Tell you what: let's bury yesterday's dodgy little tale under an avalanche of lovely images (taken by K) from this year's Beyond Limits exhibition at Chatsworth House.

We particularly liked Yayoi Kusama's Narcissus Garden, which involved the freeform placing of several hundred stainless steel balls in one of the ornamental pond. Curiously, the vast majority of said balls opted to clump together on one side of the pond, regimentally lined up in rows. Occasionally, a smaller cluster would attempt to break away from the parent clump, drifting a short distance out into the middle of the pond - only to run out of steam and drift back again. Elsewhere on the pond's perimeter, small groups of renegade balls had drifted into the shallows. Some had become stuck in marshy areas, unable to drift away again. An even smaller number of individual balls had detached themselves entirely from the group, finding their own individual spaces.

Naturally, we decided that the whole piece was a Metaphor For Society, and therefore a Profound Masterpiece.

The exhibition runs until 1st November. Highly recommended, as always.

  
L: Igor Mitoraj: Eros Bendato Screpolatio.
R: Subodh Gupta: Leap of Faith.

Claude Lalanne: Olympe (grande).

Ju Ming: Taichi Series: Pushing Hand.
  
L: Francois-Xavier Lalanne: Carpe (tres grande).
R: Aristide Maillol: L'Harmonie, Premier Etat.

Sol Lewitt: 1 2 3 4 5 (Brescia)

Jedd Novatt: Chaos Mundaka.
  
L: Manolo Valdes: Ariadna 1.
R: Fernando Botero: Dancers.

Henry Moore: Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped.

Bernar Venet: 222.5° Arc x 5.

Antony Gormley: Angel of the North (Life-size Maquette).
  
L: Niki de Saint Phalle: Buddha.
R: Jaume Plensa: Heart of Trees.

Ju Ming: Taichi Series.

Guy Zagursky: Mirror against Mirror.
  
L: Ugo Rondinone: Air gets into everything even nothing.
R: Richard Hudson: Marilyn Monroe.
  
L: Zhan Wang: Artificial Rock #70.
R: Marc Quinn: Archaeology of Desire.
  
L&R: Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden.
  
L: Eric Goulder: The Woman.
R: Sorel Etrog: Mother and Child / George Rickey: Two Lines Up Excentric Twelve Feet.

Labels: art, photography

As the weather this morning was just about as perfect as weather gets, K and I broke with convention and left the cottage before noon on a Saturday - you know, like NORMAL PEOPLE do - in order to source a new banner shot for the village blog. The purpose of the mission was to line up the hem-hem "iconic" church spire - which has appeared in every banner image to date - with the bright red hawthorn berries which have sprouted up all over the place.

Mission accomplished, K stepped out again this afternoon in order to capture a pleasing assortment of seasonal berries and fruits. Here's the rather lovely blog post which I constructed for him.



In a few minutes, we'll be sitting down to a nice sirloin steak supper, served with oven Aga chips, beefsteak tomatoes and peas. (The Saint-Emilion is already breathing.) After supper, our evening will divide: K has elected to stay in and watch telly, while I'll be heading out for the official Farewell Party in the old Memorial Hall, before the demolition/rebuild commences at the end of the month. It's often that we get a Proper Disco in the village, and I intend to make the most of "DJ Shonky Shaun" on the wheels of steel. Well, it's a key stage of my training programme, obviously...

All of which brings me back to the inevitable subject of That Damned Plinth. I've just created a Facebook Event Page for Thursday's Tush Wiggle - so if you're able to attend in person or via the website, then please add your name to the guest list.

Labels: cottage, photography, plinth

Well, we both have. These pictures were taken within the grounds of Anglesey Abbey (just outside Cambridge) this morning, mostly within the capacious and amazing "winter walk" section. Since the first time that we took this walk, three years ago almost to the day, I have developed a whole new aesthetic for winter colour, never before being able to see beyond the general "deadness". (It's the dogwood that's key, basically. Everything flows from the dogwood.)

Click here to view the full set, without all that arbitrary cropping.

Labels: gardens, photography

Click here for the full set.

Mosaic created with fd's Flickr Toys (via Anna).

Labels: derbyshire, photography, stiles

May the myriad joys of the season
rain down upon your shoulders.
With vast gushing rivulets of love,
Mike and K. XXX

Labels: photography, xmas

Marc Quinn: Myth (Sphinx), from the Sothebys/Chatsworth House Beyond Limits Sculpture Exhibition.

(Modelled upon Kate Moss, although I suspect a degree of artistic license in the arse-width department.)

This has become, by some considerable distance, my (or rather K's) most viewed photo on Flickr.

Hmm, I wonder why.

Beasts of the field, the lot of you!

Labels: art, photography, sculpture