A Russian Abroad: Is this Art?!

Yesterday I took advantage of all french museums being free on the first sunday of the month and dragged myself across town to the museum of contemporary art in Toulouse - 'Les Abattoirs'. I have never felt I've been able to really 'understand' art as I feel I should however I do appreciate it's importance in culture and will always take time to visit new art galleries and see new exhibitions...maybe in the hope that one day all art will suddenly start to speak to me - who knows.

My interest for contemporary art was sparked when I visited the museum of contemporary art in Bologna on a guided tour and when explained to me, I felt I could understand the works much more. In Toulouse, I also partook in a guided tour of the museum and was taken through the joys of Georges Matthieu* and Sigmar Polke (the german equivalent of Andy Warhol). At the end of the tour we were met with a big, white room containing three pianos and a drum kit. The pianos were connected to a small windmill outside and so would move when it became windy outside (often crashing into each other) while the tap in the ceiling would release water onto the drums when the neurons in the air become particularly active (don't quite me on the scientific part of this). So a very cool idea and fun for a few minutes but is it art...? I wasn't completely convinced.

*I can't help but include a quick side note about Georges Matthieu.

He was an incredibly prolific artist, especially during 1950's and was considered to be the father of lyric abstraction (which broadly refers to modern painting after the war). When painting, he would have someone next to him noting, minute by minute, everything single thing he did - the kind of paint he used, how he threw it on the canvas and how much he used etc. I also questioned his painting really being 'art' however when the tour guide explained how the canvas (produced in exactly1h 53m) represented the Battle of Hastings and proceeded to take us on a ten minute journey of how the different parts of the canvas represented different parts of the battle I was mesmerised and completely convinced.

In other news, during a trip to Bordeaux a few weeks ago I experienced hundreds of french people having oysters and champagne at 10am on a Sunday morning. It's not the first thing I think of having when I wake up on a sunday morning - I'm more of a tea and crumpets kind of girl - however I have vowed to try it in the next week or two. (My friend who visited me in Toulouse refused to embrace the french custom however I have since managed to convince someone else to try it with me - I can't wait).

I realise I haven't done a blog post since I just arrived here so I would like to share a few interesting differences I have picked up on between France and Italy (and England).

The bus drivers are really really really nice here! They always wait if you're running towards the bus or banging on the door as they are about to drive off and even if they're stopped at the traffic lights and you're really desperate. They say 'bonjour' and 'au revoir' to everyone and everyone replies with a 'bonjour' and 'merci'. On a daily basis I also see people ask the driver a quick question and end up chatting with them all the way until their stop.

Recently promised pasta for dinner, my mouth watered as it recalled the tastes of fresh parsley, tomatoes, garlic, onions and maybe some feta which formed the delicate pasta sauces I became accustomed to while in Italy and I hungrily watched the clock until dinner time. Dinner time arrived and I was met with a mush of overcooked pasta, watery tomatoes and soggy onions. Not to be repeated.

Lastly, while Italy is absolutely beautiful and there is history, cultural, music, art and beautiful architecture. During my time there I found that it felt as if was enough for people there or they no longer felt the love and attachment to the country that they once had and so there was little motivation or determination to create even more beautiful yet more modern art, culture, music, and beautiful architecture.Toulouse isn't the most beautiful city I've been to or lived in by any means - there are beautiful churches like any city but nothing like places in Italy (or dare I say it, Bristol) - however, there is constantly something new and interesting going on. There are always to plays to see, new/old films to watch, new culture festivals to go to, new live music to listen to and new exhibitions to see...week in, week out. There are hundreds of student events and the number of different types of really good food establishments is truly impressive.

Living in Italy is like living in a gentle dream from many years ago - it's magical and romantic but it doesn't seem quite real. Living in Toulouse is living a life which is constantly moving forward and I'm struggling to keep up with the pace but I want to try so I'm going to start running.

A la prochaine,

Bisous,

XX