A Zed and Two Noughts

The Zoo
Needlecraft for young children
Barbara Snook
London, Batsford, 1975

Whitechapel Posters

The Graphic Century 
Hannah Vaughn (ed.)
Whitechapel Gallery
London, 2009.

I've been to a lot of shows at the Whitechapel over the years, many good, a few indifferent, none that I remember being poor. Perhaps any bad ones are best forgotten. 

This book collects posters promoting their exhibitions, graphic designs trying to capture the artistic aesthetic or spirit of each show.
Here is a selection mostly from my favourite period from the early 1950s to the late 70s.

Me So Hornsey

The Hornsey Affair 
Students and Staff of Hornsey College of Art 
Penguin, Middx, 1969

Everyone knows about the soixante-huitards, the French student revolution of May '68, the birth of Situationism and the beach beneath the pavement, right? Worn as a badge of honour by Parisians of a certain age, they certainly made their mark on social history despite being flattened by the Gaullist authorities when total revolution seemed within their grasp.

Less well known are the events that occurred simultaneously on the other side of La Manche, in a leafy corner of North London. The students at Hornsey College of Art were browned off with the authorities and decided the answer was a 'sit-in' (it was the 60s) and three days of rambling debates between themselves and the college staff. 

The film I posted the other day gives a more immediate impression of the events than this little paperback can muster, but the text gives a more complex flavour of the way both sides articulated their thoughts. Plus some nice student illustrations. The counter-culture may have been crushed but the ideals remain.

Seaside Treats

The Sea In Their Blood (aka The Coastline)

Dir Peter Greenaway
UK, 1976-83, 26 mins.

The British seaside getting the Greenaway taxonomy treatment, complete with dubious statistics and Michael Nyman score.

I live by the sea, in case you didn't know, and I like it.

Art School Revolution

The Hornsey Film
Dir Patricia Holland
UK, 1970, 59 minutes 

Great film found on the Internet Archive of staff and students recreating the action and debate that took place during the student take-over of the art school in 1968. Almost fifty years later and much of the discussion still seems relevant, especially as the tentacles of corporate education close ever tighter.

Bonus sounds from Radiophonic demi-god Malcolm Clarke, reminiscent of Wendy Carlos on A Clockwork Orange.

Nash Up

Paul Nash's Photographs
Andrew Causey 
Tate Gallery, London, 1973

Eh Joe

Tilson
Pop to Present 
Royal Academy of Arts
London, 2002

I've posted some of these before but this catalogue has better images and the work still looks mighty fine.