Showing posts with label Gay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gay. Show all posts

Friday 14 August 2015

Ambika P3 - Alien Sex Club

Alien Sex Club was held at Ambika P3 of University of Westminster between 24 July to 14 August 2015. It is a joint collaboration between artist John Walter and HIV researcher and specialist Dr Alison Rodger. Walter shaped and crafted the visuals of the research provided by Dr Rodger on the subject, creating a Cruise Maze, which is most commonly found in sex clubs and gay saunas. The works combines the HIV with art through many varied interactions in exploring the way the subject is addressed. This exhibition contains adult themes.

Hats for Marrows are a series of sculptures satirising condom fatigue. The mini hats were knitted by the Walter’s mother and affixed on top of the Styrofoam marrows. It is intended to be cradled in your arms as you make your way around the exhibition.
Pill Burden are a series of pictures reflecting on the decrease on the need of antiretroviral therapy since the 1990s. At one point, patients had to take up to 40 pills a day in comparison to today where patients only need to take 1 pill a day to manage their HIV treatment.
The Inflatable Head is a take on Walter’s pug virus and becomes a theme in some of his works across the exhibition in drawings to 3D prints.
Juliberry’s Grave is a series of coffins that remember people of cultural significance that have died of AIDS. It is a way to help send the lost cultural information when they died into “cultural consciousness”.
Rapid HIV testing carried out by Terrence Higgins Trust are done in a blue shed that resembles a semi-virus. It’s quick and easy to do with the results shown directly after getting a spot sample of blood.
Tarot readings are done daily with mine done by the lovely Sue who took the form of Barbara Truvada. She delves into the depths of the past, present and future exploring the self, obstacles and how they entwine. My reading was down to the T with a lot of thought and afterthought to figure it out. Enlarged version of the tarot cards can be found in the maze.
The Intestinal Corridor contains images of city maps, viruses, pills, symbols and other images, providing a transcendental experience into the maze.
The Capsid Club contains structures of HIV capsids, which are the protein shells of viruses.
Video Booth shows two characters in their respected screens (Goat Guy and Bummy Pete) speaking in garbled speech as a way of looking at the slang terms used when cruising for sex. The design reflects the US adult bookstores in which pornographic films can be simultaneously watched while sex acts are done through glory holes in booths.
Shrinkies are a series of miniature drawings that were shrunk using special materials. A larger-scaled version can be found displayed elsewhere in the maze.
The Big Book, which sadly could not be flipped through, showed paintings presented as the Alien Sex Club bible, which contained 49 pages on double-paged spreads.
Two sets of drawings are displayed in the maze which dal with the language of HIV and architecture, while the second deals with the different presets that are performed to attain this architecture.
Three videos shown in the maze deals with different sides of sex and how they relate to HIV. The three videos are Strategic Positioning, Crystal Dick and Courtship Disorder, which can be viewed below.
It was overall a different experience which was fun and enjoyable with different windows of offerings to interact with and think about. I went on two occasions which included the last day of the exhibition and managed to see the artist in very colourful clothing without realising that he was John Walters. Only after when a staff said he was there on the day but he had already left when the revelation was revealed. Alien Sex Club will be coming to Liverpool later in the year as part of the Homotopia festival.

#AlienSexClub

Sunday 28 June 2015

Pride London 2015

London Pride took place this year on Saturday 27 June 2015 with both the parade and concert starting at 1pm. Organised by Pride in London, this year’s theme is Pride Heroes which celebrates individuals and organisations “who’ve contributed to LGBT+ rights over the years”.

I would have to say my Pride Hero is Lady Gaga and not because she has such lovely ways with her words and support for the LGBT community, but her boundless love she has for everyone. Her Born This Way was released in 2011 and it gave me enough strength to come out to my friends and family.

My volunteering experience for this year’s Pride wasn’t really on par as the previous 2 years I volunteered for Pride in London, which I sense was because of the wrong sense of direction partly due to being short on stewards. Good thing about Pride in London is that they listen to their volunteers so I will definitely be voicing my feedback. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with fellow stewards in the team with lots of freebies and group photos on the way.
Packs donated to Pride in London volunteers were put together by Tesco consisting of food, water and summer essentials such as wipes, sun cream and rain poncho (thrown in for good measures after last year’s poncho gate). Baristas at Starbucks were put into overdrive as volunteers flocked to the nearest Starbucks for their free drinks and I, for one, really appreciate it.

The arrangements for the flags in the parade were re-arranged in light of recent events in USA which saw a Supreme Court ruling allowing all gay and lesbian couples the right to get married across all the states. They are joined by Ireland which too in light of recent events saw votes in legalising gay marriage. The love can be felt in Trafalgar Square where the concert were taking place where many artists were taking the stage to voice their happiness of the USA’s ruling.
The spirit of Pride doesn't end there, you can find other information on the website where you can also find out information on how to volunteer.
#PrideHeroes

Thursday 12 February 2015

A Conversation with Oscar Wilde

On Adelaide Street, you’ll find a peculiar-looking granite slab with a head protruding from one end and you’ll find Oscar Wilde smiling back at you, with supposedly a cigar in hand. By that it is A Conversation with Oscar Wilde created by Maggi Hambling.

A committee was set up called “A Statue for Oscar Wilde” which aimed put a statue in place in tribute of him. The statue was funded by donations from fans of Oscar Wilde’s works. Designs were submitted by 12 artists which was thinned down to 6 artists. From the 6 artists, they created models for the statue, which ultimately led to Maggi Hambling being chosen as the finalised choice of what the statue will become. The idea of it was to set yourself down for a moment to converse with Oscar Wilde. The statue was unveiled by Stephen Fry in 1998.

The statue shaped like a sarcophagus is made of granite and Oscar made of bronze. Oscar’s figure seems very much to flow out and shape to form seaweed, especially given the green textures that comes off of him. Originally, it had a bronze cigar in his hand but was said to be removed as a result that the cigar was being apparently stolen from him on multiple occasions. A quote from his play Lady Windermere’s Fan is seen on the other end:
“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.”


#OscarWilde


Saturday 31 January 2015

Gay Sports Fair 2015

Gay Sports Fair was held this year at the Kia Oval Cricket organised by The List. It was held on the Tuesday, 27th January 2015 between the hours of 18:00 to 22:00. There were over 25 sport organisations and related clubs, campaigns and organisations.
There were opportunities to get signed up to some sporting clubs to find out further information and an opportunity to join. Pride in London were there to recruit volunteers to the run-up of Pride in June this year. Tasters were provided by Body Plus Nutrition and Saviour Tea of weight management food and herb-blended tea. Chance to win tickets were given out for the London Gay Symphony Orchestra by tweeting image with the event’s hashtag.


Organisations in attendance included:
The next Gay Sports Fair won’t be until next year but you can still attend to the events ahead this year such as the Pride Volunteering Fair and the Gay Wellbeing Fair.

#GaySportsFair

Thursday 27 November 2014

Open House 2014

Open House is a weekend event in mid-September where London architectures opens their doors to the public to explore. This year it was held on the 20th and 21st September 2014.

NAFAS
First Open House I attended to was the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies which is a collective of flower arranging clubs and societies built together to form a recognised charity. The building contained wall photographs and insights in the organisation with floral exhibits displayed throughout the whole structure. Location address: Osbourne House, 12 Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4TE.
 Bishopsgate Institute
The Institute was opened in 1894 by Prime Minister Lord Roseberry. Its aims were to “promote lectures, exhibitions and otherwise the achievement of literature, science and the fine arts” which they still do to this day. The building was designed by Charles Harrison Townsends who employed his own individual approach for the design of the building than to follow in any form of conformity thst were present in previous landmark designs. Location address: 230 Bishopsgate Institute, London EC2M 4QH.

For Open House, there were five main rooms/halls to explore:
  • Boardroom
  • Great Hall
  • Library and Archives
  • Courtyard Room
  • Upper Hall
Bishopsgate Institute holds programmes ranging from talks and discussions to social dances and concerts. They do a range of courses for adults which centred on language, performing arts and culture. The library there is free and open to all to use, with a massive collection on London and political history including archives of Freedom Press and the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA).
To find out more about Open House you can visit their website.
#OpenHouseLondon