Flotsam and Jetsam

Words and photographs by Simon Martin. A blog about the buildings, places and things I find fascinating and inspiring during my travels in Britain and abroad: art and artists, architecture, quirky museums, castles and country churches, design, illustrated books, Folk art and random things I encounter. I am a curator and writer on Modern British and contemporary art. Website: www.simon-martin.org.uk

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COLOUR RUSH: the Dutch designer @sabine_marcelis has conceived an installation of the @vitradesignmuseum collection with around 400 objects arranged by colour rather than chronology. It reminds me of my efforts (in the past) to colour-coordinate books and CDs: certain moods and themes emerge, but it’s terrifically difficult to get the balance right. It’s a wonderful way to experience so many iconic design classics in what is effectively an open store. I love a chair gallery in design museums (although this had a few other things besides). #design #colour #color #vitradesignmuseum #chairdesign #sabinemarcelis #chair #furnituredesign #iconicdesign (at VitraHaus) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfGUYQgIsqr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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VITRA: day 1 of my architecture mini-break was spent over the border in Germany at the @vitradesignmuseum in Weil-am-Rhein. It is a campus of buildings by internationally famous architects, which I had wanted to visit for years since seeing several of the pavilions in books. In order of appearance here: Piet Oudolf’s 2020 garden softening the hard-edges of Hertzog & de Meuron’s multifaceted 2003 VitraHaus (with a geodesic dome by Buckminster Fuller alongside); Frank Gehry’s 1989 Vitra Design Museum; Nicholas Grimshaw’s 1983 Factory Building; Álvaro Siza’s 2014 Promenade; Thomas Schütte’s 2018 Blockhaus; Zaha Hadid’s 1993 Fire Station (and interior and sideview); and finally Tadao Ando’s 1993 Conference Pavilion. It was unbelievably hot, so I wondered around with an umbrella for shade: difficult light to photograph in. It’s an extraordinary place, and there was a fascinating exhibition about plastic - no really - from Bakelite and cellulose to eco-products seeking to replace and recycle. #vitradesignmuseum #vitrafactory #architecture #design #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #weilamrhein @herzogdemeuron @pietoudolf @zahahadidarchitects @tadao_ando_architecture @frankgehry_official #design #zahahadid #contemporaryarchitecture #nicholasgrimshawarchitects #gardendesign #pietodulf (at VitraHaus) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfE2ZMIMC4Q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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BE STILL MY BRUTALIST HEART: I have a nose for sniffing out a good church. Whilst changing buses in the St Johann district of Basel I spotted the tower of St Anton (or Antoniuskirche) in Kannenfeldstrasse and lured to its door, I found it open. It turns out it is was Switzerland's first concrete place of worship, built from unfinished exposed concrete. It was built between 1925 and 1927 by the Swiss architect Karl Moser (1860-1936). It was mockingly known as the ‘soul solo’ but to my eyes it is incredibly beautiful, especially the simplicity of the Roman basilica-like interior. I loved the functionality of the confessional booths: simple design, good materials. And vast stained glass windows. In 1928, Moser became president of the newly founded Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne, an organisation, steered by Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, which championed rational and functionalist architecture. #architecture #architecturephotography #interiors #antoniuskirche #basel #karlmoser #architecturelovers @visit.basel (at St. Anton (Basel)) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfELOtKornk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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The Judges’ Resting Room: as Instagram posts go, think of this as a rather indulgent ‘Russian Doll’. An unfolding palimpsest of glimpses through carved doorways in richly-decorated tiled walls, saving the need to zoom in. One can’t do these kinds of posts normally, circumnavigating hundreds of other visitors, but it was pretty much empty when I was there. I adored these two rooms in the Casa de Pilatos; they are an elegant combination of Mudejar and Isabelline Gothic decoration from the late 15th century. That intense colour, like Sevillian oranges, carries through from one room into another. The light falls from different sides in each room. The effect is mesmerising. The room’s name is biblical - after the 71 members of the Sanhedrin of Israel that judged Jesus before the Passion. This was the Palace of the Chief Governors of Andalusia: the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition, set up in 1478 to convert non-convert Jews and Muslims, was connected to this site. Yet the painting of the three kings with Jesus, Mary and Joseph is a more positive reminder of the meeting of cultures with Balthazar, Melchior and Caspar coming together from Africa, Asia and across the Middle East, under which stands a Roman bust. #interiors #interiorstyling #casadepilatos #seville #mudejar #sevilla #interiordecor #interiordecoration #orange #history (at Casa de Pilatos) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTh1BxHst_o/?utm_medium=tumblr

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My weekend plans were cancelled and so I am at home, and it’s actually rather nice. I’d fallen rather out of love with ‘home’ after months of noisy, dusty building work (try doing a day’s work and zoom calls with constant banging) and relentless working, living and sleeping in the same place during the lockdown. But now I’m back working in the gallery most of the time and we’ve had lots of weekends away, I feel able to appreciate it again, even if my little flat is now bursting at the seams. But I think the Staffordshire figures are beginning to take over when I’m asleep... #interior #interiors #interiorstyling #home #homedecor #homedecoration (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSjXV_PM555/?utm_medium=tumblr

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‘Mrs Perry touching the Grandest Pier in the World, Brighton (Smoke and spitting into the Wind 37)’ a collage by Mark Lazenby. Thank you @marklazenby #brighton #palacepier #brightonpier (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSjKpOuMTjN/?utm_medium=tumblr

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“NEWSTEAD! fast-falling, once resplendent dome! / Religion’s shrine! repentant Henry’s pride! / Of warriors, monks, and dames the cloistered tomb, / Whose pensive shades around thy ruins glide, Hail to thy pile! more honored in thy fall / Than modern mansions in their pillared state; / Proudly majestic frowns thy vaulted hall, / Scowling defiance on the blasts of fate.” A visit to Newstead Abbey, former home of the Romantic poet Lord Byron. A country pile, with lots of Byronalia from his boxing gloves to his writing pen, umpteen letters and portraits. A ruined abbey turned by one of his ancestors into a country pile, which Byron sold in 1814 before his fateful journey to Greece and Constantinople. #romanticpoetry #newsteadabbey #countryhouse #byron #interiors #interiors (at Newstead Abbey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSSCpoPIN78/?utm_medium=tumblr

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This afternoon I had the pleasure of taking one of the artist’s friends around the exhibition ‘Ben Nicholson: From the Studio’. It was great to get her insights and to see her evident pleasure at seeing old friends again. “Far-sinating” she declared in a voice we rarely hear today. Apparently Ben Nicholson listened to ‘amorphous music’ when he was in the studio. It was also provided an opportunity to get away from meetings and emails to have a proper look at works such as ‘1932 (Boque)’ kindly loaned by @artscouncilcollection . This is often read in terms of the influence of Cubism and Nicholson’s appreciation of Georges Braque. The ACC catalogue says that this table-top still life is painted on board, but in fact it’s on canvas nailed into board, giving it a hard object-quality with a surface effect achieved by scraping the paint back. I think the word is actually ‘Bocquet’ the brand name of a mustard made in Yvetot, Normandy (the T covered by a cup). At that time Nicholson was making trips to France and he was apparently inspired by seeing shop signs in Dieppe. #bennicholson #bennicholsonfromthestudioexhibition #pallanthousegallery #modernbritish (at Pallant House Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSFKcpboJMk/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Big skies over the South Downs and punk sheep: a walk from Glynde to Lewes with @larapucci__ @alejezart and Paul Boyce. (at Glynde) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSCWKQaI54e/?utm_medium=tumblr

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‘SERIA LUDO’ (looking at serious subjects in a playful manner) is something of which I greatly approve. It was a policy adopted by the Society of Dilettanti in the 18th century, young aristocrats on the Grand Tour in search of the Antique in Italy. Thomas Patch parodied them in his ‘A Gathering of Dilettanti around the Medici Venus’ which I was delighted to discover on long-term loan to Basildon Park as part of the collection of Sir Brindsley Ford, the great Grand Tour scholar whose papers are now at the @paulmelloncentr . The star piece is the wonderful Pompeo Batoni portrait of Humphry Morice resting like a poet in the landscape in the Vatican Gardens with his hounds (he was an animal lover who left £600 in his will for his horses and hounds). The pose is echoed in a portrait of Ford by Alec Cobbe (whom I incidentally visited a couple of weeks ago at Hatchlands park). There are also drawings by Tiepolo, paintings by Richard Wilson, and others such as Giovanni Batista Busiri, Serafino Cesaretti and Anton Rafael Mengs. It also includes a portrait of the Byres family by Franciszek Smuglewicz. In 1778 Philip Yorke wrote of how Byres varied his site-seeing according to the weather: “Antiquities and ruins when fine, statues and palaces when wet, and if it should be a clear say but unpleasantly windy we see pictures.” #grandtour #basildonpark #pompeobatoni #sirbrindsleyford #brindsleyford #thomaspatch (at Basildon Park - National Trust) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRwnhKRlANz/?utm_medium=tumblr

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GREAT COXWELL TITHE BARN: dating back to 1292 this remarkable Mediaeval barn was described by the Arts & Crafts designer William Morris as being ‘as noble as a cathedral’. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner considered the interior to be the finest of any barn in England. When John Piper was busy ‘Recording Britain’ during the Second World War he photographed the barn and made watercolours (now in the @vamuseum ). We had similar dark clouds to him today when we stopped off on the way to visit @bagshotandi . In the Middle Ages farmers would give 10% of their crops to the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey and this vast barn would house these tithes. It is now in the care of @nationaltrust #greatcoxwellbarn #greatcoxwell #oxfordshire #barn #architecture #vernaculararchitecture #recordingbritain (at Great Coxwell Tithe Barn) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRug-I1FccU/?utm_medium=tumblr

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MEMENTO MORI: it’s probably an über-niche interest, but part of me will always regret not taking the optional course at university on tomb sculpture, taught by Professor Julian Gardiner. At the time it seemed deadly dull (if you’ll excuse the pun), but rather like the Dutch Golden Age painting, which has grown on me over time, I wish I have become increasingly interested in tomb sculpture. All Saints Coleshill looks like a conventional Cotswolds church from the outside, but I was quietly thrilled to discover three impressive tombs to the Pleydell-Bouverie family inside. The star piece for me was carved by the great 18th century sculptor Michael Rysbrack and is a confection of skull, putti and low-relief medallion. There’s also an impressive Gothick tomb and one with two recumbent figures. Oddly none of these seem to get mentioned online. #sculpture #michaelrysbrack #tombsculpture #coleshill #skull #mementomori (at Coleshill Estate) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRt85wEltpq/?utm_medium=tumblr

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CYANOTYPE: my first ever attempt at printing with cyanotype, guided by @scarlettrebecca and using the strong sunlight this afternoon. I did a drawing of Duncan Grant’s Bedroom @charlestontrust - trying to think and draw in terms of negative space/reversing light and dark and capture something of how Duncan might convey the same space. #cyanotype #printmaking #duncangrant #charlestonfarmhouse #creativeretreat (at Arthog, Gwynedd, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRmY2toFnoh/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Impossible not to be completely charmed by @thegranaryatthecrookedhouse in Brierley Hill, Herefordshire. Not a single wall, window, door or floorboard is straight. The Granary looks like a Wendy House, but actually there is a lot in a small space and it previously accommodated a cow and her calf. The Crooked House next door is full of character, down to the eggs that get laid straight into a larder at the back of the house, and the flock of mini sheep that run around outside. Thanks for having us @lukesinger16 - and for all the eggs & chutney! #cottagestyle #thegranaryatthecrookedhouse #cottage #cottagelife #cottagecore #airbnb #airbnbuk #staycation (at Brierley Hill) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhnoSllKLW/?utm_medium=tumblr

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A day of astonishing skies and incredible scenery as we drove West through Wales to the coast near Barmouth. The light on the sea (last pic) reminds me of being in the Cyclades. #wales #landscape #sky #clouds (at Arthog, Gwynedd, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhHCrallcQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

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We’re staying in the Granary at the Crooked House in Brierley Hill in Herefordshire, a cosy 16th century timber-framed cottage. It’s fuelling all my dreams of moving to a cottage in the countryside: it’s down a very long, deep twisty lane with grass growing down the middle, surrounded by hills. There is a flock of Ouessant sheep outside; clumps of old-fashioned roses by the door; low-beams, a vertiginous ladder/staircase up to the bedrooms and a panelled bath; and way more books than we can read in a couple of nights. It’s a great (cheap) Airbnb discovery and the host Luke in the farmhouse next door is super nice and interesting, with freshly-laid eggs left for us for our breakfast. (at Brierley Hill) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRep2rWFGSx/?utm_medium=tumblr

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BURFORD: the Cotswold village has one of my favourite churches. It has a surprisingly sumptuous interior, with Gothic fan-vaulting, the wonderful tomb to young Lucius Cary (complete with marble skeleton underneath), amongst other remarkable tombs. It was a very wealthy parish due to the Medieval wool trade. Take a particular note of the depiction of the Walls Chocolate Viennetta folds of the robes of the reclining figures and the weight of the bodies on the carved pillows. #architecture #gothic#burford #churcharchitecture #gothicarchitecture #fanvaulting #tomb #medievalarchitecture #cotswolds (at Burford Parish Church) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRdedKYF4VV/?utm_medium=tumblr