The Hebe Week In Pics

Work Hard: Lee and I talking Leeds Online at LDF Write-Publish-Read Play Hard: Disney On Ice Work Hard: Shang Ting talking Uk Observing Play Hard: Hell yeah!Music: This guy got a lot of attention over on LOL! Leeds Online. We think he's ace!Drink:Wittards Hot Chocolate, Cath Kidston huge mugs!Food: Lovely Sandwiches from Out Of The WoodsDom's masterpiece featuring all of the Leeds In Barcelona team!

The Hebe Week In Pics: Leeds In Barcelona

On the metro in BarcelonaDom @ San josé market on La RamblaDave trying all the smoothies in San josé Market on La RamblaOur hotel Vincci MaritimoMatt getting papped for a change ;)Deaks ready to board the plane!Deaks has a pre-flight drinkMore Deaks travels coming next week!IED Classroom'Angel' Pizza, Gracia. BarcelonaChoosing toppings!Before the conference, Can you guess who Mr Lego is on th projector?Freaky hand in Angel PizzaLee's new skins!ICS after the conference

Jaume Plensa @ Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Today I am rolling on to Simon's turf and writing a blog on our visit to the Jaume Plensa exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It’s really my turf too as Plensa hails from my second home, Spain. During my studies I created many projects and a dissertation on Spanish art/artists and the very famous sculptor Antoní Gaudí so I feel like this is something of interest to me too.

Last Friday I had the unique opportunity to attend the private viewing of Plensa’s exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and see Plensa in the flesh. Firstly, I must say that my view on art has always been quite simple. For me, art is good for one of two reasons: either because it is technically exceptional or, and most importantly, it moves me in some way; the expression of the artist has managed to work its way through me and touch my emotions. My view has never changed no matter how many books I have read on the analysis of art.

I can say that Plensa and his work tick both those boxes and seeing his work at YSP has reaffirmed that sculpture really stands out and is one of my favourite forms of art. Seeing the photographs of Plensa’s work beforehand was nothing by comparison to being surrounded by his work. I was in awe of everything I saw and I shamefully admit, even though I have visited so many art museums and parks in Spain, this is actually the first time I have had the pleasure of visiting YSP. I cannot put my finger on what exactly made me feel the same calm I feel while walking around Park Guell (created by Gaudí in Barcelona), but it was so nice to feel it again; that inspiration and contentment that comes from the mixture of nature and art together.

''Plensa often refers to his belief that our life experiences leave indelible yet invisible marks on us which can be read by those who know us best. This belief is expressed in a family of figurative works with text tattooed across their skin. Even when the face or the body seem closed and focused on internal thoughts, the words on these figures give us access to what is happening within the body.'' YSP

When Simon and I arrived, I spotted Plensa straight away and I was very excited he was at the event. After looking around the exhibition I saw him talking to his friends and associates in Spanish and I took the opportunity to eaves drop. As I closed my eyes I could imagine myself back in Spain, being around my creative friends, talking music, art and philosophy. People were congratulating him and I almost felt like a kid again. I wanted to say "hello" to him but I was a little scared. As I have a slight obsession with the great late Catalan artist Gaudí (as well as having love for Dalí, Miro and poet Garcia Lorca), and I never had the chance to meet him, I knew I needed to step up, congratulate Jaume and get a photo with him or regret it forever. Forget your 'celebrities', these are the kind of people I want to have the pleasure of talking to! After passing him a few times as I wandered around the exhibition I finally asked him, nicely, in Spanish to have a photo with me. He was so gracious and kind, and after our snapshot I congratulated him on the exhibition and ran off all happy and kind of in love ;). Yes I am a geek and yes I don’t care :-) At this point I think Simon had bailed on me and told his art friends he didn’t know who I was (although he did stay around long enough to take the picture.)

The exhibition itself was inspiring. Everything about Plensa's work is people orientated, whether it be the actual physical statues or simply the words of different people used in his work. The use of poetry mixed with art was so interesting and I spent almost 15 minutes reading along the Twenty-Nine Palms lettered curtains, bumping into people along the way. I read the Spanish, Catalan and English language and I only read a small part of the full length of the curtains. These were taken from some of Plensas favourite poets. The trees with bronze versions of Jaume's body hugging them created a peaceful feeling and yet again, I circled them all to read of the names [of famous musicians] printed on them. Having not read a lot on Plensa beforehand I felt like his personality was coming across to me through his work; the effect poetry and words have had on his life. This is important to me as I find the biography of an artist just as interesting as the work itself.

I felt so many different emotions while entering each exhibition room. At first I was happy and calm walking outside and seeing the various figures, made from letters and symbols, shining in the sun. When I entered the rooms with the lit up figures I felt the panic, the stress and the anxiety that the figures did. The most bizarre feeling I felt was when I entered the room with the elongated stone heads. I felt like I was in a stretched photo and my eyes just would not adjust, the whole effect of the room was quite trippy. Some of the heads were carved and finished, others seemed half done. It felt as if they were once big ancient statues that had fallen down and these were the remains.

In Jerusalem AKA 'the gong room' it was nice to see so many people interacting with the art. Even the gongs were inscribed with words, which were from the Songs Of Solomon. I love anything biblical so after attempting to successfully 'gong' a gong (to no avail!) I walked around and had a read of each text and then had a look at the rest of the exhibition. It included quotes from Plensa himself, a piece of art which seemed like a hanging mobile made from metal and filled with poetry and a room full of models of all his work. All in all an amazing experience and I already have my books on Plensa and his work on order! Congratulations Jaume Plensa and we hope, once again, you will enjoy your time here in Yorkshire.

Photo Tour

When we arrived the sun was shining and the atmosphere was lovely at YSPThe Heart Of Trees: A bronze cast of Jaume himself, surrounding the trees The figures covered in the names of famous musiciansA photographer capturing the letters on the statuesInside the House Of KnowledgeThe House Of KnowledgeThe figures are made from 8 different alphabets and overflow The Hearts Of Trees, the large wired heads above the gallery and Plensa's other works in the distanceThe view of the heads from aboveTwenty-Nine Palms, curtains made from poems in many languagesSpanish poetry within the lettered curtains Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil PanicStressHysteriaThese alabaster heads are like an optical illusion; as if the room has been stretchedSome of the heads are finished, some are not, adding to the confusionJerusalem; The gong room All the gongs engraved with words from the Songs of SolomonWord of Spanish Poet Jose Sorente on a piece shaped like a kids play mobileIn The Midst Of Dreams: a tribute to Oscar WildeAnd finishing off with one more photo of the amazing curtains

The Music Scene in Madrid

Indras playing in the James Joyce pub near Plaza Cibeles, Madrid

I lived in Madrid for almost 3 years. I was an 18 year old girl in a new city. I quickly got into the music scene, which back in 2003 was awesome. Almost every bar and nightclub had live bands and so much fresh new talent. The bar I worked in, Oneills, played host to some of the best new bands from all over Europe.

I soon became a 'groupie', following loads of Spanish bands. Although it's hard to pick the best bands I followed around Madrid, my favourite bands were Sexy Sadie, a Spanish band who sing in English but who are no longer together, Indras, a great band who aim to have a similar musical style Beatles but Spanish and Los Reyes del KO, a soulful band with amazing rhythm.

The best music venues over in Madrid include Bourbon Café, a country music style saloon bar which is home to Jazz, country and reggae music and had live beats flowing along with the dance tunes late night, the then Chesterfield Café, which is named the Orange Café, which is home to a very popular Erasmus night and Honky Tonk another popular music venue used by semi famous bands who are popular on the Madrid music scene. There is also Moby Dick Club up near the Bernabeu Stadium, where I had the pleasure of discovering one of my favourite Spanish bands Sexy Sadie.

A lot of the venues I used to hang out at are still popular now in 2010. The Sala Arena club still holds top gigs and La Riviera, where I saw Travis woo the crowd and sing Flowers with just an acoustic guitar and nothing else, is an amazing venue where MGMT and Motorhead are both performing there this month.

Although there are so many areas in Madrid, the most popular include the Calle Huertas close to the centre of Madrid, which has some live music venues as well as open plazas, nightclubs and small disco bars.

I have to say though one of my favourite places to hang out was Malasaña, an area that was the centre of the cultural movement of reinvention and freedom of expression, La Movida. It's a place full of retro bars, gothic bars and plazas where you would stand out in high heels as everyone is just in converse, jeans and t-shirts. The range of music in this area is amazing, ranging from Punk Rock and heavy mental to Indie and the 80’s, the 80’s being my all time favourite musical era.

My music

One of the funniest experiences of my life was sitting in a bar in Madrid and hearing myself come on the radio! I featured on the track Bottle; from the album Forever Living Young, by Spanish band Blue Child recorded in Mallorca a couple of years earlier. I was a bit shocked to say the least when it came on the radio but it was fun. The band made a video too and apparently as I was 'absent' they replaced me with a mannequin… not sure if there is a hidden meaning there or not ;-)

The one thing I learned about the Spanish music scene while living in Madrid, Mallorca, Granada, Barcelona and Albacete (phew!) is that it is VERY hard for a Spanish band to made it big singing in English. Sexy Sadie are one of the very few Spanish groups who have made it singing in English. So I leave you with a video from them recorded at the Sala Arena, Madrid in 2004. I am pretty sure you can hearing me singing from the crowd. It was one of the best concerts ever. Enjoy!

Secuestrados (2010) en el Festival de Cine de Leeds

 

Dirección: Miguel Ángel Vivas 
Interpretación: Fernando Cayo, Manuela Vellés, Ana Wagener, Dritan Biba
Género : Crimen, suspense, horror
País: España
Estrellas: 3/5
Lugar: The Vue (en el centro comercial The Light, Leeds)

Tenía muchas ganas de ir a ver Secuestrados en el Festival de Cine de Leeds 2010 porque después de ver un incontable número de películas españolas durante mis años estudiando en la Universidad ya me interesa mucho el cine español.

Esperaba que la película sería notable porque no hay mucho cine español en Leeds, pero no os puedo mentir entonces sigo con la crítica de Secuestrados.

Una familia, unos ladrones profesionales y una noche inolvidable…

Mientras leía la sinopsis de Secuestrados, creía que nosotros, como espectadores, tendríamos que aguantar unas escenas intensas y difíciles antes de llegar a final, en que momento la familia tendría su vuelta a defenderse de manera brutal. Eso no es un resumen exacto de la película. Es totalmente diferente. No voy a decir más que eso pero la trama, en realidad, no es tan gratificante.

La actuación en la película es mediocre. Es evidente que la película se grabó en solamente doce tomas. Mi personaje favorita de la película es Isa, la hija de la familia, protagonizada por Manuela Vellés. Me gusta la actuación de Manuela tan como su interpretación del personaje de Isa. En cuanto a los ladrones, ellos no me dieron miedo. Solo uno de ellos me asustó a veces. No son ladrones profesionales ni secuestradores a mi juicio.

La película no es mal, es interesante y hay escenas originales; un ladrón se sienta en el sofá entre la hija y la madre de la familia. El come y ve la tele como se fuera un día normal, mientras que las dos mujeres están llorando. Es genial. También hay momentos llenos de suspenso y la película acaba con un giro inesperado que para algunos será un buen final pero yo prefiero que mis películas de horror tengan una formula tradicional para que salga del cine satisfecha.