Hunting for crystals

I found myself acting like a Jones at the weekend, all in the name of art. No, I wasn't chasing a hot man round a gallery à la Bridget Jones. More hunting for art in the shape of crystals, Indiana Jones style. I accidentally commando-rolled off a bus and skidded on ice round a corner such was the freezing temperature in a dark and disorientating Elephant and Castle.

And when most people were Christmas shopping or drinking egg nog round the fire what had I braved the cold for? Seizure, that's what. An installation within a 1960s block of derelict flats by recent Turner-prize nominee Roger Hiorns, Seizure is a fairytale flat built of blue crystals.


Crystallised copper sulphate to be exact. When I finally located 159 Harper Road, off New Kent Road, it wasn't quite the magical grotto I'd envisaged (too brightly lit in places) but spectacular nevertheless. Not least because it's a blue jewel in the middle of a grim and grey old council estate. Even better, you could touch all the glittering crystals which makes a change from most gallery exhibitions. I was in there on my own at one point and it is really eerie, almost like being underwater.


Hiorns changes familiar objects by introducing chemical materials to add an element of chance. With Seizure, 95,000 litres of copper sulphate solution were boiled to 100 degrees and pumped into the bed-sit (which had been made watertight) and left for three weeks to cool down. Once the flat was drained, the crystals began to form on the walls and ceiling. Cool, eh?


The Birmingham born artist was the favourite to win the Turner prize because of the inventiveness of this particular work (the prize is judged on work exhibited by the nominated artists in the past twelve months). Alas he lost out to Richard Wright's gold leaf embossed design currently on show at the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain.

I visited the exhibition before seeing Seizure and I was really impressed with the concepts behind Hiorns' work. As he often experiments he doesn't know what the end results will look like because the materials are unpredictable (he's used fire and detergent foam in previous works).

One untitled work on show at Tate Britain is a heap of grey and black dust which turned out to be an atomised passenger jet engine. Eventually everything turns to dust. Another was a latticed steel frame holding soap-size bars of blackish yellow powder blocks. These turned out to be made of "brain matter". Whose brain (human, pig, gerbil?) I'm not sure but the work isn't displayed in a "look at what I'm made of" type of way (like Marc Quinn's Self made out of blood for instance) but is far more thoughtful and subtle. I like the way he integrates things which were living or are living with man-made structures to form art.

Tate Britain has put up notice boards (great idea) at the exit of the Turner Prize where people have written hundreds of comments. While many of them praise the prize winner Richard Wright (whose work is beautiful and made even more so by its ephemeral nature - everything he paints is destroyed as he believes art is for the present not the future), an equal number were in favour in Hiorns. As one commentator said "Long live brain matter!".

Seizure and the Turner Prize at Tate Britain both run until 3rd January.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Take A View: How to photograph landscapes

Christmas has taken over. Culture has taken a back seat. Mulled wine is the new art. Ahem, or maybe that's just in Poptart's world. So, in between all the festive get-togethers, I squeezed in a landscape photography talk at the National Theatre.

Now in its third year, thousands of people take pictures around the country in the hope of becoming the Landscape Photographer of the Year . The amazing picture above of sunrise over the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye by Emmanuel Coupe is this year's winning entry. This and other stunning pictures can be seen at Take a View: a free exhibition at the National theatre.

The awards which aim to show the UK in its myriad forms from rural, suburban to urban, were started by top landscape photographer Charlie Waite.*

And it was he who shared his secrets and tips from decades in the job as he talked through a slide-show of his iconic images.

First and foremost to be a good landscape photographer you need to engage with your surroundings, absorb them and become one with them, said Charlie. It's also good to have an idea in your mind of what you want. "I create a rough idea of how I'd like the photo to be. If the variables don't come together then it isn't too disappointing because I've enjoyed experiencing and observing the landscape."

Charlie is a man who thinks nothing of hanging around for an hour or two for a few clouds to pass by. Clearly patience is a key trait for a landscape photographer. He waited (no pun on his surname) for hours for the middle horse in this picture to straighten his right ear so that it matched the other two.


As I'm impatient and also a night owl rather than an early bird (those who are, catch the best light), I think I might not be cut out to make a living from this type of photography. So, back to clouds...

Charlie on clouds: they're very friendly things. If they comply with your wishes you can use them to deliver light or to conceal unwanted elements with their shadow. Clouds can also pull a picture together so that different elements interlock and talk to each other.


Charlie on light: Don't be afraid of juxtaposing dark and light fields as it helps convey a sense of depth.



Charlie on bad weather: If the weather is bad, water will give you twice the light so start working with it. Look for reflections in rivers and lakes. Similarly if it's windy, work with it not against it. Use a long shutter speed to try to capture the movement of long grass.

Charlie on trees: lonely trees often work because when a tree is isolated you see the true nature and nobility of it.



Charlie on infrared: I took a picture of Beech Avenue in Kingston Lacy in Dorset using a compact with infrared which gave a tonal value to the sky and made the trees look more cavernous.


Charlie on looking for relationships: (no not that sort although you never know who you might meet in a muddy field). It's important to look for relationships between elements. The human eye locks onto reference points and shapes first, then roams around after. This all takes one second. And that's when the viewer decides whether it's a good picture or not. In this picture:


the upturned boat in the foreground is shaking hands with the mountains behind.

I liked Charlie's views on how to "make" rather than "take" pictures. He works in the traditional way (he has a forty year old Hasselblad) and never photoshops skies. "Why sit hunched over your computer salvaging a picture when you could be outside using filters?" is his way of thinking.

If you want to hear more tips from Charlie than I can possibly write down, he is giving two more talks in January. More info here.

You can view some of the Take a View exhibition at the Guardian Online. It runs until 24th January.


* All pictures, apart from the winning entry at the top, are copyright of Charlie Waite.

Ice ice baby

Did you know the very first artificial ice rink was created here near the King's Road, Chelsea in 1876? It was called the Glaciarium. But it is the Finnish and the Dutch who are credited with inventing the sport. Although the oldest known skates in existence were found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland (dated around 3000 years ago) it is thought people in Southern Finland used to skate across lakes about 4000 years ago. For hundreds of years skates were made from leg bones of animals bound by leather straps until the Dutch invented the metal blade around the 15th Century.

So "dank je" to the Dutch otherwise we could all still be gliding round the rinks of London, in what is now becoming an annual Christmas ritual, wearing animal bones. When I say glide, in my case it's more of jerky slide-stutter movement but I do try. Thus I could be found last night at the Tower of London's rink which is a truly spectacular backdrop and, from what I've experienced in previous years at Somerset House and the Natural History Museum, less busy than other historical venues. All the better for learners like me who have to keep hold of the barrier - granny-style - at least four times round, before letting go.



I had to laugh when I read about the inventive vicar in Chichester who set up an ice rink in his church to get people in. He had 4500 visitors in four days. Seems everyone loves to skate. It reminded me of my surprise last year when I spotted a small ice rink in the local Asda carpark. People had abandoned shopping bags at the side for a glide.

As far as I'm concerned there's no better excuse for a mulled wine than exhausting yourself on the ice. And if you're not very good then take consolation in this hilarious performance from last year's Dancing on Ice.


Todd Carty. Dancing on Ice.

Classic.