On monday i went to the baltic art gallery in newcastle. There were two main artists with work on show, Jenny Holzer and Raqs Media. Jenny Holzer had work on show covering two floors, it was all work using different LED light board which scroll words, phrases and a kind of story/long writings.
I wasnt too impressed with any of this artwork, the scrolling words were that interesting, the words that scrolled were boring and some of the longer things were quite depressing. Apart from the things scrolling on the boards not being interesting, some of the lights were very hard on the eyes, with bright alternating colours, which rotated while flashing and changing direction, overall i didnt concider any of this work art.
The work by Raqs Media was different, there wasnt much work there, there were haning perspecs cutouts of the figure seen on fire escapes, again, not very impressive but it was more interesting than the raving lights. the rest of this floor only had a room filled with work and things to do with the baltic with a few things dotted around the room and some televisions with looped explanations on them.
overall it wasn't a very exciting visit, but in my past visits i havent managed to catch the bigger more interesting exhibits either.
Especially in summer, the Baltic Travel Old Town is packed with tourists, with the traditional daytrippers from Helsinki increasingly supplemented by Europeans taking advantage of cheap flights. Alas, the new town sprawling all around is largely built in typical concrete Soviet style, now joined with glass-and-steel cubes celebrating the post-Soviet economic boom. The new centre of town is Vabadusevaljak (Freedom Square) at the end of the old town, and nearby is the giant matchbox of Hotel Viru, the former Intourist flagship and notorious den of Cold War planners.
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