On my way to Ottawa this winter, I had a five hour layover in Philadelphia. Having watched movies for the past seven hours sitting on a plane, I spent most of my time walking around the airport. Some parts of the airport are quite old, with low ceilings and awful yellowish lighting, which combined with the tacky christmas decorations would make any Santa in the world shiver. The only thing that warmed up the environment seemed to be the rocking chairs that were scattered on the sides of the hallways. But I soon found out that there was something else.

First I ate the healthiest thing I could find, a blueberry yogurt, then I started exploring. Despite the tasteless decorations and the general lack of warmth, the five hours I spent in the Philadelphia's airport were surprisingly pleasant and entertaining. As I found out later, in 1998 Philadelphia's airport started an exhibitions program, which would bring art and culture in the airport with the aim to provide the travellers a unique cultural experience. The exhibitions rotate throughout the year to touch different themes. What links them is the fact that the artists are all from Philadelphia.

The first exhibition I ran into was a series of dolls made using unconventional objects. Pens, bottle caps, brushes, buttons and other random everyday objects are given a second life by Ellen Benson who uses them to create human-like figures. Her style is inspired by South American art, and she visits Mexico every year to see local craft and ceramics. Ellen has made 600 dolls so far and aims at making one thousand. While I do find the idea of using everyday objects to make dolls very amusing, I think the artist should focus more on the quality rather than the quantity. Some dolls are very creative and the objects are used in a clever way to achieve original Michel Gondry-like designs. Others are disappointing.

As I walked on I ran into a band that was playing Christmas songs, which I thought was really cool and made the atmosphere more pleasant and warm. It's a shame I didn't manage to get a picture of them. The second exhibition I ran into was a series of ceramic sculptures by Victoria Gold. The star of her art was again something rather unconventional and unpopular: pigeons. I myself see the presence of pigeons in cities as a forced and unpleasant acquaintance. Victoria Gold looks at them from a different point of view, she learns from and about them by observing. They are not intruders to her eyes, but finely feathered friends with individual characteristics and personalities.

The last exhibition I saw was the one I liked the most. Metalsmith Susan Mayers created a series of chandelier-like sculptures made out of aluminium stripes. Each sculpture is well studied and the loops are meticulously balanced. The metal gives up its ordinary attributes to Susan's taste; it becomes graceful and organic, almost soft.

Philadelphia's airport turned out to be one of the most fascinating I've ever been to. I always find the lack of entertainment and the abundance of ugliness in airports very unimpressive. With a simple idea, this airport made the experience of many travellers more interesting, as well as advertised the city of Philadelphia. My five hour lay over did not feel like a waste of time, and by at the end of it I felt enriched by the city's culture and innovation.  

Korean Eye, the exhibition currently on at the Saatchi gallery, showcases the work of emerging Korean sculptors and painters. Not knowing much about contemporary Korean art, I had very fuzzy and undefined expectations. Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition at the Tate Modern is the closest thing to contemporary asian art that I have seen recently.The first artist’s work that I ran into was Lee Jaehyo: as I walked in the room, I saw a beautiful spheric wooden sculpture. Lee Jaehyo, from the Korean town Yangpyeong, is known for his organic shaped sculptures made out of metal or wood. His house, designed by him, has an exhibition space that he uses to showcase all of his pieces, including the very first ones he made during his studies. His aim is to create something extraordinary out of ordinary materials, as this shows their true nature.

If you are interested in seeing more of Lee’s pieces and how they are made here’s a great video.You Myung Gyun also took a natural approach with his work, looking at nature as detached from human culture. While I really like the media and the effects he managed to create, I found the shapes of his sculptures a little odd and not as organic as they could have been. Nonetheless they created an interesting effect that somewhat reminded me of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.

I then walked through a room where a series of vases were exhibited. Each piece was placed on top of a wooden crate with mailing addresses on it. The vases looked like antiques, so I assumed that the room was showcasing older examples of korean art, as part of the exhibition. On the contrary, as it turned out.The artist Shin Meekyoung took a different path compared to Lee Jaehyo’s, and she made something fairly ordinary using an unfamiliar material: soap. Even though I did not know this fundamental detail, I was still really fascinated by this part of the exhibition. I really liked the way the vases were displayed and the contrast of the smooth shiny surface of the vases, with the roughness of the wooden crates.The last part of the exhibition that I saw included Cho Duck Hyun’s photorealistic paintings of historical characters. At first I thought he glued a piece of fabric to the paintings to make them “alive”. As I found the technique of adding 3D elements to a 2D painting or photograph somewhat childish, I was not impressed. I started to really appreciate them when I finally realised that the excess fabric actually came from the canvas.

Below are more pictures from the exhibition.Lee Kwangho’s photorealistic paintings. I really like the way he achieved the fuzzy effect on the canvas.Lee Giwoo’s dotted paintings.

 I found Hong Sung Chul’s wire portraits very inventive, I liked the way the picture seems to move as you walk past it.

Each room was very different but there was a very thin wire, made out of meticulosity, precision, simplicity, pattern-repetition and innovation, that connected all of them. Visiting the exhibition was very inspiring, and one of the most beautiful I have seen in the past two years. It is always interesting to see how artists from the same country approach different medias in different ways.

Canadian artist's Jon Rafman exhibition The Nine Eyes of Google Streetview, is currently showcasing at the Saatchi gallery. This is a collection of incredible photographs taken from Google's popular service Streetview, launched in 2007, and currently expanding. Walking through the exhibition, the visitor feels like a lucky traveller that gets to notice unique and extraordinary things through a very alert eye. Some of them are impossibly well-timed shots, such as bursting hydrant. others are just beautiful in their own simple way, like an old lady in a wheel chair in the middle of an empty parking lot. Below are some of my favourite ones.

When I visited Anthropologie the last time, I ran into a beautiful coral-like design that continued within the shop. I was not able to figure out from a distance what it was made out of, but looking closer it became clear: paper. I always find it very inspiring to see beautiful designs that take an ecological approach.

The corals covered part of the walls, drawing the customers through the shop. Walking through it, the theme of the sea became stronger, with more corals and cardboard waves.

Anthropologie beautiful windows and decorations can only work next to their merchandise, which also never disappoints me. It is rare, nowadays, to see a brand reflected in the design of its shop. Often the thin line between following a trend and reflecting the brand, is crossed, and this results in many shops looking the same. Jack Wills, Hollister, American Eagle and Aeropostale, follow a style that is very trendy but end up losing their identity. Anthropologie follows its unique style, coming up almost every month with innovative designs, windows and decorations that are trendy and beautiful yet holding a strong link with the brand.

In the last picture it is possible to see the cardboard waves on the top. And the beautiful woman on the right, is my mom. The photos were taken at the Kings Road branch, in London.

As I mentioned in my previous post about Lego's interactive installation at the Southbank centre, the Olympics brought along a lot of art and design: some of which may be remembered in history as landmarks of the 2012 Olympics. London, being one of the most beautiful and advanced cities in the world, there were great expectations regarding the organization of the games, also from a design point of view. And where big expectations arrive, big let downs come along.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit, Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre, the two mascots of the games Wenlock and Mandeville, the logo, and the opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle: they were all highly criticised on different aspects.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit was given so many negative and witty nicknames that I am not even going to try to come up with a new one. My favourite of these nicknames being “eyeful tower”. The seats disposition of Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre did not allow the spectators a good view. Wenlock and Mandeville were described as the fruit of a “drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and Dalek”. A bit harsh in my opinion, but nevertheless hilarious. Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was at once celebrated, and harshly criticized as “boring”, “too much about england, not enough about the olympics” and “a disappointment and a shame”.

When designing for such a large audience, it is impossible to please all. Every country has different expectations and different point of views. Personally, I am quite happy with most of the designs, although I did face some disappointments.

The first Olympics-related design I ran into, was the official Logo, as a 3-D version of it was placed in Trafalgar square to keep a countdown to the opening day of the Olympics.

The graffiti-like logo is supposed to recall the shape of the city of London. The designer, Wolff Olins, avoided any landmark as the aim was to make everyone feel equally part of the Olympics.

The design received an 80% negative response from the public and an inappropriate assumption regarding the meaning of the shape. The font used, Headline 2012, features in Simon Garfield's article The 8 worst fonts in the world; and Iran threatened boycott the games claiming that it spelled the word “Zion”. It is incredible how much fuss 4 (ugly) shapes put together can raise.

I then looked at past Olympics logos, and honestly, they are not much better, and at least this logo is simple, recognizable and has a deep meaning. The identity of the 2012 Olympics was built around it, on the streets, the tickets, the gadgets, everything lead to the games. In a way it does represent London, an edgy, dynamic and multi-ethnic city. All features that perfectly describe an Olympics host.

The 2012 Olympics are going to turn London inside out and flip it upside down: buses on diversion, Olympic routes and thousands of tourists from all over the world. For these 2 weeks, London is going to be very different.

Walking along the Thames, I also realized that this big event is going to cause an art and design burst out: this is going to be the chance for artists and designers to exhibit their work, knowing that thousands of people will see it.

The Festival of the World, sponsored by MasterCard, will be held in Southbank from June till August to celebrate the 2012 Olympics by displaying a series of art pieces from all over the World and organizing events that will transform the Southbank centre into a cultural space that brings together kids and adults.

Lego took part into this celebration of life: for the next three weeks kids and adults will get to play Lego in a very innovative and clever way at the Southbank centre. The aim is to create the map of the world out of Lego, like a giant lego jigsaw, and to which everyone is allowed to take part into!

Several tables are set up and on top of them, bowls of single pieces of Lego sorted according to the color are laid out. Around them, tons of small people ready to take their job very seriously.

Each kid is given a plain lego tablet, and a piece of paper with the scheme.

Well, not only kids... My friend and I gave it a go too.

Once the pieces are done, they are ready to be laid out along with the others.The map will be composed of 4000 pieces. Lego did a great job by creating an interactive event that involves both kids and adults into a clever game.

While walking around Pimlico I ran into a small exhibition organized by Palagkas, a company that offers small artists the opportunity to exhibit their work around London. The exhibition showcased the work by German artist Peter Jap Lim, it included pantings and sculptures.

I first went through the sculptures. They consisted of big sheets of coloured paper folded into shapes. The two faces of the paper have different colours, and the darker one bleeds through creating a connection between the two sides. The paper has rough edges, in contrast with the shiny finish. The folds are gentle and organic.

I then looked at the paintings. The technique used was layered ink on a sort of porous handmade paper that allows the colours to bleed freely and create fuzzy patterns. By adding typography to this technique, the words seem to come out accidentally from the weaved lines of ink. By introducing letters and phrases, the artist gives a structure to the otherwise wild jungle of colour.

Doing some research on the artist I found out that his paintings are inspired by Rorschach's test and Wittgenstein's language theory. Not knowing Wittgenstein, I researched further and tried to understand how Peter Jap Lim's paintings are related to his theories. One thing Wittgenstein says about language, is that by having structure and limits, it restricts our thought and therefore anything beyond our thought, such as religion and ethics, will result in nonsense, even though it's not.

The phrases that appear on the paintings, (The horizon is your horse, Meeting point for parallel lines from infinity, Void of the day, Your discourse is my decoration, I knew someone who read a book in which this sentence appears) are enigmatic, they create infinite loops and leave the visitors with more questions then answers, like hidden keys to unknown locks.