic they may seem, these life-sized sunflower seed husks are in fact intricately hand-crafted in porcelain.
Each seed has been individually sculpted and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Far from being industrially produced, they are the effort of hundreds of skilled hands. Poured into the interior of the Turbine Hall’s vast industrial space, the 100 million seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape.
Porcelain is almost synonymous with China and, to make this work, Ai Weiwei has manipulated traditional methods of crafting what has historically been one of China’s most prized exports. Sunflower Seeds invites us to look more closely at the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon and the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today."
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/default.shtm

Germany

Last weekend I went for a long weekend trip to visit my good friend Nina.
Sadly the weather was a little grey and very cold, but still had a great time.
Here are a selection of the photos that I took, from a mixture of Breman and Hamburg.

V&A

I went to the V&A yesterday to see the Shadow Catchers: Camera-less photography exhibition.

Was really interesting, its a concept that is quite new to me, and I'm not sure that I've quite got my head around all the details of the different techniques, but still a really enjoyable exhibition.

There were 5 different artists: Floris Neususs, Pierre Cordier, Garry Fabian Miller, Susan Derges and Adam Fuss, all with quite different and unique styles.

I think my favourite of the whole exhibition was Susan Derges' Autum series:

These were 'C' Prints using water to create the background and sky, and then layering up the flowers and foliage on top. This one is my favourite due to the amazing blue colours.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Tonight was my second attempt at making this particular recipe.

It didn't fall apart as much as the first time- and still tasted amazing.

Presentation still not great, but getting better I think.

Cooking

Blue Cheese scones, and Carrot and Corriander soup.

Knitted Hat

My first attempt at a knitted hat. Not the best- but not bad either!

Btw, its meant to be a baby's hat- hence why its small enough for the bear!

Knood

Knood- Knittin+ Food.
These are two things very important in my life.
Sadly I cannot claim the above image as my own, but its something that I'm looking to try!

knitting

My latest knitting achievement- mobile phone cover.

Esque Studio

" There aren't many eco-minded designers sharing studio space with Formula One race-car drivers, but that's just one of the things that set glassmakers Andi Kovel and Justin Parker's company, Esque Studio, apart. The two designers blow and hand-finish every vase, candlestick and terrarium to order (they also make glass for Ralph Lauren Home and Anthropologie). When the pair, who started by doing glass renderings for artists like Kiki Smith, moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Portland, Ore., they began to use wind-powered energy and remelting their glass remnants into a line for select shops. "Eco-conscious companies are going to become the norm," says Kovel, "and good design will be part of it." "

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/style_design/article/0,28804,1609195_1609098_1608853,00.html#ixzz125lmeg35

10/10/10

I love dates like today. They make me happy inside that I can write this;

10.10.10

Silent Design Auction

A selection of works from the Silent Design Auction as part of Design Week.

Boaz Mendel

From Design Boom:

"'loop chair' by boaz mendel, is constructed from seven boards of varying lengths that are connected in a loop by hinges. the complete object is a platform for the creation of a wide variety of furniture. folding the hinges and affixing the shape with the help of special connectors, produces a different piece of furniture in each of its various states.

every folding position has a defined function, and it is possible in a moment to go from a television chair to a bar-stool; from a ladder to a chaise-lounge; from a bookshelf to a coffee table. in total, it is possible for the chair to be arranged in 12 different ways. the connectors for the chair come in a case with all of the varations of the chair printed onto it. all you have to do is imitate the shape and place the connectors in the corresponding holes.'loop chair' is mendel's final project at the bezalel academy of art and design, jerusalem."

run up

So its the run up to design week, if your planning on being in London next weekend check out Vibe Bar on brick lane for the Silent Design Auction. Even if you don't wish to buy any design pieces come along and see whats going on.

Baking

I've been baking! Tonight's work:

Graffiti

Photographs of graffiti I like in a subway in Waterloo.

Notting Hill Carnival

Play time in the Park

After eating too much cake we thought it would be a good idea to play in the park. I took my new camera and had a play. Here are a selection of the photos.

Cake Party

We had a cake party, which involved lots of baking, and cake eating.
For a more detailed account of the cakes made visit our Abandon Spoon! blog.

Baking

I've been on a bit of a bake session this week. So far I've made a lemon sponge cake, and chocolate chip cookies.
They both taste really good, but I need to work on the presentation some more!

wallpapers

Some free wallpapers from Poked Studios that I'm currently sporting on my computer.

Found images

Some images I found and I liked.