All Hail The New Young British Artists

The Young British Artists were a group who took practically took over Britain in the mid to late 1990s. If the 1990s heralded 'cool' Britannia then maybe this strange period after the turn of the New Millennium is the age of 'commercial' Britannia.
In the 90s Britain became cool again, the economy was booming and the Brit-Pop movement in music and the YBA's brought the country to the forefront of the world stage. Everything they did was the epitome of 'cool'. Oasis vs Blur, Hirst and Emin, Goldsmiths Art College and Manchester vs London.
Now we are seeing once again Britain becoming great, culturally again across the world. The incredible Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics last year seemed to capture where Britain is right now, rather than like so many ceremonies in this country, looking back and mourning what we were. Britons seem to be happy where we are today. No longer do we long for a time when the sun never set on our Empire. Britain is content with being small.
We may no longer appear to have limitless money, like in the late 90s but the new Young British Artists are pioneers for a new austere age. Names like Gabriella Boyd and Max Dovey may be the new Hirst and Emin but with one clear difference, the super-confident times of the 90s have gone to be replaced by a nervous 'teenies'.
We are taking our place again, even if the 'cool' Britannia notion from the 90s has long since gone. 'Commercial' Britannia now rules over us. One Direction, Adele, James Bond, The Royals. These massive British brands are dominating the world, taking over American popular culture and making Britain, once again a cultural epicentre. It is fair to say, however, that without the advent of social media this may not have happened. If it wasn't for Twitter and Youtube teens in America may not have heard of One Direction, or Ed Sheeran or Emeli Sande. I have it on good authority that amongst the youth in America it is cool to discover the next big thing from the UK before anyone else. They may still see us as a nation of tea drinking royalists but also a nation that is incredibly 'cool'. So maybe my branding of the UK today as 'Commercial Britannia' in the context of America may be a little off. One thing is for sure, it may be 'Commercial Britannia' to us but for people all around the world it is 'Cool Britannia' long to reign over us. All hail the new Young British Artists.

The September Issue-Design

Fresh from winning GQ's 'Cultural Icon' award at this year's Men Of The Year awards and being the man responsible for the stunning 2012 Olympic cauldron Thomas Heatherwick really is the designer of the moment. Boris Johnson has publicly shown his love for Heatherwick commissioning him to design the new Routemaster bus for London which by anyone's standards is a daunting task, taking an already loved and established piece of design and bringing it in to the 21st century. Heatherwick, however, has succeeded. Whether he is designing the new routemaster or the beautiful and yet truly simplistic curling bridge in Paddington his work and his draw is universal. Mayors love him, the public love his work as shown during the 2012 games and the adoration for his seed cauldron.

The new routemaster is evidence of Heatherwick putting people first. Many designers create beautiful and elegant works with no function or with limited use as the designer hasn't thought or doesn't care about it's use for humans. 

The routemaster has sweeping windows that wrap around the bus flooding the inside with light and improving the black spot of the old routemaster, those dingy stairs. Heatherwick has even used heritage fabrics which, although are covering and replacing the old bucket seats, hark back to the original and well loved London bus. 

Heatherwick's crowning glory, however, has to be the stunning Olympic cauldron, comprising of petals that merged when lit, it was a triumph of British design. Olympic fans have praised the design for breaking the unwritten IOC rule that bigger is better when Olympic cauldrons are concerned and instead going for beauty and subtlety when designing the cauldron that became the icon of the games. Some even attribute Heatherwick to the success of the games, stating that without his design the public wouldn't have taken to the 2012 brand at all after a string of design nightmares. But who can even remember the negative press when the 2012 logo was unveiled? After commissioning Heatherwick the London 2012 organising committee turned the games around and brought back important elements to the games that run through Heatherwick's work. Unity and humanity.  

The V&A are currently running an exhibition 'Heatherwick Studio: Designing The Extraordinary' where you can see his design processes and a scale model of the 2012 Olympic cauldron. The Exhibition runs until the 30th of September and tickets are available from the V&A website. 

The September Issue

Every good publication has its flagship September issue so for the first couple of weeks of September I will be sharing my picks for Autumn/Winter 2012. Everything from music to books and art to fashion will be covered so I hope you enjoy reading about what Autumn means for me! 

The September Issue series will begin tomorrow. 

It Has Its Uses!

As an A-Level Art student I am constantly drawing things that fit under a certain title and it is a nice break when I get commissions! In a few weeks I am at a fair in Grantham selling some of my work which I am very excited about! As it is for children it gives me the chance to draw Disneyland Paris' Sleeping Beauty Castle!