Rome Trip

I’m going to have to admit that I haven’t done much work this summer. I was aiming to write my first draft of my dissertation by the end of the summer but that hasn’t happened. I’ve only managed the first chapter and pretty much all my research but luckily I am returning to Cardiff tomorrow, a week before the start of term and I will catch up with everything!

While in Rome, which was a work trip, (Helen Gregory Memorial Fund) I didn’t do as much as I would have liked. I planned my week but the more people I met, the less I stuck to my itinerary. Before I went to Rome, my aim was to focus on the architecture; the details and structures of the buildings, as well as the shapes and life drawings.

Day 1: 3/9/14 – travel day! I had a lovely start at 3:30 am as the flight was at 6:00 am. It was a smooth arrival into the city but it did take me a while to find the hostel. It was in a great location as it was close to termini station but it was in quite a dodgy neighbourhood. Once I left my stuff at the hostel, I went for a little explore and got a bit lost (although now thinking about it, it was a very easy route and I don’t know why I got lost) I immediately found a wine bar and saw a man urinating in the street, which was lovely. I walked around ‘Parco Oppio’ and then went to the Sant Maria Maggiore Basilia. The inside was beautiful, the paintings and details were so intricate in the walls and it was peaceful and cool, so I didn’t want to go back outside to hot, sweaty weather. (Although lovely summery weather, I prefer the cold) I found that the shapes were excellent material for collaging. I planned my week out, on day 2 I planned to go to Villa Borghese and Macro museum.

Day 2: 4/9/14 – Change of plan! I ended up going to Vatican City with one of the girls in my room. It was ridiculously expensive even with my student card at €46 but it did include jumping the queue which was a wait of 3 hours (I hate waiting!) and a tour guide. I wasn’t too happy that with the tour guide, you could only go where she goes as I wanted to explore and go around the museums myself and take my time. I was recommended to go up St Peters Dome to see the city but again there was a queue with a wait of 3 hours. Not happening. So, we went to the zoo instead. I love visiting zoo’s in different countries because I always find they have different animals.

My hostel threw a ‘party’ which was basically a pub crawl so that people could meet each other. I wasn’t sure about going to this, but so glad that I did because I met some wonderful people who I am hopefully going to be seeing in the next 3 months 🙂

Day 3: 5/9/14 – Today I went to the Villa Borghese. Unfortunately the tickets had sold out so I couldn’t go in but I found a few small galleries in the park; one free, the other for €1.50. I found that the gallery which was free gave me so much inspiration and I had so many ideas for pieces of work that I could do.

Most of the sculptures in this gallery (see above) came out of the flat surface they were on which gave me the idea of creating a piece similar based upon my concept. I found it interesting that most of the sculptures were made from plaster which is my most used material.

The other gallery was so vibrant and bold. I really liked the paintings in there and I could see the work as very influential for one of my fellow CSAD peers – Tiff Howe.

I was feeling  little hungover so I spent most of the day in the park trying to sweat it out. I ended up going a very long way home but I am glad that I did because I got to explore Piazzo Del Popolo and Pincio. I walked straight past the Spanish steps which I wasn’t particularly bothered about, but I did go back there as one of my friends wanted to sit there with an ice cream before she left. There were many painters selling their work here and all the paintings were great, so intricate and detailed. I was close to buying one but I was still on a budget and had to get dinner too – it was a very cheap day! I think I ended up spending about €17.

Day 4: 6/9/14 – I went to the MAXXI today which was fab! The building is so architectural in itself and has pieces of interactive art placed outside, one a larger version of a piece from Gaetano Pesce’s exhibition. His architectural, urban planning, interior design works for exhibits or industrial spaces, are characterised by the unlimited use of colour and materials, developed thanks to new technologies. Pesce’s constant search and trust placed in advanced materials led him to continuous innovations of language, formal results and production modes.

The exhibition ‘Remembering is Not Enough’ emphasizes the necessity to embrace a more open vision and dynamic approach to develop and manifest the collection of the museum. There were many separate exhibitions inside ‘Remembering is Not Enough’ including ‘The Genius Room,’ ‘The theatre of the world,’ ‘The body in action,’ ‘The city between order and chaos,’ ‘Infrastructural miracles,’ ‘Beyond the prison,’ ‘The dreamland,’ ‘Living together,’ ‘The truth in judgement,’ and ‘At the end there’s light.’ I particularly liked ‘The body in action,’ where the human body has been the unit of reference for the development of the different creative forms. The works presented are articulated around the relationship between the body, space and gesture, thus casting light on several complementary explorations. In the work of the architects R&Sie(n) the projects are conceived as living organisms featuring reactive ‘skins.’ (see below)

My favourite work from this show was by Sou Fujimoto Architects ‘Energy Forest’ 2013 which was made with polycarbonate, acrylic and nylon thread. Everything was in such detail, and I loved how there were layers, each displaying a different story.

The Ettore Spalletti exhibiton ‘Un Giorno Così Bianco, Così Bianco’ displays pieces which visitors are invited to lose themselves and be draped in the field of colour that invade the space and emphasises each architectural element. For Spalletti, colour has always been both matter and form. This is demonstrated by the very process he employs to create his work: he begins by preparing an impasto of colour that he applies to a support, often in wood, in successive layers until he obtains the desired thickness. Later through abrasion, he pulverises the pigment in the impasto which he then freely spreads across the surfaces: “If you look at one of my works, you cannot understand whether the colour of the surfaces moves inward or whether it appears from within and moves towards the exterior.”

As I travelled to the MAXXI on the metro and the tram, I thought it would be nice to walk home along the river. It was a long way, 8km to be exact but it didn’t take me too long and I did pop into a few places along the way. I went into an exhibition about Julius Caeser which would have been more interesting if I could understand Italian! I found myself next to the Pantheon and wandered into Sant Ignazio Church which I really wanted to visit and was so happy that I found it without realising.

I wanted to go to the Trevi Fountain but it was under construction and I was told that there was basically nothing there. I walked home past Ancient Rome back to the hostel and I was very tired by the end of it but I was glad that I found out where everything was. In the evening, I went out for dinner with a few friends and went for drinks in an Irish Pub (so Italian) which was lovely.

Day 5: 7/9/14 – Today I went to the MACRO and I was so happy that I got in for free! (with student card and being an art student) This was the gallery that I was looking forward to most because of Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam’s interactive playground. It was so fun! It was quite a workout pulling yourself up to the top without standing on a child’s head (we were the oldest people on there)

I really enjoyed the geometric exhibition too but some of the works did make my eyes go funny and hurt my head a bit! I particularly liked Charles Joseph Biederman’s ‘#63’ 1964-66 (figure 1), Hans Georg Glaffelder ‘PYR 445’ 1974 (figure 2) and Marta Minujín ‘Freaking on Flúo’ 2010 (figure 3)

 (1)

 (2)

 (3)

In the afternoon, we went round the park and up to the Spanish steps and back home. In the evening we went to the Colosseum for some night photos.

Day 6: 8/9/14 – I was surprised at how inexpensive the Colosseum was, with a student card it was only €7.50, plus we only waited in the queue for about 20 minutes which was also rather surprising especially as one of the guides outside said the wait was about 3 hours (cheeky!) I managed to get a few drawings done while inside but I needed more time and it was getting hotter and hotter. It was a rather short day but in the afternoon we went to the outside cattery and went shopping.

Day 7: 9/9/14 – I barely did anything. I thought about going to Palazzo Altemps but it was so far away, quite close to the MAXXI and I literally didn’t have any energy. I think it was because it was the end of my trip. I had to do something though especially as it was my last day so I went to Palazzo Venezia instead. The museum was all about the war and again mostly in Italian so I couldn’t understand any of it. Although I didn’t manage to go to the top of St Peters Dome I did go to the top of Palazzo Venezia so I saw all of the city from a height. I always remember seeing cities from a height, it just stays in my memory. Also I can’t show how stunning the building was by any photograph I took. It just didn’t do it justice! I also managed to fall over in front of lots of people (again) although this was more embarassing, as I felt everyone was rather classy and I just slipped on some water and landed on my knees on marble – very weirded out that it didn’t really hurt.

Day 8: 10/9/14 – travel day. It was not a fun day. The flight was delayed for an hour, which doesn’t bother me but when it did arrive, it took 2 more hours to get everyone on the plane.

I really enjoyed my trip and while I was there, I met some amazing people who I have stayed in touch with and hopefully will be seeing very soon! I also got the buzz of travelling especially as I was on my own so I am now just carrying on saving money for my trip to South America next year! (Luckily some of the girls I shared my room with are from Argentina and Chile so I have free accommodation when I go there! yayy!)

I definitely recommend anyone to visit Rome and definitely future Fine Art student at CSAD to apply for the Helen Gregory Memorial Fund as it is a great way to travel for your work and I have got so many different ideas that were influenced while I was there. Thankyou for funding my trip!