i'm not an artist, i'm a fucking work of art.

The first london- sunday I want to see:

2009-08-30T03:43:00.000-07:00

The Serpentine Gallery presents an exhibition of the work of the celebrated American artist Jeff Koons, his first major exhibition in a public gallery in England.

Working in thematic series since the early 1980s, Koons has explored notions of consumerism, taste, banality, childhood and sexuality. He is known for his meticulously fabricated works that draw on a variety of objects and images from American and consumer culture.

For his exhibition at the Gallery, Koons presents paintings and sculptures from his Popeye series, which he began in 2002.

The works incorporate some of Koons’s signature ideas and motifs, including surreal combinations of everyday objects, cartoon imagery, art-historical references and children’s toys.

The sculptures on show continue Koons’s interest in casting inflatable toys. Those typically used by children in a swimming pool are cast in aluminium, their surfaces painted to bear an uncanny resemblance to the original objects. He juxtaposes these replica readymades with unaltered everyday objects, such as chairs or rubbish bins. The paintings are complex and layered compositions that combine disparate images both found and created by Koons, including images of the sculptures in the series.

Featuring loans from both public and private collections, the exhibition also includes works that have never been shown publicly before.The immediately recognisable figures of Popeye and Olive Oyl are central in the series and appear in several prominent works within the exhibition. One of the most iconic American comicstrip characters, Popeye was conceived 80 years ago this year in 1929 when the Great Depression was taking hold. In Popeye’s early years, the cartoon addressed the hardships and injustices of the time and, in this current period of economic recession, he is a fitting character to rediscover and explore.

Koons has used inflatables in his work since the late 1970s; one of his most iconic sculptures, Rabbit, 1986, is an inflatable bunny rendered in reflective stainless steel. He has also made sculptures on a spectacular scale inspired by inflatables, including works from his monumental Celebration series.

Jeff Koons was born in York, Pennsylvania, in 1955. His work has been widely exhibited internationally and his most recent solo exhibitions include presentations at the Château de Versailles, France; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, all in 2008. Koons lives and works in New York.

Let the spinat-days begin!

TO DO:

2009-08-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Doo bi doo biduh...!

hotel research: need. someplace. to. stay. the. first. four. nights.
hotel research #2 : book a room for the last night. closeclosereallyclose to campus.
sign the debt certificate so that the Lånekassen -money will be transfered to my account. quick as hell.
request an all you need pack . if necessary. (more fun to see and touch things first maybe)
email daniel.
read about jeff koons' exhibition at the serpentine.
collect all the essentials to bring.
read more of these everlasting information papers.
say hello. and hi. and goodbye. for a while.
get ready overall.
clear up. and. relax.

Lomo -London

2009-08-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

All pics from the fabolous Lomography- society <3

It's what it is. Just wait and see.

2009-08-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

I won't admit that I was a bit(or, for a little while very) disappointed by my room offer.

Ground floor; not actually ideal considering security...or view, for that matter.
I did not get to share with Julie. Sweetie.
Neither did i get the single enhanced type; single en-suite it'll be. small little thing.
Wrong wrong building.

But, hey, there's so many things that could be a lot worse, right?
Not everything can (or shall) be ideal...
So i'll leave by that. And i'll wait judge it before i've actually tried to become friends with it.
You know, having to sign up for a full academic year by now, no changing possibilities and deposits for everything...the english system does not make things easy at all.

Good.Very good news too though;
got the confirmation from Lånekassen some days ago, telling me that I'll get the full loan and grant :D
Which means nearly a total of 30 800 NOk per year + nearly 142 000 NOK(loan) per year.
Should be enough. I hope.
Now I "just" have to require some more papers and sign some more chemes and the money'll be in my account. Weird.
Oh, what should I done without?
Happy times. - For now. (Ugh, I don't want to think of the nearly 400 000 NOK I'll probably have to pay back sometimes later in my older days when finished studying. Jeezes. Not now.)
I choose to call this thing a real investment for life. Ok?

Very soon nothing will be better than waiting for something cheering in my mailbox!
Give it a go;

University of East London
7 University Way
London E16 2GH
U.K., of course!

Indian sitar-rock is the new brit-pop!

2009-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

CORNERSHOP is greatness!

One month to go!!!

2009-08-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Oh. Today, while going to work,
I realized that it's
exactly one month 'till
I'll move over to the UK.
For three whole years.
Which, by now seems like
anamazing little eternity.

I haven't at all been
thinking of this day, today,
August the 12th, to come by,
so in the reality the
thought of the time swept
me a bit off my feet
with...ahm...pleasure, I think :)

How do a student look like?

2009-08-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Bank Officer and all these schemes

2009-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

These things are starting to get more and more real for every day now.
(Ok, I' m writing it, but I don't know whether it's true to me or not, though.)

But, I feel that I've at least really made progress when it comes to papers and formalities these last days;

- I finally received the last letter, The International Accaptance Letter.
The one I needed to pay the tuition fee deposit - and only then they will be able to approve my accomodation application, which I want get done fast...! So, under a bit stress, I got to transfer the over 40 000 NOK just to confirm and accept my studies. Big step.

- I have also become a proud ANSA member and applied for the ANSA Pluss bank- solution which shall be especially suitable for students abroad(e.g. no charges in Norway or outside when requesting money from cashpoints!), and effected the ANSA insurance, which I also think of as a necessity.
In addition to this, more to come;
- I started the application process to get my loan and grant from Lånekassen. Lots and lots and lots of questions and numbers to find in old envelopes and calculations, but today I got an sms telling me that my application form was received and that the management will last four weeks. (Isn't this a bit too late to do now, in August, you might think. And, yes, it is. But, as told before, I could not do anything of this before I got the International Acceptance Letter in hand.) So, more waiting.

And...I met some comfort from the guy in the bank who helped me transfer my tuition fee deposit and order a brand new VISA yesterday.(Yes, I needed a photo on it which not is from 8th grade, and which everyone in Spain and UK tell me not looks like me and get deadly suspicious. Hate.) He had been studying (economy...blah) in Wales, been to Switzerland and Down Under, so he had a lot of good advices and support to give according to financial things and other experiences.
And, hey, now I've got his number so I can call him whenever I want to ask for some help:)
(nono, he was not handsome, I just love getting "smart" contacts. Feels safer maybe.)

I look foreward to the time when all forms are completed and I can sit down at my own bed in
LDN and let the new everyday- life begin.

(Like the times of formes and chemes sometime will end. Hah, I can try to convince myself...!)

Well, have to run grab my little brother and ask him to copy my passport and my tax return to forward to my friends in Lånekassen...
- What should I've done without a secretary like him?!

Air shuttle

2009-08-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Tickets are bought at this very moment;
leaving the country with daddy(and my bags) saturday 12th of September.
So early in the morning, that it almost still will be night.
And I can not at all imagine the feeling I'll propably have in my stomach by then.
But, we're at least in hold of two window seats, so I'll have a great view over my new city
in the touchdown moment ;)

Weehee!

Creating

2009-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

“An act of creation is an act of love.”
- Charlton Heston as Michelangelo
in The Agony and the Ecstasy from 1965

My dream. Maid during the children's paint-jam, which was a part of Kongsberg Jazzfestval.

Bachelor- future

2009-07-30T01:56:00.000-07:00

It is a bit more than just a bit weird, the thought of beginning my studies in just about one and a half month now. It makes my toes prickle a bit and my head spinning sometimes, just the exitement and the changes it will bring into my life. And, oh, gosh, I feel so ready for it.

My BA Combined Honour subjects will be;

Fine Art
Campus: Docklands

Why Study Fine Art as part of a Combined Honours Degree?
Fine Art is a studio-based involving practice in Painting, Sculpture, Installation, Film, Video, Printmaking, and any other appropriate media.

The Fine Art programme at UEL attracts students with a wide range of background and experience.
The diversity of the student group contributes a richly stimulating dialogue to the programme.
This is complemented by the integration of a wide range of media and approaches from both students and staff, who are all practicing artists.

This encourages an independent approach to studio practice, and results in work of outstanding quality and originality.

What will I study?

The programme is mainly studio and workshop based
There are weekly seminars and regular tutorials
There is a programme of visiting Artists and studio visits, offering the opportunity to engage in discussion with artists about their work
There is an annual study trip abroad, offering the opportunity of a concentrated period of time visiting galleries, museums and architectural sites, with the fresh perspective afforded by a foreign culture and surroundings
Recent trips have been to Barcelona , New York , Rome , Bilbao
The programme is supported by a wide range of theory modules, many of them designed specifically to complement the studio experience of Fine Art students

Which modules will I study?
You can view a full guide to the modules you have to study as part of your chosen pathway, along with a full range of option modules available by viewing the Single & Combined Honours Programmes Guide for Fine Art
What career opportunities are open to me if I study Fine Art?

Many of our graduates go on to study at post-graduate institutions such as the Royal College of Art and the Slade (16 in Sept 2002)
Others establish their own studios and develop careers as independent artists
Some pursue careers in teaching, museum services or in arts administration
Others use the self-motivation and entrepreneurial skills they have developed at college to build varied businesses and careers e.g. directing pop videos, model making for the V&A, artists assistant e.g. to Damien Hirst, Anthony Gormley

Contemporary Art & Visual Media
Campus: Docklands

Why Study Contemporary Art & Visual Media as part of a Combined Honours Degree?
Visual Theories offers a wide selection of modules that focus on the historical and theoretical study of art, digital media, fashion and design, film, and photography. The new programme, Contemporary Art and Visual Media, specifically addresses the contemporary art scene. In particular, this programme enables students to explore how artists, designers, film makers and theorists engage with the notion of the contemporary in their work.
What career opportunities are open to me if I study Contemporary Art & Visual Media?

Studying a broad range of contemporary art and media practices enables graduates to find jobs in many areas of the culture industries such as advertising, arts journalism, community arts and publishing, museums and galleries. Alternatively, a number of graduates continue their studies at postgraduate level at universities in the UK or abroad.

A degree in Contemporary Art & Visual Media can also provide a springboard for a career in management or marketing, and for postgraduate study in a range of related disciplines.

Status

2009-07-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

Accomodation deposit payed and application delivered - so exitement and waiting for receiving an approval for my on- campus flat...!
I am really hoping for a single-enhanced room with a stunning view over the Docks as a substitute for the private rented appartment I first had in my mind.

AVA accepted the subject combination-change, from Fine Art with Psychosocial Studies to Fine Art with Contemporary Art with Visual Media, which I think is better and not at least more practical, as I will not have to take lectures on two different campuses.
So, waiting for the final International Offer Letter, so that I can pay the deposit and begin the process with Lånekassen.
(Oooh, payments, forms, information, passwords...lots of things to sort out. It will be a relief to have it all fixed and set. )

And, hey, I have to find some (cheap, I hope) tickets for the plane.
Thinking of leaving around the 11th of September, and I have decided to bring my beloved Dad with me, so that he can bring some extra suitcases for me ;)

And, hell, WHAT shall I bring with me?