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GALLERY 1 (2D)

Leonid Afremov

Clear Sailing

The sunny breezy ocean winds

raced playfully across the seas today.

And beckoned us to navigate,

to some perfect place without delay.

We charted the course, set our sails and

jaunting skillfully we cruised away.

And on this voyage that we’ve set about,

our hearts, with heated passion,

lovingly while away the day.

(Chris Wood)

 

Leonid Afremov is a modern impressionistic artist who works mainly with a palette knife and oils. He developed his own unique technique and style which is unmistakable and cannot be confused with other artists. It took 10 years for Leonid Afremov to build up his palette-knife handling skill up to the level that it is now. He likes to paint cityscapes, landscapes, seascapes and he also loves to paint portraits of musicians. He gets inspired by Jazz music and in fact he is a huge jazz fan. Leonid Afremov also loves cats and other animals; he has had cats throughout his entire life. He has painted many paintings of cats, dogs, horses, tigers and even giraffes. Most of his work is considered very colorful and politically neutral. Afremov is mainly known as being a self-representing artist who promotes and sells his work exclusively over the internet with very little exhibitions and involvement of galleries.

His paintings are not offensive to anyone nor send any hidden messages. The paintings usually reflect certain personal memories and emotions. He tries to draw the viewer to have a certain feeling rather than tell a story via the painting, or have the viewer see the world how he sees it. The neutral attributes of Afremov’s art make the paintings appealing to almost any social, ethnic and age group. Leonid Afremov has been traveling quite extensively and has taken many photographs of different scenes that he later painted. Almost every painting he painted has a very personal inspiration. His art can be reflected as very positive through the bright colours he uses.

His paintings have been in exhibitions all over the world. The history of his life has inspired several documentaries and videos that describe his personality, the places to where he has travelled and his anecdotes.

Looking at the paintings of Leonid Afremov, it is difficult to believe that all the small details on them were literally carved out from paint with little steel blades, the smallest of which is only 1.5 inches long.

His painting technique is accepted by specialists to be completely unique and not capable of being copied.

I chose that picture because I love impressionistic art. I find it inspiring and beautiful when a moment is captured and the artist gives us it through his or her view. That is what Afremov did. With the colours and his special technique he painted a positive view of a sunset. The person-maybe himself- represents calm and peace. This technique gives me a kind of 3 dimensional effect, so I can dive into the sight.  My other favourite impressionistic painting is one from Monet which is quite similar to this one and also popular. As I mentioned Afremov did not hide any messages behind the picture, he gives it to us as his own personal impression.

To close with his own words:

"The love for life and art inspires me to create the most. Every artwork is the result of long painting process; every canvas is born during the creative search; every painting is full of my inner world.” Hlavacska Darinka

 

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Burton

The Meeting on the Turret Stairs was painted by an Irish artist called Sir Fredric William Burton in 1864. Burton was born in a small town in County Clare called Corofin. As a child, Burton and his family relocated to the country’s capital city, Dublin. Here, he began studying art. Along with his traditional training, Burton was also studying to paint miniature portraits. It was in this area he exhibited wonderful talent. Burton also took an interest in the history of art and gained a scholarly knowledge of Irish antiquities and archaeology. Subsequently, he was made a member of the Royal Irish Academy- an independent Irish academic body that promotes excellence in arts, humanities and sciences.

After his studies, Burton embarked on a career as a portrait painter. He travelled around Germany, and learned an appreciation of the Nazarene painters, before settling in London. He further established himself as he became known for his exquisite watercolours. Burton became hugely interested in the Pre-Raphaelite Movement and it influenced his work immensely. The Pre- Raphaelite Movement wanted to reform art. They rejected the old mechanistic approach, citing them as a corrupting influence on the academic teachings of art. They rejected classical poses and elegant compositions. They wanted the return of abundant detail and intense colours. How this affected Burton and his painting style are exemplified in this painting.

The ‘Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ was inspired by an old Danish ballad, Hellelil and Hildebrand, which had been translated into English in 1855. It tells the story of the princess Hellelil, and how she fell in love with one of her twelve guards. This man, of course, was Hildebrand. They embarked on a love affair which was ultimately found out by her father. The King deemed the love match as utterly inappropriate and thus, marched forth with his seven sons to kill Hildebrand. A bloody battle commenced and Hildebrand, a seasoned knight, managed to slay all but one brother. As he raised his sword to finish his last remaining opponent, Hellelil begged him to spare him, her youngest brother. Hildebrand listened to his love, but within minutes, died of the wounds he had sustained. Hellelil was dragged off by her brother, and it wasn’t long before she too, died. The cause is not clear but one can assume she died from heartbreak.

The lines of the ballad that coincide with the scene of the painting go as follows:

“’Up, Lord Hildebrand! Out and yield!’

He kissed me then, mine eyes above:

‘Say never my name, thou darling love’

Out the door Lord Hildebrand sprang,

Around his head the sword he swang”

Taking these lines into account, I think we can conclude that Burton has depicted the final moment the lovers had together before the battle. This tender moment is the last that they ever shared before Hildebrand died.

The two characters are situated in a very confined, almost cramped and claustrophobic space. This serves to draw all attention to them as there is nothing surrounding to distract the eye. To further highlight the lovers, there is a light shining in on them from the open window, illuminating their loving expressions. Both faces are partially obscured. We can only see the upper halves of their faces and their eyes are closed. It’s very striking and really heightens the emotion of the scene. It is quiet and understated but with a strong sense of deep, undying love. There is a crushed flower on the ground by Hellelil’s feet. The petals have fallen off and lay scattered around them, conveying ideas of frailty and fragility. Knowing this flower will die, it reflects the plight of the lovers and the transience of their love.

This painting is a watercolour, painted on paper. It is often mistaken for an oil painting, due largely to the stunning detail. We see hints of Burton’s pre Raphaelite leanings in particular in the detail of Hildebrand’s chain mail and along his sword. The rich primary colours of the pairs clothes are striking and further accentuate the lovers as the colours surrounding them are bland.

From the start, this painting caused quite a sensation. People were immediately able to recognise the romance and it quickly became Burton’s most popular work. Sensing its value, Burton sold the painting but cleverly kept the copyright. The painting changed hands a few times before it was finally bequeathed to the National Gallery of Ireland, where it remains still.

Over the years, Meeting on the Turret Stairs has become Irelands most loved painting. It receives the most visitors to the gallery, despite the fact it’s only on display for three hours a week. People are still drawn to the tender emotion so easily recognisable in the two faces. It seems that a good love story has the timeless ability to capture the hearts of countless people across many centuries. Ava McSwiney

 

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Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Danseuses basculant / Danseuses vertes, The Green Dancer / Dancer in green / Swaying dancer, 1879

pastel on canvas, 66cm x 36cm

Thyssen-Bornemissza Museum, Madrid

Edgar Degas was born in 1834 in Paris, and to make it short (as I am focusing on his artistic style), after being introduced to the works of Ingres, who was a neoclassical painter, he became a student of the  École des Beaux-Arts in 1855. Here he planned to become a history painter, though in his thirties he changed his mind, obviously. Degas lived for a while in New Orleans, but after the death of his father, moved back to Paris, where learning that his brother had fallen into a debt, he started to sell his paintings at the Paris Salon, which thus became his main income.

After a while Degas grew tired of the Salon, and joined a group of young artists, who later became known as the Impressionists. Between 1874 and 1886 the group had eight exhibitions at the Salon. As Degas made it hard for others to cope with this personality, the group and himself had lots of disagreements; one of the reasons for this was Degas' artistic views. Degas used to mock the others for their preference of painting outdoors, as he only painted in his studio, where he was not bothered by anyone. He also painted with rather quick and easy strokes, thus creating a light layer of paint on the canvas, while the others applied thick layers.

When it comes to Degas, there are two things that must be mentioned: his hate for the label ’impressionist’ and his devotion to ballet. In the following, I am going to focus on these two and expand them, while giving a wider view on his artwork.

The French painter refused to call himself an impressionist (as the rest of the world did call him so), he considered himself a realist, even though his artwork has lots of impressionist characteristics, such as using unique, bold colours and focusing on contemporary life (having themes such as cafes, dance, ballet). Most of his paintings are nudes, portraits, but the artist left behind a couple of landscapes too, though they were painted either from memory or imagination, as he never painted outdoors (mentioned above). Degas’ peculiar style, namely the awkward cropping (this way mutilating the subjects by cutting off their limbs) and the unusual viewpoints were influenced by Japanese prints and photography. Degas also believed that the perfect way to capture movement was by creating unfinished passages.

Degas had quite a penchant for ballet: more than half of his works deal with this subject. He was a frequent visitor of the Opera, where as the custom was in Parisian cultural life, young men often flirted with the dancers behind the curtains, though this was the privilege only of the wealthy. As our artist had an unquenchable thirst for ballet and also had the intention of perfecting his style, he turned to one of his influential friends, Albert Hecht, to whom he wrote a letter in which he asks him for help to get behind the scenes. The following passages is taken from this letter: “My dear Hecht, Have you the power to get the Opéra to give me a pass for the day of the dance examination, which, so I have been told, is to be on Thursday? I have done so many of these dance examinations without having seen them that I am a little ashamed of it.”

The reason why I chose this particular painting is that it has almost all of the Degas characteristics in it: the unusual cropping as well as the weird point of view, the bold colours (which I find curiously relaxing, yet disturbing at the same time, this captures Degas’ controvery perfectly) and of course, the subject of ballet. The Green Dancer/Dancer in green/swaying dancer (Danseuses basculant (Danseuses vertes)) finished in 1879, is a pastel painting (of the dimensions of 66x36 cm) in an impressionistic style, currently exhibited at the Thyssen-Bornemissza Museum in Madrid, Spain. The painting depicts a group of ballet dancers, presumably in mid-performance or warming up, though only one of them is shown full-length. The dominant colours are orange and green: a mixture that evokes a sense of freshness in the audience. The reason of using two contrasting colours could also be that Degas wanted to express the differences between the two groups of dancers, namely that those in green are executing a swift turn, while the ones dressed in orange are seemingly just standing there, watching the others. Degas not only revealed the dancers’ occupation by their dress, but also by giving them tall, slim, athletic figures. Kovács Zsóka

 

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Alex Grey

Birth, 1990

Oil on linen, 60x40

"The pleasures and discomforts of pregnancy yield to the violent logic of birth. A tremendous flow of energy goes through the mother, who emits and orgasmic scream of pain that echoes from her own birth to her death, portrayed as silhouettes on either side of her head. The letter symbols in the painting are Tibetan syllables, a white Om, red Ah, and blue Hum. When placed in the head, throat, and heart, these letters are the seed syllables of all the Buddhas. Thus, the mother is a birthing Buddha. The heart vajra in the screaming newborn is a symbol of imperishable spirit. Though the umbilical cord will be cut, the child will remain connected to the mother with subtle heart cords.”

In my opinion the best description for this picture is composed by the artist. Borsody Bence

 

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Kahlo

 

Lesch Dora

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KAY, Jim

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Illustrated Edition cover

2014-2015

 The Beamish Museum, Beamish, County Durham

 watercolour/acrylic/oil on paper, 22.6 cm x 26.7 cm

Watercolour/acrylic/oil paint on paper, for the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Illustrated Edition. It shows the main character, Harry Potter, entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters for the first time.

The artist used bright colours to make the reader excited about the book and about the world of wizards, too. As part of a charity event, the picture can be seen not only on the cover of the book, but in The Beamish Museum as well.

The picture was first published in March, 2015.

Nagy Viktoria

 

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Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

The Tree of Life, 1909

Oil on canvas, 195 cm x 102 cm

Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

 

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian artist, whose work was seen quite controversial. Some of the pieces that he created during his career, are today seen as some of the most important and influential pieces to come out of Austria.

Gustav Klimt was born in Austria in 1862. His father worked as a gold engraver, but was not very successful in his trade; for this reason, the family did not live a great life, and Klimt was raised in poverty as a young child. In 1876, when he was 14 years old, Klimt enrolled in the Vienna Public Arts Schools; he was noticed right away for the talent and the art forms he created. Because of this, he received his first commission to create art for public viewing, while he was studying.

During the 1880s, Gustav Klimt, his elder brother Ernst, and their friend Franz Matsch, began a productive cooperation. They worked in theaters, churches, and museums; many of the pieces which they created, were ordered by patrons who frequented the locations which they created works for. The Allegories collection that he submitted, is seen as a creative, and timeless piece; because of the work, he was commissioned to do a second piece for the museum. In this second collection, the style which includes gold paint, abstract space in the art, and exotic symbolism of the female figure, is a prominent style, which he sticks with for future pieces that he creates.

After leaving the Secession Movement in 1905, Gustav Klimt took on a new approach, which was not well accepted in Vienna; not only by other artists, but by the locals either. During this period of time, many of Klimt's women were painted in the nude, in evocative and erotic positions that emphasised sensuality and sex. They brazenly confronted the viewer with their gaze as well as their nudity. They were controversial images but appealed to a new sensibility, a celebration of sexuality that was only just emerging in Vienna. He created various pieces, which are extremely erotic and exotic in nature. Up until about 1914, many of the pieces that he created, took on this sexual underpinning, and were not widely accepted, in part due to their graphic nature, and in part because of the time period that he lived in and worked in.

The Tree of life is an important symbol used by many theologies, philosophies and mythologies. It signifies the connection between heaven and earth and the underworld, and the same concept is illustrated by Gustav Klimt's famous mural, The Tree of Life. For Klimt's admirers, the mural also has another significance, being the only landscape created by the artist during his golden period. Klimt used oil painting techniques with gold paint, to create luxurious art pieces, during that time. The concept of the tree of life is illustrated by Gustav Klimt's painting, in a bold and original manner. The swirling branches create mythical symbolism, suggesting the perpetuity of life. The branches turn, spiral and undulate, creating a tangle of strong branches, long vines and fragile threads, an expression of life's complexity. With its branches reaching for the sky, the tree of life roots into the earth beneath, creating the connection between heaven and earth, a concept often used to explain the concept of the tree of life, in many cultures, religions and ideologies. The tree of life illustrated by Klimt also creates another connection, with the underworld, signifying the final determinism governing over any living thing, that is born, grows, and then returns back into the earth. While many talk about the symbol of unity in Gustav Klimt's The Tree of Life, there are others that consider it an expression of masculine and feminine. The feminine expressed in the painting symbolizes sustenance, care and growth, while the masculine is expressed through the use of phallic representations. From this different union, life is born, and the tree of life, as well. Others say that the painting symbolizes the union between man's greatest virtues, which are strength, wisdom and beauty. The tree reaching for the sky is a symbol of man's perpetual yearning for becoming more, yet his roots are still bound to the earth. One of the most important qualities of The Tree of Life is that it challenges the viewer to spend more time admiring the painting, while gauging all its meanings. While the artist uses a richness of symbols, gold for paint and other luxurious techniques to illustrate a magical world, the presence of a single black bird draws the viewer towards the central part of the painting. The black bird is a reminder that everything that has a beginning also has an end, as black birds have been used as a symbol of death by many cultures. Kránitz Roxána

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Josef Koudelka –

Angel on Bicycle, 1967

Czechoslovakia

Diane Mayr – Angel on Bicycle

Josef Koudelka,
            How did you do it?
            The right place?
            The right time?
            Your camera at
            the ready, too?
            Angelic intervention
            or pure luck?
            Or, perhaps the
            creative license
            to stage whatever
            you can imagine?
            Let’s just call it magic.

 

Josef Koudelka is a Czech photographer born in 1938. He made his first photographs during the time he was studying to become an engineer in the 50s. These were photographs of rehearsals and stage productions at a theatre in Prague and socio-photographs of gypsies. Then, in 1967 he gave up his entire career as an engineer to become a full-time photographer. 1967 was not only important because of this decision but it was the year when his famous photograph, the one chosen for the course, the ‘Angel on Bicycle’ was taken. The following year, Koudelka photographed the Soviet invasion of Prague, publishing his photographs under the initials P. P. (Prague Photographer) for fear of reprisals to him and his family. In 1969, he was anonymously awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for those photographs.

Later he left Czechoslovakia for political asylum, became a French citizen and soon joined Magnum Photos. In 1975, he brought out his first book Gypsies, and in 1988, Exiles. Since 1986, he has worked with a panoramic camera and issued a compilation of these photographs in his book Chaos in 1999. Koudelka has had more than a dozen books of his work published, including most recently in 2008 Invasion Prague 68.

Josef Koudelka is often praised for his ability to capture the presence of human spirit and soul in dark landscapes. “His characters sometimes seem to come out of fairytales. Still, some see hope within his work — the endurance of human endeavor, in spite of its fragility.” Wikipedia
One of these photographs is the ‘Angel on Bicycle’ depicting a young boy dressed as an angel passing by an old women on the street, followed by horse-drawn cart. There is a lot to pay attention to on this picture, from the face of the boy to his sneakers that are in contrast to the whole medieval atmosphere of the photo. The photograph is dynamic and static at the same time, which gives the feeling of a frozen moment.
Tyekvicska Virág

 

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Miro

Joan Miró i Ferrŕ was born in Barcelona, and grew up in a family of goldsmiths and watchmakers. His father intended the same profession for him too, but Miró started taking private drawing classes from the age of 7. At the age of 14 he was admitted to the fine art academy of Lla Lotja, to the dismay of his faher. He was a member of the Cercle Artistic de Sant Luc. He later went to business school and started working as a clerk, but had a nervous breakdown and left the business world. He had his first solo show at the age of 25, his work was defaced and ridiculed. He moved to Paris in 1920, where he gained popularity and joined the Surrealist Group. When Germany invaded France Miró relocated to Varengeville, ad for the duration of the Vichy Regime's rule he escaped to Spain. He recieved a doctorate honoris cause. He died in 1983 at the age of 80.

He was a surrealist painter, but his early works were influenced by Cézanne and Van Gogh. His most popular paintings belong to his 'surrealist pictorial language' era. His painting, titled The Harlequin's Carnival is a good example of this era. It has strong, eye-catching colours and very defined lines. The painting is interesting for its rich symbolic content. It was painted during Lent, and the world 'carnival' in the title can refer to the religious carnival just before Lent, called Mardi Gras. The Harlequin is the main figure of the painting. Harlequin originally was a comic theatre character. In the painting the figure has all the attributes of the Harlequin's theatric representation: the pipe, the mustache, and the guitar, but in the painting the guitar is the character's body. It has a clearly sad face, despite his colorful and festive surroundings. The Harlequin represents the painter himself. While painting Harlequin's Carnival, Miró was very poor and could not afford food. He was so hungry, he started hallucinating and the painting is a representation of what he saw. Ozvald Emma

Reshetnikov

Siuzanna

 

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Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

The Starry Night, 1889

Oil on canvas, 73.7 cm X 92.1 cm

Museum of Modern Art, New York City

Vincent van Gogh was one of the most well known post-impressionist artists, for whom colour was the chief symbol of expression. Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert. Holland on March 30, 1853. As a son of a pastor, he was brought up in a religious atmosphere. As a result, his original intention was to become a pastor himself. However, years later he finally discovered his calling as an artist.

He moved to Belgium to study art. His early years are also known as “The Early Dutch Period”. After Belgium, he continued his studies in Paris, living with his brother. Here, he came up with his own style.

In 1888, he moved to Arles, to establish a school of art, called the Yellow House. Here, van Gogh hoped that other painters could potentially work together. Unfortunately, Gauguin was the only volunteer. Their collaboration was short lived, as near the end of the year, van Gogh had a meltdown and cut off part of his earlobe with Gauguin fleeing from the city as a result. After the incident, van Gogh was sent to an asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.

In 1890, he was released from professional care, but unfortunately some months later committed suicide.

The Starry Night is one of the most well known paintings in modern culture as well as being one of the most replicated and sought after prints. This oil on canvas depicts the view –just before sunrise- from van Gogh’s asylum window in Saint-Remy.

The exact meaning of the painting remains a subject of debate, as van Gogh did not give a proper description of his intentions. The detail, for example the giant dark structure on the left side also remains open to discussion. Some say it is a mountain, some that it is a tree. Also, some experts came up with the theory that the eleven stars on the painting are actually a biblical reference. This idea is supported by the fact that the painter was raised in a religious environment.

I have chosen this painting because I am very fond of its colour scheme and for some reason, it gives me a calming sensation when I look at it. Varga Bence

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Whistler

James McNeill Whistler

(1834, Lowell, Massachusetts – 1903, London)

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (Portrait of the Artist's Mother), 1871

Oil on canvas, 144.3 cm × 162.4 cm

Museé d'Orsay, Paris

 

James Abbott McNeill Whistler  was born in 1834, Lowell, US.  British-based artist active during the American Gilded Age, he was the first child of Anna Matilda McNeill and George Washington Whistler. His father was a railroad engineer and was offered a position in St. Petersburg, so the family moved to Russia in 1843 the follow the father. Here Whistler started taking private art lessons, and then enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts at age eleven. During some time spent in London with relatives his brother-in-law spurred his interest in art, he was already imagining an art career.  After his father’s death family moved back to Pomfret and he applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point from where he was dismissed. He moved to Europe and never returned to the US. In 1861 he painted his first famous work, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl. 

Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes". Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, best known under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother, is a painting in oils on canvas.  It is considered by many to be the most important American painting not on American soil and was bought by the French state in 1891. In the painting we can see the artist’s mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. Several stories relate to this work of art; one is that Anna Whistler was a replacement for another model that couldn't show up and it is also said that Whistler originally wanted the model to stand, but his mother was too old to stand for such a long time. The image has been used since the Victorian era, especially in the United States, for example as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and "family values" in general.  In 1934 the U.S. Post office issued a stamp with the image of Whistler's Mother with the slogan "In Memory and In Honor of the Mothers of America."  The painting has been featured or mentioned in numerous works of fictions and within pop culture. Lakosi Janka

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GALLERY 2 (3D)

221B Baker Street, London

Now, to depart from the world full of astonishments of sculpture, architecture etc, let’s take a look at an iconic place, in some ways fictional too, namely 221B Baker Street, London. I am sure everyone is familiar with the name Sherlock Holmes, so there is no need to go into details on that.

As a short introduction, let me dicuss the history of the famous flat. It first appeared in the very first Sherlock Holmes story, ’A Study in Scarlet’, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1887 (written in 1886). The owner and landlady of it is Mrs. Hudson and is rented by the mastermind Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, though the later moves out some time around his marriage.

When the stories were written, numbers did not go up to 221 on Baker Street; the reason for choosing a fictional number was to avoid any misunderstandings, so the famous flat and the detective along with it would not be mistaken for a real place and effectively, person, and also to prevent anyone’s privacy being invaded. Today, 221 is very real, though it is not occupied by Sherlock Holmes or does not have a connection with him either. An 1815 townhouse functions as the Sherlock Holmes Museum, located between 237 and 241 Baker Street, resembling the original flat described in the stories.

There are several adaptations both on the silver- and the TV-screen of Sherlock’s and Watson’s adventures, but in the following I am going to focus only on the flat appearing in the BBC TV-series, entitled Sherlock.

The flat scenes are shot at two different places. The outside location is next to a sandwich bar on North Gower Street, the reason for not shooting on Baker Street being that there are too many shops and such relating to Sherlock Holmes and also because of the traffic, the interior scenes are shot at Upper Boat Studios in Cardiff. Before production began, there were debates on whether 221B should be used as the house number, or not, but finally, creators agreed to keep it, as it is iconic.

During my presentation, I showed the rest of the group a couple of photos, links which I am going to include here, for anyone who might be interested :-).

First off, the kitchen. It looks just like a regular one, but it functions as a laboratory, Sherlock conducts his experiments here. One time he even stored preserved human brains in the fridge, and also led an experiment on human eyeballs in the microwave. (http://www.sherlockology.com/media/1011835/12.jpg)

Moving on to the living room, I have to mention that this room serves as a sitting room, and this is also where Sherlock receives his clients (http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6rdjx99dz1qa4vzoo6_r1_500.jpg). One of the walls is covered with bullet holes, as Sherlock practises his shooting there (either because of boredom, or to relieve stress). It also has a yellow smiley face painted on it. In front of it is the iconic worn-out sofa, on which Sherlock does his thinking (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/70/ce/3e/70ce3e7f7b5ff9a070912b5abc294295.jpg). Another mentionable element of the room is the fireplace with its mantelpiece (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lZIR3n4Lg5Y/TwSSTec5RKI/AAAAAAAAAWI/hMcHnnk-2Dk/s1600/sherlockbakerst.png), on which Sherlock keeps a human skull. At one occasion he said that it is a friend of his, though it is unknown whether it is one of his late friends’ skull, or just a skull that he considers a friend: http://www.sherlockology.com/media/1011915/7.jpg. Also, we can find a Persian slipper in the fireplace, in which Sherlock keeps his tobacco (he is a serious tobacco addict in this version of the story) (http://www.sherlockology.com/media/1011925/8.jpg). Above his desk there is a bishon head with vintage headphones on it, which I find particularly funny : https://milandewet.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/screen-shot-2013-03-10-at-5-32-42-pm.png.

Finally, the bedroom, about which there is not much to know, only that Sherlock has a periodic table hung on one of the walls: http://40.media.tumblr.com/bc9a30c86952472a63dfbb67ec0919eb/tumblr_inline_npc18iLL811to2wlx_500.jpg.

The chaotic atmosphere mixed with vintage elements is due to an idea that the creators had, mainly that Sherlock would not live somewhere too suburban or too modern. In my opinion, this flat perfectly resembles Sherlock’s eccentric, vain and unpredictable nature. Kovács Zsóka

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Edvard Eriksen (1876 - 1959)

The Little Mermaid

Cast Bronze

Copenhagen

Edvard Eriksen was a Danish/Icelandic sculptor. He apprenticed as a wood carver, after which he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts between 1894 and 1899. He is best known as the creator of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen 1909-13.

H.C. Andersen wrote the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" and art lover and brewer Carl Jacobsen (son of the founder of Carlsberg) asked Erikesn to create a little mermaid. Naturally a ballerina Ellen Price was asked to be the model but she didn't want to get nude, so only her head was used and Eriksen's lovely wife sat for the body as she was the model for all his sculptures. The Little Mermaid was mounted at Langelinie, Copenhagen 23 August 1913, a present from Mr. Jacobsen to the people of Copenhagen.

The Copenhagen City Council arranged to move the statue to Shanghai at the Danish Pavilion for the duration of the Expo 2010 (May to October), the first time it had been moved officially from its perch since it was installed almost a century earlier. While the statue was away in Shanghai an authorised copy was displayed on a rock in the lake in Copenhagen's nearby Tivoli Gardens. Copenhagen officials have considered moving the statue several meters out into the harbour to discourage vandalism and to prevent tourists from climbing onto it, but as of May 2014 the statue remains on dry land at the water side. The Little Mermaid has since been photographed, kissed, hugged and admired by millions of people from all over the world and has become a symbol of Denmark. Kránitz Roxána

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Janos Feketehazy

Szabadsag hid, 1894-6

Steel suspension bridge

Budapest, Hungary

The Szabadság híd (in English: Liberty Bridge) in Budapest, Hungary, connects Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is the third southernmost public road bridge in Budapest, located at the southern end of the city centre. It is 333.6 m long and 20.1 m wide. It is the shortest bridge of Budapest. The top of the four masts are decorated with large bronze statues of the Turul, a falcon-like bird, prominent in ancient Hungarian mythology.

The bridge was built between 1894 and 1896 according to the plans of János Feketeházy. Although radically different in structure, the bridge imitates the general outline of a chain-type bridge, which was considered an aesthetically preferable form at the time of construction. The bridge was opened in the presence of Emperor Franz Josef; the last silver rivet on the Pest abutment was inserted into the iron structure by the Emperor himself, and the bridge was originally named after him.

In 1945 its exploded middle part was reconstructed partly from remolded materials of the uplifted ruins of it. The Dualism-age ornaments and the detailed barriers were rebuilt with simpler forms. Structure-affecting war damage was repaired. The bridge was repainted with brown instead of the original green.

The exact shade of its original colour was found out from written archives in the 1960s and the bridge was repainted to this colour later.

During the 2007-2009 complete reconstruction, all war damage of shape was repaired, added to the complete structure-reconstruction water discharge pipes held by the bridge were replaced, and noise and impulse-absorbing tramways were rebuilt.

Concerning the ornaments (these were not funded partly by EU), to all of the original ones equivalents were reinstated, the original moulds were previously found so the original-shaped barriers could be molded again, and the bridge received floodlights. Floodlighting for the central part was not planned as it could not be built there without significant intrusion.

The reason why I chose it is that this bridge is one of my favourites because it is connected to some memories with my friends and family, too. Furthermore, at the Buda castle the view to the bridge is wonderful, especially at night. Darinka

Michael Grab

Stone balancing is quite an ancient practice where gravity is the only “glue” that holds these structures in equilibrium. These can be found in nature by coincidence; however men also can create such “statues”. Michael Grab, born in Canada in 1984 created a whole project around stone balancing and named it ‘Gravity Glue’. He started practicing in the summer of 2008 and soon simple curiosity has evolved into a “prolific creative passion” and a daily meditative practice – as he explains.

“I am constantly trying to stay still with my creations, sometimes amidst very turbulent conditions. For me this reflects our own potential to maintain a still point amidst the variety of challenges we each face in our lives. Further, I wish to highlight the idea that WE ARE creators of our own reality, rather than mere recipients. Our consciousness affects reality. This practice of stone-balancing allows one to freely create, manifesting their own particular vibration into a 3D world.”

Most people do not believe their eyes when they see Michael’s creations. However, unlike most illusionists, he is not using any special tricks. He does not keep his technique as a secret but shares it on his website. Balance requires the minimum of three contact points, these are tiny to large indentations on rocks that can function as a “natural tripod”. By concentration, he feels even the smallest “clicks” on even a smaller scale than millimeters. However, these small indentations can often go undetected, in this case, he can only trust his intuition.

Since the start of his project, Michael has been travelling around the world to share his artistry and continue his creation. He has visited places such as Sweden, Scotland, Ukraine, Croatia, Italy, Germany, Belgium or France. His project has also been enlarged. At the moment he has a website with all the information, photos and videos; he does live performances accompanied by some meditative music. He also does workshops where he tried to teach the “art of patience” and he often has exhibitions of photographs of his creations. Virág

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Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (real name: Stowasser)

(1928, Vienna –2000)

Hundertwasserhaus

Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist and architect who worked also in the field of environmental protection. He developed his artistic skills very early. After the war, he spent three months at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. From then he began to sign his works as Hundertwasser instead of Stowasser. He started as a painter; he carried a small set of paints all times to sketch anything he liked. His first painting successes were in 1952-53 during an exhibition in Vienna. He also worked in the field of applied art, creating flags, stamps, coins, and posters, e.g. for the 35th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (6 stamps). Beginning in the early 1950s, he got to know the field of architecture and in 1972 he had his first architectural models made for the TV-show ‘Wünsch dir was'. In 1977 the mayor of Vienna gets a letter from Bruno Kreisky, the federal chancellor at the time, suggesting that Hundertwasser should be given the opportunity to show his ideas by let him create a housing project. After that he was offered a chance to build an apartment house in Vienna. However, finding the appropriate plot for the building took ages. Because Hundertwasser was not an architect he asked the City of Vienna to give him a professional architect, so architect Josef Krawina was invited to join him and to put his ideas into practice. Because of disagreement Krawina indeed left the project and architect Peter Pelikan took over the planning.

Therefore, the Hundertwasserhaus is an apartment house. Hundertwasser was obsessed with spirals and called the straight lines "godless and immoral”. He called his theory of art "transautomatism", focusing on the experience of the viewer rather than the artist. The Hundertwassehaus  features undulating floors, a roof covered with grass, and large trees growing from the inside of the apartments. Within the house there are 52 apartments, four offices, 16 private terraces and three public terraces, and alltogether 250 trees and bushes. The Hundertwasser House is one of Vienna's most visited buildings and has become part of Austria's cultural heritage. He took no payment for the design of the house, saying it was worth it just to prevent something ugly being built in its place. Janka

 

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V

Animatronic Tyrannosaurus from the movie „Jurassic Park“

For the first Jurassic Park film, two life sized Tyrannosaurus rex animatronics were created by Stan Winston studios. This studio is famous for their props and animatronics, and have worked on such films as “Aliens”, “The Terminator”, or “Predator”.

The original idea was to use puppets and stop motion animation for the film. Trials, however, showed that these methods would look ridiculous on the silver screen. Stephen Spielberg, the director came up with the idea to use animatronics, and tasked Stan Winston with the project.

The full sized animatronic was forty feet long and twenty feet tall. The interior structure was metal and was controlled by hydraulics, which allowed really quick and smooth movements. This was covered by a foam latex layer, which served as the dinosaur’s skin. The entire animatronic was remote controlled and placed on a rig for easy movement. Initially, the crew had some problems with it; as it was to be in a rain-soaked sequence of the film, it was needed to be drenched in water, which occasionally caused it to come alive on its own, which gave the crew a scare.

The other piece is called the insert animatronic. This was built only from the waist up and was made for close up shots and intense interaction with the Tyrannosaurus. Because of this, the skin paint is more detailed. There were less animatronic functions in it, but was more heavily built, than its counterpart.

Both animatronics could be programmed to perform repeated movements with perfection multiple times. V Bence

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4J9TBlFxAg

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Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture in New York City, in the United States.  The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886.

Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon, France on December 15, 1832. Eiffel is most famous for what would become known as the Eiffel Tower. Interested in construction at an early age, Eiffel specialized in metal construction, most notably bridges. One of Eiffel's first projects came in 1858, when he oversaw the building of an iron bridge at Bordeaux, and by 1866 Eiffel had set up his own company.  When the Statue of Liberty's initial internal engineer, Eugčne Viollet-le-Duc, unexpectedly died, Eiffel was hired to replace him on the project. He created a new support system for the statue that would rely on a skeletal structure instead of weight to support the copper skin. Eiffel and his team built the statue from the ground up and then dismantled it for its journey to New York Harbor.  In June 1884, Liberty received her final touches and is now located at Liberty Island in New York City.

The Statue was named “Liberty Enlightening the World” and was a joint effort between America and France. The building of the statue’s purpose was to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. From the ground to the top of the torch the statue measures 93 metres, and weighs 204 metric tonnes.  Approximately 4m people visit the statue each year. The torch of the statue can not be visited, it’s been closed since 1916 due to a great damage. The crown, however can be visited if one is ready to climb 354 stairs for it. Lesch Dóra

 

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Ozora Tribal Gathering

Hungary

Ozora Tribal Gathering

It is hard to define the size of Ozora, as it is growing every year, but let the number of visitors talk instead of the square meters, which was 60 000 in 2015.

It is held near the village of Ozora every year in the beginnig of August since the Summer Soltice of 1999, and is organised by a group of hungarian artists.

A great variety of people visit Hungary on this occasion from all over the world, and if you want to really see what happens there, you should experience the magic of this beautiful event. B. Bence

 

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Ybl

The Hungarian State Opera House was built between 1875 and 1884. It was constructed by Nicholas Ybl, Hungarian architect, who was very popular in the era. The architect originally would have sat as a member of the jury deciding about the plans of the building, but his drafts were so popular among the other members, that eventually he was admitted to construct the first opera house of Hungary. 

The Opera house was decorated in Italian neo-renaissance style. This is the reason why most of the paintings represent Greek mythological scenes. A good example of this is the painting in the auditorium. In this painting, the twelve main Greek gods can be seen on Olympus. Another representation of the neo-renaissance are the Greek columns. In the auditorium there are different columns on each level, but all of them are Greek-styled: Ionic columns, Corinthian columns and Cariatids. At many instances, beautiful marble mosaic can be seen on the floor, due to neo-renaissance, again. The marble mosaic resembles the era when Hungary was part of the Roman Empire. 

These are just a few examples of how richly the Opera house was decorated. But not only the decoration, the modern inventions make it an extraordinary place as well. The smoking corridor next to the main buffet is one of the first representations of the idea that smokers and non-smokers should be separated. Other modern inventions (from the point of view of the 19th century, of course) were introduced due to lack of electricity. For example, the hydraulic stage system, which was made especially for this Opera house by the Viennese Asphaela company. It was so innovative, that the architect had a pact with the company: he would only pay for their work after a year, and only if it functioned perfectly for that time. Well, it functioned perfectly for almost a hundred years. Another such modern thing was the natural air-conditioning system. The fresh air entered from the streets, and entered the auditorium through holes in the floor, under the chairs. Due to gravity, the used air rose up, and left the room through holes above the chandelier. They cleaned the air of course with water, they could heat it up with steam, or cool it down with iceblocks. 

There are several factors that make the Operahouse an outstandingly interesting place, but for me the historical value is the most important. There are several fun facts about the building, like how the gaslights of the chandelier were never switched off, so ladies and men wouldn't have to sit in the darkness together. It was often visited by the striking figure of Sissi, and so on... the building can't run out of interesting stories! Emma

 

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