V&A DAVID BOWIE EXHIBITION

Last year I went with my cousin to see the David Bowie experience at the V&A. This was not only very beneficial to me as a media student as it allowed me to experience a small piece of hugely influential musical history and also as a huge David Bowie fan, it gave me an insight into his methods of song writing, his outlandish style and strange way of life.

One of the best things at the exhibition were the numerous costumes and stage sets that had been donated from Bowie's personal collection. It was very interesting to see how much thought and work went into each individual spandex jumpsuit or jacket and it was clear as to why Bowie became so influential especially in the more sexual aspects of rock. This was very interesting not only from a design aspect but also because many of the designs were so surreal and odd it was fascinating to see how far some artists were willing to go to express themselves.

As a fan of David Bowie I was delighted to be able to see several of the actual instruments he used and even a pair of boots he wore for the very last show of Ziggy Stardust he ever did!

Another very important aspect of the exhibition was being able to see the production videos of writing albums and making music videos. This gave me an insight into how a professional music video was conceived and later constructed and there were many exclusive interviews with Bowie were he would discuss were his concepts and ideas came from, e.g. the idea behind the "is there life on mars?" video came from a desire to be simplistic but perfectionist, using cutting edge camera techniques to create a cutting edge if simple video.

My favourite aspect of the tour came at the end where we were shown the last song of the last ever tour performed by Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars on a huge Imax projection screen. This was a monumental moment in music history and being able to see it as it happened first hand was an amazing experience.

The exhibition gave me a very deep insight into the world of a successful musician, how they worked, lived and breathed music. I am sure it will be very helpful to me when it comes to making my own video.