These appeared at places
I visited, or had not intended to visit …
 |
I got lost before I started - this is Brunswick Square ...
... lots of connections here too - anon! |
My head too has wandered
rather far and wide in looking things up for this post noting future articles … but for now we’ll stick to a few relevant heads …
 |
Jeremy Bentham
(1748 - 1832) |
I’d been to see an
exhibition at
Senate House Library … but on walking through to the exhibition area I passed
some renowned heads … well I like to know who’s who in the library … so stopped
to take photos and to find out … the first was:
Jeremy Bentham (1748 –
1832) the English philosopher, jurist and social reformer regarded as the founder
of modern utilitarianism …
 |
Sorry Mr B - I chopped
your head off |
Bentham thought it was
unfair and wrong that universities should be controlled by religious bodies and
that they were open only to male members of the Church of England.
So he helped to found
University College, London, a secular college open to all males, regardless of
personal belief.
 |
UCL's beloved treasure -
his auto icon |
His other claim to fame
was that he wished his body to be used for medical research, but that his
skeleton, dressed in his own clothes, was to be preserved in University
College, so that he could continue to attend meetings there!
His clothed skeleton,
with sculpted head and hands, can still be seen in a glass case in University College,
being one of their treasured possessions.
 |
Augustus de Morgan
(1806 - 1871) |
The other three
sculptures that I saw were men associated in one way or another with reforming
Britain:
 |
| Augustus de Morgan |
Augustus de Morgan (1806
– 1871) – a mathematician and logician.
He formulated De Morgan’s laws (beyond me!) and introduced the term mathematical induction, making his idea
rigorous. (father to William de Morgan, the potter and creative
designer, who influenced the Arts and Craft Movement.)
 |
| Sir Richard Quain |
Next we see Sir Richard
Quain (1816 – 1898) an Irish physician, who enrolled in medicine at University
College London … and who, along with other members of his family, left funds
with which the Quain Professorships of Botany, English Language and Literature,
Law and Physics were endowed. (He was a great grandfather of author Ian Fleming).
 |
| William Shaen |
Last but not least the
bearded sculpture (by Thomas Woolner), no extant photo of him appears, is of William Shaen
(1825 – 1892) a radical lawyer, who helped found Bedford College – the UK’s first
higher education college for women.
I then went round the
corner to see an exhibition at the School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS) on ‘Stolen Moments - Namibian Music History Untold’ … another post
anon!
 |
| Sculptures by Sokari Douglas Camp |
But you couldn’t miss
these two magnificent sculptures in the foyer of SOAS made from galvanised steel
and paint by Sokari Douglas Camp …
 |
| Sokari Douglas Camp |
… she works
predominantly with steel (which she describes as ‘so elastic and flexible’),
but also with plastic, wood, feathers, acetate, glass, paint, silver, and gold
leaf.
I quickly went to look
at the Silver Vaults off Chancery Lane – I need a long time there, and
preferably with a very long pocket – but I found some interesting facts for yet
another post!
I was on my way down to
Whitechapel, east London to the Gallery that, on Thursdays, stays open into the
evening – I was defeated as the works on show or exhibited were beyond my
ken! but …
… as I didn’t actually
know where the Gallery was … I had wandered into a large atrium, thinking that
might be the Gallery, to ask.
I found myself with two
more heads … and a delightful security guard … who - when I squizzed him about
them – was somewhat bemused!
 |
| The atrium with 'Numen 2' |
I understand the CEO was
impressed with the sculptor –hence the placement of Numen 1 and Numen 2 in the
foyer … they had been part of last year’s Sculpture in the City …
The sculptor, Thomas J
Price, is a multi-disciplinary artist, London born and based, working across
the mediums of sculpture, film, photography and performance.
 |
| Numen 1 |
His very individual work
explores representation in its many forms – in addition to subconscious
perceptions embedded into the human psyche …
Numen is a Latin term
for “divinity”: "the spirit of the
place—its numen—was strong" – the spirit or divine power presiding over a
thing or a place.
Price is talented …
exhibiting at the National Portrait Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Harewood
House and Hales Gallery (a contemporary art space in the Tea Building in
London’s East End).
 |
| Numen 2 |
Renowned artist Damian
Hirst owns his work, while other works can also be found in the Rennie
Collection (contemporary art) in Vancouver, Canada (but with global
connections) – it’s no mean feat for an artist still in their 30s.
Heads, heads, heads and
heads … including Bentham’s head (believe it or not) still preserved: mummified and
securely locked away … gave me lots of insights into life in this great city
from the early 1800s …
 |
Study on proportions of Head and Eyes
by Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) |
… including the
advancement of education … as evidenced in Negley Harte’s quote: ‘All
universities are different, but some are more different than others. The University of London is the most
different of them all.’
Negley Harte is an Emiritus Professor in Economic
History and has written widely on the foundation and history of the University
of London.
My head is bursting … to
get this posted … as you can tell rather more articles to follow … so for now I’ll
leave Heads in the City … in the City …
Apologies – this is long
… but I wanted to at least highlight various subjects (as no doubt you can
gather) referencing some background for future posts.
Here too are some links …
on the artists …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters
Inspirational Stories
