Seriously this place has everything a brain fried mother could ask for both entertaining and, dare I say, thrilling our little people. The State Library has this sunken lounge play pit place that looks like the useful box exploded from Play School.
The theme today was 'My Island Home' so there were toddler sized boats with nets to fish for softy sea life, lizards, lighthouse cubby, a Torres Strait type house, T.I. softy people,
very funky seating and crafted children's sculptures of all the associated themes including a dugong and some more boats and islands. This beats playgroup. There are lots of enthusiastic young volunteers and views outside of all the people walking past.
The cool people had lunch in some cool river breezes then chased dump birds- verminous scavengers that are even ruder than bush turkeys. That is a waitress, not a dump bird.
Than we ran with feverish anticipation into the deliciously cold concrete sanctuary of GOMA. I hadn't been back for a while- possibly since before the floods and that was a stunning kids' exhibition too.
The Spot Room is back but on a vaster scale. It's like legally vandalising your own home.
Even 12 year old boys can do it and not be bored.
They might even be happy enough to allow the annoying little sister to sit between themselves and the friend as they attempt to tag with spots. They think it's cool but it's cool like playing the lead break of Smoke on the Water on Euphonium is cool. (That's another post and, yes, Bungalowgirl, it is I who am the mad mother who accepted that instrument!)
This is just the tip of the iceberg as many of the truly psychedelic rooms are not allowed to be photographed. 'We Miss You Magic Land' is a surreal, colour drenched delight of fantasy worlds that took months to install. They are made of found objects like squirrels and deer and op shopped tiny figurines and little hills and gardens made of beads and patterns of coloured sugar. There is even a rainbow floor boardwalk into the rooms. MMMC!!! Take the Fin K! It is beyond Moomin loveliness.
Aunty Jussy loved it too.
I was besotted by the Avatar-ish floating gardens with whimsical root worlds below.
Meanwhile, this man is the reason we went in to Southbank today. I first came upon him when I was teaching children with autism in London. His abilities interested me as one of my students was also a gifted autistic artist but not quite on this scale. Stephen Wiltshire was only twelve at the time but now he is thirty and seeing the world and making a living out of his extraordinary talent.
He went up in the Southbank ferris wheel on Friday and looked out over the cityscape and memorised its detail. Then he came down and started to draw it completely from memory. Astonishing! He uses Staedtler felt tip pens of varying thicknesses and draws onto a huge panoramic curve of paper. I could have watched him for hours.
He was completely absorbed, smiling as he drew, listening to his i-pod and only looking up when people crossed over his demarcated barrier into his space. (e.g.. dancing toddler, overly aggressive photographers) He draws, not building by building, but in vertical strips of the page from left to right like a scanner would. I love how the whole thing was loosely mapped in first so there is the lovely fade from meticulous detail to gestural soft line. Do I sound excited? I really was! This was meant to be a separate post altogether but I couldn't wait to tell you. He working in the State Library foyer till Tuesday 5pm when he is due to finish.
