Shadows

At the Whitworth Art Gallery today Tish, Creature and I went to see the Dark Matters exhibition and we particularly loved this (picture comes from the dark matters website, we wanted to film it but were not sure if it was allowed):

This particular installation was by a group called Brass Art. It was a structure made of tiny transparent figures and cellophane around which a light rotated casting shadows in the surrounding walls. We watched the images move, enlarge, cross over each other and fade; each time the light went round you saw different details and patterns. For several rounds we followed the light (so our own shadows did not get in the way) and then also stood by the entrance. The transparent cellophane made shadows but they had an opaque quality that suggested smoke, and the larger more solid shape in the centre changed, one minute seeming like a protective hand, at others something more threatening to the scene. It was utterly mesmerising and I could quite happily have watched it all afternoon.

Having been a few months ago and been disappointed by the Mary Kelly exhibition, which was merely bewildering, this was most enjoyable and we will definitely go again, it is on til January.

I came home to a new (second hand) copy of 'Bears in the Night'. I have been looking after the Babe on Thursdays for a few weeks and am working on rebuilding my collection of children's books so we have nice things to share with her. She is nearly two and doesn't quite have the attention span for the more sophisticated stories (she was most insistent last week that I could not read The Sneetches, but loves The Elephant and the Bad Baby). In this tale a family of small bears get out of bed and go on an adventure "up Spook Hill", only to encounter something very scary. As Creature and I walked back from the bus stop we were discussing the book (I had ordered it a few days ago) and were pleased that we could remember it in it's entirety: out the window... down the tree ... over the wall... under the bridge... around the lake ... between the rocks... through the woods ...