Category: Zarchived

Creative block or my life as a seesaw

I haven’t written anything in my blog for a couple of months
now as I’ve had a massive creative block.
My creative juices were flowing freely until after we got back from
Europe, I came down with a virus which put everything on hold. Not just my uni
studies, but house work, office work, absolutely everything. My precious
Vauxhall Gardens has even come to a stop but luckily I have created the
majority of the structures and plants needed to complete the project. On top of
this, my son’s childhood friend is returning to live with us in a couple of months’
time. Which means the boys (well not really boys they’re nearly 20) will need
more room than just Tom’s bedroom to hang out and have fun, so I am giving up
my beloved studio for them. But this means I have to move out of my studio into
a room that is only one third of the size say on top of being unwell creatively
blocked I now had the prospect of moving 10 years’ worth of collected fabrics
paint craft items and sundry stuff into a room one third of the size. No wonder
I can’t be creative.

In my writing unit of the first semester, we spoke about
creative block or writers block as they call it, and the ways in which you can
get around or remove it. We discussed many ideas like; exercising, taking a
shower, going out, or cleaning the house. I usually find that my creative
blocks are caused by unfinished business, yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on
what it was that was bothering me. So determined, I plunged into moving my studio
into the smaller room. Creating havoc and mayhem in my house, and uncovering
long lost treasures buried deep within the boxes and draws of the gathered
stuff. Luckily, my gorgeous son was a willing participant in helping his poor
old mum sort through and rationalise the mountain like piles dotted around the
house. A garage sale this weekend should sort most of that out.

It was while I was cleaning up after myself, but I realised
my creative block was at my own doing; I had things that needed completing, I
had procrastinated about many things before we went to Europe, doing the
typical Aussie thing, “she’ll be right mate”. When in reality they
obviously aren’t.

Another epiphany

It dawned on me today that reading David Coke’s beautfiul coffee table style book on the history of the Vauxhall Gardens has solidifed a very abstract idea for me.  Well not an idea more of a skill – a thinking skill.  I mean the ability to read an old document or source and discover things other than what the text actually says.

Coke’s book is written using the same archives that I researched in London and as I have been reading the light globe has gone on several times.  I have recalled reading a particular passage or fact or reference that Coke uses in his book and can see how he has drawn the conclusions that he has.

This mightn’t seem like that big a deal but for an apprentice Historian this is epic!

 

Is it all just fun?

Several of my friends just can’t believe that I get to play in Second Life for Uni and on the surface it probably looks like its all fun and games, so far I have been laughing off their incredulity but it does beg the question – what educational value does Second Life have for me?  Instinctively I know that it has increased the speed in which I have grasped a way of life from 3 centuries past but how?

Firstly, being a very visual media it suits me – I am a visual learner.  My method of study is to make a diagram out of everything; then it’s in my head for ever, so the process of mapping out the gardens has set it in stone in my brain – not just aesthetically but in a mechanical or logisitcal sense also.  There are reasons behind why buildings and structures are located where they are and these decisions where dictated by various facets of 18thC life; from the technology of the time to social mores all wrapped up in Enlightenment ideals.

The project has also made me more observant and better at scrutinising visual evidence. Looking for suitable textures or details when creating reproductions has made me notice things that I probably wouldn’t have before.  For example the types of table and benches in the supper boxes and that they used table cloths.  That much of the gardens was facade; a visual deception  made with painted canvas and board – in a similar way that I have built my gardens.  Some is just facade and some is interactive.

Making some parts interactive have also made me think about the mechanics or logistics of running the gardens.  How did they keep so many people entertained, occupied or happy?  How did they deal with the English weather?  Lots to think about.

And finally even the technology of SL itself  has helped. When you buy a parcel of land in SL you are allowed a certain amount of objects called prims.  If you want more prims you must pay more, so keeping prims down is crucial when building a large project.  Each thing you create is made of of shapes – prims- the more detailed you make it, the more prims you use.  Its just like juggling a word count in an assignment.  Making decisions about what is important to the project and allowing mulitple prims or what can be facaded – mentioned or represented but not explored in detail.

The Princes Pavillion - reproduction

 

Texture from engraving Front entrance to the gardens 1751

 

Back to the Gardens

After a break from SecondLife it’s wonderful to be back in world.  I must admit that at first the idea of creating such a large piece of 18th century London was a little daunting; so I did the “Zen” thing and put it out of my mind.  Worked like a charm, always does.  It came to me suddenly as the Zen thing is supposed to do – create the big picture first then worry about the detail.

First step was to place large general shapes to layout the walks, buildings and boundaries, I call this the “Cubist” phase after the great Cubist painters of the early 20th Century.  It was easy then to just start working on a section at a time.  Which lead me to the next issue…

Nothing remains of the Gardens and there are only 2 photos in existance taken in the 19th Century when the VG was in decline and had certainly been Victorianised.  So what did everything look like?  The answer lay in the numerous engravings that were published in the 18th C.  Printing flourished in this period and the technology to mass print engravings (often reproductions of paintings) meant that multiple images remain from across the century.  So brain wave number 2:  I will use the engravings as textures where possible and combine them with reproductions where not.

So to honour this momentous occassion of breaking ground I had to buy some new outfits, here’s me in my Peacock Queen getup:

Aerial shot of the Gardens so far:

Close up of some of the Supper boxes:

 

 

 

Car parking, an abandoned backpack and a Zombie Apocalypse – Part 3

After our bizarre Zombie experience I needed coffee!  There was a lovely little cafe in a tradtional Amsterdam house, so in we went; had coffee and settled down.  Until we went to pay.  They didn’t accept cash!  They expected us to pay a 3 Euro bill with our Visa card, can you image?  We get charged $4 dollars for every overseas transaction plus the a percentage!  So an approx $4 bill would have cost us $10.  We refused to use the card and handed over the Euros and he had the cheek to ask for a tip!  But this wasn’t the last strange thing that happened.

We took the ferry back to Amsterdam central station were we could catch our tram back to the hotel.  The tram system is excellent and with a 5 day ticket you can get on and off as many trams as you like for about 4 Euros a day – bargain!  Waiting at the main station for the tram to leave, I glanced down outside the tram at the shelter, to see an abandoned back pack, a very full, almost bulging backpack.  After the morning of weirdness my immediate thought was not good – bomb!  Not an unjustified thought in our modern world.  I could not wait till the tram got moving and we got away from the mystery backpack.  Obviously it didn’t explode, more than likely someone who had been to the Coffee Houses had left it there in their haze!  But I can tell you I sweated a lot for the 1 minute and 22 seconds that the tram sat there.

So that was our very weird day in Amsterdam.  Next… a Porno movie and a red umper lumper man in Berlin.

 

Car parking, an abandoned backpack and a Zombie Apocalypse – Part 2

After the car parking incident  we continued along the old wharf to the next terminal.  Just before it, was an area that was obviously going through an urban renewal process.  There were several new apartment buildings, the foreshore was being made over and a new building was under construction.  And as with many construction sites we were funnelled through a “safe walkway” through portable cyclone mesh fencing away from the actual construction.  It was a long straight path that veered around the back of the new building and passed what looked like a derelict building.  Nothing strange so far but as we walked further down this mesh tunnel we realised there was a man standing on the other side of the fence.

He was standing absolutely still and staring directly at us.  Again a little strange but there are strange people everywhere nothing to be concerned about yet; until we got closer and could see him clearly.  His pose was like that of actors who emerge from some disaster – bomb explosion, nuclear blast, tunnel fire (just think of Bruce Willis movies and you’ll get the idea) his shoulders where hunched and his arms and legs were akimbo, his hair was all over the place, his clothes were dishevelled and torn and there was what appeared to be blood over him!

And he just kept staring.  The first thing that went through my head was bomb explosion victim but there was something surreal about the whole thing.  As the surroundings started to register in my head – construction site, derelict building, mesh fencing – it all became horribly clear, it was a Zombie Apocalypse.  Obviously I have been watching my son’s Xbox games too much or had I?

He freaked both of us out completely, as he didn’t respond in any way, jsut continued to stand dead still, so we scurried away around the corner to come across complete normality; people, cars, bycycles, a cafe and the ferry terminal!  It was then I realised the the derelict building was actually some kind of arts centre and this must have been some kind of performance art piece.  Or was it one of those candid camera things and we are the stupid tourists!

 

Car parking, an abandoned backpack and a Zombie Apocalypse – Part 1

We had a couple of really weird things happen to us on our last trip.  They say things come in threes and they certianly did one day in Amsterdam.  We absolutely fell in love with Amsterdam; its beautiful  brick architecture that radiates out from the old heart displaying each epoch in style yet still resolutely Dutch, the chaotic symphony of pedestrians, cyclists, trams, cars and boats and the incredible practicality of its people.

After 4 days we had walked pretty well all over the city so decided to get out a bit further.  I had read in a Lonely Planet about Amsterdam Noord – the old docklands area that was morphing into an art collective with a funky cafe and some interesting walks.  There are free ferries which take you across the harbour to various points so we decided to go to one end and walk to the next terminal about 6kms away.  As usual the weather was pretty dismal about 18 degrees C and drizzling off and on.  Undeterred we found the art space and cafe, wandered around then headed for the next terminal, weaving our way through some magnificent old ship yard buildings and wharves, onto the newer area towards the next stop.

At one point I was taking photos (as I do) and my husband was a little further ahead (as he usually is) when a car pulled up and out got a couple who spoke Dutch to him.  Of course our grasp of Dutch is limited toBehagen and Danke  (please and thank you) so immediately made that clear –  not a problem as most people do speak some English.  They were looking for somewhere to park their car as they didn’t want to pay for parking near the ferry terminal (about 1km further along).  We explained we were not the best people to ask (being from the other side of the world and all) and we couldn’t help them.  Yet they persisted in asking like we secretly knew but wouldn’t share.  Now you have to image where we are – on a deserted old wharf, surrounded by factories and holding yards and we hadn’t come across any people for about an hour so their persistance was a little strange.  They chatted to each other in Dutch then asked us if we wanted a lift (we are still not sure where to) and when we declined they got a little weird with us – like we had offended them.  They eventually got back in the car then drove off weaving across the road like they were fighting over the steering wheel!

After shaking our heads we continued to the next terminal where the next weird thing happened.

 

 

Who says it’s the biggest?

The more you travel the more you realise that tourism (tour operators, visitor centres, govt depts etc)the world over follows exactly the same model;  every city has some kind of hop on hop off bus tour with a running commentary and in Europe the open top double-decker is king.  In these often bland and banal recordings every city claims to have the biggest, longest, largest, oldest or substitute your own adjective thing, cursorily claimed in up to 15 languages.  But after a while you smell a rat – how can every place have the biggest building, largest hotel, or oldest church?

In Brussels there is a wonderfully ecletic building standing proud on the edge of the escarpment that over looks the city.  It is the Palais de Justice and as an historian I am pretty good at placing buildings in time through reading the decorative styles and symbols used in conjunction with what I know of a place’s history – but this one took some reckoning. The scale and proportions are enormous; it rivals the great temples of the ancient world. To give you an idea it has: winged lions from Assyria, Greek and Roman columns, entwined organic scrolling reminiscent of the Arts & Crafts movement, the list goes on. It was obviously built as a statement to prove to the world that Belgium had come of age and I was right. We found out on a hop on hop off tour that it was started in 1868 and finished in 1883 when the new modern state of Belgium was only 30 odd years old.

Now this in its self is an interesting building with an important position in Belgium’s hsitory as a nation but apparently that isn’t enough for the tour commentary as they claim it to be the second biggest building on Earth!  Now it is big but its not that big, I checked the repositiory of all knowledge – don’t laugh  – Wikipedia – (they are the best for this kind of stuff) and the Palais de Justice doesn’t rate a mention under any category.  So why do people make these claims?  Its not that hard to check- maybe no one but middle aged Historians ever do!

 

Dr Who, Shakespeare and the Vauxhall Gardens

Off to Belgium via the Eurostar in a couple of days but first a romantic dinner with my husband at Gordon Ramsay’s at Claridges.  We are staying in a beautiful Edwardian hotel in Bloomsbury and I must admit whilst the student accommodation has been great (especially for the price) I am tired of queing for the bathroom.

My investigations here have been a combination of archival research, immersion in place and strangely enough television!  As there is no TV in my room I have been watching the BBC on my laptop and have had access to the plethora of historical documentaries that they make – absolutely brilliant!  They ranged from Dr Lucy Worsley’s series about domestic rooms through to Dan Cruickshank’s lost country homes; all adding to my knowledge and understanding of 18th century society.

I am formulating an  idea about Vauxhall, it came to me watching Much Ado About Nothing starring the most gorgeous David Tenannt (The best Dr Who ever!!!!) and the wonderful Catherine Tait (one of the Doctor’s companions) and it comes from one of Shakespeare’s lines: “All the world’s a stage”.  It’s from a different play but hearing all that wonderful Shakespearian dialogue made it pop into my  head.  And there is an excellent episode of Dr Who where the Doctor and Martha (another companion) visit Shakespeare and the Doctor says: “all the world’s a stage” and Shakespeare quickly replies; “Oo I might use that.”

Looking into the line a bit more Shakespeare uses this quote as a metaphore for life and the seven stages or ages of man:  infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childhood.  I think the Gardens could be examined in the same way.  It occurs to me that the Vauxhall Gardens were a stage perhaps reflecting each phase of of the birth of Modernity.

Will keep you posted.

 

The Vauxhall Affray of 2011

My latest expedition was to the amazing Victoria & Albert  Museum – one of my favourite places on Earth.  They had a large exhibition on the Gardens in 2008 and still have a small corner in the 18th century section dedicated to all pleasure gardens and Vauxhall in particular.  Handel’s statue, the bust of Jonathan Tyres and three of Hayman’s paintings are on display.

After wondering around the V&A  I thought I should go to Vauxhall to see what was left if anything.  So I headed south of the Thames and alighted at Vauxhall tube station – what is left is called the Spring Gardens -the original name – and is on a busy intersection of bridge, railway and tube stations and road.  But I only stayed about 1 minute; as there was some kind of fracas going on with people who looked like soccer hooligans being arrested all around me!

Maybe things haven’t changed that much!  There were many fracas’ and affrays documented, commented upon and scrutinised during the 18th Century but they all involved Gentlemen, insults and appointments for duels not soccer hooligans but then again maybe the Macaroni where the seeds of discontented youth in the 18th century.

Anyway I won’t being there again.