First Impressions

First impressions are meant to be the most important.  Interviewers say that they have usually decided whether to employ a candidate before they've even sat down.  That probably explains why the beautiful do so well in life, while those of us with asymmetrical faces have to work so much harder.

Our first impressions of Sunderland were not good.  We arrived at about 9 o'clock at night and booked into our room at the Travel Lodge.  When you go to the door of your room and find large chunks gouged out of the door it doesn't give you the best first impression. We decided to have a wander around the City to get a feel for it and to find something to eat.  People in Sunderland are much hardier than I am.  I was wearing 3 jumpers and a coat they were wearing summer skirts that were so short you would have been able to see their knickers if they were wearing any and short sleeved shirts.  Most people already seemed to be very drunk. They weren't all young either, a group of women my age (or maybe a bit older) were staggering down the road in front of us when one of them decided to stop and take off her pants.   An old lady at the bus stop spat at me.  It was quite a shock as I don't think I've ever been spat at before by anything other than a Camel.  She went to quite some effort too, hawking up as much mucous as she could first.

Although there were hundreds of bars and clubs we were struggling to find somewhere to eat.  We asked a Policeman (there were lots of those too).  He pointed us towards an Italian Restaurant down a side street.  We thought it was closed but it was just empty.  The food was OK though.

Our nights sleep was interesting too.  There was a lot of drunken running up and down the corridors from about midnight until 4am and I'm not sure what the lad in the room opposite us had done but his friends were constantly knocking on his door,  "Tom! Tom!  Someone will find out!  Tom!"

The open day was good though.  It was a good course with excellent facilities, accommodation for all first years (good value too) and achievable entry requirements.  Maybe this University is the ugly candidate that will surprise everyone!

 We took a drive to Newcastle as one of the students had said that they sometimes go in on the metro and discovered that the Turner Prize was being exhibited at the Baltic Mill Gallery.

 We saw it at Liverpool when the man who had dressed as a bear won.  This year the four candidates are Martin Boyce, Hilary Lloyd, George Shaw and Karla Black.
The judges get to examine all the work and look at motivation but all we get as the public is a first impression.  Martin Boyce had a squashed bin with leaves all over the floor that we weren't allowed to tidy up and a workbench and some steel structure above it.  It is probably the critics choice because he references the Martel Trees.

Hilary Lloyd had some very boring slides and films of a brick, a moon and a building.  It was really interesting to watch people walk around.  None of them got it but they were almost too polite to say so.  It will probably win.

George Shaw was more appreciated.  Paintings that people could recognise.  It shouldn't stand a chance because people liked it but on closer inspection they were really dark, troubling pieces.  This one was called Landscape with Dog Shit Bin - language my daughter thought was most unnecessary.


Karla Black was my favourite though.  It's probably the primary school teacher in me as Mr Long Suffering thought it was just 'screwed up bits of paper and chalk'  If there had been an exhibit of pipes and tubes he would have been very happy.



I wonder if my first impressions of the Turner Prize 2011 will match with the judges longer term view.