Yes, but is it art? It is a question that has been asked since time immemorial. But what is art? Art is the product of a process within a process for art has changed and developed just as man and the notions he has regarding his existence and the perceptions he has of his environment and the society and the community he lives in have changed and developed. Art is not just a painting on a canvas, a haunting symphony, a beautiful ode or a mural on a wall. Art can be so many different things to just as many different people: it is art when it rouses the senses, when it moves, shocks or startles the beholder and it is art when the symbolism of the artist’s work leaves a deep and lasting impression, as frontiers are pushed back further and further and the DaVincis, Monets, van Goghs and Picassos of yesteryear are succeeded by the Beuys, Dalis, Warhols and Hirsts of today.
The works these artists have produced are as traditional as they are controversial. Yet whether it’s an Old Master hanging from a specially appointeded space on a specially appointed wall, a dead cow preserved in a glass case of formaldehyde or Tracey Emin’s unmade bed alive with the shockingly intimate details of her past night, there is one thing which they all have in common – they all need to be protected against the adverse or even devastating effects which the wrong indoor climate can have on such masterpieces and milestones in the history of art. Read More
For many children, especially the younger ones, it was like a dream come true. The whole country lay under a thick blanket of soft, crunchy snow with some parts of England reporting as much as 30 – 40 centimetres of snowfall overnight. Even schools were forced to close their doors, which only added to the children’s delight. For the rest of the nation it was a nightmare. The cold snap, the worst in 30 years, left whole villages cut off from the outer world, causing cities to become hopelessly clogged and commuters driving home from work to become stranded in their cars where the unluckier ones suffered abysmally as they spent the night on one of many thousands of miles of roads and motorways across the country that had turned into treacherous ice rinks or become impassable because of snow drifts and heavy snow. Yet despite the gruelling winter we had last year – and the winter before that – and the prospect of yet another big freeze that is forecast to take another harsh, icy grip on the UK and the rest of Europe this year, there are still some diehards out there who cannot see the sense in fitting their cars with winter tyres when the year draws to a close and the temperatures in our otherwise relative mild mainly maritime climate start to drop.
Which thoughts cross your mind when you think about horse riding? In my mind I see little girls who dream about winning ribbons in equestrian tournaments, or I picture Europe’s royalty wearing ridiculously huge hats and feverishly watching the world-famous horse race at Ascot, or I even think of the lonesome cowboy from a renowned cigarette commercial galloping through the American prairie… Despite – or probably because of all these clichés about it, the popularity of horse riding as a hobby doesn’t seem to wear off… But one thing is sure: horse riding is, without doubt, quite a time-consuming and costly hobby.
What lengths would you as an employer go to, to ensure that your employees are as motivated and as productive as possible? You could reward them with a company car, which would probably break the bank and become extremely expensive depending on how big the size of your company is. Or you could encourage them to come into work and give their best by giving them more time off work, which may sound like a paradox and it isn’t. Or you could create a climate – not just figuratively-speaking, but literally – which will enable them to focus willingly and happily on their job and perform their task to the best of their abilities and enable them to achieve maximum results. How? Quite simple really. By welcoming them to the jungle.