(The hyperlinks are to the Baltic online archive pages as photography of the exhibits was prohibited)

David expressed an interest in revisiting the Baltic by the Tyne and there was a lot to see.

The headline event was the A-Z Project by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara who had constructed a sort of seaside shantytown in the biggest gallery space on level 4. Several ramshackle looking structures linked by walkways housed variations on his trademark cute small girl with big eyes. There was also a mini-castle doghouse with a dog inside and a dog on top. Beyond the exhibition was a huge head known as Puff Marshie. From the gallery, you got a different perspective of the roof lines and could see that the tallest building (based on the Newcastle Keep) was “To Let”.

On level three,an exhibition called Double Agent interacted with the visitors in a mildly uncomfortable way. A large projection screen had a series of real-time scrolling sentences generally commenting on what was actually happening in the gallery, aided and abetted by a woman at the back with a Mac. She commentedsomething on the lines of:

The boy is handsome.

The one with the stripy green top.

Someone has  a long thin package.

Perhaps a musical instrument.

Or maybe a monopod.

The stairlift is empty again.

There is a new watcher in the gallery.

Someone has come for a look.

(You get the idea).

There was an interactive exhibit here, a stairlift that went up the wall about six feet, being projected onto. You rode it up (after having put on your seat belt) then lifted a cloth on a box at eye level and looked inside. When I did it I found a video playing of two old wrinkled women of unspecified national dress (dark smocks and bonnets) sucking each other’s finger and laughing a lot. Yes, it was slightly disturbing.

David and Karen declined to give it a go on the basis that I looked like a right Div when I did it. The sacrifices I make for my art…