Monday 28 August 2017

Never mind

Allow me to introduce you to one of my latest finds!

This macrame rope bag with bamboo handles and sturdy cotton lining is a souvenir from Madeira and was found during a quick dash to the charity shop on Friday last week.

Although probably meant as a beach bag, it's roomy enough for a day out involving a picnic, and with enough space to store any flea market or charity shop finds.


It came with us on Saturday before last, when we'd planned to go to a small flea market on the outskirts of the nearby town of Boom.

I was wearing pastel colours, by way of a Trevira dress in pale blue with textured diamonds in the palest of pinks. I love the self fabric belt with its fabric covered round buckle.



I played around with differently coloured cardies and eventually settled on this coral pink one sprinkled with black dots, and I piled on some contrasting accessories.

Although the sun was shining when we left the house, by the time we'd parked our car, menacingly dark, charcoal grey clouds heavy with rain had once again gathered, threatening to drench us any minute. Just our luck!



We had to cross the park to get to the flea market and were about half way when, sure enough, the heavens opened.We sheltered under the trees, watching the raindrops create a pattern of concentric circles in the park's pond.

Eventually it cleared up and we continued, although we shouldn't have bothered as there were many empty gaps where stalls should have been, and the only thing I found was a € 1 pair of shoes.



On our way back to the car, we came across an adventurous white cat, who was crossing the park's murky pond by way of a fallen tree trunk, which greatly alarmed a gaggle of moorhens which were sheltering among its branches.

We were itching to go on a proper walk on Sunday. The sun was out in full force and it would have been silly to stay inside.

So, off we went, taking the Madeira basket and a picnic. Our destination was the delightful Middelheim Park, which incorporates an open air museum of sculpture, and which I already blogged about before.



Apart from the brooch, there was nothing vintage about my outfit for once.

Most of it was new to me, though. I bought the King Louie blouse for € 5,- in a charity shop, and you might recognize the yellow batwing cardie, originally from H&M, which I found a couple of weeks ago.

All the jewellery, except for the ring, was charity shopped too, and even my watch strap came from a flea market.

I've had the jeans jacket for ages, and it's a real staple of my summer wardrobe, but although it was originally from Mexx, this too was a charity shop find.


The navy skirt was bought in the sales several years back. Apparently it hadn't been very popular as there was a whole rack of them left, which kept being reduced in price. I snapped mine up at € 10, and liked it so much that I went back and bought a second one as well as one in green. Both had been reduced to € 7 by then!



While on our way to the park, the sun once again disappeared on us, but we added an umbrella to the Madeira bag's contents and made a go of it.

In fact, the blanket of moody grey clouds, through which the sun tried to pierce from time to time, made for perfect photographic conditions.

We took a different entrance than usual: this one is actually a work of art called Artiesteningang (Artists' Entrance). It was created by Dutch artist John Körmeling, who managed to make the structure look both futuristic and retro. The names of some of the artists whose work is represented in the museum are incorporated in the canopy.






We then continued past what looked like a ruined building, but is actually also a work of art.

It is called The Passage of the Hours, and is by Portuguese artist Pedro Cabrita Reis, who used steel, brick, glass and fluorescent lamps in this construction measuring 8 x 8 x 24 metres.

The work, which inhabits the border between architecture and art refers simultaneously to a historic ruin and a recent remnant of a conflict.




After entering the park itself, we kept away from the main paths, in order to avoid the crowds, as it was quite a busy day.

Jos took pity on this poor guy (top left) and offered him the use of his hat!



The spooky photo of me (top left) was taken inside another work of art, called Belgian Funhouse, by artist Dan Graham (USA), who creates outdoor pavilions containing  reflective plates of glass in which a viewer sees a reflection of himself and his environment.

By 1 o'clock we were getting hungry and looked for the perfect picnic place, which we found off a barely used path close to the water's edge.



Here, we had a view of the lake, with the open parkland beyond. Seating came in the form of gold and silver painted chairs, which can be found all over the park for people to use and enjoy the sculptures at leisure.

As usual, we gravitated towards the utterly fabulous Braem Pavilion, designed by Belgian architect Renaat Braem (1910-2001), a former apprentice of Le Corbusier, and inaugurated in 1971.

The flying saucer in front of it (bottom right) is by legendary Belgian artist Panamarenko.



We had a look at some of the works by Welsh artist Richard Deacon, who has a solo exhibition, called Some Time, running from May until September.



The works exhibited inside the Braem Pavilion include, clockwise from top left, Body of Thought # 2, Like You Know and Alphabet Y.

The exhibition is made up of some 31 works, both monumental works and smaller pieces, which apart from the Braem Pavillion, are on display in different parts of the museum park.




Clockwise from top left, these are called Big Time, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 'B', Morning Assembly, I Remember (1) and Infinity # 31.

I'm always intrigued by the names of works of art, which I think are an integral part of them, and I'm always let down when one turns out to be untitled.




This sculpture, called Never Mind, is central to the exhibition. It is a key piece from the museum collection and was acquired in 1993. Originally coated in wooden strips, it has been restored and re-coated in stainless steel strips especially for this exhibition.

There were two girls doing a photo session in front of it, so we had to wait our turn and, as lots of people were milling around the sculpture, there was the added difficulty of trying to capture it without people's legs peeping out from under it.


We finished our visit by sitting on a bench contemplating nature's slow but sure transition into Autumn.

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.

30 comments:

  1. I love the picture of the white cat crossing the stream. And do you have some fabulous accessory accessories accessories there my friend! Thanks for linking up, XO.

    -Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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  2. An untitled work of art leaves me feeling cheated as well.

    You've managed to make me want a denim jacket! That pink and blue dress is a dream too. Thanks for taking us on a tour of the sculptures.

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    1. I'm a big fan of a decent denim jacket! The pink and blue dress was actually found in the nightwear section. Always worth checking out, as you know! xxx

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  3. Europe has such beautiful green fairy-tale forests with leafy willows & elms a stark contrast to my arid desert-like nayive California.) Amazing art love your very summer-y outfits!

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    1. Thanks for visiting Bibi. I love woods and forests, and that sculpture park combines nature and art brilliantly. xxx

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  4. Ann I love your collages. You look amazing in this yellow blue red style. Thanks for the art and sculpture pictures. Very interesting!
    I wish you a nice evening, big hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina, although I think my collages are nothing compared to yours! xxx

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  5. I love the boho macrame bag and you look fantastic for your day out to Middleheim Park, that outfit really suits you.
    I love modern art and would have really enjoyed the day you've described. xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally, that park is a must visit should you ever come to Antwerp. xxx

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  6. Hhhhhhwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?!?! You NOT wearing vintage???? Shocking and utterly unheard of in my eyes! You still manage to make it LOOK vintage though! Must be your amazing style!
    I like your picnic setting- it looks very serene and beautiful and much better to avoid the crowds! There is always so much in your blog posts I always feel guilty for not mentioning everything!!x

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    1. Thank you Kezzie! It does happen from time to time, although usually I'm not NOT wearing anything vintage. I loved looking back at our picnic place from across the pond. xxx

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  7. I did enjoy your walk, I love a bit of contemporary sculpture, it looks wonderful against the natural backdrop.
    When you've got great individual style you can wear non-vintage and still look fantastic. I love that yellow cardi and it made perfect sense to buy two skirts if they fitted so well! xxx
    PS I like the sound of the adventurous cat!

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    1. Thank you Vix. That cat was the complete opposite of Phoebe ;-) I've just packed the yellow cardi for our trip to Belgian's west country but although I love wearing it, I hope I won't need it. Fingers crossed ... xxx

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  8. I love blog-posts that combine fashion, travel and good photography. This one rocks. And the first dress is really cute.

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    1. Thank you Ally! I think you'd rock that dress too ... xxx

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  9. What a great place for a picnic. I wish we had parks like that where I live.

    I really like your eclectic outfit with the yellow cardigan. Funny how that blue skirt didn't sell. It looks fabulous!

    bisous
    Suzanne

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    1. Thank you Suzanne. I couldn't understand it either. It's such a great skirt to wear, and people always think it's vintage. xxx

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  10. although the flea was not much fun - your outfit was fab! such a chic pastel dress! and im quiet smitten by the madeira bag!!
    interesting that your non-vintage ensemble does look totally vintage though!! i love to find modern things that look vintage-y in the 2.hand shops - mostly the prices are small in comparison to real vintage - which is very rare here anyway.
    always fascinated by the park full of art!
    hugest hugs! xxxxx

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    1. Thank you Beate. I started out by combining vintage and non-vintage second hand, but over the years more and more vintage has sneaked in. Now it's unusual for me not to be wearing anything vintage ... xxx

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  11. Your Madeira bag is super Ann...any mention of that island always reminds me of a story my great aunt relayed about her trip there with my grandmother in the 70's. Apparently a very bold taxi driver put his hand under her poncho and pinched her (very large) bosom! It made us howl at the time.
    Ahem,I digress. Your H&M cardi looks great with this cheerful outfit. I wonder why Never Mind was so called? Perhaps the artist wasn't satisfied with it. xxx

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    1. Quite a story. I love these kind of stories, which go down in family history. My Dad even made an attempt of writing it all down. Now you've set me thinking on Never Mind, although I was quite intrigued with the one called Morning Assembly ... xxx

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  12. What a gorgeous sculpture and nature park!! I enjoyed your walk very much! How thoughtful to leave some chairs for people to enjoy art, I think malls could take a note. Panamarenko (or Ponomarenko) is a perfectly Ukrainian name, common in Russia as well.

    You look so lovely in baby blue, and the coral cardigan is a fine compliment. I didn't realize that you wear contemporary stuff too - though your outfit looks very retro, and I wouldn't guess! The yellow cardigan is very pretty. And I have similar skirts - I also bought them on sale, in 4 different colors, a few years ago. They are so versatile!

    The white cat is amazing!

    Lots of hugs and love <3

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    1. How fascinating to hear that Panamarenko is a Ukrainian name! I thought the artist, who is quite an eccentric, had invented it, but now I guess he must have picked it up somewhere ... xxx

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  13. Put my name on that bag please.
    More super outings and pics. You've reminded to mention to Philip that we really need to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, it's a fascinating place that we haven't got to yet
    Lynn xxx

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    1. Bag added to your pile, Lynn! Oh, please do go to the sculpture park, I'd love to see what it's like! xxx

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  14. such a fabulous place to go for a walk and watch some art, the landscaping is amazing!. I always enjoy your walks pictures.
    Lovely bag, so nice that it's useful for picnics or shopping. And also lovely blue dress, it has a cute print!
    And you look comfy&cool in your denim jacket and blue skirt, and so fabulous mustard cardi! (those sleeves!). Lovely accessorizing, as usual!!
    besos

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    1. Thank you Monica! As you know, I love accessorizing. It's such a joy to do. xxx

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