It's never what you expect

Yesterday I had one of my days out in London this time with Robin. I've been thinking for a while I should go to the V&A, and when I heard they had a surrealist exhibition on it seemed like the perfect time. Normally I get distracted by the other two museums near the V&A but this time I actually made it. It was my first time there so I thought I should have a bit of a nose around rather than just go straight to the exhibition. Entering the museum through the tunnel brings you out into a sculpture gallery. It was fine, but I think the Rodin exhibition has rather spoilt me for looking at sculpture. I found myself comparing a lot if it to his work, and as such it didn't really inspire me. We then spotted a sign for a fashion display. I have heard very good things about the historical costume displays here so a quick detour had to be made. I was completely underwhelmed. There were some nice costumes there, but to be honest I think the pictures I have seen in books gave me more information. The room is very dimly lit (presumably to protect the colours of the fabric) and the commentary didn't seem to build any narrative or interest. I won't be going back to look at fashion given the display I saw yesterday.

The surrealist exhibition has been getting some very good reviews, which is just as well given the entry fee is 9 pounds. In particular the reviewers have complemented the theater costumes, the lips sofa and the lobster phones. Personally I would say those are the weaker aspects of the display. I really liked the large furniture. I would love to be able to tell you who made what, but the guide it just as bad as the signage and obviously doesn't give me any useful information. It is really frustrating. Maybe I have just been very lucky with the guides at the National Gallery and the Royal Academy. Overall I am pleased I went, it really brought home how much I like Magritte, and Tromp loi, bit of which I think will influence future quilts, but I don't think it was worth the entry fee.

After the Surrealist exhibition we went back to exploring the rest of the museum. There are two amazing sections, that I will be going back to. The materials and techniques - ironwork has some amazing pieces in it. Sadly it doesn't live up to it's name as far as providing any information on materials or techniques, but the pieces were very inspiring for me. I can see me making some whole cloths heavily based on ironwork. If you have any interest in locks then you really do need to go and see this section. I was enthralled by the locks, but again I would have liked more information, and less dry information. The care and attention given to even the insides of the locks was just wonderful. Of course there is no book or guide that covers this section of the museum so if you are interested you have to go and take your own pictures. The good news is they do allow this.

From here we moved on to their casts area. This is full of massive casts of architectural items. Some of the pieces are huge and really just too much to take in from the ground. We had to go up to one of the galleries above to have a look from another angle. It was well worth seeing, but (are you getting bored of this yet) they really do need better signage. I entirely forgot to look and see if they had a book documenting this collection, but I will when I go back. We could see there were a lot more smaller pieces in storage on higher levels, which I really hope are documented in a publicly available manner.

From here we went to the Science Museum. This has been my favourite museum since I was a child, yet I hadn't been there fro several years. The difference to the V&A couldn't be more obvious. As soon as you walk in they are giving you incentives to give them money. Their donation boxes do things, they are great. By the time we made it though to the museum proper we were already feeling quite positive about the place. Even closing the whole space exhibition couldn't upset me. I decided on a top down approach to ensure we saw as much of the most interesting items as possible. To be honest I find most things in the museum fascinating so I couldn't lose. Starting at the top of the building is the history of medicine. Strangely there is a quilting connection here, the Egyptians and their mummification process is covered as some of the earliest understanding of the human body. To illustrate this there were a couple of mummified cats. Their bindings were log cabin blocks! The colours were still so strong, I had not realised how colourful Egyptian society was. If you are in the science museum do make sure you get to see the cats.

Working our way down the building you come to the flight level. It has shrunk a lot over the years but is still wonderful. I love the racks of engines, they are beautiful and smell wonderful. I am also fascinated by the shapes in airframes. They seem to have lot of design potential, I really must have another look at my pictures from Hendon RAF museum. We had great fun playing with the demonstrations and watching all the videos. The government propaganda films are always interesting, they way they portray what is needed and what people have to offer. It's so similar to modern government information, but I think they had a better idea of how to motivate people then. It's nice to hear proper English too. The science museum was a lot less disappointing, although it has been dummed down a lot and there seem to be far fewer displays to play with. It is good to see it busy and lively, I think that is the only way forward for museums given they rely on voluntary donations. They also sell space ice cream which is one of my favourite treats, how could I not like this place.