a short while back i spent an afternoon making some new postcard artworks for the rca secret exhibition 2011. i cannot, of course, show you any pictures of these new postcards because it is a secret art sale, but here are my secret art postcards from rca secret 2010.
[rca secret postcards 2010, signed & dated on the back]see more of my secret rca art postcards 2010, rca secret postcards from 2009 or some previous years' rca secret postcards are here.there will be around 3000 secret postcards in the rca secret exhibition at the royal college of art in london, which is open to the public from 18 november to 25 november 2011. the postcards will also be viewable on the rca secret website from 18 november, all in the run up to the big sale day on saturday 26 november 2011 (queues likely).remember, to purchase any of the rca postcards (maximum four per person) you will first have to register as a buyer. monies raised from the rca secret sale benefit the royal college of art’s fine art student fund. lastly, some mention must be made of the excellent organisation & voluntary work that goes on behind the scenes to make this event so successful, many of whom are current fine are art students.the rca secret exhibition has become a very popular annual art event in london, with thousands of people queuing to be in with a chance of obtaining an original artwork for just £45. some of this year's big name contributors include: tracey emin, grayson perry, gerhard richter, anish kapoor and yoko ono.i always find it troubling to discover some buyers go on to immediately sell their rca postcards on ebay for much more money - especially when the artists donate artworks for free to support an art college in the education of future artists.i am waiting with much anticipation to view all the rca secret postcards online and try to guess who has made what. it has become something of a sport, and perhaps there is a skill in knowing what to look out for, armed with the knowledge of an artist's likely subject or style of work. there are always some surprises, though. i would dearly love to visit the exhibition, but i think work commitments will preclude me from doing so this year.for breaking news (top tips, faqs, artist interviews, media coverage, etc) on rca secret 2011 i highly recommend a visit to the unofficial rca secret blog......
fool's gold
I have been reading about Anish Kapoor's Olympic sculpture, to mark London's hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012 (I thought at first it was an April fool's joke)...
This tangled and twisted mega-structure (with a viewing platform) alludes to the five Olympic rings, will be 115m high, and will cost £19.1m to build. Kapoor says he wanted the sensation of unstability; I think he must have meant instability or possibly even unsuitability... off balance, out of kilter, a helter skelter on acid, with all the hideous, tortured appeal of a car crash wreck.. It will indeed be 'a stunning spectacle' as expressed by London's mayor, Boris Johnson......UPDATE: May 2012Now that the 'Orbit' is built I am slightly warming to it as a sculpture - it is a monument to our restless times - complicated, agitated, but keeping it together. It does have an energetic, wilful spirit too - even in defeat it will not be beaten, it will be the last one standing after the medals are won, the athletes gone and the crowds dispersed. All our hopes and wishes for medal glory (TeamGB) are symbolically tangled up within this landmark sculpture - and there is a certain attraction in anything appearing slightly dystopian or even apocalyptic at the moment.You can read and see more about the making of 'Orbit' as it now has its own official website.Or just watch this timelapse film to marvel at this feat of engineering (bolted together by a team of four men - amazing).......The artist Anish Kapoor (working in collaboration with Cecil Balmond) has documented the whole project, from initial doodles and sketches to the final construction, on his website too (well worth a look).I like 'Orbit'; I just think it looks wrong in the Olympic village. Maybe after the Olympic Games it could be transported to Arizona......