Untitled & Anonymous
Untitled, ink on cardboard, artist unknown (Image 1)
I saw this work in a locked-up Community Gallery (Image 2) in the Finchley Road O2 Centre NW3, which was named in 1998, four years before Telefónica launched their now very well-known telecommunications brand in the UK. Adding to the confusion around the name is the fact that in London, the O2 brand is more commonly associated with live music venues, and has been the official name of the Millennium Done in Greenwich since 2005.
Currently the O2 Centre NW3 is scheduled for demolition and regeneration so it’s mostly empty now — and quite depressing! But I digress, so let’s get back to the art.
I was there to attend a Korean Easter Mass and concert as a guest of some dear friends (Image 3-4). On the way in, I spotted a sign for an Art Gallery. After the service I went for a curious wander, hoping I’d see some art and not be chased by that killer clown. (Image 5)
Since I was wandering where I shouldn’t, I was indeed chased, but by a member of the congregation who just happened to have the keys and let me into the “gallery” once I explained my artistic interests.
The concrete windowless room immediately remedied any concerns I’d had about demolishing and rebuilding the community centre, as did most of the underwhelming remnants of art class work on the walls. Except for one creative image on cardboard that prompted this post (Image 1).
Someone, at some point, made this. It’s locked away on a wall in a windowless room. Through pure chance, I happened to see it and it made me smile. That brief moment of joy wouldn’t have happened had someone not made this in the first place.
So now I want to share it with you as it might make you smile, even though the unknown artist will likely never know, and probably never even see this post.
That’s one thing I love about art: The inherently selfish act of an individual artist creating something that he/she/they wants to make becomes an altruistic gift once it’s let out into the world.
BONUS
Jieun Jung treated us to four works on her 25-string Kayagum (Image 5), which is a traditional ‘plucked zither’ instrument. The video below shows her playing, so you can see what it looks like and hear how it sounds.