david bowie is

first photo by me, other photo's sourced from the v&a website, exact location here. 

hello! i know this post is ridiculously late but i had forgotten all about it! i was recently reminded by the fact that the 'david bowie is' exhibition closed at the v&a (august 11th, i think) so i thought it was probably time to finally get this post up haha!
you are probably all aware that i am a big bowie fan so this exhibition was just a dream come true for me. it told the story from his teenage years all the way up to his current success (i visited at the end of march which was around the time when his first album in a decade, 'the next day', had just been released and gone to number one on the album charts), and was generally just so informative.
i'd say it is around 50% displays - costumes, photographs, drawings, etc. - and 50% video and film. you're given headphones before you enter the exhibition, which play bowie songs, but when you move near a screen the headphones pick up the audio from whatever that screen is playing, which i thought was amazing, haha! some rooms were just wall-to-wall screens (which you can kind of see in the right part of the second picture) and it had this kind of over-whelming, all-encompassing feeling, like you were being sucked back to the 70's or something. that particular room was kind of weird though, as one wall played a live show and another played music videos and the headphones kept switching audio as you walked around the room.
the exhibition was largely based on bowie's music career, displaying stage costumes, records, hand-written lyrics, album covers, etc. i got to see some of my favourite costumes of all time, which was so exciting for me; i saw the 'ashes to ashes' clown costume! i almost exploded!
there was also a section devoted to his film career, with one small cinema section where you could sit and watch clips from various films he's starred in. there were lots of props and movie posters around, including the actual crystal ball from labyrinth, which i was very excited about.
one thing that really blew me away, almost completely unrelated, is that there was an andy warhol 'marilyn' there. it was on loan from the tate and was to display bowie's childhood love of pop art and i was literally speechless when i saw it. having studied warhol for several years in high school, it was very surreal to seeing one of his prints in the flesh and it was a very big deal for me.
'david bowie is' was incredible. it's so much more than your average art exhibition; it's interactive, interesting, unique. i think anyone could enjoy it, even if you're not a fan of david bowie.
so, yes, i think that's it. sorry that this post is so late, but better late than never! xx

bradford media museum

as you all probably know, i'm an art student (which is why my blog is such a mess of themes) and spend a lot of time in museums. the media museum at bradford is one of my absolute favourites so i thought i'd share some photo's of my most recent trip!
they usually have two current featured exhibits, both of which i didn't manage to see, and their permanent exhibits, which are my favourite. the permanent exhibits take you through the worlds of television, broadcasting, animation, photography, video gaming, and lots of other exciting things. it's a really interactive museum, which i love, so there are lots of things to look through and play with. it's very colourful and exciting just to look at, which is kind of the main thing that i love about museums like this. i'm also a big fan of television and animation so i really enjoy the educational aspect.
i am awful at describing my enjoyment of artsy things so i'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. you can read more about the bradford media museum and their current exhibits here. thank you for reading! x

v&a - theatre & performance

exact replica of kylie's dressing room for her 2007 'showgirl: homecoming' tour.

close-up of kylie's make-up table in her dressing room. 

orchestral score for jesus christ superstar.

costume design for frank n. furter for the rocky horror show, 1981. 

costumes for the stage adaptation of the lion king.

adam ant's 'prince charming' outfit (oh my god!) and one of mick jagger's 1972 stage costumes. 

elton john's 'bicycle john' stage costume and chris martin's 'viva la vida' outfit for coldplay, 2008-2010. 

set model box for sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street (stage show, 1998) showing various lighting directions. 

i wanted to go to the v&a museum with the idea that it was all entirely fashion and theatre based, but it wasn't. it was 90% historical art and sculptures, which isn't really my cup of tea, but the theatre things they did have did not disappoint! (their fashion bit did, however - textiles a-level has ruined historical fashion for me).
theatre is such a big passion of mine, as you probably already know, and i was so excited to see this little section of the v&a! i love the backstage element of everything, from shops to stage shows, so i adore seeing all the little plans and sketches and designs. they had so many interesting things, and they all seemed to be catered to my tastes haha! (hello, rocky horror designs and adam ant's bloody 'prince charming' outfit?! i nearly exploded.)
not only that, but it was so informative as well. it takes you through all the stages of performance, from advertising to planning to staging to performing. i learnt so much, and all of it will be so valuable to me if i go down the path i plan to go down. i loved every second of this exhibit and it just proves to me that i'm on the right track, which i'm very thankful for.
other than that, i'll let the pictures speak for themselves (even though they kind of suck, it seems my camera wasn't on top form that day). if you get a chance, you should definitely go see this section of the v&a - entry is free! lots of museums, when they do things on theatre and fashion, just kind of shove clothes in a display and expect you to find that interesting, but the v&a did so much more. definitely the best museum i've been to!
anyway, i think that's it! thank you for reading! xx

the natural history museum

when i was planning my trip to london, the natural history museum was one of the first places i wanted to go as i had such good memories of a trip there when i was about 11 years old. however, the day i chose to visit (good friday) was maybe the biggest mistake ever. we actually had to queue to get in, which i've never known happen before, and the place was packed. screaming children, walking into people, being squashed into a small room with too many people, packed. we couldn't get near anything for the crowds and we ended up doing around 80% shuffling around not being able to see anything, 20% actually looking at stuff.
other than that though, it just wasn't as great as i remembered it. i'm not that interested in history and animals and things, if i'm completely honest, and i just wasn't interested in the exhibits. the fact that i found it a tad too boring and was surrounded by too many people made it hell. the only good bit, for me, was the space / astronomy / planets section, which we didn't find until right at the end, and by then i was too annoyed to care. such a let down!
however, don't let my bad review put you off: the first time i visited, it was amazing! i loved it. it helped that it wasn't so busy, but i did really think it was great. it's just become apparent to me now that it's one of those things that you only need to do once.
i'm sorry that this post kind of sucks. i promise my other london-based posts are a lot more positive! remember to keep a look out for those! xx