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I visited the Tomoko Takahashi installation at the Serpentine gallery this afternoon. I knew her work but had never seen it in the flesh. The show consists of about 5 rooms with an installation in each. Each follow slightly different theme. I’m not sure what I liked about them, I actually think it was the colours, the actual bits and pieces were quite literally junk. I also quite like the order of everything. I am a bit like that myself so I’m told so I found a common interest there. Here’s an intro to the exibition:

Tomoko Takahashi’s sculptural installations strike a delicate balance between chaos and order. She uses an array of found objects and discarded materials, subjecting them to her own complex set of organizing principles. Takahashi spends weeks on site during the making of these installations, and the finished works are often punctuated with references to the time and labour involved. This emphasis on the construction processes that are usually hidden or kept out of the public eye is central to Takahashi’s work.

After a tipoff from a friend, I went and checked out a show by Californian artist and pro-skate boarder, Ed Templeton. It was a exibition of illustrations, paintings, drawings, sketches and photographs spanning over the last 10 years.

It was not what I expected even though I was unsure what to expect. Infact we almost didn’t see the show due the gallerys minimal signage. How anyone is expected to see a sign that was 2cm x 6cm baffles me (I guess that art)

All of the work was anoted in pen and was pretty hard to read. Most of the images seemed to be of nubile conquests that Templeton has had in the past, many in (your mum wouldn’t like it) poses.

My favourites were of people and places he has visited on his travels. There’s a great photo of some guy dragging a crucifix that is on castors along the street in some back country town.

If you are interested to see this for yourself it is running from 20 Jan 2005 to 6 Mar 2005, Thurs – Sun 11.00 – 18.00, 10 Vyner St, E2 9DG, London. Telephone (0)20 8980 7742.

The temperature in Harbin reaches forty below zero, both farenheit and centigrade, and stays below freezing nearly half the year. The city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. So what does one do here every winter? Hold an outdoor festival, of course! Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. The festival officially runs from January 5 through February 15, but often opens a week early and runs into March, since it’s usually still cold enough. This is the amazing sculpture made of snow greeting visitors to the snow festival in 2003.