Master Jonjon Tourist Videos

Location. Nearest station: Carshalton. Exit station and walk south along West Street. As you reach this brick wall, keep walking and an entrance will cut you through. A five-minute walk in total. (Since you’re already here, you can also visit the Honeywood Museum , a four-minute walk away at the other side of West Street.) Before you visit. The Carshalton Water Tower opens on Sundays and only during the summer. (And that is why it has taken me a year to bring myself here since my first (incomplete) expedition to the Sutton Borough .) Double check its opening time before any rash decision. Glimpse: “Carshalton Water Tower” (London) When you’re going to visit a water tower, you might naturally be expecting slimy stuff and moulds and perhaps smells brewing for centuries and beyond. That’s how we might summarize it for every old water site – remember the Coombe Conduit (one of the most obscure major attractions in London by the way), and the City of Caves in Notting...

Location. Exit Carshalton Station and walk south for five minutes. The house is part of a long series of residence: look out for a sign that says, eh, “Little Holland House”. Glance: "Little Holland House" IF YOU’RE FAMILIAR with Sutton’s artistic scene, you’d have heard of Frank Dickinson. You can find his landscape paintings in the nearby Honeywood Museum (a twenty minute walk from here). And if you’re really lucky – the original scenery of Sutton on which he’s laid his brushes. But now prepare to be amazed. For the Little Holland House is not only his home, but is entirely built by himself as a self-learnt builder. It all came after he went after contractors but decided that they were all just too pricey. Clip: "Little Holland House" It’s pretty amazing that you can build a house by spending enough time in the library. And now imagine you standing inside one such endeavour and to see these inventive, ad- hoc measures. In the sitting r...

Directions. Closest station: Waddon (next to Croydon West Station). Exit the station and walk south for fifteen to twenty minutes. Official website claims an optimistic “five-minute” walk. Oops. Take the bus if you’re really in a hurry. Brief history. Airport opened 1920, closed 1959. Serving commercial airlines. Came under control of the RAF during WWII. Only the airport terminal is now left standing. As a museum. Glance: Croydon Airport Visitor Centre 1. Now it may seem like a daunting task to immortalize a vanished airport despite its rich history. Imagine what it’s like to find a place to store all these artifacts and information panels. But having made the entire terminal into a museum, at least now you have lots and lots of space. So find yourself a never-ending series of photos as you stroll across corridors one after another walking past these conference rooms and office space behind card-secured gates. And the more the montage unfolds itself, the mor...

Epigraph. Questions raised by Maxwell. Some of which are pretty solved in today’s standards: e.g., whether matter was “infinitely divisible”. Genre. Artistic response to science – the undying theme with which the Science Gallery is ultra-acquainted. Glance:  “Dark matter”, Science Gallery 1. Just as you thought anti-art / art of no art should have grown to their own demise since the Fountain (oh: Tate Modern got a replica by the way). And they come back like ghosts from online packaging boxes. But now we have not one but TWO examples here. An empty bottle. And an empty box claiming to have dark matter particles (5461, as they have calculated) shooting through at any time. See yourself:  “Dark matter”, Science Gallery 2. Now get to the middle to see a montage of physics-defying (mainly gravity) cartoons. Time is asset: save it for better with 25-min museum tours . Or find yourself in my novel , check out the photo of the day...

Exhibitiors. Showcase of Plaistow’s artists. Genre. Photography, computer graphics, paintings, sketches, and even origami. Pretty much anything wall-hangable. Glance: “Pl.artshow2019” (Tower Gallery) 1. Some genres are less-represented and hence they stand out. Here's one for you: weird-angled, composite photographic works. Why haven’t I made any of these? 2. Don’t forget the world war one commemoration bells on the top of the tower: ten in total marked with all the names of the neighbourhood’s fallen soldiers. They’re all mechanically wired to this control panel (clip), making them easier to handle than (say) hand bells. Some random scores scatter on the stand. See yourself: “Pl.artshow2019” (Tower Gallery) 3. You can find more information on WWI its local involvements in the ground-floor main hall. (You be the judge. A diagram there seems to suggest Serbia is in Central Africa.) Time is asset: save it for better with 25-min museum tours . Or fi...

Location. Exit Angel Station (Northern Line) then turn left. As you reach the junction turn left again and head into Torrens Street. The gallery will be to your right, next to Candid café. A four-minute walk in total. Exhibitors. Bath Spa University photography graduate show. Luminance. The gallery is well-lit. Interior design. Factory-styled exposed ceiling and floor. I.e. no design. Glance: “Form” (Candid Gallery) If art school grad shows thrive on essay-writing skills and architects can solve crime , why not now let photography majors do what non-photographers would do? Let’s look at those that made their efforts to stand out. See yourself: “Form” (Candid Gallery) 1. Bed with projected scenes (clip): inspired by insomnia and as experimentation on the therapeutic properties of picture-looking. There’s one thing good about these simple set-ups: you can just pretend it’s about you, and find yourself in an everyday activity that’s relatab...

These exhibitions vanish before you hear a whimper. Find yourself in the worlds of ad-hoc showcasing in every sense of it. Glance: “The Passage of Time: Victor Alonso de Olmo” (Showroom 48 Poland Street) But the more we talk, the less there are to see. The very venue can disappear overnight (now with Soho’s redevelopment plans). And yet still; our opening-night guests clink and clank our beer bottles as if tomorrow’s not coming yet. Put on a poster at the main entrance, and let the magic begin. See yourself: “The Passage of Time: Victor Alonso de Olmo” (Showroom 48 Poland Street) Imagine what it’s like to start something. Then leave, but without a trace whatsoever – not here, not on the internet (the latter is ever less imaginable these days). These are really one of the most random venues you can find in London. In an unlikely location too. Fifteen-minute walk away are art galleries from St. James and Piccadilly. But they’re the establishment. Here’s an apar...

Glance: “Jo Spence & Oreet Ashery: Misbehaving Bodies” (Wellcome Collection) See yourself: “Jo Spence & Oreet Ashery: Misbehaving Bodies” (Wellcome Collection) 1. Still remember what we've seen in  Now Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery ? An artistic space to sit in . And from a quick glance you can see how popular they are - visitors vote with their feet. 2. Find yourself in meat-coloured taverns. They're both soothing and disturbing. It is as if you're the beef of an inside-out roll covered with another kind of beef. 3. Now try to feel the tranquility of finding yourself back in your mother's womb. (Both artists have experienced cancer in their own way. Spence was diagnosed with breast cancer and documented her journey in the health care industry of the 80s. And Ashery has also lost a dear one.) (An ambitious timeline outside the gallery showcases both artists’ life-turning and everyday events.) Time is asset: save it for better with 2...

Glance: “Secret Rivers”, Museum of London Docklands Every time you think of docklands, what flows through your mind? Boxes and bodies of water. And what brings us water? Rain and RIVER. Having made that connection, the Museum of London Docklands will now tell us all about these buried rivers (read: Victorian sewages) in town. See yourself: “Secret Rivers”, Museum of London Docklands 1. At the entrance there’s this river map that sets the record straight. By dictating who’s included. So say no to canals. Wave good bye to Regents Canal and her siblings around the Isle – they’re too artificial, and rules are rules. 2. Photography, installation, river-inspired novels. Yet another museum succumbing to the “science and its artistic response” trend in London: check out  Wellcome Collection , Science Gallery , and of course our favourite corridor-filler, Faraday Museum . 3. Some rivers are more equal than others: River Fleet – the creek that used to run the...

Glance: “Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum” Just pretend you’re visiting a “normal” exhibition, where things are supposed to cater for your touristy needs. But as soon as you realize you’re in an institutional museum, you aren’t being attentive enough if you are to miss all the obscurity from an “outsider” perspective, i.e. from someone like you. You’ll find it pretty obvious as you walk along the corridors with these display cabinets, that there would be TV screens showcasing portraits of their presidents, one by one. Like a screensaver not on a rescue mission. Sooner or later you’ll also realize for every time you pass another corner, there’s yet another screen showing the exact same thing. It’s of course a fairly common sight – even Royal Institution / Faraday Museum has portraits of ever-lesser-known figures as you reach the top floors. And if you’d rather get too much information on its clients (patients) rather than those who help build it, try Langdon Down Mus...

Glance: "Guildhall", Leicester When you come across timber beams in all kinds of wave-like positions (except vertical), you know its significance immediately – the guildhall, the central fantasy structure that’s worth the conservation. Built c. 1390 for the gentries from the Guild of Corpus Christi. See yourself: "Guildhall", Leicester And it’s not just the wall. Floor tiles here also pretend to ride on a sine curve – the feel of authenticity, an avenue of memories stretching backwards, and the mystical. So mind your step. (You can also find interesting fusty houses in London: try Cheam’s Whitehall Historic House . And if you’re just in for the vintage floorings - Handel & Hendrix .) If you like how the Newarke Houses tell you what it’s like for an everyday Leicesterman, it is here that you’d get a better glimpse from the rich-and-powerful’s perspective. And way~ way~ back~ many centuries ago, a time for pickpockets to loom while you’re tri...

Glance: " 'Moons': A Collaboration between Artists and Astronomers", Newarke Houses Museum If you have a hard time finding the temporary exhibition here, you're not alone: the gallery is well-hid behind the famous grocery street (the period set you see on its website). (It’s just as confusing that the two major attractions of Leicester (that is before Richard III showed himself in a car park) would be “Newarke Houses” and “ New Walk Museum ” respectively, one to the west and one to the other.)  See yourself: " 'Moons': A Cllaboration between Artists and Astronomers", Newarke Houses Museum The showcase features ceramics, animations, dot-dot-dots, and extreme glassblowing that looks like planets. It’s as if these “artistic responses” are trending across the country now. You’ll find them in exhibitions from the Francis Crick Institute to Wellcome Collection , and even now a dedicated venue since 2018 - KCL's Science Galle...

Glance: "Mods: Shaping a Generation", New Walk Museum New Walk Museum is one of those "something of everything" places. You'll find dinosaurs, ceramics, Egyptian mummies, a wealth of paintings and an entire hall dedicated just to German expressionism. That diversity places it on par with other family / school tour-friendly attractions: the Horniman and Ipswich Museum and Norwich Castle . Imagine queues of uniformed kids at nine in the morning. See yourself: "Mods: Shaping a Generation", New Walk Museum But now it’s time to find yourself on the first floor – in a hall dedicated to temporary exhibitions, next to all these paintings. And imagine what it would be like to be in the youth culture of booming babies – the Mods, from the 50s and well into the seaside riots of the 60s. What’s it like to explore a national phenomenon (and London-directed) but with local illumination? Sooner or later, you’ll realize with a few casual discus...

Glance: National Gas Museum Sometimes you’ll find yourself in an exhibition space not knowing the significance of its exhibits (no story, no explanation, no “this section is abouts”). If this gives you butterflies, you’re not alone. There there, Jonjon’s here – let’s enjoy the National Gas Museum by first knowing where to start! For instead of crying on the ground floor gallery (clip), do stroll right through the space and to the end of the corridor. Here, an “all-gas home” set in the 1910-30s (clip) will give you the introduction you’re craving for. Press the start button, sit down, relax. (You can’t imagine how many things have been powered by gas and flames. Hairdryers. And a gas fridge! It’s a gap-era when electricity has been hardly popular, but a thriving (and forgotten) show time for gas appliances.) See yourself: National Gas Museum Look out for a mannequin scare on the first floor. (Remember the jump scare time we had at the Whitewebbs Museum of Transport ? It do...

Glance: "City of Caves" Imagine you’ve just got off the train in Nottingham. Now given the city centre is way up hill, is there anything closer by as a starter? Luckily, there's the “City of Caves” just besides the river. It’s an eight-minute walk from Nottingham Station – perfect. But the entrance can be hard to find. As you cross the bridge, walk towards Nottingham Contemporary but then turn and go down the stairs. You’ll find a foyer below the bridge. And make sure you get the joint tickets with National Justice Museum . See it: "City of Caves" 1. This is only one of the many thousands of grottos under Nottingham’s homes. It’s acting sort of like an exemplar, being comparatively spacious and well-connected. 2. Households build these caves for many purposes. The guided tour will go through as many examples as possible as you walk through the compartments and through history, which include... 3. … a water well – before pollution was t...

Glance: National Justice Museum The “National” title gives it away – it’s the biggest attraction in town at least for now (given that Nottingham Castle is under major conservation). And if you like dungeons and moulds and dark alleys, this is for you – imagine having a building on top of the county gaol like an underground puzzle. (Do ask the staffer for help if you can’t find the main entrance somehow). (Consider this pretty freestyle; perhaps because of these complex maze-like structures, many other underground /jail attractions allow guided tour-visits only e.g. the City of Caves , or Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol . Unless they're redesigned into something with a linear route; Brno’s Torture Museum  being one fine example.) See for yourself: National Justice Museum 1. As you’re exploring these pits and occasional horrifying cells, a photography exhibition jumps out of nowhere. Why? Why here? 2. Let’s pretend we’re out of exhibition space and mood-lighting pictur...