I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibition today at the Ashmolean. I did try to keep an open mind, but I’m afraid to say the whole anti-art ethos of it completely underwhelmed me. I couldn’t detect even a glimmer of life in anything – just tedious celebrity culture and flat mass-production. The emperor has no clothes, and we can see his arse.
So there I was, pulling New Year crackers at our office party, when out fell a tiny notebook, no bigger than my thumb*. After a little while I noticed it was full of dancing hippos. I spent the rest of the evening on the dance floor with Karen, trying to emulate the funky, cool moves of this smooth dancer. Karen laughed a lot, so I reckon I must have succeeded.
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* casual hyperbole, under section IV of the Artistic Licensing Act 2008. True figure** is 60 (+/-1) x 40 (+/- 1) mm^2.
** for the notebook. The thumb is smaller.
Here’s a picture of a very self-confident and well-fed little character we met on our traditional New Year’s Day walk around Oxford with friends. Wishing you a Happy New Year for 2016 from everyone at invisibules.org – we hope you get as many nuts out of life as he obviously does.
Yesterday I took the day off work and we went to London Zoo for a fabulous day of animal treats. Among the treats not pictured were the aye-aye (too dark to see it for long, but it came right up to the glass;) and the baby two-toed sloth, Edward, who is not on public view but we happened to coincide with him as he was being taken home for the evening by his surrogate (human) mother, and stopped for a chat. The baby emperor tamarin twins were very interested in my sketch-book, and had a go at climbing all over it, and trying to see if there was food hidden between the pages. The brown titi monkey was then inspired to do the same.
Thanks to Michael* at Boots Opticians for suggesting this comic. Apparently this is why none of the chairs in the shop have casters.
*I have a terrible memory for names. I think he said Michael.
I don’t have a comic to post at the moment, so instead here is yesterday’s page from my sketchbook, I realise that’s not quite the same thing. We wandered around the V&A without a plan, and somehow the page filled with drawings of things that caught my attention. Later we went to a concert South of the River, out beyond Peckham, with friends.
Happy Hallowe’en to you. We were sitting in Broad Street in the sunshine today, next to the man drumming up support for the ghost tour of Oxford (which happens year-round, incidentally,) and this comic more-or-less drew itself. The colouring was supported by a slice of apricot and lavender cake at the Bodleian’s new café.
I wonder if ghosts find sunshine as spooky as humans find darkness?
Yesterday I took the day off work and we went into London to visit the Natural History Museum. Darwin says “Hi!”
Another pleasant day at the zoo (with baby Greater One Horned Rhinoceros.)
Happy Birthday mum for the 14th!