Late at the Library: Felabration
Celebrating the birthday of Fela Kuti, ‘Late at the Library: Felabration’ is a musical tribute to the pioneer of Jazz, Funk and Afrobeat and praised defender of human rights in Nigeria.
Celebrating the birthday of Fela Kuti, ‘Late at the Library: Felabration’ is a musical tribute to the pioneer of Jazz, Funk and Afrobeat and praised defender of human rights in Nigeria.
Prepare for a night full of rhythmic vibes, as it will be loaded with recognizable hits and new beats from some of the most renowned African musicians in the world.
Starting of with former band members and friends of Kuti, Dele Sosimi who was part of Fela’s band ‘Egypt 80’ will be leading the event with his 16-piece Afrobeat Orchestra. Following up is legendary drummer Tony Allen, who is known as co-creator of Afrobeat.
Carrying on Fela’s legacy at this event are non other than 2FaceIdiba, multimillion selling recording artist and producer who brought life into hip-hop with the hit ‘Afrikan Queen’, Shingai Shoniwa, vocalist and bassist of the insanely popular indie rock band Noissettes, and other brilliant guest vocalists such as: Laura Mvula, Afrikan Boy, Bumi Thomas, Ed Keazor, Terri Walker, Audrey Gbaguidi and The Floacist (Floesis). Plus DJ Koichi and The Trinity College Afrobeat Ensemble.
For the art fans attending the event, there is free access to the British Library’s outstanding new exhibition West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song - dedicated to the power of words and its sociocultural influence on West Africa.
The event will take place on Friday, October 16th in the beautiful atrium of the British Library.
London Fashion Week Show Highlight: Day 5
Anya Hindmarch SS16, Backstage - Kris Mitchell, British Fashion Council
Anya hindmarch SS16, Backstage - Shaun James Cox, British Fashion Council
Alexander Lewis SS16, Presentation - Kensington Leverne, British Fashion Council
Fashion Week Showrooms: Gayeon Lee, Kevin Geddes, Nafsika Skourti and REIN
London Fashion Week: our picks
Gayeon Lee SS16
Gayeon Lee takes us by way of the hazy impression of an Italian summer, that, specifically of Federico Clavarino’s travel photobook Italia O Italia. Just as impressions pale in our mental weather, her SS16 collection lands in a tonal palette, with variables of dark and light that composed an unassuming study of chiaroscuro. A recurring theme is one adorned by burnished and matte buttons, bishop sleeves and puckered waistlines. Braced in Lee’s metallic orange hues, the ample tailoring unveiled as startlingly sinuous. Leave it to the wisdom of daylight.
Kevin Geddes SS16
When the nearing London winter would finally conclude, spring may be, for Kevin Geddes, an act of bravura thawing the icy drama with a hushed resolution. I’m talking about the Evil-Knievel-meets-Japanese-retro-anime kind of resolution, but crafted in easy lines and earthy tones. With the delight of sports-inspired rubber KG logo, the female heroism is charged with no less energy, but reticent and gentle in its own array. Spells are better left in whispers.
Nafsika Skourti SS16
Though tense under the spotlight of escalating international crisis, let us be reminded that being a vital manufacturer for garment conglomerates, Jordan is much in its element when Fashion comes calling. But of course, being Jordanian, it is never devoid of social relevance. For SS16, Jordan-based Nafsika Skourti ventured slightly outside her previously desaturated outlook, and staged such “fashionable protest” with her camouflage-themed Temporary Security: soft in form, resolute in spirit. Bilingual text enunciates an intuitive political self, up against backgrounds furnished by derelict Hollywood movie props. I for one, would long to see the “beautiful activism” prevail in and outside the wearable dialogues of Jordan.
REIN SS16
As many collections for SS16 couldn’t help retrieving the rosiness of sunlight and green leaves (though hardly blameful after the non-existent English summer), REIN marches in with an all-black statement that does not pronounce rigidness, instead, a uniform, necessary stubbornness we could all contemplate on, on the thesis of female empowerment.
Laser cutting reveals maze-like patterns through tunic dresses, jackets and matte suede, there stands a body and a girl who is the helmer of her own skin but don’t ever think that’s all there is to her assets.
5 must-see exhibitions this month
With so much happening in London this season, we selected 5 art shows for your gallery crawl.
With so much happening in London this season, we selected 5 art shows for your gallery crawl.
With digital integration in every facet of life, will we be predisposed to the negative effects this can bring to our lifestyle?
Digital Disturbances goes back and forward in time, showing the strange effects advanced technology can have on the fashion Industry.
11 – 12 December 2015
The World Goes Pop
“The World Goes Pop!” examines the global story of pop art and reveals a side of it you have never seen before. Revealing the outcomes it had in cultures and countries, and insinuating a language of protest throughout the 60s and 70s.
17 September 2015 – 24 January 2016
States of Mind: Ann Veronica Janssens
In ‘States of Mind’, Ann Veronica Jannsens creates a sensory experience, reminding us of the richness of our interaction with the world. Filling the gallery with bright coloured mist, her work disorientates the viewer through the dissolution of normal perceptual boundaries.
15 October 2015 - 3 January 2016
The Fabric of India
One of the most exceptional highlights of the V&A India Festival, ‘The Fabric of India’ holds more than 200 pieces of pure Indian culture and beauty. Covering historic costumes, modern fashion, and unique textiles from an amazingly large time frame, this is an exhibition every creative with a weakness for history, culture and craftsmanship should visit.
03 October 2015 – 10 January 2016
Ryan Gander: Fieldwork
A kitchen sink, a dead pigeon, a chocolate bar, a pebble beach and a helium balloon. This and much more is awaiting for you at the ‘Fieldwork’ exhibition. Expect to be blown away in this amazing freak out, as Ryan Gander is serving his inspiration on a silver conveyor belt for you to observe in an impervious and mysterious way.
25 September to 31 October
Africa Utopia 2015 art and ideas from Africa that are impacting the world
AFRICA UTOPIA was back for a third year – bigger and better. We interview designer SOBOYE.
Toumani Diabate, Baba Maal, Damon Albarn ,Tony Allen. Photo by Ade Omoloja
This year was one breath-taking summer for arts, music, dance and fashion festivals in London. What is more? The recently concluded third edition of the Africa Utopia Festival was one of the capital's forthright and most spectacular festival ever, celebrating all aspect of the creative arts industry.
Africa Utopia was a creative explosion of Jedi proportion that featured performance arts, music, dance, fashion, theatre, visual-techno art exhibition, family events and mouth-watering food market and much more besides. The whole shebang was spread out - in the streets, galleries, library, public buildings, and every available space and corner of London’s most vibrant cultural quarters – The Southbank Centre. This four-day fiesta enthused by the African continent and Diaspora delved into the dynamic and ever-changing contribution of modern Africa to art, culture and ultimately to our society. Organisers hope the festival will also help make connections between artists and activists, get more accessible; to engage.
Discussions and debates deliberated on sustainability vs profit, digital journalism and digital activism, youth education and power to African feminism. Furthermore, in a nod to the present refugee crisis, the migration debate asked the question: “Why do people flee? What awaits them where, and if they reach their destination?” It’s a question for us all to ponder on at this time. The Talks/Debates consisted of defining speakers including the traditional suspect, journalist, author and arts programmer Ethiopian-born Hannah Pool, who must be noted has been involved in Africa Utopia from the very start. Next in line is singer-song-writer and UN Ambassador for HIV/AIDS Malian, Baaba Maal, who also has been involved with AU from its birth. As well as Jude Kelly CBE, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre. The lot are experts in contemporary art, art history, music and green politics, each addressing the historical relevance of arts and culture - including the power of art in activism and the role of women and young people who have made a huge contribution to our arts as part of our lives and still motivates us all in creating future change. These themes are conceived to appeal to taste, of all ages, colour, cultural aficionados and newcomers alike.
Chineke Junior Orchestra with founder Chi Chi Nwanoku and conductor Wayne Marshall. Photo by Ade Omoloja
Even more so, the tune line-up was a must-hear for anyone and everyone fascinated by great live performing. First on stage was Malian singer Kassé Mady Diabaté of royal stock and acknowledged as one of West Africa's finest singers. He was accompanied by fellow Malians: Ballaké Sissoko, a noted player of the kora; Lansiné Kouyaté performing on Kora & Balafon (The balafon, also known as balafo is a wooden xylophone - percussion idiophone from West Africa) and Makan Tounkara, a gifted composer, arranger, singer, and n'goni artiste. (The n’goni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa). To bring the festival to a close was the master of it all - Nigeria’s Tony Allen with friends. And oh boy were they great!
Tony, is a skilful drummer, composer and songwriter and once musical director of late Fela Anikulapo Kuti's band Africa 70 from 1968 to 1979. Furthermore, he’s famed as the powerhouse behind the late Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat movement. It’s recognised that Fela said: “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat music”. In alliance with Tony on stage; Baaba Maal, multi award-winning singer/song writer and Toumani Diabaté, a Malian kora player, genius of African music and widely recognised as the greatest living kora player. And in a rare father-and-son kora-playing collaboration, Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki Diabaté put down a spell-binding presentation. It was a mind-blowing ensemble. A-ma-zing! And to put the last bit on the Tony Allen and friend’s fusion was French star rapper Oxmo Puccino (born Abdoulaye Diarra) a hip hop musician born in Mali. The whole shebang brought the house down. It was a high octane musical extravaganza of fantastic proportion that received a rapturous reception at every song and every notes that rings out. These musicians nailed and killed it in equal measures. There was an eight minute standing ovation. For a man who turned 75 in August, Tony Oladipo Allen, is remarkably springily. He still hits the studio (and treadmill, I suppose) every day. He is just as you’d imagine, small, frail and thin looking, dressed in a classic white African traditional classic number with bold abstract designs and he outdone it with a white Fedora Hat. Maybe this is what comes from churning out some five gigs a year for over 50 years. He has delivered some of the music most indelible music albums and concerts from Africa to Europe and North America to Australia and the Americas – straight-up.
Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, Baba Maal. Photo by Ade Omoloja
With all the serious shows and presentations that took place, however, the three that stood-out for the festival – in my modest view - are the music performances and fashion presentation curated by Samson Saboye, of Nigerian parentage, from Shoreditch-London. Soboye brings together a team of leading designers from Africa and the African Diaspora to present an inspirational and exciting women’s wear, menswear and accessories.
“I’ve been a Fashion Stylist for many years now with a spell designing and manufacturing soft furnishings, which led me to open SOBOYE.
Africa Utopia is a great showcase to celebrate the importance and significance African Culture to the rest of the World. London has the highest population of African nationals from all over the continent and the contribution that Africans have made to the city is noteworthy. Our presentation is called DIASPORA CALLING! A presentation of African Contemporary style, inspired by Street Style photography. Our show producer Agnes Cazin from Haiti 73 Agency conceived the concept as we were searching of different ways to present fashion that was away from a traditional catwalk show. We are showing the diversity of Africa that will linger on even after the festival: the Joy, the vibrancy and richness of its people, who mostly have an innate sense of style that is not dictated by the latest trends or Designer head-to-looks. The Modern Style-conscious African’s style is a mash-up of pop culture, vintage clothes, self-made fashion and images fed daily through Instagram and Pinterest, of which they are fully engaged in. All these influences are absorbed in to the visual memory banks and stored for future referencing at any time. This then in turn manifests itself in the Individualist looks that we see influencing mainstream Western style today”.
On the small matter of who SOBOYE designs for: “SOBOYE designs are for the fashion savvy, confident, style literate person, with their fingers on the pulse and a zest for life. The Women’s wear came a year after the Men’s collection and is designed in collaboration with Designer and friend Chi Chi Chinakwe”. (A moniker moment in this festival is the premiere of Chineke, the UK’s first professional classical orchestra made up entirely of musicians of African descent and minority ethnic classical artists performed a tribute to the black teenager Steven Lawrence that was murdered in a raciest attack in 1995) Soboye expressed: “Our customers tend be in the creative industries and have an eye for well fitting, original clothes with an attention to detail. Our clothes add to the enjoyment of dressing up and I’ve yet to see someone wear any of our pieces and not look and feel better for wearing them… Sidney Poitier is my all-time style icon. Not only was he well-dressed, he always carried himself with such dignity and broke so many barriers by being such an accomplished actor. Currently Pharrell Williams and Solange Knowles would both be great brand ambassadors for SOBOYE." So if they are both reading this come on in… we are waiting for you. Yes, of course they read roomsmagazine.com.
Beside ambitious philosophy in the horizon: What does the future hold for Samson Soboye? “We plan to expand our online business and build the brand. We’d like to secure good investment to consolidate the business and allow for expansion and growth and for that to be manageable. We’d like to be the ‘go-to’ brand for the talented, ambitious discerning globe trotter “.
‘Be Inspired’, an exhibition by Save Wild Tigers
Save Wild Tigers brings people with an appreciation for art and a love for animals together in exhibition ‘Be Inspired’.
Save Wild Tigers brings people with an appreciation for art and a love for animals together in exhibition ‘Be Inspired’. As this promising title states, the prestigious Hotel Café Royal is lavishly filled with inspiring artwork, highlighting the beauty of the wild tiger and raising money to give them a better habitat.
INAZUMA by Daisuke Sakaguchi
Painting legend Christian Furr is selected as curator for the event, as well as contributor to what probably is one of the most spectacular artworks of the exhibition. Together with friend and designer Chris Bracey, he created a 3D neon artwork with chrome tiger head sculpture. Internationally known artists Rose Corcoran, Dan Baldwin, Otto Schade, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Shauna Richardson,John Gledhill, Julia Wager, Claire Milner, Misha Masek, Jacky Tsai, Pandemonia and Lauren Baker also used their creative talent to contribute by interpreting and incorporating the wild tiger in their work. The results are astonishing and might just be the most exciting way to create consciousness around the distinction of this beautiful creature.
If this hasn’t convinced you to visit the event, the next piece of art will. Chosen to be the showstopper at ‘Be Inspired’ ‘INAZUMA’, Japanese for ‘Lightning’, empowers the qualities of the wild tiger: power, speed and impact. The artwork, meticulously painted by Daisuke Sakaguchi, captures the freedom of the majestic wild tiger in a modern way. Both ‘INAZUMA’ and all other artworks at the exhibition will be available for auction online, giving you the opportunity to take a reminder home and simultaneously support the good cause.
Another pinnacle of the event is the work of urban art talent Otto Schade. With "Butterfly Tiger" he takes the abstract layering he is known for to another level, intertwining creatures together and modifying the perspective on the wild tiger.
Butterfly Tiger by Otto Schade. 150x122 cm mixed media stencil spray
Time to bid! Please visit this link to view the "Be Inspired" art bidding which will be up on PADDLE 8 until the 8th October 2015:
Curated by Christian Furr
The Club at Café Royal, 22 September – 8 October 2015
By Appointment Only
We meet fabric illusionist Yvette Peek
The ArtEZ design alumni blew everyone away with her graduation collection, sending illusional masterpieces down the catwalk. Check out the interview.
All keep track of upcoming designer Yvette Peek. The ArtEZ design alumni blew everyone away with her graduation collection, sending illusional masterpieces down the catwalk. As curious as we are, we had a talk with her about the story behind her first collection, her admiration for strong women with non-conforming elegance and being the assistant designer of Sharon Wauchob.
What made you realize you wanted to be a designer?
My biggest source of inspiration is my grandmother. When I was a little girl, she taught me how to sew. That led to her teaching me embroidery techniques and pattern making. We even stitched my first designs together.
What do you think are your biggest assets as a designer?
As a designer I challenge myself to find the unexpected in materials and textiles and I made that into my greatest strength. When I design clothing I always have a strong woman in mind, with non-conforming elegance and a luxurious approach to colour and fabric. My graduation collection is based on the insomnia drawings of Louise Bourgeois. One of the strongest and most inspiring women I have ever known.
Before you started with the collection, did you already know the outcome of the design concept?
I went to the exhibition of Bill Viola during my internship in Paris. This was one of the most exhilarating exhibitions I have ever seen. My eye caught on of his illusional art pieces ‘Veiling’ of Bill Viola. In a dark space, an unfocussed film of a man is projected through 10 translucent sheets of fabric, growing paler and larger towards the centre. Two projectors at opposite ends of the space face each other and project images into the layers of material. I became fixated on this video installation. And from that moment on I knew that I wanted to recreate that illusional effect with different kind of layers fabric in my collection. The elements of shape-shifting developed later on, during my drape sessions. After a few drape sessions I came to the idea that my collection had to represents the brain that is experiencing insomnia, and that’s where the insomnia drawings came in.
You interpreted insomnia with fabrics where Louise Bourgeois did the same thing with pencil. Why is it that your collection exists of tints of black, grey and white, while bourgeois’ work consists of colour?
The type of woman I made this collection for is elegant, unpredictable and psychotic. I have used darker tones to create that psychotic vibe. And the best way to create an unpredictable illusion through different layers is to use tints of black and grey.
Can you tell us a bit more about the design process behind the collection?
Quality of fabric and craftsmanship are my most important values when designing. Therefore I won’t be looking at the clock when working on my designs. My collection consists of a lot of different crafts that have to be meticulously conducted. One look required an embroidered top that consists of 460 small pieces of springs that I have formed in circles, and those springs and beads are all embroidered by hand. This took my approximately three weeks. The two last looks in my collection consist of 22 meters of tulle per outfit, all hand-printed with markers, and 4.5 meters of printed plastic. From of all the time I spent working on my collection, those looks were the ones that took up the most time.
You're working as an assistant designer for Sharon Wauchob now. How did that happen and what do you admire about her work?
I worked as an intern for Sharon Wauchob two years ago. During my internship I was assigned as assistant textile/embroideries designer. This was one of the best learning experiences I had so far as Sharon gave me a lot of opportunities to develop myself. After my internship I went back to school for my final year but I stayed in contact with her and I always came back to Paris to help the team during Paris Fashion Week. Sharon is a consistently talented designer who creates thoughtfully engineered garments. I admire her strong detail-focused aesthetic. The way she uses traditional techniques and delicate fabrics in her collection inspires me.
How do you see your career developing from now on?
I would like to gain more experience within the field of design. I hope to get the opportunity to learn a lot from Sharon Wauchob over the next years. It would also be interesting to develop myself within another creative luxury brand with a focus on textiles, but we should not jump to conclusions. You never know what happens and I am looking forward to every new opportunity!
1 World 100 Lonely, a new film by Brian McGuire
...the two greatest tragedies in life are getting what you want, and not getting what you want: this is a paradox that lies at the heart of Brian McGuire’s 1 World 100 Lonely... Review
It has been said that the two greatest tragedies in life are getting what you want, and not getting what you want: this is a paradox that lies at the heart of Brian McGuire’s 1 World 100 Lonely, a wonderfully heart-breaking film that explores love and human relationships from a fresh perspective.
McGuire portrays a variety of experiences that many of us will be able to empathise with – the realization that someone may not be all that you had hoped, or may be more – that the ones you love have the power to plunge you into or pull you out from the depths of internal turmoil; through two interconnected storylines, we follow five characters as they try to figure out that elusive little thing called love.
Shot entirely on a mobile phone, the action feels natural and spontaneous with a gritty, documentary-like edge; although the frequent, shaky close-ups can be jarring at times, 1 World 100 Lonely is the perfect antidote to the clean-cut, mass produced romantic flicks churned out by mainstream media. The film’s emotional undulations are perfectly underscored by an original soundtrack (free to listen to and download on SoundCloud), courtesy of LA electro mellow punk group Haxsaw & Dugin, of which Brian McGuire is also a member.
Lead actors Robert Murphy, Lara Heller, Farah Moans and Mark E. Fletcher are so relaxed in their roles that the fictitious nature of the film is easily forgotten. The dialogue feels natural and unrehearsed in the best possible sense of the word, understandable yet impressive considered in light of the fact that there was no script.
A particularly noteworthy exchange takes place early on in the film between RexMen (Robert Murphy) and his long distance love interest Nosaneen (Lara Heller). We watch a head on collision as conflicts of interest and cultural differences become increasingly evident; a mesmerising train-wreck, each character tries in vain to express what they had hoped from the other. Metaphorical expression “we’re jumping on a bridge before we get to the river” is interpreted literally as “bungee jumping and a sense of adventure” – “I’m crazy for coming here” is met with “I’m crazy about you too”; Murphy and Heller exemplify the sad reality that the way we see or hear things is often clouded by our own hopes and desires, and that other people are flawed vessels into which we often place fragile and misguided expectations.
The film’s universal appeal lies in its acknowledgement and interpretation of the idea that to love and to be loved is the greatest happiness of existence – ultimately, we are all just lonely hunters looking for a connection to help ease our days away. Whether you are lucky enough to have found your significant other, continue to search, or exist blissfully in singularity (like me!), this film is definitely worth a watch.
4/5
1 World 100 Lonely premieres on Monday 28th September at the Raindance Film Festival, available to view again on Friday 2nd October.
Fashion Week Showrooms: Xu Zhi SS16
London Fashion Week - Our picks
It can’t be denied that there was elegance in the air in Xu Zhi’s SS16 lookbook, but it’s that of such fervency one must touch it to know it. Hand weaving is the long-serving charm in fashion that Xu Zhi keeps coming back to. Inadvertent grace is ever-present borne by his at-ease handcraft, while the knitted satin poetry glides along vivid saturation. With craft in the most tangible sense, this fresh-out-of-Saint Martins graduate is handing out a reassuring answer to how he may grapple a thread-bound intrigue for London.
Xu Zhi SS16, photography by Theresa Mar
Patternity: A New Way Of Seeing
“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge”
Patternity is publishing a book that will make every visual obsessed creative crave for. Their extraordinary book launch kicked off a 5-day pattern celebration festival that sets the tone for their ‘out of the box’ book ‘Patternity: A New Way Of Seeing’.
In 2009, designer Grace Winteringham and art director Anna Murray decided to merge their talent and passion to create inspiration driven platform ‘Patternity’. Not answering to the newness of things but rather focusing on the chemistry between the old and the new, Patternity proves there is inspiration in every corner of our surroundings. Gathering all their research, designs and patterns they present us with ‘Patternity: A New Way of Seeing’. The collector’s item is a feast for the eyes, as well as a source of expertise and notion. Murray and Winteringham describe the book as the core philosophy of Patternity existent of 3 chapters: Curiosity, Collaboration and Connectivity. Acting upon these words, they transformed an image archive into a worldwide inspiring phenomenon in just five years. Holding the heavy book full of visual delight, impactful quotes and though-provoking theories in my hands, there was no doubt in squeezing it between the cherished hardcovers oF my bookshelf.
London Fashion Week: Show Highlight Day 1-3
Image gallery
BFC Show Space SS16 (Agnese Sanvito, British Fashion Counil)
Ten Designers in the West Wing
London Design Festival presents ‘Ten Designers in the West Wing’, the work of an impressive list of renown designers, exhibiting in collaboration with their best clients.
Alphabeta, Luca Nichetto for Hem
Located in the Somerset House, the festival has selected ten major designers from various fields to showcase their design stories in a contemporary and innovative way. Reserving the newly renovated rooms at the west wing of the building, the designers get full freedom to make their story as complete and convincing as possible.
As for the English Drawing Room, designer Faye Toogood will be handling renovations herself. Creating the illusion of an abandoned country house, she uses charcoal and translucent plastic sheets to enhance space between four walls, reinforcing the idea of walking through a whole house.
Covering film and set design, award-winning designer Tino Schaedler joins forces with virtual reality director Nabil of United Realities, sending us on a trip to space by fusing vanguard technology aspects of storytelling.
For the keen book lovers amongst you, British designers Edward and Jay Osgerby will lure you into their intimate Reading Room where their furniture will be showcased, alongside their new book ‘One By One’.
Tabanlioglu Architects & Arik Levy Render
Faye Toogood
Optimist Design & United Realities
Many of the rooms will be interactive, transforming design into a creative experience. Industrial designer Arik Levy takes this a step further by not only creating interaction between the viewer and the room but also between art and architecture. Collaborating with architect duo Tabanlioglu, the artwork will let you explore the theme of transparency.
Other talent attending the exhibition will be Alex Rasmussen, Luca Nichetto, Jasper Morrison, Nendo, Patternity and Ross Lovegrove.
Mon-Wed & Sun 10am-6pm, Thu-Sat 10am-9pm
FREE
@L_D_F
Depictions of the Empty Bed in Contemporary Art
We are delighted that Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’ (1998) sculpture is back on show at the Tate Modern in London, and here's why.
As of May 2015, Tracey Emin’s Turner Prize nominated ‘My Bed’ (1998) sculpture is back on show at the Tate Modern in London. Bought in 2014 for £2.5 million, the bed is now on a ten-year loan to the gallery. In honoUr of this, I decided to look at other depictions of the empty bed in contemporary art, and the way it is used to represent vulnerability and the artist’s ownership of their own insecurities.
‘Messiness and despair’: Tracey Emin’s My Bed back on display at Tate Britain. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA via The Guardian
The bed is a frequent and poignant image, recognizable by all and incredibly personal to whomever sleeps in it. Most are born in a bed and most will die in a bed. It is a place for making love, and periods of illness are spent in its warm embrace. It is a sanctuary, and it can be a cage. Marcel Proust famously spent most of his life in one, sick and incessantly writing, neglecting all other aspects of his life.
Because of the strong emotions a bed can signify, it makes it an evocative subject for artworks.
The bed is a space of solace that we can if we choose, share with those we love. It is an incredibly intimate place and one which is unseen by all but a select few. It signifies regeneration, and is somewhere we go at our most vulnerable moments. We love in a bed and it is where we go when we are ill. Perfectly designed for the human body, beds differ very little throughout history and across continents. Any differences are mainly aesthetic, and there has been very little change to the fundamental elements of the bed since the first recorded use of one in Homer’s The Odyssey. The bed is a place we are most ourselves, we are vulnerable and unguarded, and where we are most human. Sleep is a thing that no human can do without, and the forced abstinence from sleep is a common form of torture.
The bed is a personified representation of the person who uses it, much like Yves Klein’s Anthropometries paintings, it is the human body is what creates the abstract shapes. The bed is a mold that records the movements of the night; all of a person’s dreams are represented in the folds of a blanket. For this reason, artists utilize the bed to show the unguarded subject at their most exposed.
Cai Yuan and Jian Jun Xi, on Tracey Emin’s Bed, 1999, Tate Gallery, London. via www.madforreal.org
In 1999, two Chinese artists, Yuan Cai and Jian Jun Xi, decided to climb into the bed, an act that breached not only the gallery rules of not touching artworks, but also the social norms of never entering another's bed without invitation. This artistic rape was an attempt to demystify the object, under the illusion that they weren't really doing anything wrong.
Emin's bed is an unmade and dirty double, complete with all the detritus of her life strewn about it. Filthy knickers, condoms, cigarette butts, vodka bottles, and dirty slippers surround it. The colour of the sheets exemplifies the weeks of grime that has built up, and nothing has been cleaned before she placed it in a gallery for all to see. This literally ‘lived in’ bed was Emin’s home for a few days during a bout of suicidal depression after a breakup, and one from which she thought she would never recover. Amongst this array of refuse is a stuffed seal. A solitary figure of hope and innocence amongst the chaos.
Untitled (Lesbian Bed #3) via tammyraecarland.com/lesbianbeds
In 2002, artist Tammy Rae Carland created the work ‘Lesbian Bed #3’, which was above-view photograph of an unmade bed. The bed is skinlike in hue, a fresh pink like that of blushing cheeks. Shadows dissect the bed, thrown from a window that is situated out of frame, above the head of the bed and to the top of the photograph.
One pillow is creased and appears used, whilst the most forefront and prominent pillow seems unused. The crease created by long periods of being folded is still clearly evident. This suggests that the couple to whom this bed belongs slept tightly interwoven, either sharing one pillow or one nestled cozily in the crook of an arm or the neck.
The main shadow thrown from the window takes the form of an inverted cross, conjuring up images of religious persecution towards homosexuals and playing with the suggestion that homosexuality is ‘against god’. The point at which the head would sit upon the cross is the least creased area on the entire bed, suggesting clarity of thought, which contradicts and nullifies this earlier point. The bed is unmade and quite literally ‘uncovered’ without quilt or blanket.
The smaller shadows that crisscross the surface resembles the bars of a tightly meshed cage, an idea that resonates with the feeling one has when repressing true emotion, something that many homosexuals still have to do today. The creases across the surface of the bed form the ‘greater than’ sign (>), and are chevrons that naturally bring the eyes towards the right of frame, leading us forwards, suggesting a progression of thought.
This photograph is beautiful in its loaded simplicity, it’s openness and honesty make us question homosexuality and how it is perceived. This work calls into focus the emotions of a socially ostracized and sometimes repressed individual, showing us that they are no different than the rest of the world’s population, and that they need to sleep in a bed like we all do. Shapes that hint at religion make us remember the turbulent past that homosexuals have experienced at the hands of religious ideology.
All of this has been cleverly hidden inside an inoffensive image, which makes it an accessible comment on sexuality. It works as a Trojan horse, accessing out subconscious and showing very plainly that homosexuals are nothing special, for this could be my bed or your bed or your parent’s bed. We are all the same and we have the same needs, to be loved, to sleep, and to sleep with whom we love.
‘au naturel’ (1994) by Sarah Lucas © The artist, courtesy Murderme and Sadie Coles HQ, London via designboom.com
In 1994 Sarah Lucas made Au Naturel, a sculpture utilizing decaying readymades to personify a Male and Female character from a sheet-less mattress.
The mattress is dirty and torn, and it looks well used. Bent at what would be the waist, the orangey tint and the folds created in the bending give it the appearance of a flabby unwell belly with many rolls. A bucket and two melons depict the female, whereas two oranges and a stiff cucumber represent the male. The bucket is comically large, and its size is greatly exaggerated in relation to the size of the cucumber, suggesting sexual failure and the inability for the woman to perform.
This artwork is at its core an artwork about gender, but more than that it is an artwork about sex and sexual inadequacy. The signified vagina is much too large for the penis, which is roughly in scale with the breasts, testicles, and stomach rolls in the personified mattress. The vagina is represented by an object that is used to carry water, and is dry. The barrenness of the bucket contrasts with a virile cucumber comprised of almost entirely 95% water.
The organic objects in this work will decompose with time, the liquid in the breasts will dry up, and the cucumber will wilt, having never spilled its seed. The way that the mattress is folded creates stomach rolls, which are more prominent on the 'female' side of the bed. This artwork speaks to us on an incredibly intimate level, and one of a sexual nature. It exposes how we make ourselves vulnerable in order to fully love another, and some of the possible worries people may have in doing so.
Rachel Whiteread Untitled (Air Bed II) via Tate.org.uk
In 1992, British Turner Prize winner Rachel Whiteread made the sculpture Untitled (Air Bed ll). Cast in polyurethane rubber, the surface resembles the skin of the recently deceased. This air bed is stood at a perpendicular angle to that at which it would be suitable for sleeping on, something that bizarrely suggests that it is being stored like this rather than let down. A temporary object made less temporary, both in this method of implied storage, and the fact that it has been cast and placed in a gallery. This method of placement inside the gallery also suggests that it is not a space for rest, but an object for contemplation. To invite someone to see our bed is a privilege. It is a space for deep contemplation, and a place where we dream.
To expose to the world your bed is a bold statement, you are exposing your very being. 'Laid bare' is the most apt description of these artworks, and the one that seems to sum them all up.
Emin's bed may not be pretty, but the act of exhibiting it is an incredibly beautiful thing, and the regeneration and solace that this bed signifies is an inspiration to us all. For the period that she spent in that bed was spliced with unrest, she contemplated suicide. The real beauty in this bed is that she beat this particular bout of depression, and her exposition of it was her way of purging her soul, it was a method of cleansing that she allowed the whole world to see.
By signifying this with such a recognisable and universal object, Emin makes the work instantly recognisable and easy for all to identify with.
She demystifies both the art object, and by association, the artist. This work is unpretentious in its representation of the artist, nothing is gilded and nothing is sugar coated. She is showing how the artist is the same as the rest of us, with her own fears and problems.
Were Emin's suicide to happen, the bed is the most likely location. In Britain the most common form of suicide in women is overdoses of medication or poisoning, both likely to occur in a bed. Emin’s bed signifies the strength of the human spirit, the suicidal feelings she was battling were beaten, and she refused to let them win. The bed is empty, and forever it will remain so.
The stuffed seal, and all it represents, has won.
Artists and Scientists at Music Tech Fest
The exciting formula for championing future creative and technological collaboration in music. We interview Andrew Dubber, Music Tech Fest's Director.
Soft Revolvers by Myriam Bleau
Andrew Dubber, Music Tech Fest’s director, explains to me the freedom Music Tech Fest fosters in joining creative musicians and technological minds in an all-inclusive environment – the aim is to ultimately liberate the music technology scene and revel in the mayhem that ensues.
How and why was 'Music Tech Fest' conceived and what developments has it gone through to make it the internationally-reaching community it is today?
I wasn’t there for the first Music Tech Fest. It was something that came out of the European Road Map for the Future of Music Information Research. Michela Magas was the scientific director for that project - and was the founder of the Music Tech Fest. The idea was to bring together artists and scientists, academics and industry in a ‘hands on’ experimental environment - rather than just a conference. I came along to the second one and, like most people who now work for MTF - I basically just never went home. I was asked to take on the role of director of the festival, and we have had invitations - sometimes through some of my own professional connections - to bring the event to different cities. It’s different everywhere we do it, and we learn a lot by doing each one. But what makes it work is the fact that it brings together such a diverse range of brilliant and interesting people. It’s not a matter of controlling the outcome. You put them together in a room and watch what happens.
Why do you think it is important for musicians working with technology to meet face to face in a world saturated by online ‘music technology’ content?
I don’t think it’s necessarily important for musicians to meet each other face to face. It’s nice, just as any personal human interaction is nice. But there’s a lot that can be done through online collaboration between people who have the same language and mode of working. What’s important is that they meet *other types of people* with different skills and frames of thinking. People who aren’t musicians, but bring something else to music. And to make that work, people need to build something together. If you want to innovate in music, you need creative technologists, designers, hackers, musicians, artists, product designers, music industry people - a whole range of different minds. That’s what the face to face stuff is for. You get people working collaboratively and it opens up all sorts of unimagined possibilities.
‘Music Tech Fest’ seems different in that you pride yourself on being ‘a community with a festival, not a festival with a community’ - why is it important to 'bring down' the hierarchy that a lot of creative ‘festivals’ have and somewhat ‘level the playing-field’ for musicians working with technology?
There are a few important things here. First - we want to remove barriers to participation. Anyone who wants to play music, make technologies, hack, research or find out about music technologies should not be prevented from doing so because of financial restrictions. Second, it’s important to us that things that happen at Music Tech Fest have a life beyond the festival. New projects begin, new businesses are formed, new art installations are imagined, new performances planned - that sort of thing. That’s what Music Tech Fest is for. It’s a catalyst for the community. Where people come together, get exposed to new concepts and experiences, meet new people, have interesting discussions, make new prototypes and so on - but then go off to develop those further and maybe come back and showcase those things on the main stage at a later Music Tech Fest.
A lot of the creative developments in the ‘music tech’ world aren’t solely to do with music anymore - how and why is cross-collaboration in artistic mediums important and how does ‘Music Tech Fest’ foster these concepts?
The edges where music stops and other stuff starts has always been blurred - but now more than ever. We’re interested in music for its own sake, because music is amazing - and we’re also interested in music as a tool for other things (social change, industrial innovation, education…). Music is something pretty much everyone has a relationship with in one way or another. It’s the bit that connects the tech-heads with the artistic people, the academics with the industry. We’re working with Volvo trucks and Philips lighting. Those organisations might not be thought of as music related, but they see the value of a transversal approach to innovation, and music as a galvanising force that gets young people interested in technology and engineering. The cross-collaboration in the arts is especially important in an age of computing because the artificial barriers between storytelling, music, film, visual arts - even taste and touch - are broken down in our increasingly synaesthetic and multi-modal world.
The improvements and accessibility of technology in general is something that is obviously allowing more people to engage with it. How has the festival engaged with the issues of inaccessibility to technology to allow a wider engagement with music tech?
It’s a really important strand of what we do. For instance, we’re working closely with a number of organisations who are focused on using technology to remove barriers to participation for people with disabilities. We encourage our hackers to keep accessibility in mind when developing any new projects and we showcase projects that are about making music available to more people in more places - for instance, the One Handed Musical Instrument (OHMI) Trust, Drake Music and Human Instruments. It’s also a key part of our #MTFResearch network principles. The Manifesto for the Future of Music Technology Research, which came about as a response to the Music Tech Fest we held at Microsoft Research in Boston. See: http://musictechifesto.org
All images courtesy of Andrew Dubber
Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts has just opened its doors to Ai Weiwei's major exhibition in the UK - check out the preview photos by Nick JS Thompson
The Royal Academy of Arts has just opened its doors to Ai Weiwei's major exhibition in the UK, presenting some of his most notable works from the time he returned to China from the US in 1993, right up to present day.
Photos by Nick JS Thompson
Ai Weiwei – Creating Under Imminent Threat
Ai Weiwei at The Royal Academy of Arts
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Main Galleries, Burlington House
Music Premiere : Makeshift Happiness, a new EP by Christa Vi
Inspired by origami and paper craft, Christa Vi’s new EP, Makeshift Happiness, creates something beautiful and bright out of the ordinary, futile optimism, and fragility of the existentialist everyday.
Photo by Jon Enoch. Origami by Papershake
Inspired by origami and paper craft, Christa Vi’s new EP, Makeshift Happiness, creates something beautiful and bright out of the ordinary, futile optimism, and fragility of the existentialist everyday. The record is resplendent with a peppy positivity as vibrant as the redhead the song lyrics were spurn from. Contemplative, reflective lyrics and Florence Welch wispy new romantic vocals hook onto a driving, electronic melody; reticent of Oh Land and the like. The moody Germanic undercurrent and Australian optimism of her two home countries have blended with the flux, grit and shift of new base London to create a unique brand of lyric-driven, synth-centric, electronic indie pop in a record preoccupied with making the best of life’s hard knocks.
Headed up with the eponymous title track, the EP also includes a radio edit and remixes by L.A. dweller Small Pyramids (Glasgow Underground) and renowned beat-master DJ AMTRAC who brings textured, sizzling and liquid layers to his evocative remix.
Released on her own record label, Tangelo Records, Vi often handpicks guest producers to pepper her music and has spent years honing her sound with Box of Wolves, Ben Salter and AIMES. This time she has teamed up to co-produce with the multi-instrumentalist mastermind Andrew McDonnell (Crystal FIghters, Petite Noir, Suns). This collaborative interest in crafting feeds into her video and album artwork with pastel-toned illustrative cover art by Erin Greer a video by Chris Turner / Favourite Colour Black.
It may be making music makeshift, but it is certainly not make do.
Makeshift Happiness, EP by Christa Vi, will be released 25th September on Tangelo Records. It can be preordered here:
Liggers & Dreamers : a new book by Josie Demuth
Artists are doing it for themselves – or are they?... Tales from the London Art Scene
IT’S EXHAUSTING! Keeping up with three very resourceful artists at the same time for a Q&A session. Three of the creative arts' liveliest talents. First, Josie Demuth; a prolific author and the founding editor of La Bouche Zine. Second, Jason Gibilaro; a contemporaneous artist and the cover artist of Josie Demuth's new book; Liggers and Dreamers. And our third musketeer is illustrator extraordinaire Ian Wright whose visual art work has spanned four decades.
Liggers and Dreamers by Josie Demuth, Cover artwork by Jason Gibilaro
Unusual combinations often produce the most interesting read, as you’ll see in this article. Now, we are gathered in the basement of the famed unconventional Vout-O-Reenees Art Club and gallery The Stash, to share their unique insights on preparing for their major test yet, of their life’s work and more importantly to talk about Demuth’s manic short story book titled Liggers & Dreamers; Tales from the London Art Scene. To complement, and celebrate, the book launch, there is an exhibition of Liggers and Dreamers art by Jason Gibilaro, and Ian Wright’s photos from his collection of Arts Herbert’s on show at The Stash Gallery. Josie Demuth’s new book is innovative with no time for baloney. She goes for the jugular. A very tongue in cheek, tickling and fiercely observed manuscript on an extraordinary scale about liggers (derrière -licking persons) and dreamers (groupies & sycophants) of the London art world. A well written story on how they make their way through London’s elite art scene as well as the ruthless behaviour of a gang of intriguing and flamboyant personalities, as they diligently make their way all around London’s most fashionable gallery private views and bashes for the sole purpose of freeloading on champagne, decent wine and canapés “like a flock of seagulls”. Josie alleges that there are these individuals, “uninvited freeloading party goers”; for who it’s the art of being seen and accepted at art exhibitions rather than a passion for the often hollow modern art on show.
Demuth said: “We are having the unveiling of Liggers & Dreamers on a Friday so that all the liggers can come, after all there wouldn’t be a book and exhibition without them”. In harmony with Demuth, the proprietor of Vout-O-Reenees Art Club Sophie Parkin affirmed: “I will be making extra canapés knowing how Liggers swoop in on any free food and drinks”. Liggers & Dreamers is a fascinating work of creative writing by someone with tremendous imagination. However, some very identifiable famous individuals from the worlds of music and art also make an appearance in the novel. J. D. disputes strongly that any similarity is thoroughly accidental. Yeah right! We believe you Josie Demuth. Also, there’s a wry, shrewd narrative to her story that throws-up constant parallels with pale imitation celebrities and thespians, who regularly gate crash occasions for that chance to take a selfie and share via social media to prove that they have arrived...
Now welcome to the discussion with the three musketeers – oh yes, artists.
This is a very audacious and highly speculative book with some mischievous narrative, which could easily attract extreme dislike towards you. Why was it important that you write this book?
Josie Demuth: Whoa! That is severe. It is not an attack on freedom of expression. It is important for me to write this novel because it focuses on some very interesting characters. And being somebody that has been gallery hopping myself in the last few years, I found these characters to be very worthy of note in the gallery world. I felt and believe they must be documented. I initially started by writing short stories about them in The International Times, then when the list got produced in Cork Street gallery in a covert operation to blacklist these liggers – I thought right away this will be a great narrative for a novel. And my novel only focuses on about a dozen liggers for now. There are a lot more characters that I might report on in another book. A ligger is a freeloader. They go to parties and functions or corporate events with the view of getting freebies. I think everybody loves a freebie. But then again, liggers come in categories; there are some mild liggers and there are chronic liggers and there’re some arch liggers too. In my book you will find all sorts. And yeah, there are those who do gallery hopping that have substance, no doubt about that. So I don’t see how anyone would direct any hate towards me.
I love Charlie by Jason Gibilaro. Acrylic on canvas, 118cm x 153cm, 200
Jason Gibilaro is the book cover artist of Liggers and Dreamers. How did that come about?
Jason Gibilaro: let me answer that. I met Josie way back at an exhibition I staged and I am very interested in the team of liggers and dreamers. I did a small experimental drawing piece and sent it to a mate of mine and he ended-up sending it to Josie and others, and everyone liked it. One thing led to another and Josie liked the drawing and it ended up as the cover of the book. I am very proud of the cover.
Collaboration can be a tad tricky. Was it easy working with Josie or would you rather not work with her again?
Jason Gibilaro: Oh yes, she was nightmarish. (Just kidding!). I will work with her again if the opportunity arises. The final drawing on the cover was a consensus. Yes, we had several meetings with others, but at the end everybody decided that my painting was the one for the book. Initially I was for the image I did for the I love Charlie thing, but what the heck? This cover is very artistic. I am an artist in my own right and it’s just a coincidence to work with an author. It’s an opportunity to do some exploring and add to my repertoire. I see Josie as an artist who personally engages.
Is Josie Demuth shrouding as one of the characters in this book?
Josie Demuth: Yes someplace. The book mirrors and captures the spirit that I believe in. I have been gallery hopping myself for years, so I am in there somewhere and I have witnessed these sort of quirky little scenario situations, so to tell this sort of story, I have to be a part of the story. I implicate myself in things I do. For Liggers & Dreamers, there was no way I could have written it just standing outside saying look at this; this is good or this is terrible or whatever.
Is it fair to describe J. D. as an eccentric, provocateur or just ridiculously over-dramatic with tremendous imagination?
Ian Wright: Let me answer that question. (Why are you guys taking it in turns to answer for Josie, is hilarious) I know that to write this book took a long time and, of course, some imagination. It was a work in progress and I can also understand why some persons would conclude – especially the press like you, that she is being provocative and over dramatic. We are living in interesting times as far as the arts or creative arts are concerned. I think this is just a segment of the arts that she has hit upon and it’s interesting to inform the wider public what is going on in the art world. She is brutally honest about what she thinks, not at all over dramatic. I wouldn’t say she is provocative and dramatic. But if she provokes a debate or a response about freeloaders, great. We all like a bit of drama. I like a bit of drama too.
The Collector by Jason Gibilaro. Acrylic on paper, 17.50cm x 27.00cm, 201
How does this ménage à trois work – professionally?
Ian Wright: We are eccentric in different ways. We all have our different interests but also have similarities too. It is fair to say that our eccentricity works greatly for us. And it is fair to say the book and the art exhibition is kind of a celebration of eccentricity. At the end of the day, be you a writer, painter, architect or poet, we are all artists in the creative arts. So why can’t we work together. It’s something we should see more and more and these boundaries will become very fluid.
Photo by Ian Wright. The Painter and the Poet from The Art Herbert Series, 2009. 6x9 inch
Photo by Ian Wright. The all star Hackney Wick sand gang, 2015. 16x12 inch
...
This threesome Josie Demuth, Jason Gibilaro and Ian Wright seemed destined to be both notable polemicists and visionary creators. An avant-garde underground art movement of the modern era. They have been able to transcend the rather claustrophobic boundaries of the art world. About Liggers & Dreamers, I find it thoroughly frenetic and fresh - highly recommended. Read it and I bet, you will see freeloaders and hangers-on in a totally different light. And it’s not pretty.
An exhibition of Liggers and Dreamers Art by Jason Gibilaro & Ian Wright’s photos is on show at The Stash Gallery, 30 Prescot Street, London E1 8BB
September 11 - September 27
Liggers & Dreamers – Tales from the London Art Scene by Josie Demuth
Cindy Rizza – The Beauty of Nostalgia on Canvas
Has a painting ever been so realistically close to your memories, it reminded you of your own past?
When it comes to setting a mood, American based contemporary realist painter Cindy Rizza knows how to get your mind wandering. Evoking the feeling of nostalgia by depicting memories of her own, Cindy takes us back to the little moments in life she cherishes, as if we’ve experienced them ourselves.
The award-winning artist is known for playing with the power of collective memory and identification in a truly remarkable way. Arousing a human presence lingering throughout every canvas, she creates a certain intimacy between the (un)seen subject and the viewer, even if that painting portrays a door, a shadow of a house, or a clothesline of linen drying in the garden.
Fascinated by the influence a single object can have on the human brain, Cindy’s most recent work consists of nothing but chairs. A chair in the garden facing the sun, three on the terrace, one with a quilt draped over it. Besides the fact that these beautifully painted canvasses resemble photographs, when skimming past them it seems there is not a lot to glance at. However, when giving it a closer look and some thought, comfort and past memories overtake.
Even though our mind is set to treat everyday objects as ordinary, by treating those mundane things with carefulness and an open mind, Cindy provokes a surprising sense of otherworldliness as if there is a second layer to her paintings that lures us into a story we can all identify with.
In My Shoes: Switchst(d)ance
An interview with Marco Antão resident DJ’s at Lux Frágil, Lisbon.
Photo by Tiago Reis
My name is Marco Antão, I was born and raised in Lisbon and I am one of the resident DJ’s at Lux Frágil. As a producer I am associated with the German music label Beachcoma. I am something of a collector of synths and admittedly it’s been a growing obsession of mine over the years. The name "Switchst(d)ance" came from my longtime love of skateboarding. If you remove the letter “d”, it’s the name of a trick that i spent my teen years mastering. When you add the letter “d”, the word gains new meaning and symbolises the start of something new, a game-changer as it were, when I started DJ’ing.
I started spinning records at a friend’s party almost ten years ago, basically to keep the thing going. The feeling I got once I was behind the turntables was a turning point (excuse the pun) for me; it was a wicked experience, watching people dance to the music I was playing. After that night, I began playing in the bars of Lisbon and five years ago I became a resident DJ at Lux. I consider myself very lucky, since it only took me a couple of seconds to realise what I wanted to do with my life.
Photo by David Tutti dos Reis
Of course, it wasn't always easy. Looking back, the most challenging phase for me, artistically, was around 2008, when I was having a hard time finding gigs. This was because the kind of music that was popular in Portuguese nightlife at the time was really different from what I was playing. However, the pursuit of new and original sounds always kept me going. And it was rewarding because now I have the privilege of playing for and connecting with some really great crowds, which for me is, hands down, the best part about making music. The beauty of music is that it is very communal, yet at the same time a hugely unique experience. Transmitting emotions and feelings through sound in a way that every single person can feel and interpret into their own private experience is a totally unique way of communication. It leaves me both proud and humbled to enable this and it is a big part of what inspires my style.
For me the most important element to making music is creating something intelligent and, above all, something sensory. I like music that gets inside your head because it has unique textures like interesting synth sounds, twisted arpeggios, off-key notes, that kind of thing. I like rhythm patterns that don’t sound like they were rigidly quantised to a grid, but help distinguish a track from your straight up "four-to-the-floor" dance floor fodder. Personally, I don't really rationalise my music and I try not to overthink it. Instead, I focus on mixing sounds that come together in a good way and I like to think I am always pushing the boundaries of what is already out there in order to create something distinctive and different. Even though the general opinion is that everything has already been created, composed, written, spoken or sung, I believe that the possibilities to create and grow remain infinite. And that's the really exciting part about doing what I do.
Real Fear for Safe Experience
On the 30th anniversary of the death of Ana Mendieta, I decided to take a retroactive look at one of her most shocking and poignant works – People Looking At Blood (1973). A review by Benjamin Murphy.
On the 30th anniversary of the death of Ana Mendieta, I decided to take a retroactive look at one of her most shocking and poignant works – People Looking At Blood (1973).
Perhaps a precursor to the (now-waning) Shock Art phenomenon of the nineties, Mendieta is undoubtedly a cult hero, and an inspiration to many. Tragically, Mendieta died in September 1985, the aftermath of which echoes one of her most shocking works - People Looking At Blood.
Whilst at home in her thirty-fourth floor apartment with her artist-husband Carl Andre, an argument was heard by the neighbors and Ana ‘went out the window” (Andre’s description). Accident, suicide, or murder, this form of death is eerily similar to what appears to have happened in People Looking At Blood, an artwork she created twelve years before.
The work is, as its name would suggest, a series of photographs of unwitting members of the public walking past a pile of blood and innards on a New York City sidewalk. The people in the photographs do not know that they are part of an artwork, and they do not know that the blood is from an animal. The fear they experience is very real, and their reactions are honest.
Mendieta often worked with feminist themes in her work, and for that reason her use of blood can’t be ignored. Rape and murder scenes are things that she often recreated, heavy with blood and gore, and often using her own body. These works force themselves upon the viewer, often unsuspecting, in a bold and aggressive way often utilized by feminist artists.
(For simplicity from this point on I will use 'Subject' to describe the people depicted in the photographs, and 'Viewer' to describe the museumgoer viewing the photographs)
When looking at the photographs that make up the work People Looking At Blood, one cannot help but feel empathetic towards the subjects depicted in the images. Going about their daily lives they were unprepared to deal with such trauma. Who knows how such scenes will affect these people? Perhaps one of them witnessed a bloody murder and this will bring them back to that traumatic day. Whatever the subjects of these artworks felt at the time, we will perhaps never understand, the extent of which could quite literally be catastrophic.
People go out of their way to experience art in order to feel heightened emotions in a safe environment. Art that is shocking or promotes fear creates adrenaline that in the non-threatening environment of a gallery can be enjoyed without worry of actual threat. Theme parks are a popular attraction for much the same reason; people enjoy feeling fear when they are confident that they are not facing actual physical trauma. The people in these photographs however, aren’t looking at an artwork; rather they are forced to become a part of one. The photographs are then displayed in the safe gallery environment for a complicit viewer. Real fear is created in the people looking at the blood in order that their real reaction can be enjoyed by the viewer in the form of a safe experience.
People Looking At Blood goes one step further than just making the work exist in a real (non-depicted) way, as it forces people to become a part of the work. It brings the work out of the art setting entirely and places upon unsuspecting victims. When creating work in this way one is playing with real emptions and fears, and one must be very careful. When entering an art gallery one already has a set of intentional and unintentional ideas and preconceptions of what to expect, and therefore how to act. The viewer is a willing participant, and is on his guard.
Oscar Wilde expressed this notion perfectly in The Critic As Artist:
“..art does not hurt us. The tears that we shed at a play are a type of the exquisite sterile emotion that it is the function of art to awaken. We weep, but we are not wounded. We grieve, but our grief is not bitter.”
This artwork however, is somewhat different. The viewer has consented to view artwork, which is a decision refused the subjects. They are free to weep real tears, and their emotions will be anything but sterile.
Once art moves out of the gallery and is thrust upon the unsuspecting public (as in this work) the adrenaline cannot be enjoyed by the participant in the artwork in the same way. They are not in the safe gallery environment and are therefor facing (in their eyes) a very real threat. Real fear is created in these unwitting participants so that the gallery visitors, at the subject’s expense, can experience ‘safe fear’.
Another brilliant example of this, but in a more exaggerated and threatening way, is Chris Burden’s TV Hijack (1972). Created on a live television broadcast on which Burden was asked to create a live work, Burden held a knife to the presenter’s throat and threatened to kill her. The ethics of these are questionable, but the artworks wouldn’t be successful if this weren’t so. For these artists to create these works without the forced participation of uninformed people the works would not be as powerful or as challenging.
One can’t help but wonder; what did the people do immediately after the photographs were taken? Were they informed of the origin of the blood or the reason for its placement on the sidewalk?
This kind of work exists because people demand to be shocked in the most vicious way possible. What was deemed shocking 100 years ago is tame and tepid by today’s standards. Once the bar has been raised in terms of shock-value, anything that falls below it is then made less shocking by its comparison.
The horror of Goya has moved from the two-dimensional depicted world (i.e. painting) into the real, tangible world of Mendieta. Depictions of horror can never be as powerful as real and unexpected horror encountered in the real world. Although this blood was from an animal and was placed intentionally upon the sidewalk, the people photographed knew none of this. For them the horror was real. Mendieta successfully created real horror without having to commit a particularly horrific act. In this case, the carefully constructed instance of artificial horror, presented in this way, creates real and recognizable horror.
Artists when creating artworks are essentially intending to create a real emotion in the viewer with their work. Fear, Disgust, and Revulsion are relatively simple emotions to convey as there are many images and scenarios that when viewed will create such emotions with little effort from the artist. The Young British Artists utilized this technique to great effect and gained themselves many tabloid inches as a result. These works were successful in creating these intended emotions, but in a looser and more diluted way than achieved by Mendieta in the subjects of her photographs. People viewing these works are aware that they are viewing an artwork and not the real thing. These artworks are merely representations of horrific things, as opposed to actual horrific things, and for that reason cannot create pure emotions devoid of a level of understanding about the artwork that alters its effect.
Perhaps the most shocking and disturbing artwork to date is Zhu Yu’s ‘Eating People’ (2000), in which the artist is shown in a series of photographs cooking and eating a stillborn human foetus. The work is obviously and understandably shocking, but it lacks the delicate balance between the real and artificial present in much of Mendieta’s work. Eating People is a very extreme example of an artist deciding to create the most controversial work possible, with no other intended function other than to shock. And it is for this reason that the artwork fails to be interesting, or successful as a work of art.
This work also begs the question, ‘Where can we go now from here?’, as any artist that wants to take the ‘most shocking artwork’ mantle from Zhu is going to have to commit some pretty heinous crimes. Something expertly mocked in the satirical essay ‘On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts’ by Thomas De Quincey.
In her work, Mendieta hasn’t resorted to using real human blood; her artwork is more intelligent in its approach. She has managed to create real, honest and drastic emotion, without having to resort to using drastic measures. For this reason Mendieta’s work is most powerful in its subtlety.
Mendieta’s work is as important today as it was when she died thirty years ago, she aggressively forces us to view uncomfortable images, and her poignant message is delivered unapologetically. Today too many artists are simply looking to shock the viewer, and in this they are taking the easy way out, avoiding having the laborious task of creating works with meaning.
Ana Mendieta may have helped to pave the way for the shock artists of today, but it is doubtful that she would approve of some of their lazy tactics and essentially vapid works.
Works that exist only to shock are simply not enough, and will not prove to have the longevity that Mendieta’s work undoubtedly will.