Floating on a Chubby Cloud
- thewonderance
- Sep 17, 2018
- 2 min read
Yesterday I was lucky enough to have nabbed a ticket to Anya Hindmarch's experiential installation at Banqueting House in London; Chubby Cloud. Inspired by the designer's Chubby collection and to celebrate London Fashion Week this event follows on from the Chubby Hearts design project that Hindmarch conceived for Valentine's day and London Fashion Week earlier in 2018. This previous project saw beautifully chubby heart shaped balloons appear over - and to use Hindmarch's own description - 'squashed within famous London landmarks as a declaration of love to the city'. Unfortunately I didn't catch any of those hearts in person but the images of these pleasingly fat red hearts soaring across the city skyline certainly struck my imagination. As such I was so pleased when I was able to secure a ticket to this latest concept, the world's largest bean bag in the shape of a cloud, installed in the historic Banqueting House in London's Whitehall - a room more used to housing royalty now housing a design royalty's artistic vision for 3 special days instead. Upon entering we were provided overalls to put on, which essentially made everyone look like they'd stepped off the set of Breaking Bad. Shoes and bags were put away and we were led upstairs to the room to get settled. There was something rather poetic about seeing the juxtaposition of a massive beanbag in the shape of a cloud nestled beneath the traditional oil painting of Peter Paul Rubens which covered the ceiling. This was the perfect place for the installation, as you tentatively climbed onto the giant marshmallow like cloud and then allowed yourself to sink back into it, you were automatically rewarded with the vision of this painting which no doubt millions of people have seen before but doubtful ever with such a unique viewpoint - lying horizontally parallel to it!
Once settled and with photographic needs fulfilled Anya Hindmarch herself appeared on a podium, which was a complete surprise as other sessions had listed various celebrities reading stories or doing guided meditations but this was the last session of the 3 days and to be quite honest we were just happy to be a part of it and didn't expect anything further than relaxing on the cloud during our allotted hour slot! It was wonderful to hear Anya talk about how excited she had been to bring this vision to life and her aim to ensure that there was a bit of fun and inclusivity brought to London Fashion Week. The gentleman that had hand-stitched the huge beanbag was also present and received a big applause too - can you actually imagine taking on such a task, I mean finding a space to work in would be hard enough!
We then enjoyed a guided meditation from Richard E. Grant, who unfortunately wasn't there in person but felt like he was there in spirit as we drifted away to his dulcet tones underneath the Rubens, with images of chubby clouds, chubby angels and all things chub fresh in our memory this was one art installation that I won't forget in a hurry and will no doubt try to recreate with every pillow, cushion and soft furnishing I own at home - not sure what I'll do about the fresco though?!
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