Traditional going modern

A morning's work in London left me free to enjoy the afternoon, and having seen several comments about 'The Power of Making' exhibition at the V & A, including that of Pomona who was fortunate enough to go to a preview, I couldn't resist the chance to go.

This amazing embellishment to the main entrance, the Timber Wave, is taller than a three storey building and was designed by architects AL_A,  as part of the London Design Festival.

Unfortunately photography was not allowed in the actual exhibition so I made myself lots of notes.  I did notice a lot of mobile phones in use though and suspect they may not have been used for phone calls! A quick bit of checking on the web has enabled me to come up with a few images of my favourites though sfor a lot of them you will have to follow the links.

Picture a chain link fence. Not very exciting is it, but what about if it was white and looked like a piece of lace?  That idea came from Jeroem Verhoeven and you can even choose from antique, floral or abstract.

I know some of us enjoy a bit of knitting, some even tackle largish projects, but Christien Meindertsma went for large in a giant way, knitting on specially made huge knitting needles the fleeces from 18 sheep.  You couldn't touch but it was Merino wool so would be very cosy.

There was one quilt hanging up that I wouldn't want to wrap myself in, apart from the fact that it was in a glass fronted picture frame!  This was by Sabrina Gschwandtner, who has united her various interests of creating textiles, installation pieces and films and made a quilt from film stock that has been bleached and coloured.

Allen and Patty Eckman work with paper and their exhibit was 'Little Eagle Dancing'. Paper pulp is cast in a clay mould and then dried before being embellished which can take up to 11 months just to finish one item!  A lot of patience needed for that, but then again there is for most of the crafts that we enjoy doing.  I suppose the only difference is that as artists they probably devote more hours to their work and earn money doing it.

Now here is an elegant gown for you but I don't think you would want to wear it.  If the weight of 43kg doesn't put you off, the fact that it is made of dressmaker pins pushed through a leather foundation would discourage anyone.  This incredible dress was made by Susie MacMurray and must have been challenging to make, I wonder if she pierced holes in the leather first? 

I would love to have 'Alphabet' by Dalton Ghetti on my wall.  A row of 26 pencil stumps, each one with a letter of the alphabet carved on the end, they are so tiny and yet perfectly formed, truly amazing, and made using just a sewing needle, . When I tried to get an image to show you I discovered he does all sorts of these sculptures, it is worth having a look.

There was so much more there and videos to watch too, well worth a visit. I hope to go again with some more of the family. There was certainly plenty to interest the males in the family as well, especially the various bikes and the 48 cylinder customised Kawasaki.

Whilst in the V & A, I did come across this lovely lady...

I do like her musical highlights! And how old was this bust with her arty head decor?  Well it was made this year, a copy of the bust of Lady Belhaven from 1827 with the hat being by Stephen Jones.  It was made using 3D printing, where laser scanned images or prints are layered and then solidified to form an object. The curator suggests that this could be the second Industrial Revolution 'How the Material World Will Newly Materialise'.