Art at OPEN Ealing and Big Idea #156 is Growth

New home for OPEN Ealing

It'll be a hotel

So Monday and Tuesday I am able to enjoy learning about Art both theoretical and Practical at OPEN Ealing, the venue for OPEN Ealing is due to change soon and the potential new home is the former
West Ealing Blockbuster (strange I always think of it as Blockbusters).
The West Ealing postcode is undergoing something of a transformation with new housing  behind the  Uxbridge Road and a small hotel to appear soon (just by Sainsbury's) this might be connected with Crossrail or just part of a general improvement in the area.
It's good to see an increase in modern affordable hotels in London, historically there was an enormous gulf between really crappy Bayswater Road hotels and the expensive West End.
Anyway back to OPEN Ealing, the Modern Art (theory course) was this week about American Abstract Expressionism including Jack the Dripper (Jackson Pollock) famous for his drinking and Action Art.

A work in progress

He was not the only one working in the oeuvre  (another was Cy Twombly) but he's undoubtedly the foremost name - I reckon it'd be good fun to let go and try and create a work in this style but it's worth noting that he did have some talent and even to get close to his creativity would not be easy.
So to highlight the fact that as well as an idea artists generally need some proficiency I'm learning that effort (and talent) are needed for successful  printmaking, we're work with Lino and it's fun if I get the hang of it friends and family need to worry as they could get hand-made Christmas Cards this year.

Meanwhile at the Ian Crofton home of Big Ideas we're on 156 Growth (economic style)

Modern economies rely on growth to keep living standards rising, this requires increase in productivity and generally is linked to increasing consumption of goods and services. The engine of world economic growth is currently the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) where
annual increase in economic activity is regularly of the double digit variety.
The downside of all this growth is the increasing pollution and exploitation of planet earth - eventually the limit will be reached where we are unable to consume more or the planet will not allow further use of resources without some cataclysmic reaction