A NIGHT IN PARIS

I can never resist the picture-perfect tourist views from the top of the Pompidou Centre, especially on a clear day. I like the incredibly congested Paris roofscape, which I always think resembles a backdrop in one of OMA x Prada's urban mash-up look books. The Pompidou Centre itself is an incredible piece of architecture. I also like how the structure of the building frames the view of the Paris skyline (quite appropriately for an art museum) once you're inside.

Rineke Dijkstra's 'I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman)' (2009-10) is a powerful video piece set across three screens, featuring Liverpool school children reacting to Picasso's (unseen) Weeping Woman.

Not only is it very funny and beautifully filmed, but it also raises all sorts of meta questions about art itself.

Cerith Wyn Evans worked with the industrial band, Throbbing Gristle, to create A=P=P=A=R=I=T=I=O=N (2008). Drawing upon Alexander Calder's idea of the mobile as a gallery piece, Wyn Evans suspended from the gallery ceiling a series of mirrored loudspeakers which play different 'background' sounds and voices at varying intensities, depending on how close the viewers/listeners stand to them.

I quite enjoyed Thomas Hirschhorn's 'Outgrowth' (2005), which featured rows upon rows of globes, with monstrous parcel tape carbuncles attached, set against images of human-inflicted death and destruction. I mean, the symbolism was hardly subtle, and I have mixed feelings about art which relies heavily on readymades, but on a very simple level I found the dark humour of pristine blue globes covered in unceremonious great turds hard to resist.

From the design gallery, Pierre Paulin's 'Tongue' chair (1967):

An unusual armchair by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, from 1971. I actually keep meaning to research Brazilian modernism properly (look out for an upcoming blog post).

'Giant Triple Mushroom' (2010) by Carsten Höller. It was so hot in Paris (about 35C) that I didn't have the energy to do the 'serious' twentieth century art upstairs, so it was all about the approachable contemporary stuff.

Colette chocolate ice cream:

Perhaps it was because the sale was on, but Colette was very uninspiring this time. I usually discover a few things there which I didn't know about thanks to their inspired buying, but this time nearly everything was blah/already-seen. I did like this Longchamp bag by Jeremy Scott, printed with meds, though:

Palais de Tokyo:

The bookshop is often more interesting than the exhibitions there. This new Taschen title is top of my must-buy list:

T-mix shirt by Fulguro (2006), snapped in a book, the title of which I don't recall:

Other random things I like about Paris...

The carefully spaced-out molded plastic seats at the Metro stations... and typically French, anti-establishment graffiti all over every advertising poster:

Eiffel Tower tat:

The almost hyper-real brightness and colours of the Jardin Luxembourg and all the sightseers on a sunny day:

I also very much liked my new hotel discovery, Le Citizen. I finally found somewhere with good service and minimalist decor and reasonable prices in Paris (if you have ever had the misfortune of encountering the staff or prices at Costes, or the Ikea-catalogue-gone-wrong decor of the 'hip' Murano Urban Resort, you'll know this is no mean feat).

There are just 12 rooms, each of which comes with an iPad you can use during your stay, with free internet access (forget the €25/day which the big places charge for a bit of wi-fi).

The hotel is beside Canal St Martin, a little bit north from République. The view from my room:

Main reason for being in Paris was the Raf Simons show (blogged about here). I wore an SS03 Raf shirt with SS08 sandals (and H&M shorts):

A moment of lottery-winner-chic (minus an actual win) on the Eurostar home:

Being rather immature at heart, and having not fully moved on from my Lego accessories phase, I loved this Playmobil and fine jewellery editorial in Numéro:

That's all for now; more soon from Berlin, where I will be live blogging from the Mercedes-Benz Transmission1 event, curated by none other than Raf Simons..