Rough Guide Theory Task.

China Town and Soho

China Town wasn't originally located near Soho as it is today. It was in London's East End, where Chinese employees of the East India Company first came to England in the 18th Century, although most of the workers homes were based in China by 1914 there were a few hundred of the Chinese workers calling London their home. At the end of the war when the soldiers returned there was a great demand for Chinese food and a few restaurants opened on Gerrard Street on the West End. The new found popularity of Chinese cuisine created China Town as we know it today but it was the late 1960's when China Town was established as the centre for London's Chinese community which now numbers at tens of thousands. The main attraction to China Town is is's high numbers of authentic Chinese restaurants, and Chinese food shops. Lots of Chinese live here or around the area to be close to their business' and when I went around the shops and restaurants I did not count one single person of non-chinese heritage working in the shops.

Since the start of the 20th century Soho has long been known as the entertainment district, it is known for it's nightlife, film and sex shop industry, by the end of the 1980's Soho had become a fashionable area sporting cool restaurants and bars. I decided to ask people around Soho what they thought the main attraction was, I thought this would be an easy task but then I remembered I was in London, not friendly old Liverpool and finding 20 people who didn't think I was a raving lunatic was hard to come by but most of the people that I managed to stop for long enough, said they had come clothes shopping or were on their lunch break, I felt this task was pointless in the end because of the amount of people who thought I was trying to make them donate some sort of money or whatever, so, alas, I gave up. My main attraction to the area is the amount of shops selling vinyl and although I do love the fabric shops but everything is completely out of my price range.

Object Analysis.

Lucky Cat

The lucky cat is a Feng Shui item in Japan and China, they are believed to bring wealth, good luck and good fortune to the owner. Although it looks like the cat is waving (the paws move up and down) it is actually beckoning. The Lucky Cats are generally made out of plastic.

Cute, terrifying, wise, friendly, hopeful, 

I think if this object were to be found in another context such as a museum it would be seen as interesting because we would wonder the story behind it, why is it there? Is it for cultural reference? It would make us wonder the depth of the story behind it and how it came about rather than when we see these so commonly as decoration in chinese restaurants, for sale in chinese supermarkets and chinese shops and see them as decoration in shops when they are not for sale. I think this is how context can be interesting because I think we see these good luck charms so much we look right through them, most people wouldn't know they were a charm for good welfare and fortune. I asked a number of people around china town about them, I asked a few specific people, I asked asian people first and they could all tell me exactly what these were about then I asked people who I presumed were tourists and they didn't know, I doubt it was because they didn't care or that it was ignorance but that they simply saw them so much they didn't actually 'see' them.

Agent Provocateur - Soho's window display 

Agent Provocateur is a high end lingerie shop, opened in 1994 by Joseph Corre and Serena Rees.  This window display was created to tell a story that would lure the possible consumers into the store. I also think that the window is quite inviting and you wouldn't feel intimidated to step into the store.
Alluring, exciting, sex, luxury, upper-class, nostalgia.
If this display were to be seen in a museum or gallery I believe it would evoke lots of different thoughts and opinions, say if it were done by a well known artist, I believe that some people would strive towards it for the wrong reasons, I think that this is related to consumerism in the thought that the artist is the brand and therefore where some people strive towards a particular brand and would admire anything about it, it is the same with a well respected artist with some people. But this would also cause a major uproar in the art world, I believe that critics would go wild as they did with Tracey Emins 'My Bed'. I believe that some may even misunderstand it, they would question what it is, what the meaning is of it? 

Leon Kossoff - Self Portrait.

Leon Kossof was born in London and studied at Central Saint Martins and The Royal Collage of Art. He was heavily influenced by David Bombergs expressionist style of working. This painting is oil on board and the texture of the paint gives the painting a beautiful ugliness.

Texture, dark, eery, solemn,  inner depth, potency, discreet, pain, secrecy. disconnection, searching, the voyer.

The context of this self portrait as it is, is perfectly understandable but if this were to be taken out of its original context and put into the shop window of Agent Provocateur there would be confusion but at the same time I think people would be inclined to take a look inside to find out what it was about, I think that the curiosity that it would evoke would bring more people into the shop and therefore sell more of what was in there. I believe that curiosity is sometimes one if the best ways to make a shop money. Humans are although we sometimes pretend not to be curious creatures, it is in our nature to wonder.