In what used to be a hydraulic power station in London’s East End, now stands a unique multi-purpose exhibtion and performance space.  Not to mention an award-winning restaurant housed in the station’s Engine and Turbine Houses.  What makes The Wapping Project distinctly innovative and downright cool is its undefined boundaries of space. 

Imagine dining in the midst of original 19th century hydraulic machinery while dancers perform a newly-commissioned contemporary piece.  Each year, it attracts visual artists, choreographers, composers, writers, poets, designers and film makers.

You can find The Wapping Project on the north bank of the Thames (east of Tower Bridge).  Keep an eye out for its tree decked out with yellow umbrellas.  You can’t miss it.  The Wapping Project opened to the public in October 2000.

                                                                                                                                               If you’re a design geek like I am, you’ll dig this.  Glasgow School of Art is known for cranking out Turner Prize winning artists, renowned animators and even a rock musician here and there (Franz Ferdinand’s own Bob Hardy went to school here).   In short, GSA attracts some of the most creative and innovative artists around.   Most notably, the one and only.  Wait for it. Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Glasgow School of Art is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its world-famous Mackintosh building.  It’s hands down the best known and most widely regarded of all Mackintosh’s buildings.  For its 100th anniersary, a £100 bill from Clydesdale bank and films about the art school will be projected on to the side of the building.  The school will also unveil a centenary scroll and commemorative door plaque.

The school’s library is a true highlight.  I took a tour of the school last year and it’s no wonder why they keep it for the end.  Yeah, it’s dark and a little musty, but the detail is incredible.  And you can clearly see the Art Noveau meets Japanese influence along with touches of the Arts & Crafts movement.  Ahhh, I’m feeling inspired!

This ain’t Reno.  It’s Wiltshire, England.  There’s a groovy retro photography exhibit called “Icons of the Highway” at the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire.  Think motels touting electric neon signs for weary travelers, flamboyant over-sized automobiles, aluminum Air-Stream caravans, colorful burger shacks, bustling 24-hour diners, and rich red brocaded cinemas of old Hollywood glamour.  Just good ole’ Americana in England.  Who knew?

The  images on display are the works of Dorset-based photographers Tony and Eva Worobiec.  Not to sound too romantic here, but Tony and Eva’s photos really do take visitors back in time on a classic 1960s American road trip.  The exhibtion opens on January 9, 2010 and runs until June 27, 2010.

And here’s a tip if you’re planning to go.  Members of The Royal Oak Foundation get into the museum and all other National Trust properties for free.

“When all is said and done, when everything is gone, the photograph is what’s going to remain.  The photographer is the producer of history.” – Nat Finkelstein

I never really like beginning blog posts with quotes, but this one was particularly powerful.  His photographs speak for themselves.  Photojournalist Nat Finkelstein was a legend.  Plain and simple.  His work covered everything from Warhol’s Factory to the civil rights movement.  And come January, his iconic photographs will be on display in a retrospective exhibition in London.  Nat Finkelstein: From One Extreme to the Other runs from January 20th to February 14th at the Idea Generation Gallery.

Not only was Finkelstein a renowned photojournalist, he was an activist, fugitive and veteran of the 1960s New York scene.  He was expelled from Brooklyn College, trained at Harper’s Bazaar, fleed to the Middle East and managed the post-punk band Khmer Rouge. 

It amazes me how this exhibtion documents vividly five decades of not only his own life, but the lives of those who downright shaped modern day culture.  If you’re going to be in London early next year, this exhibtion should be on your to-do list. 

© Nat Finkelstein, Courtesy of Idea Generation Gallery

Nat Finkelstein: From One Extreme to the Other, is at Idea Generation Gallery from Jan 20^th– Feb 14^th, www.ideageneration.co.uk.

This week saw artist Richard Wright win the Turner Prize for his giant gold leaf frescos. Wright was an unusually conservative choice for Britain’s most controversial art prize, his work is intricate and delicate, doesn’t pander to outraged tabloid journalists and at 49, he is only months below the Turner’s maximum age limit.

If you’re in London between now and January you can see all the nominated pieces at Tate Britain. I definitely recommend a visit to see if this is truly ‘the future of Brit art’ or, as Minister of Culture Kim Howells so charmingly called it: ‘a load of conceptual bulls**t’. Due to this year’s unusual absence of sex dolls, condom strewn beds and ‘Arsewoman in Wonderland’, you can even take your little darlings along with you.

Not that I am a massive fan of little darlings in galleries. I visited The Museum of Everything on Saturday and the place was overrun by noisy mini people. Nevertheless, I still recommend a visit to this fascinating gallery of outsider art. Miniature fairgrounds, bonkers religious paintings, twenty foot biro sketches and creepy dolls (to name but a few gems) all housed in the most fantastic secret labyrinth of a gallery in Primrose Hill. Oh, and they have a great little café with home made cakes and proper tealady in a tabard to serve you too!

- Anya Driscoll, contributing editor

Photo by Art Comments used under a Creative Commons License

Robots drawing humans.  A family of light beings.  And a giant orchestral milk float. 

This just brings out the big ole dork in me.   These are just a few of the insanely creative and techincally masterful exhibits at the Kinetica Art Fair 2010, the UK’s only art fair dedicated to kinetic, robotic, sound, light and time-based art.  This all sounds so modern, doesn’t it?  Like, sooo 2009.  But, kinetic art has been around since the 1900’s with artists like Marcel Duchamp and Alexander Calder.

Even before we started Unlabelled Britain, I’ve been on the search for the quirkest and coolest of art fairs, and Kinetica Art Fair has been on my mind ever since I got an email almost a year ago announcing its initial launch. 

Some artists that will be featured are:

Rosaline de Thélin uses light as a medium and a subject to develop sculptures and installations that explore life and illusion. Rosaline will create a family of holographic light beings inspired by astronomy, scientific theories and quantum physics.

Patrick Tresset takes the 30,000 year old practice of artistic drawing and sketching and uses sophisticated computational simulations to enable machines to recreate some of the identifiable perceptual and cognitive processes involved in face sketching by artists.

Paul Friedlander specializes in work that continually blurs the lines between art and science. A scientific artist and light sculptor, Friedlander uses waves to create luminous, dynamic and transparent works.

The fair will take place from February 4 to 7, 2010 at the P3 space in London.  Over 25 galleries and organizations specializing in kinetic, electronic and new media art are taking part and will draw over 150 exhibiting artists.  It is the brainchild of the Kinetica Museum (also in London).  Tickets to the fair start at around $13.   Now, if you’re like me and can’t make it for the fair, a visit to the museum is well worth it.

Image: Holographic light sculptures by Rosaline De Thelin © Homos Luminosos

Image: Part of the Aikon2 Project ©  Patrick Tresset and Frederic Fol Leymarie

Image: Waves © Paul Friedlander

If you look carefully you’ll find something particularly odd about a busy corner in London’s East End.  Underground train carriages perched atop a warehouse.  What the f*&# are they doing up there?  And more importantly, what’s inside?

It’s called Village Underground in Shoreditch – one of London’s trendiest neighborhoods.  The carriages serve as studio space for artists, designers, filmmakers, VJ’s and musicians.  The Victorian warehouse below holds club nights, parties, live music and exhibits, including The Thousands, an exhibition of some of the world’s renowned street artists including Banksy (woot!), KAWS, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Herakut and Barry McGee.

Would working in a space like this get your creative juices flowing?

The Scarlet is a new adults only hotel on England’s north Cornish coast.  It’s been generating a lot of buzz here in the US and there are loads of reasons why.  This area of Cornwall is known for its surf’s up attitude with dashes of style with places like the Scarlet.

What stood out for me was its art collection.  Eighty percent of the pieces are from local artists and almost all of them are made from recycled material.  The hotel looked more like an art gallery than a hotel.  There’s one piece of a life size man made enitrely of tree bark.  Another sculpture that caught my eye was made of chestnuts that sits on a table in the lobby.

Take note of the furniture.   It’s modern without being stuffy.  There’s a room with cozy bean bags scattered around.  This may sound weird but the bathroom urinals are cool.  Apple red circular bowls.  Never seen anything like it.  I’m sorry to say that I didn’t get a chance to whip out my camera while I was in the john.  Head outside and you’ll see hot tubs that are heated by open fire.  Eek!

I can’t end this post without addressing the lengths the Scarlet goes to to be eco-friendly.  It has sea thrift growing on the roof and a pool filled with harvested rain water.  Mother Nature is smiling as we speak.

Unlabelled Britain is born of a passion for all things independent, creative, and energetic that are popping on both sides of the Atlantic.

Written by Anglophiles out there to scoop some trends and reveal the side of Britain you might not know is there:  from indie fashion to where you should be crashin’, from pop to punk, from castle romps to celebrity cat fights…basically the whole cultural kit and caboodle. In what London speakeasies will you get to rub shoulders with the likes of Amy Winehouse and David Beckham, maybe Susan Boyle?  We’ll find out.  Where do you go shopping for nerdy-chic, eco-friendly cardigans in Wales?  There will be a post for that.  Take that, iPhone fanboy bloggers.

So who are we?  Unlabelled Britain’s editorial team is based in New York. Full disclosure here: some of us work for the British tourist office.  We’re a mix of Brits and Americans who share one thing in common – we’re transatlanticists with an addiction to the latest trends in Britain.  We work with insiders and tipsters based in the UK who serve as contributors every week.  If it’s going to happen in Britain, in many cases, we hear about it first. Think of us as a travel advisory board with an edge.  For all the dirt on us, check out our bios.

Unlabelled Britain needs your feedback. Talk to us.  Tell us what you think.  Give us a shout out.  Add us to your blog roll.  Ask what you need to know.  Send us Cadbury chocolates.  Maybe we’ll do the same.  Plus, we do have the power to occasionally send folks to Britain.