Museum: First Emperor

The First Emperor exhibition is another impressive job by the British Museum – it is well done and informative as well as being splendid to observe. You really should take the chance to see the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shihuang up close – the exhibit is on until April next year, although you can’t get a Saturday slot until the next year – and admire the impressive detail of one man’s enormous ego and desire for immortality.

A brief bit of history: Yeng Zheng was the king of Qin, one of the seven warring states of the country that would become the basis for what we now know as China. After killing lots of people (via having a huge army that was well organised and armed with weapons produced to high quality on a massive scale), he declared himself First August Divine Emperor and started laying down his legacy. He standardised the written language, weights and coins, started building the predecessor of the Great Wall (the one we know is from the Ming dynasty), built a ridiculous number of palaces, and built the grandest monument to himself in the form of his burial chamber and associated aspects for his rule in the next world, the most famous being the Terracotta Warriors, found several miles to the west of his burial mound.

If you have seen the army in Xi’an, you don’t forget the spectacle of seeing hundreds of warriors in rows, slightly larger than life and all different, standing for eternity to protect their emperor. It is a staggering sight, standing in what is essentially an aircraft hangar and looking down on these mass-produced sculptures from over two thousand years. What you don’t get to see as much of are the warriors up close; there are a few in air-tight glass cases, but the ones open to air are a distance away from you. The British Museum allow you to see them in the flesh, as it were.

The Library in the centre of the museum has been turned into the location for the exhibit, containing short films to set the scene, artifacts from the time and informative notes to help you understand something of the time. The centerpiece is the selection of pieces from the Xi’an find, set in the middle of the room, and all at arms’ length. Although there are a couple of archers in glass cases (to protect the remnants of the original paint that has been lost on the majority of pieces), there are about a dozen pieces in the open – some infantrymen, a standing archer, two generals (very rare), a charioteer, as well as other pieces to show that it wasn’t just a large bodyguard but also everything necessary for life in the afterworld: some bureaucrats to run affairs of state, an acrobat and a strong man to entertain, and some musicians playing to cranes.

It is completely fascinating and truly amazing; even though you know about all the people who died making these (Qin Shihuang had all the labourers of the terracotta figures entombed alive with him in his burial chambers), it is still a startling reflection of one man’s obsession with himself. Seeing it up close brings this home even more. I did not see the figures in this exhibition in Xi’an (they were in Rome at the time), so I now have seen the complete set, and this showcase complements the awe and majesty of seeing the multitude in their original location. Go see it.

Museum Exhibit: Surreal Things at the V&A

The Victoria and Albert museum (locally known as the V&A) is a rather funky museum – I’ll never forget popping to see a small exhibition of Steranko Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD covers: how cool is that? – which houses exhibits looking at culture and design. It is quite a fabulous old building as well, and surprisingly easy to get lost in its labyrinth structure, and has the most lovely garden area with a tranquil fountain.

I am rather partial to surreal art – I think there is a connection between the way their paintings and comic book art, but I don’t have a degree in Art History to be able to fully explain my thinking – particularly Dali and Magritte. I have even been to the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain, which was marvelously odd and bizarre, as one would hope and expect. I even remember that the toilets were interesting, although I only urinated in them; I thought perhaps I should masturbate in them, as a tribute to Dali and his chronic wanking habit, but it didn’t feel right, you know?

Now, as if they’ve read my mind, the V&A is having an exhibit, Surreal Things, exploring surrealism and its influence in other areas, such as film, advertising, architecture and fashion. Therefore, I dragged my girlfriend to South Kensington (not literally; we went by public transport, thanks for asking) to have a look around.

The exhibit is well staged; the space is well designed (how appropriate) and the level of information for each section and item is just right – enough to inform but not too much to turn it too academic. There is a huge amount on exhibit (the website states over 300 items) and plenty to enjoy. Not all of it is fascinating – I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in the dresses with surrealist patterns, for example – but there is enough diversity to make up for that.

There is some early surrealism to show the beginnings, and then moves through eras to show how it was assimilated by other industries, such as in advertising (models being photographed with surrealist props), design (such as modern furniture), films (Spellbound, Dali’s collaboration with Hitchcock on the dream sequence) and fashion (such as the bizarre jewellery Dali came up with), to plain old bizarre objects, such as infamous Mae West Lips Sofa, Lobster Telephones and Venus de Milo With Drawers. There are a lot of paintings (which I thought missed the point – technically, they are objects, but they are more suited to a ‘normal’ exhibition), from Magritte and Dali and Miro, so you definitely get good value for money. I’m not sure if the exhibit is a success as a whole because you come out feeling that it was interesting but not dazzling; however, it is still very entertaining.

A description of a surrealist exhibit is self-defeating, as nothing is the same as seeing the objects up close for the full power of them. Erm, which kind of makes this post a bit pointless. Anyway, I would recommend the exhibit for anyone interested in surrealism and its affect on contemporary culture, especially now that surrealism has lost a lot of the power it had to shock and surprise when it first emerged. The exhibit lasts until 22 July, so there’s plenty of time to see it, and they seem to have the air conditioning on a high setting inside, so you’ll feel nice and cool during the hot summer that the UK will surely have.