Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

We headed way out today to see the Artist’s Self Portraits from the Uffizi exhibit today. The Dulwich Picture Gallery is intimate and perfect setting for a very interesting exhibit. Johann Zoffany’s portrait contains a book with this Latin phrase on its cover: art is long-lasting, life is short. We’ll see if Google actually makes that possible (by continuing to host this over time- for those of you non-techies).

Afterward, we found a lovely lunch ripe with people watching at the Crown and Greyhound pub in the Peckham Rye area. Its welcome chalkboards promised “a new nose” as a result of the brand new law against smoking, just days old and in fact yes, applicable in pubs too. Oh bollocks!

Another chalkboard in the pub clearly itemized where all the meats were from and the various codes of animal husbandry that were adhered to in the raising of the animals. “Pub grub has changed a bit,” said David.

We sat next to a group of people whose stories I wondered about, including a seemingly wealthy British stay-at-home wife and/or mother. Other than her accent, she had hints of California all through her- manicured and painted toes sporting gold sequined flip flops (very un-British attire given it had started pouring outside) and a perfect chest (I think fake). In our travels, we came upon this Hamburger Union that echoed the sentiments in the pub.

Afterward, we traveled through the West African and Caribbean neighborhood of the city on the upper deck of one of those large red buses; a welcome mode of transit through the sporadic rain. In this section of the city, the open air markets had cut whole pig’s legs just out in baskets, as if cleanly decapitated from the knee down; buy them yourself and get butchering!

We visited an ArtTarts food exhibit that was…just like home: existential, comical and leaves you with your head stuck slightly to the right as you (poor, unimaginative working blokes) ponder is it art yet?


My favorites of the exhibit were by Natalie Wastnidge who had researched the origins of cakes, including gingerbread, fruit and wedding cake. Wedding cake comes from…oh yeah our honeymoon history premier sponsors: the Romans. For fertility, they used to throw wheat cake pieces over the bride’s head for good luck. More history on that.


Artist Ben Frimet addressed the health and beauty obsession of our culture and how our consumer desires and fast lifestyles are at odds with slow, enjoyable processes, including eating. His exhibit was one of those old fat vibrating machines designed to jiggle it off- only when turned on, it jiggled a jello cake.

To celebrate the 4th, we all met up with Simone who I haven’t seen in two years and had Indian food in the Islington area of London. Later, we ourselves (Stephen excepted) set off about 10 poppers; a rather lame at national pride while abroad.