The Euston Road School of Drug- Dealing
Welcome to the Wellcome Collection . . .
by Henderson Downing,
first published: July, 2007
first published: July, 2007
If you've never seen a live organ transplant or a whale's heart
Surfing the wave of architectural salvage projects currently breaking across London it becomes possible to identify a few of the more public peaks and troughs. Some renovations are revelations (yes, I actually like the expanded and rebranded BFI Southbank complete with new mediatheque designed by David Adjaye). Others leave you wondering why they bothered to retain the blueprint (feint murmur of a Bon Jovi soundtrack as the supposedly temporary structure of the Millennium Dome switches names to O2 and keeps a corner of the circus tent free for future super casino status regardless of the new Prime Minister's controversial pronouncements). The remainder of the projects sit somewhere in-between (like the sterilized revamp of the legendary Roundhouse), usually ensuring that improved facilities and easier access –signifying more functioning toilets and a few less steps - are reinforced by franchised cash registers ready to log your pin-number for targeted mail-outs (the Royal Festival Hall affect).
For me, the high point of the recently opened new 'old' buildings is the redevelopment of the elegant neoclassical block originally built by Septimus Warwick on Euston Road that houses the extraordinary Wellcome Collection. And that's not solely because it's the closest to my own front door. Michael Hopkins and Partners have connected Warwick's 1930s structure to their newly built Gibbs Building which operates as the official Wellcome Trust HQ. Inside the older building what had become a maze of partitioned offices and corridors has been transformed into a light and airy contemporary space that allows the original building to breathe again. Alongside the libraries, caf?© and bookshop, Hopkins and Partners have also created a series of galleries in which selections from Sir Henry Wellcome's mind-bendingly eclectic collection of a million medical art and artifacts can be juxtaposed with contemporary work responsive to the prevailing Wellcome agenda of suturing the cultural split between art and science through the performative role of medicine.
Perhaps inevitably, given architecture's haphazardly prescient recycling of existing material conditions, Septimus Warwick had already played the role of renovator when updating Robert Smirke's Canada House in Trafalgar Square back in the 1920s. Warwick's alleged Masonic connections and his mysterious involvement in the hieroglyphic coding of the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg seems ripe for some kind of quasi-Hawksmoor conspiracy narrative. A multimillionaire Mr Pharmacist and ?ºber-philanthropist, Henry Wellcome commissioned Warwick to build the Euston Road premises to house not just medical research laboratories but also a sculpture court and exhibition spaces in which his collection could be accessed by the public. It is a fitting tribute to one of Britain's greatest and most bizarre collectors that the building has been returned to this function. Entrance is free to all the exhibitions. Featuring uncanny memento mori and ritualistic objects from every continent, mummified bodies and magical manuscripts, sacrificial knives and amputation saws, ye olde chastity belts and Victorian sex aids, Darwin's skull-topped walking-stick and Nelson's razor, an indestructible 4 foot jelly baby and a DNa-sequencing robot, a malarial map of the world made from mosquitoes . . . the list of exhibits goes on and on. The opening show in the ground-floor gallery focuses on the Heart. If you've never seen a whale's heart or watched a live transplant operation then the Wellcome Collection finally offers you just such an opportunity.
Henderson Downing
Henderson Downing has written for various literary journals and small press magazines, he lives in London
about Henderson Downing »»
If you've never seen a live organ transplant or a whale's heart
the weekly guide to new releases
10 clickable things
☉ What can elephants, birds, and flamenco players teach a neuroscientist-composer about music? ☉
BOYCOTT University Challenge ☉
Bruce's Beach. Reparations really, or what? (NYT) ☉
Drag Shows are banned ☉
QPR: Promotion push to relegation fight, 474,000 a week losses and a rescue mission ☉
How to talk like a Chelsea coach ☉
De La Soul Streaming at Last (Gothamist) ☉
Why 1997 Changed Everything (NYT) ☉
Robert Forster: why Venus by Television is the most perfect song of all time (Guardian) ☉
Magentaverse ☉
RECENT STORIES
Adventures in the archives
RANDOM READS
What Readers are Reading Right Now
- Big Dog Training
A new poem by Wayne Dean-Richards - A Matter of Life and Death
'Momento Mori' is Depeche Mode's best record in a very long time. - Ancient Champion: Early Encounter with the Bard
I can't remember the last time there was an Ancient Champion column - Outsideleft Week in Music... Counting on Lloyd/Bean
We're hearing from... Lloyd/Bean, Swans, Modern Cosmology, Nuha Ruby Ra, The Damned, Eater, Tape Runs Out, Elita, Bloody Bananas, Resurrectionists, Librarians with Hickeys, Jimin, The Ironsides, Darkplace, Richard Norris, Hannah Jagadu, Secret Machines, Forty Feet Tall and Baby Jake - Is It All About Feeding Bono's Ego At This Point
When does U2 realize that the best thing for it is a calm, dignified hiatus? - Storied Walnuts
The Story of Chantal Pitts' Outsideleft Short Story Competition Trophies - Is Indie Pop Alive and Kicking?
Tim Sparks asks Indie Pop band The Resolve to give us the answer... - A Soundtrack for Stanford
Jay Lewis marvels at Senestra's compelling debut - Goin' Back To My Industrial Roots
Meave Haughey reads the new short story collection from Lisa Pike - Track by Track: IF... by David Heatley
Queens, NY singer-songwriter David Heatley talks us through his new LP, IF... track by track
All About and Contributors
HELP OUTSIDELEFT
Outsideleft exists on a precarious no budget budget. We are interested in hearing from deep and deeper pocket types willing to underwrite our cultural vulture activity. We're not so interested in plastering your product all over our stories, but something more subtle and dignified for all parties concerned. Contact us and let's talk. [HELP OUTSIDELEFT]
WRITE FOR OUTSIDELEFT
If Outsideleft had arms they would always be wide open and welcoming to new writers and new ideas. If you've got something to say, something a small dank corner of the world needs to know about, a poem to publish, a book review, a short story, if you love music or the arts or anything else, write something about it and send it along. Of course we don't have anything as conformist as a budget here. But we'd love to see what you can do. Write for Outsideleft, do. [SUBMISSIONS FORM HERE]
WRITERS thru' the Years
Alan Devey, Alan Rider, Alex V. Cook, Ancient Champion, Andy Allison, Annemiek, Belle Plankton, Bruce Bailey, Caiomhin Millar, Chantal, Cheiron Coelho, Chris Connolly, Christian Present, Damon Hayhurst, Dan Breen, David Hackney, Denni Boyd, Dirty Lillie, DJ Fuzzyfelt, Dr. Richard Bennett, Duncan Jones, Erin, Erin Pipes, Erin Scott, Gracey Babs, Graham Baker, Guilaine Arts, H.xx, Hamilton High, Henderson Downing, Holly Martins, J. Charreaux, Jay Lewis, Jaycentee, Jennifer Lynn, Jenny McCann, Jeremy Gluck, Jez Collins, Joe Ambrose, John Robinson, Julie O, Karl Morgan, Katherine Pargeter, Kelsey Osgood, Kevin McHugh, Lake, Lee Paul, Luke Skinner, Malcolm, Marek Pytel, Mark Piggott, Meave Haughey, Michelle Williams, mindy strouse, Neil Campbell, Neil Scott, Ogglypoogly, OL House Writer, Pam, Paul Hawkins, Paul Quigley, Peter Williams, Pixie McMowat, Pixievic, Rene Williams, Rick Casson, Ronan Crinion, Ruby Lake, Ryan 'RJO' Stewart, Samantha Charles, Seth Sherwood, Shane O'Reilly, Sheridan Coyle, Sofia Ribeiro Willcox, Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Spanish Pantalones, Speedie John, Spencer Kansa, Steve McCarthy, The Conversation, Tim London, Tim Sparks, Toon Traveller, Wayne Dean-Richards, and founders, Alarcon & LamontpaulWEEK IN MUSIC
OUTSIDELEFT UNIVERSE
outsideleft content is not for everyone