Jaume Plensa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Having seen the beauty of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park´s permanent collections in West Bretton in Wakefield many times, we headed straight for the temporary exhibition by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. You may know him for his giant head that protrudes over the trees in St. Helen´s near Liverpool. Along the same lines this exhibition focuses on the dialogue, landscape and sculpture together, whilst the underlying personal sensory experience is paramount to reading his work. The luck of arriving early meant that we got to fully experience the exhibition and its sensory properties in the peace and quiet of the gallery walls with little intinterruption from others. As we paced through the five rooms of the exhibition shadow and light fuel moments of quiet contemplation. His use of the human form, use of language and the visual impact lend to the viewer looking in whilst looking out. Seeing the words like insomnia, peace, paranoia and lover it is difficult for anyone to ignore these emotional prompts whilst looking at the delicate form of the human body. Whilst walking through this exhibition it is impossible to ignore another promprominentse being triggered – sound. Unusual for a gallery exhibition where silence is the norm, Plensa´s use of sound is another interatcion with his audience, which adds dimensions onto the viewing experience. The main corridor echos a soft and romantic sound of steel letters twinkling at the hands of fellow viewers. A collection of words hang from ceeling to floor creating a visual wall of language, light and reflection. The other sound is a deep gong, vibrating throughout the five rooms in a low, mesmerising sound movement. It made me think about a sound you would associate with the start of old films or temples of the East. The sound is enough to reverberate throughout. The room holds a circle of huge golden gongs, each engraved with pàrts of poetry or text. Darkness is dence, but a golden light falls to the floor casting shaddows which radiate the room. The whole exhibition makes you use your senses which in turn makes you think about the delicate nature of life and the etheral nature of being human. Go to enjoy the natural green of the YSP natural space and the interesting ideas presented by Plensa. The YSP has a USP… it holds art work of great artists, but in a way that is more easy going than most ´typical´ gallery spaces. The fact that you can be viewing works whilst kids are playing football or dogs are snoozing in the sunshine near by, gives a gentle approach to the viewing of art that can be enjoyed by all rather than just the regular gallery goer.   Yorkshire Sculpture Park West Bretton Wakefield WF4 4LG Website         Words by Carol-Anne Ward,Art Correspondent @ AC-PR & Creative Boutique

Apple Becomes World’s Most Valuable Company

Apple has overtaken oil group Exxon to become the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.

The tech company has been closing in on Exxon for some time and was “just” $50bn (£30bn) away from taking the lead when it reported yet another quarter of record-breaking earnings on 19 July.

As the US stock markets bounced back from last week’s crash the tech firm overtook Exxon with a market value of $337bn compared to ExxonMobil’s $334bn. Exxon could easily slip back into the lead if the recent fears for the global economy subside but the gap is so close that these two corporate behemoths look certain to be battling it out for quite some time.

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985 as the company lost its way and Microsoft-powered PCs seemed destined to dominate the market. When he returned to the company in 1997, the troubled firm was worth just $2bn. He led a renaissance at the company, focusing on design and innovation and setting what seemed like impossibly ambitious targets.

Starting with the brightly coloured iMac, Apple redefined the consumer electronics market at a time when the internet was just going mainstream. The iMac was followed by the iPod, which revolutionised the music industry. Then came the iPhone and the iPad. Each new release has driven Apple to new heights.

There we have it, Apple have revolutionised the way we access data, use our phones and access music, what other markets can you see apple changing?

Riot Artist Shows Funny Side To Lawlessness

In the midst of the riot wave which has swept the nation, an artist who goes by the name of ‘Photoshoplooter’ has cleverly digitally enhanced riot and looting footage to make a mockery of the mindless violence and vandalism, which have dominated our TV’s and newspapers for the last few days.

Take a look at some of these.

.

For more images or to Submit your images to Photoshoplooter, check out http://photoshoplooter.tumblr.com/

Words by Anthony Caton, images curtesy of Photoshoplooter.

Watch The Throne – Jay Z & Kanye Album

Today we see the release of the eagerly anticipated album ‘Watch The Throne’ which is a collaboration between both JayZ and Kanye West.

Where inspiration is concerned, Jay and Kanye really pulled the stops out on this one, no stone was left unturned. The pair even commissioned Givenchy’s Creative Director Riccardo Tisci to design the albums artwork.

In an age where music piracy and illegal downloading is commonplace, Jay & Kanye have done well to not have the album leak before it’s official launch.

I’ve just listened to this album and can not wait to really give it a good listening to.

Personally I don’t think that neither Jay or Kanye need to be concerned about anybody trying to touch their throne.

Download the album -
www.watchthethrone.com