Away day, Folkestone

Lured by the blue sky, clear air, glorious sunshine, and unseasonably warm temperature, on Friday I took the risk of going to Folkestone to see the Triennial (till 5 Nov) and have lunch by the seaside.

Hmm, didn't quite work out that way ... I got off at the "wrong" station (as compared to previous years) so the place looked a bit different ... and the walk along the clifftop was great, with a few bits of art to notice, perhaps part of the "permanent collection" rather than this year's crop -

Signed: y.o. 2014

"Temporary sign" and passing shadow

(The choice!)

Mark Wallinger's Folk Stones, 2008 - one for each of
the 19,240 British soldiers killed on the first day of
 the battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916

 In the centre of town, the sunshine continued, but I was completely discombobulated and not terribly interested in the artworks, even after getting a map that showed what and where they were, and coming across "fringe" works too.

Little houses in inappropriate places ....

"This is an accurate timepiece made from gunpowder. It shows a 12 hour clock (showing both night and day) and runs on a 24 hour loop. Hours, Minutes and Seconds are exactly marked by a series of small explosions"

Look through the peepholes and see "Burning Time" by Colin David

Jolly shops, and a painting of a seaside treat by Michael Craig-Martin

Bob and Roberta Smith pointed out in many places that "Folkestone is an art school"

"Dungeness Boats" by Robyn Nield, bronze

"Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens" (Nathan Coley)

 Then it came time to find "somewhere nice" to eat, and my resilience crumbled into food-indecision and wandering into charity shops -

 However that very one yielded a copy, with lurid cover, of the first of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which I'm wanting to re-read before getting The Book of Dust.

So when further indecisive food-wandering led along a quiet street to a pub called The Pullman, there was no further decision to be made.

Possibly the only bike being pushed in Folkestone that day

Late lunch, then head for the nearest station.

It was good to see the sea -