Designing James Bond is the name of an exhibition on at the Barbican at the moment. It focuses of the design aspect of the Bond franchise both in terms of the clothes and the sets.
I was a little bit wary to start with. To me the Barbican has always been a haven of pretentiousness where people with strange facial hair and an excess of apple products congregate in hideous surroundings to try and sound "intellectual". However being a sucker for anything Bond related I duly went along a few weeks ago.
I have to say, my impressions haven't changed. What a hideous area of a beautiful city. However the exhibition it's-self was wonderful. I was a little bit concerned that it was going to be a clothing exhibition with a little bit of Bond to draw the crowds. Either that or the usual miscellaneous selection of props loosely linked by some design student on their summer holiday writing flashcards in the pub.
Fortunately, it turned out that neither was true. Yes, there were a lot of clothes but with some interesting explanation of their provenance. Naturally a lot of space was devoted to Bond's accessories too; not just the gadgets but things like watches, wallets and briefcases too. It all sounds very nerdy but it also goes to show the level of attention to detail gone into by the producers. I have seen Bond reach for his wallet only a couple of times during the films yet there is still accurate replica credit cards, driving licence, etc. Obviously some of this is marketing by the parent companies hoping to associate with Bond but it's still fantastically impressive. As well as clothing and accessories there is a decent amount of space devoted to the design of sets in the films. Original pictorial set designs were shown alongside pictures of the finished sets. It was incredible to see the designer's imagination transformed into reality... dreams can come true apparently!
One aspect I particularly appreciated was the layout of exhibition as a whole. Instead of being a chronological march through the films, it was divided into themed areas for example the casino or gold. Albeit at times a fair bit of lateral thinking was needed to see how some of the exhibits fitted into the themed area it was a nice idea I thought. Lots of excellent props were showcased (my personal favourite being Ursula Andress' white bikini) and, as I say, I liked the twist on the presentation. It was also fun walking through a recreation of the iconic gun-barrel shot. It did flag a bit towards the end but then again it did start of on a serious high and maintain that so who can really blame them?
In conclusion: go see it. If you're in London, if you're passing through and you need to kill time or if you consider yourself in any way a Bond fan, it's well worth seeing. Just leave plenty time. In an (almost successful) attempt to avoid overcrowding, they have set points at which they admit people so either buy your tickets in advance or be prepared to wait. That's if you can navigate the confusing streets of the Barbican in the first place.
JR
I was a little bit wary to start with. To me the Barbican has always been a haven of pretentiousness where people with strange facial hair and an excess of apple products congregate in hideous surroundings to try and sound "intellectual". However being a sucker for anything Bond related I duly went along a few weeks ago.
I have to say, my impressions haven't changed. What a hideous area of a beautiful city. However the exhibition it's-self was wonderful. I was a little bit concerned that it was going to be a clothing exhibition with a little bit of Bond to draw the crowds. Either that or the usual miscellaneous selection of props loosely linked by some design student on their summer holiday writing flashcards in the pub.
Fortunately, it turned out that neither was true. Yes, there were a lot of clothes but with some interesting explanation of their provenance. Naturally a lot of space was devoted to Bond's accessories too; not just the gadgets but things like watches, wallets and briefcases too. It all sounds very nerdy but it also goes to show the level of attention to detail gone into by the producers. I have seen Bond reach for his wallet only a couple of times during the films yet there is still accurate replica credit cards, driving licence, etc. Obviously some of this is marketing by the parent companies hoping to associate with Bond but it's still fantastically impressive. As well as clothing and accessories there is a decent amount of space devoted to the design of sets in the films. Original pictorial set designs were shown alongside pictures of the finished sets. It was incredible to see the designer's imagination transformed into reality... dreams can come true apparently!
One aspect I particularly appreciated was the layout of exhibition as a whole. Instead of being a chronological march through the films, it was divided into themed areas for example the casino or gold. Albeit at times a fair bit of lateral thinking was needed to see how some of the exhibits fitted into the themed area it was a nice idea I thought. Lots of excellent props were showcased (my personal favourite being Ursula Andress' white bikini) and, as I say, I liked the twist on the presentation. It was also fun walking through a recreation of the iconic gun-barrel shot. It did flag a bit towards the end but then again it did start of on a serious high and maintain that so who can really blame them?
In conclusion: go see it. If you're in London, if you're passing through and you need to kill time or if you consider yourself in any way a Bond fan, it's well worth seeing. Just leave plenty time. In an (almost successful) attempt to avoid overcrowding, they have set points at which they admit people so either buy your tickets in advance or be prepared to wait. That's if you can navigate the confusing streets of the Barbican in the first place.
JR
I used to live in the Barbican! It was my stomping ground and the pub on the corner, The Shakespeare, I was a regular weekend customer. Ahhhh to be 19 again!
ReplyDeleteReally? I feel a little bit guilty about my rather cynical description of it then! I have never been to the Shakespeare although from the outside it looks exactly like my sort of pub. How long did you live there for?
DeleteYes really :-). It's actually not a bad place and perfectly situated for the cultural parts of London. I haven't been back for a couple of years but the memories are still there :-). I was there for just over a year and it was a well spent year :-D.
ReplyDeleteAh, OK. The closest I usually get to culture is a yoghurt! My stomping ground until a wee while ago was the west and south west. As you say, the memories are good ones.
DeleteSpeaking of moves, have you moved up north yet? If so, how's it going?
JR