London Design Festival 2015

Saturday, May 16, 2015

London Design Festival 2015

2015 is really moving fast. I can't believe that it's been 5 months since Christmas. I really can't work out why time seems to be moving much quicker these days. Maybe it's because I'm in that middle age bracket, and maybe it's because my life is far busier than it was when I was at school. Boy, did those days drag.

Not long to go before the London Design Festival starts in September. This year will feature some huge artworks and headline installations include a 35-metre high, upside-down, leaning sculpture of an electricity pylon, a ‘city’ of mirrors and a ‘cloud’ of bulbs with insects inside that flutter and fly when you approach them. The festival will feature an array of installations across the UK's capital and will include various forms of design from graphic and digital architecture, products, furniture and I guess a whole heap of art that no one could ever really think of!

Given that I spend quite a bit of time in the capital, this will at least give me the opportunity to take some time having a look at some great art work.

Eleven minutes was all it took to close the bidding on Pablo Picasso’s "Women of Algiers (Version O)" and it sold for $179.4 million. The pre-sale valuation of $140m would have seen the work on the pricy side, and would have come close to the previous record for an auctioned work which was $142.4m. At the same event at Christie’s auction house in New York, Alberto Giacometti’s "Pointing Man" set a record for sculpture sold at auction when it went for $141.3 million. Both of the buyers are anonymous, and probably for good reason.

Talking of time passing quickly, did you know that it has now been 20-years since Harry Potter made his first wizarding appearance? I hadn't realised just how old the series was but, according to a new study, Harry’s victory over the evil Voldemort may not be limited to the pages of a book.

A group of Italian psychologists believe that children who identify with Harry Potter might develop greater empathy and tolerance toward people from disadvantaged backgrounds, including refugees, immigrants and gay people, reports NPR’s Shankar Vedantam. And it might be thanks to Harry’s unhappy childhood. It always surprises me when new research is announced because I just couldn't even begin to imagine doing a longitudinal research study linking the boy wizard to tolerance and acceptance.

I guess that's why I'm not a researcher! Whenever I want to research something, my general first point of call is usually Google. Occasionally I will make a couple of phone calls, and on rare occasions I may even visit somewhere to research a little further. The subject is usually when I'm on the lookout for a new piece of technology.

This week I have chosen another three pieces of artwork to go on special offer. Once these promotions have finished, there will be another on towards the end of the month, but after that I will be focussing on some new creations, including my new series entitled "Art Your Way". I will be bringing you more information on the new series here in the coming weeks, but I will let you into a secret, I am excited!

This weeks promotions are as follows: