Evoluon

One of my first memories of television was watching the trade test transmission films on the fledgeling BBC2. This is probably because they were shown at least once a week for several years and in the pre-video era, it was unusual to see any programme more than a couple of times.

My favourite film was Evoluon, made in 1968 and shown regularly until 1973. Evoluon was a flying saucer-shaped science centre, built in Eindhoven, Holland in 1966 and this short film is like a homage to the Space Age.

At a time when many people are feeling fairly pessimistic about the future, there is something terribly poignant about Evoluon's optimism and blind faith in science as the guarantor of health and happiness.

This was, after all, the age when we thought it was a good idea for families to live on the eighth floor of a tower block. We also looked forward to living on the moon and eating pills instead of all that miserable food business. What were we thinking?

Interestingly, Evoluon's fortunes mirrored those of the Modernist movement and by the 1980s, visitor numbers had dwindled to the point where the science centre was closed. Tragically, Evoluon was re-launched ten years later as a conference centre for businesses. From the sublime to the tedious.

Art in a Cold Climate

In the last series of Doctor Who, there was a story about aliens pulling a London hospital off the ground and dropping it down on the moon. It seemed an utterly absurd idea until today, when I visited the De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill.

Bexhill is the sort of coastal retirement town that makes even sleepy Eastbourne look like a hedonistic, drug-fuelled, non-stop party by comparison. The most dangerous thing you'll encounter in Bexhill is a rogue electric wheelchair exceeding 5mph. If it wasn't for places like Bexhill, the Daily Express would have gone under years ago.

However, right on the seafront there is a stunning Art Deco arts centre that looks as if it's been transported from a fashionable suburb of London.

The De La Warr Pavillion was the first public building in the Modernist style and was commissioned in 1935 with the express purpose of providing the local people with access to art and entertainment. After an £8,000,000 refurbishment, the gallery was reopened in 2005 and it is now a hotspot on the chattering classes' map of Britain.


The interior has been re-modelled in a contemporary style that is sympathetic to the building's Art Deco origins (I think I've been watching too many editions of Property Ladder)


Rock'n'Roll! It says No Photography, but I don't play by the rules (although I made sure I'd turned the flash button off first)


I visited the De La Warr Pavillion earlier today, to see an exhibition called Unpopular Culture, curated by Grayson Perry. I have an affinity with Perry (cross-dressing excepted) as we both have similar backgrounds. In the photo above, he looks identical to my mum when she was younger. What was it with working class women and headscarves? Was it just to protect the perm?

Unpopular Culture, according to Perry...

...stems from a notion that unlike today, in Britain during this period, stories about art did not feature daily in the broadsheets or contemporary artists crop up frequently in gossip columns. A time perhaps when modern art was an even more rarefied activity, practiced and appreciated by other-worldly bohemians and intellectuals. The title also refers to a feeling that many artists then made art that could be characterised as subtle, sensitive, lyrical and quiet in contrast to today when much art can seem like shouty advertisments for concepts or personalities. As a group for me these works conjure a nostalgic picture of a post-war, pre-Thatcherite Britain, more reflective, more civic and more humane.

Unpopular Culture was a superb exhibition and as much as I dislike crowds, it was heartening to see that the gallery was packed. I doubt that there were many residents of Bexhill amongst the visitors, but I could be wrong.



I liked the De La Warr Pavillion, but it did seem very incongruous in the hospice-like setting of Bexhill. Will it regenerate the local economy and attract arty types? I'm not convinced, but even if it just lures patrician day-trippers, the local area will benefit.

Viva Dudamel!

The sight of classical musicians 'letting their hair down' is normally an embarrassing spectacle, on a par with have to watch ageing relatives dancing at a wedding reception disco. However, the Simon Bolivar Venezuelan Youth Orchestra is an exception to the rule.

Led by the charismatic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, this orchestra is the result of a bold educational programme which aims to give gifted, but poor, Venezuelan children a route out of the slums. The result is a world-class orchestra.

Here's a clip from last year's Proms. Even if you don't like classical music I'd urge you to watch this, because it's an inspiration to see people enjoying themselves so much.

Work

Six months ago I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted by my work at Waterstone's. Every night I would lie awake in the small hours, worrying about what would happen if I lost my job. I was Mr Average, with a wife, two children and a mortgage. I was convinced that I had to keep working at any cost, otherwise everything would fall apart.

Then one day everything changed.

I had a rare moment of clarity and self-awareness and after asking myself what could be worse than losing my job, realised that the answer was keeping it. In a single moment, everything fell into place. I felt like Peter Finch in Network (minus the madness, I hope).

That's the short version, anyway. Obviously it was a little more complicated than that, but in a nutshell I stopped working in December and officially resigned a couple of months ago. Contrary to expectations, my world hasn't fallen apart, I still have a few quid in the bank and I'm so busy that I don't know how I ever found the time to do a full-time job. At the moment I feel as if I'm on a very long holiday, albeit a rather busy one.

However I'm starting to get restless. Once the novelty value of not having to go to work wears off, you are left with the question: what is my purpose? I do part-time voluntary work as magistrate and also have two young boys to keep me busy, but I feel that it is a little early in life to be semi-retired so I've started thinking about the next move.

The Guardian jobs section is particularly depressing. I've been through the adverts in last week's edition of Work and found a number of recurring words:

Excellent
Vibrant
Exciting
Enthusiastic
Dynamic
Young
Experienced
Challenging
Fast-paced
Proactive

I used to be most of these, but not since I was under the age of ten. I had the impression that these qualities became superseded by things like empathy, wisdom, knowledge, integrity, commitment, compassion and vision, but perhaps they're not compatible with the corporate culture.

What is the answer? I'm not sure, but I don't think there's any point looking in the Guardian again. I shall have to think of something else.

In the meantime, here is Peter Finch in Network. 32 years on, this clip still strikes a chord: