ARTISTS TALKING

# 31 [17 September 2009]

Do objects have emotional values?
AD:

Definitely we give them a social life and believe they have an aura. I am in communication with a police psychic at the moment and I am very interested in the power we imbue objects with. I recently went to Rome and was surprised that a lot of relics are hidden. It's a shame-it's a natural way for human beings to express the emotional breaks in their lives.



Artists’ commonly seem to utilise the idea of memory and nostalgia to put across their personal ideas.  Can you think of a different subject/ area where nostalgia and memory are used to convey or interpret a message?
AD:

Christian Boltanski: clothes, Gerhard Richter & Luc Tuymans: newspaper articles and photographs, Cornelia Parker & Joni Mabe: alchemical objects & relics, Mark Dion in an archaeological way. I love the pseudo-scientific methodology of all of these artists.



Which of our senses is most closely linked to our memories of food?
AD:

I think it's the texture for me on the whole that is residual, so touch. The first time I tasted coriander it made me feel something exhilarating and I still feel that when I taste it-I love it.


I have noticed a trend in today’s recipe books for ‘nostalgic’ styling, particularly in the visuals.  Why do you think that this might be?
AD:

I think it's true of cosmetics too-perhaps it encompasses two strands that we desire a yearning for a (misplaced I am sure) 'wholesome'/organic/hand-made-with a knowing sophistication.


Do you think that food and cooking means something different today- has the significance of food and cooking changed over the years?
I suppose there must always have been aspirational aspects to food-Roman food for example-or say something like Steak Tartare-seeming sophisticated and redolent of a certain era and social status.


Do you feel that our food is being designed?  If yes, how so?
AD: Yes-packaged-branded

There seem to be a great number of recipe books on the market.  One might say that they are very fashionable.  Certainly, food is talked about, consumed and bought in huge quantity. Why do you think there are so many cookbooks being published today?   Can you account for their popularity?
AD: Maybe many reasons...
Catalogues like 'Toast'!
Observer Food Monthly
It's a sociable thing to do and we need to socialise
Anxiety about status perhaps?
It's a middle class pastime partly

How do recipe books engage the reader?
AD:

For me I like to dribble when I look at one.



What makes memories come alive for you?
AD:

Dreams I think. They are very important to me. Without memory there is no way of going forward. Maurice Halbwachs talks about our need for the past to locate ourselves in the present-I agree even if this is a false past as someone like Raphael Samuel says-we may create a more glamorous past to help us cope with our own identities in the present.

# 32 [18 September 2009]

No, it is not true. A local man in Wells had some stalagmites (not stalagtites) cut from the floor - sawn off. Pope was presented with one by a "Mr Bruce", but it is no longer in his Grotto as far as we know. There is no record that Pope ever visited Wookey, or Wells.

At 16:45 17/09/2009, you wrote:

Dear Mr Beckles Willson,
Please can you tell me is it true that the stalactite in Alexander Pope's grotto was shot from the roof of Wookey Hole?
All the very best
Annabel Dover

# 33 [21 September 2009]

" I am watching Roman Holiday and just saw the scene where Greg takes her to a wall that has plaques on it to commemorate wishes that have come true. Is this real place??"

Ginger   Posts: 4869 | Location: Naples, Florida 02 May 2004

Mary Jane Vetralla, Italy
" This is the wall near Porta Portese where there are "ex votos" set in the wall to remember people who were killed during the WWII bombings. Not really wishes, sort of "RIP".

"Ginger, we tried to find the Wall of Wishes, too but were unable to locate it or even determine if/when it did exist. Have you read my trip report about Roman Holiday? What a great movie!"

We also have a set of notes from Valerie on touring Rome to find several of the locations from the film.

Marta
Blog: Postcards from the Trail

"I googled it and some person who is a Roman Holiday devotee posted that part of the wall is on the Viale del Policlinico, southwest of the Villa Borgese. The plaques are no longer in place. How sad."

Ginger Naples, Florida May 2004

"Here are shots of the "Wall of Wishes." I'm satisfied that the stationary camera panned from 10-01-1 to 10-01-5. In other words, the street is as you see it, without any cutting in. Hope this helps locate this important location!

Paola and Diego have information on the best candidate for the Wall of Wishes...

"The plaques were real. The place is called "Mura Aureliane" (Aurelian Wall) and those plaques were "ex voto" , a term for a panel painting, usually small, or, more rarely, a statue, donated as a token of remembrance, entreaty or thanks by individual believers or communities and hung at sites of pilgrimage or holy places. Unfortunately those plaques have been removed many years ago." From Love bunnies blogspot.

# 34 [21 September 2009]

I just tried to ring my sister and as I put the telephone to my ear I heard the a deep Welsh man's voice talking all I heard was: ‘No words found…’ terrified I put the telephone down and now I regret it.

# 35 [24 September 2009]

annabeldover@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
 
 Attention:  General Support 
Message: Please can you tell me about the grotto wall in the Isle of Wight I am trying to find information about it. All the very best
 Annabel Dover

Hi there,

I believe the Grotto Wall is all tied in with the Santa Express and Specials that they do at The Isle of Wight Steam Railway.  The web link is as follows: //www.iw*steam**railway*.co.uk

If I can be of any further help, please contact me.

Kind regards,


Kevin Daniells
isleofwight.com/

Dear Kevin

There is a wall that was made i think in the 1930s and has shells and bits of broken china ornaments and domestic tools. About three years ago i spoke to a man at the Isle of Wight Tourist Information and he told me where it was but now i have forgotten.

All the very best

Annabel Dover

Barabara Jones writes in Follies & Grottoes on the Isle of wight:

Incredibly little. Certainly the Island did not become fashionable until Queen Victoria built Osborne, but there were some big houses in the 18th century, and the chines could have sheltered plenty of conceits. There are obelisks at Appledurcombe and Bembridge, a castellated cowshed at Norris Castle, a swiss Cottage at Osborne and a tower to tennyson near farringford.

Blackgang Chine

The entertainments include:a skeleton of a whale, a gnome village and distorting mirrors.

Ryde

Appley Tower on the sea wall. The gardens  are noe municipal but when it was a private house King George and Queen Mary liked to have tea there.

St Catherine's Down

A pillar most beautifully situated. There is a stone ball on top and the column is dark with moss. It commemorates the visit of the Czar to Britain: in 1857 another tablet was added to the allied dead of the Alma, inckerman and Sebastopol.

# 36 [26 September 2009]

Hi Annabel,

I have searched everywhere for details of the "Grotto" that you describe.  The only one I can fin is mentioned on an "enjoyengland" page and that grotto is in Margate.  The page also has a text link to the Isle of Wight.  Other than that I am at a loss.

Regards,


Kevin Daniells

# 37 [27 September 2009]

I went to the zoo on Friday andmy favourite creatures were the sealions. They had a 'training session' where Clare their keeper delivered a speach with the monotony of an air stewardess explaining that the sealions could hold up each flipper and open their mouths so that they could be inspected by the vet.

I was reminded of a story I heard a few years ago about a talking sealion (I thought-actually a seal)'Hoover'  who was looked after by a couple in Maine. Hoover didn't start to talk until he was given away an then he said mostly "Get outa here Hoover". Edinburgh University is researching seal speach at the moment and lucky students spend their days talking to them.

Hoover (1971? – July 25, 1985) was a harbor seal who was able to imitate basic human speech.

Hoover was an orphan when he was found by George and Alice Swallow in Maine in 1971. George and Alice decided to take him home. At first the baby seal didn't want to eat, but soon he ate at the pace of a vacuum cleaner (hence his name). When Hoover outgrew the bathtub, he was transferred to the pond outside their house where he began to imitate people's voices. Again he was moved, this time to the New England Aquarium, where he told visitors to "Get outta here!" in a thick New England accent. 

Thanks to this, he became famous, and appeared in publications like Reader's Digest and The New Yorker and television programs like Good Morning America.

Hoover died on July 25, 1985 due to complications during his annual molt. His obituary was published in The Boston Globe.

None of Hoover's six pups (daughters Joey, Amelia, and Trumpet and sons Lucifer, Cinder, and Spark) spoke, but his grandson Chacoda (or "Chucky") has shown an ability to be guided in his vocalizations. As of 2007, Chucky remains vocal but has not shown an ability to mimic human speech. Aquarium staff continue to work with him. 

# 38 [27 September 2009]

This week surfers in Cornwall found a dead Thresher shark.

In 2007 a trawler fisherman caught a 16ft thresher shark off the coast off Land's End, Cornwall.

# 39 [28 September 2009]

Sent: Thu 9/24/2009 9:17 AM
To: North Cluster Academic
Subject: Missing mug

Hi all

My tea mug went missing from the kitchen area yesterday.

It is cream with a lilac dragonfly on the front.

If anyone knows where it is, please return it to the staff kitchen.

Thanks
Jo

# 40 [28 September 2009]

Men in hoodies have been taking rubbish and putting it into white vans this week:

The 'spies' were part of a week-long waste analysis study by the Northamptonshire Waste Partnership, a collaboration of eight local authorities working to reduce rubbish going to landfill. An external contractor was told to go through the bins of residents.

One thousand houses were targeted as part of the survey, including 780 in Northamptonshire.

But none of the inhabitants of Cedar Close, Irchester, near Wellingborough, Northants, had received any notice from their council about what was going on.