Atrium

The other night we visited a newly reopened cinema-theatre, the Atrium. Somehow the place itself turned out to be much more interesting than the play we saw. :)

The building was designed by Lajos Kozma and was finished in 1937, a simply wonderful Art Deco or rather Bauhaus building, the first one in Budapest designed specially to house a cinema. The metal structure underneath was something very modern at the time!

As many buildings in Budapest, it had an interesting history, though after some very eventful years before and after the war, including a stint as a slaughterhouse (!) when Budapest was under siege, it reopened as a cinema again. After it was bombed, a huge sign was put up saying: "People of Buda! Please bring a brick each to rebuild the Atrium! It's your cinema!" :)

Jump ahead a few decades and see Atrium slowly disintegrate as the years pass... It was closed for a good while, so the renovation process last year took months, but now the cinema-theatre almost looks like it used to in the 30s, a very special space indeed. It houses a theatre now but films are also shown from time to time.

We saw a Martin McDonagh play, The Lonesome West. Well, I wrote my MA thesis on Hungarian stage productions of McDonagh's Irish plays. I still think he's a genious, and I'm still happy with my choice of a thesis topic, so I just cannot give up watching them. :)

The same director had a previous version of this play on in another Budapest theatre, and actually I'd love to know why he wanted to redirect it again... Personally I thought it was better the first time around. Still, theatre is theatre and good plays are good plays, so it was great to go!

A few more details from the lobby...

The black and white are so striking with the orange... It's hard to believe how daring some of the 30s designs were!

I think these pillars are my favourite, with the interesting light fixtures... And all the mirrors... Wish I could see how the flats looked like above in the 30s! Someone planning on inventing time travel...?

Pictures by Marco, edited by me.

Wearing: thrifted dress you saw in the previous post, Jeans Club jumper, 

Topshop skirt, H&M tights, Laoni bag from Jojó Art Shop, Docs.

Style Imitating Art - The Curator

My sister thinks this dress is something a museum curator would wear, so it's a fitting one to start a new project with!

I've been following Jess' blog, Animated Cardigan for a very long time now and she and a blog friend, Salazar set up the Style Imitating Art series, where they allow themselves to be inspired by a work of art they choose, and dress up accordingly.

This time the painting in focus was a Klimt piece, who I really really love, namely The Portrait of Emilie Flöge, so I decided to finally take part. :)

I wish I had a dress just like hers...
You can check out all the other bloggers and their inspired outfits at Salazar's blog soon -we're in very different timezones, so I guess a few hours after my post is up. :)

These rings are handmade by a friend of mine who I've known since we were both 6! She became a very talented jewellery maker specializing in enamel and copper. I've made the earrings. :)

Wearing: Thrifted dress, handmade jewellery from Jojó Art Shop, 
H&M Mama tights, Chinese boots.

Bouncy Sacrilege

 Am I jumping around in a bouncy castle?





















Well, it's the bouncy castle version of Stonehenge, and a piece of brilliant art!






































"Sacrilege" is a life size inflatable heritage site created by Turner prize winning artist Jeremy Deller, which is currently on tour around Britain, as part of the London 2012 Festival.





















How lucky that we could take the train to Exeter and experience this joyous, witty piece of art that's only erected for a day at each stop of its tour! First of all it makes you happy even to just watch the smiling people jumping around in it, and then when you try it yourself, it's pure exhilarating joy!





















Jeremy Deller said: "A lot of my work deals with history, and Sacrilege is no exception, this is a way to get reacquainted with ancient Britain with your shoes off."





















A great way to make the familiar strange, to steal some humour into the seriousness of the Olympics and to bring history closer to many kids and grown ups.





















Here's the website of the project with some great videos on how it was created and the list of dates and places you can catch the bouncy Stonhenge next! http://sacrilege2012.co.uk/

Oh, and here are some more pictures by a pro photographer, with me on one of them! :)

Pictures of me by Marco, others by me. 

I'm not wearing anything special as I dressed for jumping 

- hence jeans and dress and no jewellery. :)

Christmas is in the Details

Happy Christmas to Everyone!

I hope looking at these pictures make you as happy as it makes me! Their atmosphere captured me the first time I saw them as a child, and I'm captivated since...

They are etchings by Arnold Gross, who creates minuscule worlds in dreamy colours, using a special colouring technique. He's probably my favourite artist and he inspired me in many ways, even in my hope to become a graphic artist.

Those familiar with Budapest - this drawing above is actually very accurate, only the real Budapest is not this idyllic... (Especially when taking part in a demonstration against the government's antidemocratic steps is what you do on the day before Christmas. By the way it was a very atmospheric demonstration. :)

Please click on the pictures to admire the gorgeous details! Looking through Arnold Gross's pictures is one of the most festive things I can imagine!

Here in Hungary we celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so I'm looking forward to decorating the tree and dressing up nicely and meeting a load of relatives and playing with little cousins all night! (Regardless of being a "grown up" I enjoy sharing the kids' happiness and trying out the new toys the most. :) For the first time, my Boyfriend is celebrating Christmas with us, so I'm looking forward to it even more!

Enjoy your holidays! :)



(Dear Arnold Gross, please don't take it as an offence that I posted your pictures, I love them and would like to spread the word so more people will love them all around the world! :)

Illustrated Shoot - Hearts of Gold

It's rather nice when Mother Nature provides us with golden accessories - like these fallen leaves.

December is on the doorstep with the festive season setting in. Obviously we don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here in Hungary, but to all the US bloggers - have a great time celebrating! If I could thank you for anything, it would be your continual support of my little blog.

Thank you, all of you with hearts of gold all over the world, for taking the time to read my words, leave comments, share your views! You make my life so much brighter! :)

Spreading some love always feels nice. :)

Wearing: Promod dress, Second hand jacket, Accessorize tights, Chinese shoes, 

Jojó Art Shop handmade felted scarf, Promod belt from another skirt, 

Jeans Club beads, H&M flowers in my hair.

Illustrated Shoot - Cartoon Coat

My Mum thinks I look like a cartoon in this coat. Well, you don’t have to take her word for it. :)

I was just about to type: „I love this coat”, when I realised how many times I practically sing lovesongs to my clothes on this blog. This is one of the effects of blogging that I’ve never dreamt of – I have a much more personal connection to my clothes. One of the reasons for this might be the fact that many of you know me through the choices I make in terms of clothing, so I’m much more conscious how they’re a part of my personality.

I’ve always loved finding nice clothes and accessories and trying out different outfits in the morning. Most of the time I work from home, but even if I don’t meet a soul the whole day, I always dress up for myself. Some of my friends find it strange that I never wear tracksuit bottoms and torn t-shirts when I’m just at home… I wouldn’t feel myself if I did that. (Besides, I don’t even own any tracksuit bottoms.) (Oh, OK, I have one pair.) (But I don't wear it.) (Enough brackets!)

I feel lucky I can wear clothes that make me happy about myself, I don’t know how I’d feel wearing work appropriate black and white all week long! Instead, I can wear things like this coat, which fits the cartoon-character part of my personality just perfect.

Wearing: Second hand coat and dress, Promod hat, C&A cowl, 

Calzedonia tights, Chinese shoes.

London Treasures

London - sitting on the first seat on the upper floor of a double decker and watching people, figuring out who the tourists are from their identical umbrellas just aquired from one of the hundreds of souvenir shops which apart from said umbrellas all seem to store replicas of Kate's engagement ring.

After I left Devon, waved goodbye to my Boyfriend and got off the coach a few hours later in London with beaches and waves still filling up my head. It's thrilling to arrive to a new city a finding your bearings, and after a good nights sleep I was more than ready to concentrate on some of the quirkier treasures of this great (by which I both mean wonderful and huge) city.

The Wallace Collection, Source

I've been yearning to revisit The Wallace Collection, a museum of 18th and 19th century art displayed in the original collector couple's London townhouse - I still felt like a visitor at the Wallaces' home, enjoying the decor and the furnishing of the house just as much as the paintings on display.

In each room they have a catalogue of the paintings so you can read about who is on the pictures and why - it was a bit like reading a 19th century gossip magazine, and it made the house come alive with chattering crinolined ladies who faint because Madame this-and-that wore that outrageous skirt when you-know-which Artist painted her portrait, "it's so terribly obvious she wants to seduce him"!

The Wallace Collection, Source

This visit only had me wishing for more quaint delights - so after hearing a lot about the Soane Museum, I decided to see it for myself. Whenever you're in London and would like to be transported not only in time but also in spirit, have a look at Sir John Soane's house. 

Sir John Soane's Museum, Source

Soane was an architect and utilised his talent to build a house that's not simply filled with nooks and crannies, it's entirely made out of them. Stepping into the house feels like descending into a labyrinth of narrow corridors an unexpected level changes, rooms whose walls turn out to be windows, that turn out to open onto another wall, that again turns out to be a window but opens onto a drop to the next floor... And everything is filled with Soane's collection of mostly architectural interest - antiques, architectural models and thousands of other bits and bobs. It feels like getting lost in a very eccentric person's brain.

(Photography wasn't allowed and it's very difficult to find good pictures of the place on the web too - you'll have to see it for yourselves!:)

What's better than spending a whole day in two museums? Spending the next day in only one. And if you've ever been to the Victoria and Albert Museum, you know you can spend not a day but more like a whole year there, there is just so much to see. When you're visiting a big museum, I recommend focusing on the topics you're most interested in, this way you can enjoy your visit and won't get frustrated at gathering way too much information.

So what I saw in my day spent there was the ceramics section, the Arts and Crafts movement room and 20th century jewellery - by which I was so blown away I had to get out and sit down, I simply had a shock of beauty.

Last but not least, I met the amazing ceramicist in residence, Claire Twomey.

Talking to her about how she works was the absolute highlight of my London visit. She was so accessible and kind, so happy to answer my questions. I got to know some of her art projects - like her "Blossom" at the Eden Project, where she left thousands of delicately handmade unfired china flowers to slowly melt back into the ground.

Blossom by Claire Twomey, Source

Or her exhibition (or rather installation) of 4000 little blue birds that only lasted a few hours as the visitors took them home, one by one.

Claire Twomey: Trophy, Source

She talked about the creative process of the collective artwork she creates, which not only includes her and the others who work on the physical producing of her ceramics, but also the audience, who is encouraged to actively take part in her art - taking the objects away, breaking them, or watching them disintegrate.

It was an amazing visit - in two days I saw so much art, some being created right before my eyes, some finished hundreds of years ago, still it all came alive around me. I watched London life walk or skip or rush past me, sat on the top of double deckers and walked through vast parks. Two days to enjoy and be inspired by, what more can you wish for?

Be Inspired! - By Sarah from Just Take a Bow

Hello there, readers of Madeline Quaint! I'm Sarah and some of you may know me from over at Just Take a Bow. To help fill her blog with interesting (hopefully) content while she is busy with real life, Madeline asked me to talk about a picture that inspires me and then to briefly explain why. I'm not so good at following directions, though, and will write this post loosey-goosey almost-rule-breaking style.

Why?

Because I'm obsessed with the collective works of an artist named Darren Waterston. He is from California (he's practically local for me!) and I first stumbled across his work at the Portland Art Museum (which IS local). Curious after that, I had to check out more and I'm so glad I did.




Red Cloud, The Flowering, 2007
I'm drawn to the abstract (duh), but also simultaneous edge and soft present in the works. I think this aesthetic bleeds over into much of my life, to be honest.




Apocalypse, 2007
If I told you these are the only pieces I love, then I'd be a liar, guys. You should check out his online portfolio or just simply google his name (Darren Waterston) because it is easy to get lost in the work. Especially the walk-through pieces he's done, such as one in San Jose, California.




St. Clair, 2008
I find this art particularly inspiring because each piece is kind of like a mini adventure as you try to feel what Waterston was hoping for us to feel. This kind of long quote from Peter Clothier aptly captures the experience of the art:

"Seductively, they open up their dizzying spaciousness without the reassurance of a horizon line, nor even the orientation that might be offered by defined spatial relationships between the objects that mysteriously inhabit them. Forms and images seem to be given a necessary place, but neither their relative scale nor their metaphorical association permits us to tell ourselves a story that would fully explain their presence here. These are unexplored territories, whose indigenous life forms are at once as foreign and familiar as the images in a dream. To experience them we have to take a lot on faith: we must take the risk of adventuring without map or compass."

(Psst... I added the emphasis.)




Night-in-Gal, 2001; Reverberations, 2008
In short, I think what inspires me most about this artist is the idea of the journey in each piece, plus the ruthless combination of color and monochromatic palettes. It frequently feels like he has created a natural scene but the landscape itself is almost supernatural. And, obviously, I'm obsessed with the work.

I hope you liked what you saw. I seriously encourage you go to check out his site because there are TONS of amazing things to look at.







Thank you Sarah for this amazing guest post, I've never heard of Darren Waterston before, but I'm definitely looking into his work after I return from England! Absolutely beautiful!  What do you think? :)