Ellie Birkenhead-Jones: Visit to Liverpool Biennial 25/09

Today we braved the wind and rain and visited Liverpool for the Biennial of Contemporary Art. There are nearly 30 locations taking part around the city so we planned in our groups roughly where we wanted to visit in the time we had.

First off we found the Bluecoat Gallery. I have visited before and really enjoyed it so was looking forward to the exhibition.

Jakob Kolding- As yet untitled, 2012

I was taken aback when I first saw the work on the wall, mainly by the scale. I thought it was something to do with protest of propaganda because of the posters and the way they were plastered up the whole wall. A few of us were wondering if the posters were to take but we decided they weren't. I liked the geometric shapes too and the pattern it creates when repeated.

Sun Xun- Ancient Film, 2012

This artist has taken inspiration from the cultural traditions of China. A lot of the work was of a very large scale and included different drawing techniques. I will definitely experiment with some of these techniques in my own work like the ink drawings.

Next we visited the Liverpool Academy of Arts where the exhibition 'Introjection' was on, showcasing the work of different artists.

Marie Louise Williams- Introjection, 2012

This installation was like steeping into Aladdin's cave. It was really beautiful. I wasn't too sure what the empty milk bottles arranged on the floor were about, the only thing I could think of was perhaps people littering in the ocean harming the wildlife?? I liked the variations in size, colour and materials. There was lots to look at.

We then came across FACT which is also shows independent film. Here we saw the work of Jemima Wyman and Pedro Reyes as well and playing a board game which was part of Reyes work.

Jemima Weyman- Collective Coverings, Communal Skin, 2012

The public were invited to take part in workshops to create this work, where second hand hunting and camouflage t-shirts were used to weave with. I thought all together they looked amazing. Even with the neutral and green colours it all looked so bright and exciting, which is the opposite of what the original materials were made to do.

At 1.30pm we were to meet at the Tate. On the way there I saw this street art, which caught my eye, just thought I'd throw it in there

I visited the Tate last year and there was lots of interesting work so I was looking forward looking round.

Simryn Gill- Dalam, 2001

This is a series of photos Gill took whilst travelling across the Malaysian Peninsula over an 8 week period. He would knock on strangers doors and providing they invited him inside he would photograph their living rooms. I spent a while looking at the individual photographs. It was really interesting to see all the differences and similarities with western living rooms. I love being able to see a little snippet of other peoples lives.

Martin Parr- Common sense, 1995

This work was a similar layout to Gill's in the but the subjects didn't seem to be linked in such an obvious way. If anything, I thought they were maybe all together purely for aesthetic reasons. Each individual photo, when by itself was quite mundane and everyday, but all of them displayed together just came to life with colour and excitement.