Aesthetica Magazine Blog

Review: Reverb Festival at The Roundhouse, London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Text by Ruby Beesley

La Coquille et le clergyman – Imogen Heap and The Holst Singers
Oracles and Step Onto the Ground, Dear Brother! – Ana Silvera and The Estonian Television Girls Choir

Now in its second year after a successful launch in 2010, the Roundhouse’s Reverb Festival aims to dismantle the stuffy, jargon-loaded image of classical music. While commercially the past decade has seen our musicians take a battering, creatively it’s an exciting time for contemporary music with tastes broadening, genres metamorphosing and live performances defying the rough waters experienced by the rest of the industry. And why shouldn’t classical music experience the same resurgence? By debunking the classical and the experimental, Reverb engages wider audiences in the growth of contemporary classical with the primary aim of creating a relaxed, enjoyable and approachable atmosphere with clear and informal introductions from the performers and composers encouraging listeners to better engage with the work.

An alt-classical a cappella accompaniment to the first Surrealist (though widely-contested as such) film, created by a female director back in 1928, doesn’t leap off the page as an approachable introduction to contemporary classical but, performed as it is following an ethereal performance by Ana Silvera and the Estonian Television Girls Choir, this segue into uncharted waters (for myself at least) works surprisingly well.

Initially commissioned by Birds Eye View Film Festival to marry the two vastly under feminised areas of film direction and classical musical composition, the pairing is initially challenging because we have become so accustomed to expecting a performance out of our singers. I find myself focussing on Imogen Heap and the Holst singers rather than on Germaine Dulac’s pioneering film. With a modicum of self-discipline however the inventive and frequently absurd fluctuations of the human voice animate the silent characters on the screen in a manner that alludes to their minds rather than their spoken words. In this sense Heap has transported La Coquille et le clergyman back into the Surrealist canon by ignoring the conventions of dialogue and focusing (as Surrealism should) on the interior and the subconscious. We feel the puzzlement, rage, dismay and infuriating lust of the clergyman as his erotic fantasies spiral out of control. At times the piece is hilarious and Heap and the Holst singers only serve to emphasise this in their vivid exploration of the possibilities of the human voice (and unabashed lack of pretension and foible). The guttural projections, cries of ecstasy and pants of anticipation and climax only emphasise the bizarre nature of Dulac’s work and of self-righteous denial (a timely observation for the beginning of Lent). In doing so they improve the reception of Dulac’s masterpiece immensely.

More typical of a novice’s expectations of contemporary music is Ana Silvera’s Oracles, which loosely narrate (with instrumental and choral accompaniment) the gamut of emotions involved in a fairytale love affair. At times (such as in The Awakening) Silvera resembles a mellowed Tori Amos, improvising and allowing her accompaniments to catch on. With the emergence of an acoustic score resembling African tribal themes the performers seem to relax into their roles and into the story. Within our visually over-emphasised culture (and as someone focused day-in, day-out on aesthetics) to be transported so readily into a story through music is a welcome revelation.

Continuing into next weekend, Reverb has certainly succeeded in demystifying the classical music experience. Winding down the evening with performances of Silvera and Heap’s best-known works, as well as an eye-opening and exceptional rendition of traditional Estonian music (at times almost primitive and otherworldly, contemporary yet also timeless), the festival treads just the right side of approachable, without patronizing its audience, with a fantastic programme of events.

www.roundhouse.org.uk

Aesthetica In Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

TERRYWOOD opens at OHWOW in Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:17:00 +0000

Terry Richardson has been inspired by the multiple facets of Hollywood life. In his latest show,TERRYWOOD, he unveils a series of images of the famous city, as seen through his eyes. Terryworld meets Hollywood, as the local characters, familiar landscapes, and architectural details verge on a new identity.

With images such as Untitled (Hollywood Neon), and Untitled (Nude), both photographs of the recognisable signs that are ubiquitous throughout Hollywood, Richardson illustrates his penchant for branding (whatever subject matter may be.) Through a medium not typically understood as effective in translating an artist’s personality, Richardson manages to make his hand evident within his photographs. His identity is unmistakably present, as if he created the very objects and scenes his camera captures.

An artist often attributed with changing the field of photography, Richardson also defies the ideological limitations. TERRYWOOD takes all that Hollywood represents - celebrity, broken dreams, kitsch, and re-contextualises it by the works with a different narrative. Richardson is one of the most prolific and compelling photographers of his generation. Known for his uncanny ability to cut to the raw essence of whomever appears before his lens, Richardson's vision is at once humorous, tragic, often beautiful, and always provocative. Born in New York City and raised in Hollywood, he began photographing his environment while attending Hollywood High School and playing in a punk rock band. Richardson‘s work has been the subject of numerous group and solo shows throughout the world, and he has published a selection of books beginning with Hysteric Glamour in1998, followed by a print retrospective titled Terryworld, and most recently released LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON.

TERRYWOOD runs at OHWOW, 937 North La Cienega Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90069 until 31 March.

www.oh-wow.com

Images:

(c) Terry Richardson

Hooray for Hollywood, 2011
C-print
48 x 72 inches
Edition of 3, plus 2 APs
Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, 2011
C-print
26 x 40 inches
Edition of 3, plus 2 APs
Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, 2011
C-print
26 x 40 inches
Edition of 3, plus 2 APs
Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW

NUDE, 2011
C-print
48 x 72 inches
Edition of 3, plus 2 APs
Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Rehearsal after Reflect Soft Matte Discourse | Malin Arnell, Clara López & Imri Sandström | Episode 2: A Special Form of Darkness | Tramway | Glasgow

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Text by Bethany Rex

How do ideas of nihilism, darkness, subjectivity and abjection play out in experimental music, performance art, supernatural horror; in neuroscience or philosophy? Or: how can you trust what you think or feel? A Special Form of Darkness is an open, convivial music/performance/ideas hybrid - a cross between a festival, magazine and discussion.

Taking place from 24 - 26 February at Tramway, Glasgow, the full programme includes; Keiji Haino, Junko, Walter Marchetti, Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra, Taku Unami, Malin Arnell, Iain Campbell F-W, Dawn Kasper, Ray Brassier, Mark Fisher, Alexi Kukuljevic, Thomas Metzinger, Eugene Thacker and Evan Calder Williams. We caught up with Malin Arnell to find out more about Rehearsal after Reflect Soft Matte Discourse which will take place on Saturday 25th February.

BR: Could you give us Rehearsal after Reflect Soft Matte Discourse in a nutshell? What was the idea behind this re-enactment?

MA: In the earlier action Reflect Soft Matte Discourse, which I performed in May 2010, the idea was to re-enact and to understand Gina Panes action Discours mou et mat from 1975. With this action I wanted to test my own bodily limits and deal with some questions around intimacy, authenticity and pain. It is a discussion of the intimate body within different systems of control. It is an action that counteracts alienation trough its effort, exhaustion, and wounds.

After that experience I felt a strong need to continue my dialogue with that action and to explore and process my and my fellow performer Clara López feelings and reactions during and after the performance. Another aspect I wanted to include in the process was the reactions within the audience during the re-enactment - speaking out my name while trying to stop me from cutting my upper lip, and the absolute silence after the performance, when no applauds could be heard. I needed to take a step back and rehearse the piece that I never rehearsed, and to bring in Imri Sandström and Clara López to make it happen.

BR: In the introduction to the piece, you state that it’s an “allegorical performance of alienation, abjection and the female figure, of the extreme fragility of the body and the reality of suffering.” Why do you feel the need to self-wound in order to convey this message?

MA: The question of self-wounds is difficult. I don’t think I felt the specific need to self-wound, instead my interest was to experience the “action” from within, putting the score into practice again. Self-wound is just one aspect of the action. Today the reading or understanding of female self-inflicted wounds has a totally different implication than in 1975, I think. Today the mediatisation of self-harm and self-injury among young adulthood persons, mostly women, gives the act another framework than the one it had in 1975. Pane was strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic discourse in France, Jacques Lacan and the feminist writings by for example Hélène Cixious (écrritude feminine - female figure), she was also connected in some way to the art sociologique movement and took on the theories that Guy Debord and the Internatinale Situationniste was putting forward (alienation) and she showed her solidarity to the anti Vietnam War movement (fragility of the body and the reality of suffering). During this time Panes was using her own body as the medium through which to address socio-political issues on a collective plane. She understood the wound as “an establishment of a relationship with the other”. Her self-inflicted wounds were motivated by her desire to promote an idea of the body as a communal entity. For her, the presence and intensity that self-inflicted wounds entail were conditions for a collective de-anesthetisation.

BR: How has being a feminist affected your art – do you find yourself consciously trying to break down barriers, or can you separate being a feminist from being an artist?

MA: No, there is no way I can separate the fact of being a feminist and an artist and I don’t try to, but I mean there are other things I think that affect my life and my art practice even more – the fact that I/ we live in a capitalist society, that is inherently racist, sexist, patriarchal, heteronormative.

I don’t think braking down barriers has been the most important activity within the feminist movement/s – breaking barriers is just one method among others to open up for experiences of that something else is possible.

BR: Do you think that mainstream art will always be controlled by men and the male gaze, or are we experiencing a shift towards equality?

MA: Unfortunately I don’t see a shift coming. I just see backlash after backlash around me. And that is not just a question about men and their gaze. The global inequalities are produced by racial, class, gender, sexual, religious, pedagogical, linguistic, aesthetic, ecological and epistemological power hierarchies that operate in complex and entangled ways at a world-scale. And above all, the economic neoliberal policies are spreading its value system over every aspect of life and human and non-human relationships. I say: No equality without solidarity, and sometimes when I’m in a good mood I say: fuck the mainstream.

BR: Could you expand on what you mean by being political through being personal?

MA: I’m very confused about the use of the personal as if there are another way of being in the world that is not personal or the assumption that the personal always imply that there is a human subject with a specific identity that have the possibility to be personal, or there is also this implication that if you speak up from a minority position its personal, but if you speak from a privilege position you speak the universal facts. Used without questioning the understanding of what ideological foundation “the personal” or “the subject” are leaning on, the concept can work against itself. When Carol Hanisch put forward the concept “the personal is political” in a text written 1969, it was a respond to a criticism of women getting together in consciousness-raising groups to discuss their own oppression as “naval-gazing” and “personal therapy”— and certainly “not political.” This criticism came from many people within the radical movements of Civil Rights, Anti-Vietnam War, and Old and New Left groups. At this time the need to recognize and fight male supremacy as a movement was put forward in order to stop blaming the individual woman for her oppression. I think the important point today is to understand how to use “the personal” as a collective force that gives us agency to act and speak.

BR: Which other artists inspire you?

MA: At the moment I have this intense and fruitful love relationship with Gina Pane. I find her poetics distinctive and her writings and working methods fractiously inspiring. Of course I could list a hundred names here but I will save that for later…

BR: What advise would you give to female artists who are just starting out?

MA: Listen, learn and laugh together and don’t forget to make love to each other in all possible and impossible ways.

Episode 2: A Special Form of Darkness, 24/02/2012 - 26/02/2012, Tramway, Glasgow. www.arika.org.uk

The full programme is available now at arika.org.uk
For tickets please click here.

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Jeremy Deller: Joy in People | Hayward Gallery | Southbank Centre | London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Text by Travis Riley

You wouldn’t be to blame if you assumed the large blue banner above the Hayward entrance, proclaiming "art exhibition", were a David Shrigley piece. It has the immediacy and humour of Shrigley’s work, and none of the seriousness that has in recent years come to represent Jeremy Deller.

In fact, for those only familiar with Jeremy Deller’s most celebrated work, The Battle of Orgreave (2001), the exhibition title, Joy in People, might seem a bit quizzical. The full-scale re-enactment of a particularly dark corner of British history is not a common definition of the term "joy". However, already visible from the entrance to the show is Valerie’s Snack Bar (2009), a recreation of a Bury Market café. The structure, surrounded by colourful parade banners, would be out of place in any modern gallery space, and in the Hayward’s high-ceilinged, factory-like rooms, it is wonderfully ludicrous. With my cup of tea I sat, staring out at the exhibition surrounding the stall.

To the left is The History of the World (1998) Deller’s spider diagram connecting "Acid House" and "Brass Band" music. The playfulness exuded by this work is joyful. It feels humble, like an idea conceived of over a pint, but that would never usually be followed through in the light of day. The evident mismanagement of grand-title and niche content is a humorous draw, which turns out to elucidate a greater point. It is easily possible to sit, tracing the diagram’s tangential connections for hours; there is a sort of disbelief that these two genres should ever be connected, and yet as with all distinct historical points, they inevitably find themselves related. Later on in the show there is a video of contemporary acid house music being played by Williams Fairey Brass Band (Acid Brass, 2007). Much of Deller’s work exists primarily outside of the gallery; the Williams Fairey Brass Band have continued playing Acid Brass gigs as recently as 2011.

To deal with this genre of seemingly un-exhibitable work, Deller presents a slideshow (Beyond the White Walls, 2012) in which he described several previous projects. From Karl Marx at Christmas (2000), to his "I love joyriding" bumper stickers, to a middle-class hand sign system (signs including "cup of tea", "radio four", and "antiques roadshow"), the works are equal parts culturally insightful and hilarious. The strength of these pieces is a restriction of scale, an almost effervescent quality. Each is a self-contained gesture, which Deller’s narration carefully and characterfully elucidates.

To the right of my spot at the café, a white-walled structure, about half the room’s height, dominates the landscape of the gallery. Inside is a recreation of Jeremy Deller’s teenage bedroom. He hosted an exhibition here when his parents were away on holiday, and although it might not have seemed groundbreaking at the time, the calculated transportation of the teenage art and ephemera to the gallery-space allows a it to become a catalyst for the other works. All the hallmarks of Jeremy Deller’s art are displayed here. There is work based on musical influence, cultural interest, and appropriation (borrowed text from graffiti in the British Library toilets, displayed on the walls of his own bathroom). The formats of event poster, archival history, and consumerist material, are explored, as they continue to be throughout the wider exhibition.

Moving on to the next room of the exhibition the inquisitive ebullience of the earlier spaces is left behind, there is no escaping the social weight of The Battle of Orgreave. The installation consists of an on-wall, month by month socio-political account of the events leading up to the clashes between miners and police, presented alongside the hour-long documentary of Deller’s Battle of Orgreave re-enactment. Despite the performance’s central role in the film, the documentary’s character is defined more by conversations with the out-of-character re-enactors. For every militant declaration, laying bare old wounds, there are numerous admissions of mistakes, and a lack of restraint on both sides. The film is by no means a celebration of the battle, but in its reconsideration of a moment in history buried through shame, there is also no condemnation. The positivity of the gesture, towards a situation always recounted negatively, shows through.

The piece It Is What It Is (2009) seems an extension of this idea. This time Deller takes a burnt-out car, a casualty of a Baghdad bombing, on tour around America in order to start a conversation with the American public, informed by the presence of an exiled Iraqi citizen and an American soldier. If approached as an attempt to bridge cultural divisions, Deller’s somewhat bleak version of the American road trip seems doomed to fail from the outset, but perhaps this was the intention. Deller terms the car "the conversation piece from hell" and as with The Battle of Orgreave Deller’s intent is to inform and confront, not to present a viewpoint on the war or make a judgement on America. The car fills the gallery space with a visceral truth much greater than its rusted metal parts.

The term "joy" is best defined as "a source of happiness", and it is in this sense that Deller has presented the Joy In People. This exhibition, Deller’s first retrospective, is built directly from his interests. The pleasure he takes in music, culture, and indeed, people, informs the show and is communicated throughout. His drive to investigate more trying, and often overlooked issues does not become an exception in this case, but merely a continuation of the same central principle. His art is honest, but thankfully, not at all naïve. Deller’s joyful and celebratory approach, far from demeaning his subject matter, affords it a grounded insight that has allowed him to tackle subjects from war to tea rooms with equal sincerity.

Jeremy Deller: Joy in People, 22/02/2012 - 13/05/2012, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. www.southbankcentre.co.uk/deller

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
1. Jeremy Deller Snack Bar (2009)
2. Jeremy Deller Open Bedroom (1993)
3. Jeremy Deller It Is What It Is (2009)
Photography: Linda Nylind

Wind the Bobbin Up | Cotton: Global Threads | Whitworth Art Gallery | Manchester

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Text by Liz Buckley

Cotton. You’re probably wearing it now. You probably sleep on it every night. The sheer abundance of this material all around us means it usually remains ignored and under-appreciated. The cotton industry at one point had its largest export centres in places far and wide; India, and closer to home, Lancashire. The new exhibition at Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery is a celebration of all things cotton, including both traditional and contemporary uses, mixed media pieces and installations, but most of all a well deserved celebration of the stuff. Cotton: Global Threads is an exhibition designed to amalgamate the cultural diversities of these fine threads and fabrics in a showcase of international talent and multiplicity.

As the first manufactured commodity, we remain constantly indebted to cotton and those who produce it. It is not unreasonable to assume that many residents of Manchester, which was once part of Lancashire, are unaware of just how pinnacle the county was to the cotton trade, rubbing shoulders with not only India, but many parts of Africa and America. Cotton has, and still remains to have, connotations of economical and moral issues, as well as labour exploitations, and while this exhibition celebrates this underrated fibre, it also offers a cultural analysis and historical chronology of the more personal life of cotton.

Despite being dedicated to a specific material, this exhibition offers a wide variety of media, showcasing the fine threads in both a traditional and contemporary manner. The Whitworth tends to pride itself in its thematic approach to exhibitions, as its curators feel they have more freedom and can be more playful with the inclusion of pieces, usually specially selecting works from their permanent collection to coincide with temporary installations. It is in this way that this new exhibit tells not only a global story, but offers an account of texture, colour and mixed media.
Liz Rideal’s piece, Ghost Sari (2001), is video footage projected onto gently floating drapes, and its translucency and fluidity make it hauntingly beautiful. Rideal has merged pre-recorded material with physical, moving fabric, creating a tactile piece which personifies the cloth, making it part of a global cultural language. Whether it is the clothes and textiles which can all be found on display in this diverse exhibition, or any of the other garments, carpets, wall hangings or pure works of art, what stands out is the symbolic and time consuming nature of the work. On show here are the very fibres of life, from places all over the globe.

Though it is well recorded that the labour force behind cotton’s production has often been exploited, this exhibition serves to mirror this with cotton’s own exploitation as a fabric, reminding visitors of the not only the laborious work which goes into producing it, but the incessant possibilities that this material has. The John Forbes Watson sample books on display as part of Cotton: Global Threads are volumes of textile swatches, and give a small but wonderful insight into the intricacy of cotton work, as well as all the potential for colour, texture and pattern. It is obvious that the most intricate and fine pieces of cotton fabrics on show for this exhibition, whether they are garments or a wall from Tipu Sultan’s travelling tent, are a sign of grandeur, luxury, and often majestic status. While some of the pieces in Cotton do have a regal background or connotation, many of them are more concerned with history and heritage. Liz Rideal’s work is certainly involved with the global heritage that is associated with cotton, and leaves both physical and mental impressions with her subtle cultural comments and folds of fabric. Aboubakar Fofana’s huge installation piece, Les Arbres à Bleu, which has transformed a whole room of the Whitworth into a beach, consists of numerous "trees," made from cotton dyed with indigo. Additionally the scattered yarns of cotton in amongst these cotton totem poles are meant to signify fallen fruit. This whole scene is reminiscent of Fofana’s homeland of Mali, incorporating his heritage and cultural background, and there is certainly something visceral and beautiful about the processes he has used.

Cotton: Global Threads most certainly offers visitors an international flavour of all the backgrounds, uses, and connotations of Cotton, showcasing everything from 1400 year old Egyptian fabrics from the Whitworth’s permanent collection, to Anne Wilson's Wind Up: Walking the Warp, a film installation incorporating dance into a machine like performance of weaving a cotton warp. This multi-disciplinary exhibition is seeking to bring back the forgotten cotton industry which once thrived in and around Manchester, as well as celebrating the connection which these threads have brought between many cultures. This significantly important and widely used fibre can be seen on show here in all its glory as much more than a bed sheet, and certainly as a permanent "global tie."

Cotton: Global Threads, 11/02/2012 - 13/05/12, Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER. www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Caption:
Anne Wilson, Local Industry Cloth (detail), 2010
Collection of Knoxville Museum of Art

Celebrating Short Film | Short & Sweet | Roxy Bar & Screen | London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Text by Bethany Rex

Short & Sweet is an acclaimed, travelling short-film event series - a unique, international community of film lovers who father for lively events of short films and socialising. This winter Short & Sweet returns to London.
Aesthetica spoke to Jack Robinson, London Coordinator of Short and Sweet, to find out more:

BR: Tell us a bit about Short & Sweet. What's the idea behind it?

JR: Founded by my wonderful friend Julia Stephenson in 2006 Short & Sweet has presented some of the most innovative short films, music videos and animations: old films, new films, from established directors to completely undiscovered talent. The intent is to inspire all who attend, expose the best talent and ultimately celebrate film. From its early incarnation as London’s only weekly short film experience, Short & Sweet now screens to packed houses in London, Toronto, Cape Town and soon in New York City.

BR: What is it that you look for in a short film?

JR: We start off with the general criteria: we don’t screen branded shorts and we prefer films under 15mins. From there on, films that are engaging visually or narratively and have something to say really stand out. We always have an open mind and are often surprised by the amazing work we get sent.

BR: How can filmmakers get their films involved with Short & Sweet?

JR: The best way is to email a viewable link to submit@shortandsweet.tv that will get the work in front of the film editors. We will let you know if your film has been selected for London, Toronto and/or Cape Town, then we will require a high res version of your film that you can upload to our ftp. We have also had some fantastic idents created for us by fans like this one by Big Red Button: http://vimeo.com/35504244 and another gem: http://vimeo.com/26144975. Again if filmmakers want to submit a Short & Sweet ident please see the brief on our website (www.shortandsweet.tv) and submit the finished ident to submit@shortandsweet.tv

BR: You launched in Toronto last year, have you got any plans to take the programme elsewhere?

JR: Short & Sweet Toronto is almost 1 year old and still Toronto's only weekly short film evening! Jordan Crute is doing a brilliant job over there, screening short films from international and local talent every Monday night at No One Writes to the Colonel. We are now running in London, Toronto and hosting a special Valentines Day event in Cape Town at The Dream Factory. Over the next couple of years, our mission is to continue to expand our global community. First stop: New York City! For all the info about our forthcoming events and to join our mailing list go to www.shortandweet.tv

BR: You screen Music Videos and Animation as well, what do you think these different forms offer a viewer?

JR: We screen music videos and short animations as well as live action shorts to offer variety and add balance to a program. Each are quite differed but work together really well. Films are selected to take audiences on a journey: creatively, personally and emotionally. We hope to leave audiences both inspired and awestruck.

BR: Are there any short films at the moment that we should look out for?

JR: There are always fantastic films out there that need to be seen. Come to Short & Sweet every Monday in March to catch our selection! We are once again working with BAFTA and screening some of their official short film selection for 2012. One of the films that our audience absolutely loved from our last series of events in August was Dad’s New Girlfriend by Clay Weiner: http://vimeo.com/23693622

Short & Sweet will take place over 4 consecutive Monday evenings at the Roxy Bar & Screen, winner of the best entertainment pub in the UK. 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th March Only. Doors open 6:30pm, films start 7:30pm. Tickets are £3 and selling fast.

www.wegottickets.com/shortandsweet
www.facebook.com/shortandsweetlondon
@shortandsweetUK

DO YOU MAKE SHORT FILM?

The Aesthetica Short Film (ASFF) 2012 is now open for entries! ASFF is an international film festival hosted by Aesthetica Magazine. We're looking for short films of up to 25 minutes for this year's festival, which takes place in the historic city of York, UK from 8 - 11 November.

Films from across a range of genres and styles will be showcased across 15 iconic locations in the city, and in addition to four days of screenings there will be a series of master classes, workshops and networking opportunities with leading industry figures.

The winner will receive £500 and screenings at a number of other UK festivals among other prizes, and the runner-up will receive £250. A shortlist of finalists will be included on the ASFF sampler DVD, which will be distributed with the December 2012 issue of Aesthetica Magazine. Finalists will also be included in an editorial feature in the magazine.

Entry is £15 and the deadline for submissions is 31 May 2012.

Visit www.asff.co.uk for more information and to submit today, or for the latest ASFF 2012 updates, follow us on Twitter: @asffest

Canary Wharf Screen | Art on the Underground | Season 1 Film and Video Umbrella

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:54:00 +0000

'Celebration (Cyprus Street)', Melanie Manchot, 2010 (Excerpt) from Film and Video Umbrella on Vimeo.

Canary Wharf Screen is an innovative new motion picture screening programme that will launch at Canary Wharf Tube station at the beginning of next month. The project has been initiated and presented by Art on the Underground and will show some of the best artists' moving image, chosen by four of the UK's leading film organisations and institutions, including new digital commissions and rarely seen films from the last century.

The inaugural 2012 series will be split into four seasons, programmed in collaboration with Film and Video Umbrella, Animate, LUX and British Film Institute (BFI) respectively. Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) will curate the film season from 1 March - 27 May 2012, presenting The City in the City, a series of films by Marcus Coates, Melanie Manchot, Dryden Goodwin and Suki Chan that have been commissioned by the organisation over the last decade. A new site-specific film commission, Hold Your Ground (2012) by Karen Mirza & Brad Butler will also be premièred. Aesthetica has spoken to the artists about the piece and will publish the full interview online later this month.

The selected works in Season 1 of the programme explore how individuals navigate and occupy urban space. Within the environment of Canary Wharf station, surrounded by commuters, the programme considers the phenomenon of the crowd: as a fact of everyday existence, a source of collective identity and belonging and as a possible force and agent of change.

Aesthetica caught up with Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella, to find out more:

A: What first prompted Film and Video Umbrella to become involved in the Art on the Underground project?

SB: Well, we were asked! Extremely nicely, as it happens! I’ve always liked the range and ambition of Art on the Underground’s activities, and we were flattered to be chosen as the organisation that would launch this programme of screenings.

A: Working through your back catalogue of artists’ moving-image commissions must have been some challenge. What was the selection process like?

SB: You’re right. There’s a lot of work to choose from! But we narrowed things down by prioritising pieces that had a conceptual or atmospheric fit with the Canary Wharf site, and that responded to its distinctive architectural and social context – its flow of people, its surges of movement, the presence of the crowd. There were works we'd made that met the brief that were ruled out because of format. But there’s a clear thematic logic to the choices, which comes across, I hope.

A: Do you think that, in relation to other stations, Canary Wharf has a specific character as an exhibition space?

SB: Absolutely. It’s like an epic amphitheatre – hugely cinematic. It’s only a stop or two away from "Metropolis" – very imposing, but full of echoes and associations. It’s arena-sized, and with some of the drawbacks that come with that. But it also resonates in other ways that, I think, genuinely add to the works that we’ve chosen.

A: Do the films have different stories or is it all very similar?

SB: The Film and Video Umbrella programme is called The City in the City - a play on Canary Wharf's particular place in the capital and, beyond that, a comment on the myriad communities that make up London. Many of the pieces address the phenomenon of the crowd, which, like the city itself, can look, from the outside, like an undifferentiated mass but, when you go closer, reveals an extraordinary complexity. So: there is very much a continuity of theme, but beneath that a diversity of different stories and approaches.

A: What should we expect from FVU in 2012?

SB: More newly commissioned film pieces by artists such as Simon Martin and Luke Fowler; an ongoing initiative for emerging artists, in collaboration with Jerwood Charitable Foundation, called Tomorrow Never Knows, plus some new ways of producing and disseminating work, using social media and other online platforms. Also coming up is Deep State, a longer companion work to Karen Mirza & Brad Butler’s Hold Your Ground, which premieres at Canary Wharf Screen. It’s an ambitious development of Brad and Karen’s ideas that revolves around a script by the author China Mièville. It will be finished in the Spring.

Season 1 will continue from 1 March - 27 May 2012, followed by Season 2 (Animate Projects) launching in June 2012 and Season 3 (LUX) in September 2012. The final season will launch in December 2012 and will see the BFI open up their archive to showcase a rolling programme of films.

www.tfl.gov.uk/art
www.fvu.co.uk
www.animateprojects.org
www.lux.org.uk
www.bfi.org.uk

All five films can be previewed on the FVU Vimeo page, however, this project is about how the chosen pieces resonate with this unique site so we would recommend you go and see the films for yourself.

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Conflations of Form | Lynda Benglis | Thomas Dane Gallery | London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000

Text by Travis Riley

Lynda Benglis’ name has taken on mythical connotations in the art world. Her provocative photographic spread in Artforum in 1974, in which she appeared oiled and naked, brandishing a dildo, and sporting a "macherin"’ pose (Benglis’ own term implying a female form of "machismo") sparked controversy at the time, and has subsequently been awarded verbal accolades by countless artists, not least Cindy Sherman and Vito Acconci. The image is undoubtedly a satire on the machismo of the art world, taking particular reference from Robert Morris’ own machismo 1974 advertisement, but it is also an attempt to generate a simultaneous femininity and masculinity. This is a recurrent theme in Benglis’ art; feeling no need to take sides, she is willing to make a statement that walks the line between the two.

Benglis’ show at Thomas Dane Gallery opened in the gallery’s two spaces earlier this month, coinciding with a talk at the ICA, in which she historically and conceptually reviewed her past work. On show in the gallery is a slim retrospective of her art, containing 19 works made between 1968 and 2009. On the far wall of one of the gallery’s smaller rooms is Benglis’ Hoofers I & II (1971-2). Named after a tap dancing group at Harvard, the two and a half metre tall, slender sculptures imply a set of oversized spirit sticks. The otherwise minimalistic forms of the thin, wall-mounted lines are coated with drips of paint and glitter resulting in a rough, gaudy exterior.

A shorter, but equally thin piece faces the right of the Hoofers, positioned off-centre on the opposite wall. The painting, Untitled (1972) is made with beeswax and resin on wood, and in its tones, green merging through yellow into deep orange, it immediately recalls a rich, moist, fungus. Its disjointed, lumpen surface contributes further to this likeness. The matt smoothness of the wax finish creates a very tangible skin, and contrary to its resemblance, the object is impalpably beautiful. Looking back across the room it is hard now not to see these three objects as tree trunks, one old and moulding, two decorated and ostentatious.

Spreading in the doorway between this room and the next is, Baby Contraband (1969), one of Benglis’ floor paintings. Made of brightly coloured, poured latex, it contains the phosphorescence and transience of an oil slick, but also has a fixed skin, an almost human quality. Benglis’ beguiling explanation of these paintings’ conception at her ICA talk takes us back to moon landings. Looking back at the earth from space, distance is trivialised, and all matter becomes evident simultaneously. The metaphor doesn’t need to be laboured, for the fallen paintings quite literally capture the shifting form of the earth at a distance, matter frozen in time, seen from above.

The gallery’s second space, just down the road from the first, takes the form of one large room. The pieces within are all set to the soundtrack of Female Sensibility (1973), a video work containing two heavily made-up women kissing and caressing against an insipid purple backdrop. The close attention to gesture gives the sense that this event is being enacted for the camera, and prevents the women becoming objects of a gaze, male or otherwise. The soundtrack in question is an appropriated passage from an American AM radio station. The music is country, and the talk all uncomfortably stereotypical in its masculinity, made worse by the later introduction of a preacher sermonising on the creation of Adam and Eve.

Two further floor works are shown in this room. Not contented with flatness, these attempt to rise up from the ground. The first, Night Sherbert A (1968) is a small heap of polyurethane colours, deep oranges, greens, and reds, simultaneously distinct and touching. The second, Eat Meat (1973) is a bronze cast, almost black in colour, piled high and slumped with a much greater sense of weight. Although the resulting forms are quite similar, the distinction between these two pieces is significant in Benglis’ art. Eat Meat represents a movement away from the action, spontaneity, and consequent expressionist reference contained within the previous, poured floor paintings. The bronze contains a much richer art-historical reference, and the casting process implies an established intent rather than a sporadic gesture. The work is still a result of formal experimentation, but has a sculptural fixedness that pervades the later works in the show, particularly Scarab (1990) and Kajal (1980). Two, folded and misshapen metal sculptures hung on the walls of the gallery space.

As the exhibition press material makes explicit, Benglis has borrowed from numerous schools of art, especially expressionism and minimalism. What is not made clear in the release is her simultaneous defiance of these traditions. Benglis’ sculptural forms are dimensionally and materially indebted to minimalism, but then are polluted by expressionistic markings and bodily references. She created large scale, expressive works, but with the addition of dayglo colours and glitter, the machismo of abstract expressionism is forfeited. There is a deliberate blurring between the two artistic ideologies, and consequently also between painting and sculpture. Benglis often finds herself labelled as a feministic artist, but in her Artforum ad she did not pose as a defiant woman, but a representation of both genders. Using the language of feminism she did not only defy the male gaze, but any construct of gaze. In her experiments with form Benglis walks a continual tightrope between structural conventions, creating an art which stands above categorisation.

Lynda Benglis, 10/02/2012 - 17/03/2012, Thomas Dane Gallery, First Floor, 11 Duke Street, St James's, London, SW1Y 6BN. www.thomasdane.com

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

All images copyright Thierry Bal

Ménage à trois: Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente | Art & Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany | Bonn

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Text by Franziska Knupper

Campbell’s soup cans, exclamation marks, kissing couples. Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente. The works of three legendary artists are currently being displayed at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. Under the title Ménage à Trois the museum presents the artists’ fascinating collaborations during New York’s thriving art scene of the 1980s; how they inspired one another and contributed to each other’s work or, as Andy Warhol himself put it: "One’s a company, two’s a crowd, three’s a party."

The group met in New York. Warhol, known for his eccentricity, was already a notorious and internationally renowned artist whilst Clemente, just having returned from his travels to India, spent his days as a visitor at Warhol's famous Factory and Basquiat was a 23-year-old kid from Brooklyn painting t-shirts on the street. Their styles always differed profoundly from each other. There are Basquiat’s furious faces with the narrow eyes and the music notes coming out of the mouths; faces like colourful masks from African Tribes or from urban Graffiti walls. Even visitors who are not familiar with Basquiat’s work will recognise his stylistic traits after having looked at only a couple of pictures; the scratches, the writing, the torn-up pages of magazines. Energy and dynamism become almost visible, touchable. Small segments of bright colours are divided by black and yellow lines. Lines are cutting into fields of paint, leading you to swear words in bold print, screaming at you: "Hey Suckers!"

Spending time with Basquiat’s work you can feel the city, the hustle and bustle, the aggressive forms and overwhelming patterns. His pictures are full of youth, of speed, the rush of the metropolis, of his past as a street artist. In comparison to Basquiat, Warhol’s images almost appear clean and controlled with precisely defined shapes, serial graphic elements and repeated themes and sizes. There are his popular portraits of Goethe or his Jackie Kennedy prints; there is the soup, the banana, the Mona Lisa.

According to Basquiat, it was usually Warhol who started the process. He would provide the basis; a headline or a theme and Basquiat himself would then just "scribble and sketch something on it". He modifies them, attaches a moustache to the full lips, draws tiny figures in the corners or writes messages in red letters only to cross them out afterwards. He adds his impulsive spirit, a taste of trash and punk to the orderly atmosphere of Warhol’s images.

Clemente’s contribution to the collaboration follows in the last hall of the museum. Already a first glance at his pictures will tell you that his vision differs profoundly from the urban hastiness of his fellow artists. His style does not waver between impulse and control but rather focuses on the surreal and the mystical. His broad brush strokes resemble Edvard Munch, lacking the clear outlines of Warhol and Basquiat. His figures seem to merge while kissing; the canvases remain without the slightest hint of uncoloured space. Everything is filled and connected, slightly blurry, otherworldly.

In his case there already seem to be several souls and styles united in the spirit of this one painter. Clemente uses various materials ranging from oil or acrylic to watercolour; he employs bright colours as well as sinister tones, draws faces overlapping or merging into each other. His works are visions, are fusion, are dreams. Not surprisingly, a collaboration with the other artists only felt like a natural "extension to himself". This collection of several identities was only a logic result of his work. For him, the contradiction and differences between their styles only contributes to the strength of the paintings. In contrast to that, Warhol remarks that the best pictures are those where it is impossible to tell who created a certain element. The spectator might disagree with him on that aspect – no one would ever confuse a clean image of Warhol with Basquiat’s wild scratches.

Despite those different aspirations and styles it is a collaboration in which every artist respected the other’s opinion, work and approach. In the last corner of the exhibition visitors can have a look at the portraits they created of each other; they can admire Basquiat’s portrayal of "Warhol as a Banana" and have a look at the mutual portraits and photographs in white overalls and with boxing gloves. They all examined each other as painters, as personalities. It is a display of reciprocal appreciation, of sensibility and understanding for each other’s work; of respect and friendship. It is also a presentation of an era of unique artistic productivity, of velocity, of Bebop Jazz and Velvet Underground at the same time. It is wild, it is noisy. It is the New York City of another decade with its flashing headlines, streets and brands. It is New York City with its roughness and the fragility of its metropolitan inhabitants; inhabitants like Warhol, Basquiat and Clemente always on the hunt for identity, for orientation, for collaboration.

Ménage à trois: Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente, 10/02/2012 - 20/05/2012, Bundeskunsthalle, Museumsmeile Bonn, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4, 53113 Bonn. www.bundeskunsthalle.de

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat & Francesco Clemente, New York, 1984
© Beth Philipps, Courtesy Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich

Installation: Five Truths | Howard Assembly Rooms | Opera North | Leeds

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Text by Daniel Potts

Katie Mitchell's acclaimed video installation arrived in Leeds on 14th February, and just as the carousel in the city's Valentine's Fair rotates and undulates carrying apparently happy lovers of all ages, Mitchell reminds us of an obverse mental maelstrom. The vehicle is Ophelia - Hamlet's spurned lover - in her "mad scene", which is experienced by the visitor five times at once through the interpretive prisms of Brecht, Artaud, Brook, Grotowski and Stanislavski. Each interpretation is presented on two video screens (therefore there are ten in all) within a darkened cube to be entered by the visitor, housed in the Howard Assembly Room. The screens, which vary in size, provide a double take on each interpretation and allow for simultaneous close-ups and shots further back. In each case, Ophelia is played by Olivier Award winning actor, Michelle Terry. Here, theatre meets film with convincing impact.

Of the five interpretations, the Brecht is the most easily recognisable. Here Terry supplies an aloof Ophelia, outwardly detached from the severe emotional trauma conveyed in the Grotowski, providing, with an eerie determination, her own narrative direct to camera. This self-commentary relates to and is interpersed with Shakespeare's lines set to Kurt Weil-esque, cabaret-like music, somewhat reminiscent of The Threepenny Opera. The Grotowski itself is distinguished from the others in the use of icy black and white, which compounds with a horrifying starkness a most impressive hysterical, tremulous catharsis followed by listless burn-out. The intensity of the Grotowski Ophelia, as it accompanies the others, seems to provide them with a sort of emotional sub-text as the running depths to calm waters. This effect is most noticeable with the Brook and the Stanislavski. In the former, Ophelia methodically sorts items of symbolic importance to the relationship into a plastic bag. At first glance, given the context of the whole piece, it appears a sort of ritualised, healthy response to the bereavement; but as with the latter, where it is seems Ophelia is deeply moved without overtly demonstrated physical expression (an excellent performance), the Grotowski provides the emotional reality. The Artaud is full of distortion, sonically and visually – it is filmed from behind a fish tank. Ophelia's face appears in distorted obscurity on the other side of the tank as she drops the items of importance into it. The distortion reinforces the sense of madness felt by the visitor as we try to make sense of the confusing sensory overload of the five interpretations at once, thus a degree of empathy is established with our heroine. The disturbing suicide by drowning echoes Millias's Ophelia in the construction of the shot. In this way it taps into the sense of Romanticised tragedy we have about the character.

The piece is particularly poignant at this time of year. In the absence of official figures perhaps we can assume a statistical correlation between relationship break ups and the advent to Valentine's Day. Of course, the piece has a much broader, universal resonance. The presentation of the scene in the different directorial styles highlights the multi-faceted nature of the individual as seen by others and by themselves. Aside of the sense of confusion and near insanity brought upon the visitor by his/her immersion in the work, an identification with at least one if not all Ophelia's is possible. An identification with just one of the stylistic interpretations would perhaps betoken a degree of self-projection. Taken as a whole, self-projection on to all Ophelias results in an overwhelming sense of renewed identity and self-knowledge that generally follows rejection and bereavement. A piecing together of a formerly faceted identity into a more satisfying one is what is missing in the case of Ophelia. In this way, the tragic conclusion is imbued with greater pathos.

Five Truths itself forms the denouement of an interactive video installation trail by multi-media artists, Invisible Flock, which takes the visitor around the city centre. Without ruining the intrigue for the visitor, it is worth saying that this experience is most engaging and effective in heightening the empathy and pathos of the final part. However, as announced on the website, it is best followed after dark.

Five Truths, 14/02/2012 - 25/02/2012, Howard Assembly Room, Opera North Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NUGrand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU. www.operanorth.co.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Photo credit: Tom Arber Photography

Whose Film Is It Anyway? | Japanese Contemporary Auteurs in The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme | Various Venues

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Text by Alison Frank

The Japan Foundation has hosted an annual touring film programme since 2004. This year, between 10 February - 28 March, a set of 9 contemporary Japanese films will tour 7 UK cities (London, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Bristol and Nottingham). Two directors with films in the programme have been invited to introduce their work: Masayuki Suo (I Just Didn't Do It, 2007) at London's ICA and Katsumi Sakaguchi (Sleep, 2011) at both ICA and Sheffield's Showroom & Workstation cinema.

The Japan Foundation selects a different theme for its touring programme every year: 2012's provocative title, Whose Film It It Anyway?, suggests that the auteurs included defiantly resist interference in their artistic vision. Strangely, all the leaflets and web pages from the Japan Foundation and ICA seem to offer different explanations of the theme. In the absence of a clear rationale, insisting on a theme seems like a nervous attempt to keep the touring programme fresh. The Japan Foundation need not worry: the West's fascination with Japan's culture is nowhere near abating, and the opportunity to see Japanese films is more than enough to keep audiences coming back every year. Although the programme could have benefited from greater publicity in London, in UK cities with fewer cinemas showing art films it should be impossible to miss the programme's visit.

All of the films in the programme are by writer-directors: they are based on scripts written by the film-makers themselves. While writing and directing are separate skills, the programmers have chosen directors who are talented in both, resulting in films which tell unusual stories in a pleasing way. While none of the four features I saw from the touring programme could be classified as masterpieces, all were good-quality films worth taking the time to watch. They were, without exception, entertaining, surprising and very moving.

About Her Brother (2010) is by the oldest and most experienced director of the programme, Yoji Yamada, who has 77 films to his name. About Her Brother was selected as the closing film for the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, where Yamada received a Berlinale Camera for his contribution to film. About Her Brother centres on two siblings: a widow and her younger brother who is middle-aged and more troublesome than ever. The widow's only daughter is about to marry and leave home, and the film evokes Ozu in its examination of domestic life and the emotional family ties within it. Its gentle treatment of even painful subject matter, and its sympathy for child-like points of view, also give this live-action film an unexpected affinity with Miyazaki's anime.

Dear Doctor (2009) by Miwa Nishikawa, the only female director in the programme, may be familiar to ICA's audiences from the 2011 London Film Festival. It is the story of a village doctor and his new trainee, and is told in flashback. In the present, the doctor has disappeared, and a secret is being revealed: in the flashbacks, the audience is put in the position of re-evaluating the past to look for clues. The film balances the humour of seemingly unsophisticated villagers and their folksy doctor, with the melancholy of illness and awareness of parent-child pressures. The director's visual style makes occasional refreshing departures from the calm, contemplative approach traditionally used to depict rural life.

All Around Us (2008) takes a traditionally chronological approach to examine the relationship of a thirty-something couple over six years. A baby's death adds to the normal strains of habit and routine to distance them from each other. Whereas a mainstream film would clearly point to single causes for the relationship's ups and downs, All Around Us paints a more realistic portrait where circumstances converge confusedly but their cumulative impact is painfully clear. Director Ryosuke Hashiguchi's approach to male-female relationships is unusual in its refusal to dwell much on real or imagined infidelity; equally surprising are its wordy, frank, and entertaining dialogues about sex.

A Stranger of Mine (2005) is the Japan Foundation's most popular film ever, and it's easy to see why. Like All Around Us, the film boasts surprising and witty dialogue but has a much clearer narrative drive. While this sounds like a deliberate crowd-pleasing approach, A Stranger of Mine has the most inventive narrative of all four films discussed here. It focuses on one night in the overlapping lives of a young businessman, his detective friend, a new love interest, and a shady ex-girlfriend. While other films of the mid-2000s dramatically showcased different perspectives on the same events, using this device for comedy is unusual. The audience laughed out loud as earlier scenes from the film were repeated, revealing utterly unexpected events going on in the background. If director Kenji Uchida's directorial debut is this impressive, audiences will be anxious to see his name feature again in future touring programmes.

If this has sparked your interest in the programme, the ICA is hosting a Q&A session with director Katsumi Sakaguchi in conjunction with its screening of Sleep. The screening starts at 6:30pm and tickets are available here.

Whose Film Is It Anyway? continues in venues across the UK until 28 March 2012. For further details, screening dates and times and tickets please visit www.jpf-film.org.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
1. Ryosuke Hashiguchi All Around Us (2008)
2. Tomoyuki Furumaya Bad Company (2001)
3. Masayuki Suo I Just Didn’t Do It (2007) © FUJI TELEVISION / ALTAMIRA PICTURES / TOHO
4. Kenji Uchida A Stranger of Mine (2005)

Disembodied Voices | Nalini Malani: Mother India | Art Gallery of New South Wales | Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:32:00 +0000

Text by Ella Mudie

When Nalini Malani, one of India's most prominent contemporary artists, was invited to create a large-scale new media installation for presentation in India Contemporary at the Venice Biennale in 2005, her response was the startling and enigmatic video play Mother India. Recently acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, this provocative visual and sonic response to the challenge of representing continuous cycles of gendered violence is currently screening in the gallery's Asian art wing. It represents a unique opportunity for audiences to encounter the work for the first time in Sydney across an impressive 15 metre long wall-to-wall installation.

The starting point for Malani's synchronised five screen video projection which combines archival footage with more poetic and painterly imagery is the essay Language and Body: Transactions in the. Construction of Pain by anthropologist Veena Das, known for her bold questioning of the nature of violence, social suffering and subjectivity. Malani shares with Das an ongoing concern for gender relations and in Mother India the pressing necessity to find a means of conveying the traumatic ways in which women's bodies become implicated as sites to be claimed and owned in struggles for nationhood, is thrown into sharp relief.

Two pivotal episodes historic episodes from 20th century India form the video play's reference points – the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 and, decades later, the bloody Gujarat episode of 2002 which involved a horrific campaign of violent rape against Muslim women. In grappling with the considerable challenges of imaging endemic sexual violence, Malani instead elects to begin more obliquely with an interplay of voices. The piercing, shrill voice of an unnamed women cries out "what do you take me for? A something machine?" offset by the calm and authoritative declaration of a male Nehruvian voice who states that "the national honour is at stake." This highly charged verbal exchange sets in motion the tension in the work over boundaries - those of the nation, political ideals and the female body.

These disembodied voices are like ghosts resurrected from the archive and bring to mind Malani's previous suggestion that "the artist is a witness to a memory of loss." In Mother India, the visual witnessing begins with a montage of documentary style footage of a procession of billowing flags followed by images of women spinning yarn on wheels and film of masses of displaced people carrying their possessions through streets and fields. From relatively concrete beginnings, Malani soon shifts into a more disparate and abstract realm as the female body assumes a spectral quality. In one projection, an ethereal imprint of a woman in loose blue robes hovers over the ordered cartographic delineations of a map. In an another, a female face in close up appears as if dissolving into shadows while partially illuminated by patches of blood-like red light.

Concluding with a rapid fire procession of images of the ruins of destroyed homes in Gujarat, Malani emphasises how cycles of violence continue into the present. The nearby installation of two earlier single channel video works, Memory: record/erase (1996) and Stains (2000) reveal how far Malani has travelled on her journey to transcend the boundaries of the mediums of painting, drawing and video to prise open alternate ways of representing complex truths. With its new home in a major centre for Asian art in Australia, Malani's Mother India both intervenes and enters into conversation with the broad reconfigurations of identity and womanhood already represented in this diverse collection.

Nalini Malani: Mother India, 11/02/2012 - 20/05/2012, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
Nalini Malani (India 1946 -)
Mother India: Transactions in the Construction of Pain 2005
video play; five video projectors in sync, sound, 5 minutes
dimensions variable
Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales Contempo Group 2011

A Return to Making-Strange? | Opens Tomorrow | Interplanetary Revolution | Golden Thread Gallery | Belfast

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Text by Angela Darby

Exhibition Statement:

The opening of Interplanetary Revolution may feature a cocktail bar, a chorus of ice cream vans, the introduction of another currency and a song by The Factotum Choir that they never quite cracked. Are we the warriors of the Revolution?! Are you? Drawing inspiration from the 1924 Russian propaganda animation of the same name, Interplanetary Revolution is a project that will include at least two new simultaneous group exhibitions and the installation/reworking of another. Looking at failing/ed ideologies; notions of otherworldliness and the uncanny; and revolutionary critique, Interplanetary Revolution will be an opportunity to collapse a few assumptions and undermine previous relationships.

It is planned that parts of the exhibition/s, the artists and/or artworks will change – other elements of the project remain as yet unfinished and may end up never being so. The project will be accompanied by curated or hosted screenings every Thursday evening and most likely a series of lunchtime talks.

The opening of the exhibition will feature contributions by artists and curators, including: Jofroi Amaral, Anonymous, Ursula Burke, Charles Burns, Captain Hate, Martin Carter, Ben Crothers, Colin Darke, Maurice Doherty, The Factotum Choir, Adham Faramawy, The Girls, Gerry Gleason, Laura Graham, Pierre Granoux, Sophie Hamacher, Michael Hanna, Allan Hughes, Brendan Jamison, Brian Kennedy, Rebecca Loyche, Phillip McCrilly, Susan MacWilliam, Kim McAleese, Laura McMorrow, Shiro Masuyama, Jonas Mekas, Ryan Moffett, Brendan O’Neill, Nicolas Provost, Ma Qiusha, Peter Richards, Reynold Reynolds, Erik Mark Sandberg, Gary Shaw, David Sparshott, Clemens Wilhelm. This is a Golden Thread Gallery TBC Project.

Angela Darby caught up with The Golden Thread's Director and curator, Peter Richards in the lead up to the launch of the exhibition on Thursday 16th February.

AD: You have been planning this exhibition for some time now, how has the project evolved?

PR: I suppose we have been working on the idea for this exhibition for nearly two years now. I think initially the exhibition had sought to weave together the work of international artists with artists in Northern Ireland in a broad looking how at failing/ed ideologies were being portrayed/represented in contemporary practice. I think since its inception the idea has developed to include a reflection on the construct of an exhibition and the nature/role of curation and artists as curators, curators as artists. And as a result some of the original thoughts about artist’s/artworks have changed.

AD: Several of the artists selected are established and have an ongoing relationship with the gallery, could you say what attracted you to the work of the emerging artist in the context of this exhibition?

PR: There are obviously benefits to working with artists whom you have a established relationship with, in terms of understanding/trusting each other – which is really important when asking them for permission to use and experiment with their work - as in the case of this exhibition. I wouldn't say that we were attracted to emerging artists per se, rather their specific works, and how through these works we could build a sense of the subject of the exhibition. As a gallery, we do go and see as much as we can, as often as we can and we do have a facility for artists to register an expression of interest of working with us, which we regularly review. We’re hoping that some of the artists we have worked with before will become artists that we work with again in the future. On a similar note we are still looking for artworks for the exhibition and will continue to do so throughout the exhibition.

AD: Contained within the publicity material there is a statement that indicates "at least two new simultaneous group exhibitions and the installation/reworking of another." Can you expand on this?

PR: Good question. Interplanetary Revolution is an exhibition – and in addition to inviting artists to participate in the exhibition; which in some cases means requesting the loan of specific works, in others talking to artists and inviting them to respond to the exhibition with new works (some site-specific, some interventions), I have also invited the artist/curator, Maurice Doherty, to re-create/re-work an exhibition that he curated in Berlin last summer (entitled Revolution) within the context of this exhibition. Having made that decision, I thought it would be interesting to then invite upcoming Belfast based curator, Ben Crothers, to put together his own Interplanetary exhibition also to be included in the show.

Whilst both of these exhibitions will exists as (fixed) exhibitions within or as part of the wider exhibition, the wider exhibition is planned to change throughout the duration of the show. Some works will be moved, others taken away, new works added, new artists approached and other interventions invited, so that return visitors to the exhibition will be greeted with something entirely different. Some of the planned changes are already known and understood – others are very much as yet to be decided.

AD: Does the open-ended construct of the project, in which artworks may change over the course of the exhibition, question the traditional role of the curator?

PR: I think the role of the curator has been debated, researched, scrutinised and questioned to death and back. I’m not sure what questions are left – I just hope that we collapse a few assumptions. I think maybe we’re going back to the "making-strange".

AD: As a contributing artist how will your own work evolve during the exhibition period?

PR: As the exhibition's curator I’m not comfortable about having my own work in the exhibition – even though it is as part of Maurice’s reworking of his exhibition - this is still to be confirmed. Similarly I have resisted peer pressure to join The Factotum Choir (aside from the fact that I don't sing). My work during the exhibition will be to find new work for the show and to keep the exhibition changing. With this in mind, i'm looking to do a few studio visits the end of this week and early next.

Interplanetary Revolution, 16/02/2012 - 24/03/2012, Golden Thread Gallery, 84-94 Great Patrick Street, Belfast, BT1 2LU. www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
Sophie Hamacher, Video still from The Fog (2009)
Clemens Wilhelm, Macht Nichts (2010)
Colin Darke Parodos GTG (2010)
Shiro Masuyama Parky Party (2006)
All images courtesy the artist

Observations of Modern Life | Ridley Howard: Slows | Leo Koenig Inc. | New York

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:35:00 +0000

Text by Dan Tarnowski

Slows is a new exhibition of paintings by the Brooklyn artist, Ridley Howard. Howard’s second show at Leo Koenig Inc. marks both a new direction in his artwork and a continued exploration of his typical style, which could be described as conceptual figurative work.

The first painting seen in the exhibition depicts a man in a patterned sweater of brown, white, and orange. The man’s face is realistically rendered with soft shading but the pattern of his garment is painted in flat shapes that conjure a Native American blanket. The 2-D style of the sweater recalls the geometry of the abstract and minimalist art contained in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Man With Sweater (2011), with its juxtaposition of soft flesh and angular shapes, sets the tone for the exhibition.

Blue Yellow (2011), a composition of yellow circles flanking a pink square over a blue background recalls the colour experiments of Josef Albers. It also shares a similar colour palette to the Pac-Man game for Atari. Considered alongside Black with Shapes (2011), a composition of green squares on black, it begins to seem like the artist has a serious interest in abstract painting. But the abstracts only encompass one of three artistic styles exhibited in Slows.

Progressing in detail, next comes Building (2011), a fairly realistic representation of the front of a factory, the kind of building common in Howard’s hometown of Brooklyn. The building is viewed from straight on and framed in the canvas so it makes a perfect rectangle; no slanting of windows or doors; all right angles. The flattened composition and factory aesthetic recalls Charles Sheeler’s modernist paintings of industrial architecture.

Progressing in detail once again, next are Ridley Howard’s paintings of people. And they stand in stark contrast to all the geometry. Meticulously rendered with full attention paid to anatomy, Howard’s figures are quite sensual. Nudes (2011) is the most erotic work in the exhibition, showing a couple embracing, a woman wrapping her legs around a man as he sits on a white downy bed. Despite the sexiness of the image, the viewer is not invited into the scene for long. Small details—the birthmarks on the man’s back or a perfect horizontal line across the back wall—serve to distract the viewer and remind them of the artist’s geometrical theme. The yellow color of the woman’s tights matches a neighbouring painting, a still life called Trattoria (2011). The still life features a yellow wall, a table, overturned wine glasses, and a small photo of a cat. Thus, the viewer is led out of the lovers’ scene and sent through the exhibition once again, looking at each painting a second time.

Holly, Rose Dress (2011) offers an interesting counterpoint to Man With Sweater (2011). In the portrait, a woman in a striped and flower-patterned dress features the same blend of three-dimensional form and flattened graphics as the man in the sweater, however the top half of the woman’s face is cut off so the majority of the canvas is filled with her dress. Thus, the pattern on her garment becomes a composition of its own, the flowers drifting towards the right while the stripes ripple to the left. The movement in the pattern on the dress hints at emotions that are not captured in the stoic face of the woman.

Although Howard bridges organic and architectural forms, their combination doesn’t seem jarring or disharmonious. The underlying geometry that appears throughout the paintings, even in the positioning of a nude’s birthmarks, gives the artwork an orderly effect. The clearest example of this appears in Tracks (2011), a mostly-monochrome painting in which a green racetrack runs horizontally beneath a bevy of puffy trees. Each tree is different and spontaneously placed, while the track is a sleek horizontal zip. Although the scene is banal, it gains a picturesque quality from the subtle sunset in the background and from the orderly nature of the composition.

But what does all this order mean? Is it the artist’s yearning to find meaning in places and relationships? Or is the artist detached from his subject matter, lining up his figures and shapes as an homage to painting?

Ridley Howard: Slows, 19/01/2012 - 25/02/2012, Leo Koenig Inc., 545 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011. www.leokoenig.com

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Caption:
Images courtesy of Leo Koenig Inc., New York

A World of Shifting Certainty | The Family in British Art | Millennium Gallery | Sheffield

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:51:00 +0000

Text by Kathryn Hall

The family is unique as a social institution: it functions largely in private, while at the same time has a public character; it may be defined one way for political purposes, yet assume any number of forms through personal perceptions and biological associations. According to context, the word family can carry with it notions of safety, obligation, compassion, social norms, or role fulfilment.

The Family in British Art explores the changing functions of the family and identifies certain concerns that have threaded through artistic depictions of family over the past 450 years. It is exactly the kind of large-scale, collaborative project that, since being dealt an Arts Council funding blow only weeks ago, seems under threat of not being exhibited again in the Millennium Gallery any time soon. Created in collaboration with Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums and Norfolk Museums & Archeology Service, the touring exhibition is part of The Great British Art Debate. Established to open up discussions about art, the partnership has already seen Restless Times: Art in Britain 1914–1945 and John Martin: Painting the Apocalypse come to the Millennium Gallery in recent years, exhibitions whose success lay in engaging the public with historic collections by drawing attention to their continued relevance. The Family in British Art builds on their momentum through its curation of historic and contemporary works alongside one another, and further stokes local interest with a commissioned set of Sheffield family photographs.

A theme so varied and abundant in artistic material benefits from being arranged thematically rather than chronologically. Under the sections Inheritance, Childhood, Parenting, Couples & Kinship and Home, the exhibition depicts a manifold of family connections, whether built through consanguinity, marriage, or closely shared environments or experiences. The common element across all pieces is an exploration of the ways in which humans relate to one another and their surroundings, and in doing so form an understanding of themselves and of others.

Drawing pieces from different periods together like this often heightens their impact. The earliest portraits are of moneyed families, posing, pets and all, against a backdrop of their sweeping estates. In these paintings children are depicted as small people in adult dress as a matter of course. William Hogarth's painting The House of Cards (1730) reveals a change in the conceptualisation of childhood at the 18th century, as children were seen to have needs and characteristics distinct from those of adults. His children are still adult-lings, mimicking their future roles as homebuilding husbands and wives. But with an ominous black dog lurking around their precariously built house of cards, Hogarth makes the point that children should be allowed to be children, protected from adult concerns before they are ready.

The House of Cards can be viewed in the Childhood section alongside Grayson Perry's 21st century ceramic pot Difficult Background (2001). At first glance both pieces appear to show a child’s world of play, but on closer inspection reveal unsettling distinctions between adulthood and childhood. In the foreground Perry places children of postwar "austerity Britain" innocently occupying themselves, seemingly oblivious and unaffected by the ruin, bloodshed and warfare playing out in the serious, grown-up world behind them. With its underlying modern consciousness of trauma and the psychological repercussions of a troubled childhood, plus its acknowledgement of the existence of the working classes, its context differs altogether from that of Hogarth's and earlier works. Together these create a historical narrative and reveal changes in cultural consciousness through time.

Among the most fascinating pieces of the exhibition are those addressing the idiosyncrasies of adolescence. Sarah Jones’ The Dining Room (Francis Place) I (1997), a photo seemingly of three sisters in their home, relates to earlier family portraiture of the exhibition, but as a self-aware construct: in reality the girls are friends, and are posed with disregard for one another. It explores performativity and the ambivalent attitude of teenagers toward those closest to them at a time in life when each is wrapped up in their own concerns over self-identification. John Collier’s early 20th century depiction of teen rebellion The Prodigal Daughter (1903), in which a daughter defiantly leaves the house against her parents’ wishes, addresses an adolescent need to break from family confines and assert independence. Contemporary artist Zineb Sedira strips her work of so familiar a context as the home in Mother Tongue (2002), a video triptych of attempted conversations between her, her Arabic-speaking mother and English-speaking daughter. The awkwardness of a teenager relating to older family generations is exasperated further through a literal inability to communicate, nodding to the idea of family being an identity formed through discourse.

The Family in British Art could do more to explore less conventional famliy structures - there is little addressing adoption, gay parents, single parents, and non-marital cohabitation. Paul Graham touches on a 20th century technological extension of the family in his intriguing Television Portraits (1991), and it would have been interesting to see more on families involving subjects beyond humans. There is a wealth of material here though, encompassing a wide range of art forms, and plenty of room to make endless connections across pieces and to individual experiences.

The Family in British Art, 02/02/2012 - 29/04/2012, Millennium Gallery, Arundel Gate, Sheffield S1 2PP. www.museums-sheffield.org.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Caption:
Family Portrait, 1960s, from the Belle Vue Studio Archive © Bradford Museums and Galleries

Contemporary Sound Art | Haroon Mirza: /|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/| | Spike Island | Bristol

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Text by Regina Papachlimitzou

In his first UK solo exhibition, Silver Lion Award winner of last year’s Venice Biennale, Haroon Mirza unfolds the map of an uncharted soundscape at once inviting and forbidding. His show /|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/| (the title being the "typographic representation of a sawtooth waveform" –that is to say, the representation of sound waves) consists of installations in which the auditory element heavily outweighs the visual. Each installation is pervaded by its own distinct mood, but all share a common denominator in the intensity of the experience and of the response each work elicits.

The artist has created a sense of insularity in which to experience his work through a spatial intervention in the galleries of Spike Island: the familiar rooms have been broken up and reassembled beyond recognition, with the help of temporary structural elements such as walls and latticed flooring. Upon entering what used to be Spike Island’s largest gallery, the visitor is almost sucked in, as if by a black hole, into Mirza’s award-winning The National Apavilion of Then and Now . Through a pitch black corridor soundproofed with thick, carpet-like material that swallows the sound of your footsteps, you walk into the unknown guided by a droning sound.

At the end of the corridor you find yourself in a dark and narrow triangle-shaped room, soundproofed with triangular pieces of dark grey foam jutting out from the walls. Overhead, a halo of white LED lights is the only light source, distorting the surface of the walls into apparent movement. The drone rises in pitch and intensity, the vibrations travel up through your body from the metal grille floor. When the lights and sound abruptly cut off, you are left in absolute darkness with the only sound a faint reverberation seeping through from the installations in the adjacent galleries; the only light a haunting afterimage of the LED halo. At that breathtaking moment you are engulfed by an overwhelming, absolute aloneness: a strangely welcome lack of any sort of context, temporal or spatial.

Once you've pried yourself away from the magnetic hold of National Apavilion, head to the gallery hosting I Saw Square Triangle Sine. The spatial arrangement of the installation -in the centre of the room on a raised platform- creates the effect of walking into a performance space, a recently abandoned set on which the instruments are still pulsing with life. The sculptures have clearly been positioned to bring to mind a band, including decks, drums, a keyboard, microphones and amps. This effect is however undercut by the physical reality of the undulating feedback noise, the sound of no music being produced at all. There is something distinctly menacing in the continuous rise and fall of the sound waves, intensified by the fact that the invisible line separating artwork and visitor is here erased: the visitor is welcome to play the drums or listen to the earphones, thus melting through the invisible barrier into the installation.

The adjacent space, set up as a corridor lined with sky blue foam, provides a welcome break from the intensity of the auditory experience that is The National Apavillion and Square Triangle. The mutedness and light spilling across the space sharply contrast with the sense of engulfment created by the previous installations. With head still vaguely throbbing, the visitor can examine a mixture of preparatory drawings for installation projects: some with the playful, careless quality of pencil drawings, thoughts absent-mindedly scrawled on paper; others precise, colour-coded diagrams with explanatory keys and notes. The juxtaposition of the doodle-like notes and almost mathematical blueprints make for a tongue-in-cheek reminder of the mixture of flash of inspiration and meticulous planning that inhere in the creation of any artwork.

The break, however, does not last long: already the exacting clamour of Untitled Song featuring Untitled Works by James Clarkson next door flows in and penetrates the visitor’s consciousness. Entering the adjacent gallery you are greeted by a symphony of energetic sound-snatches running alongside each other, collapsing, and dividing again. As time passes, different installations come alive at different points, gradually building a soundscape as if in reaction to each other and to the visitor.

A small, barely noteworthy speaker next to the entrance suddenly gives out an authoritative thump that vibrates its surface; from the other end of the room, a contraption made up by a wall-mounted speaker, a ceramic lamp, and a glass table responds and develops the thumping. In the centre, a modified shop display case, empty but for a lonely small speaker inside it; above it, a chain is suspended with its end curling on a woofer. As if swept along by the soundwaves rising and falling across the room, this installation comes to life too: the vibration travelling through the ear forces the chain to dance, adding its own jangle to the orchestra. Close to the entrance, suspended from the ceiling hangs a mobile-like structure, made up of a visibly vibrating small speaker, a string of red LED lights, a drum rim, and two more speakers on the other end. Across the room lies an old-style turntable with an analogue radio spinning on it, strongly echoing the decks of Square Triangle; an energy-saving bulb overhead sheds intense white light and creates a not unpleasant grating sound crossed with the static emitted by the radio spinning past. Untitled Song employs the lyricism of looped feedback and static sound waves to create an auditory experience precariously straddling the border between noise and music. The use of muted speakers through which music –presumably- flows only to be discarded in favour of the pure sound of vibrations renders the work all the more poignant.

In /|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/| the most promising young artist of the 2011 Biennale has put together a daring, original, and deeply moving solo exhibition that helps to carve a distinct niche for sound art in the landscape of the contemporary art world.

Haroon Mirza: /|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|, 21/01/2012 - 25/03/2012, Spike Island, 133 Cumberland Road, Bristol, BS1 6UX. www.spikeisland.org.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
Haroon Mirza
Installation view, Untitled Song featuring Untitled Works by James
Clarkson, 2012. Mixed media.
Photo: Stuart Whipps. Courtesy the artist and Spike Island.

Embracing the Alternative Canvas | In Numbers: Serial Publications since 1955 | ICA | London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:45:00 +0000

Text by Daniel Potts

In Numbers does not claim to be an exhaustive survey of serial publications since 1955, but aims to provide the contours of the genre. An extensive collection of artists' serial publications is arranged into different groupings of periodicals in the Lower Gallery at the ICA, proving a diverse array aesthetically and globally, and requiring close inspection. Although periodicals first appeared in Europe around the end of 18th century, this exhibition features periodicals by avant-garde artists working within the last 60 years who adapted the format in their own ways, coming from movements such as Dada and De Stijl. There is no typical publication on display, although a commonality between the artists featured is that they are outsiders. There are general themes of subversion, resistance, evasion and innovation running through works in the survey.

The concrete poetry in the four issues of Daniel Spoerri's Material (1957-1959, Damstadt, Germany & Paris, France), fascinates, puzzles and draws the viewer in with the angular, geometric lineations of verse. Sparse, minimal, though intricate, there is a coolness to the works on display creating a sense of clinical numbness. Where there are large portions of the small pages not used in the artist's execution of the works, their blankness is essential to this effect. Similar at least in this regard are those selected for display from the 24 issues of Edgardo Antonio Vigo's Diagonal Zero (1962-1968, La Plata, Argentina). In this visual poetry the verse is interspersed with sometimes complex geometrical shapes. The use of colour is somewhat unsettling, but this is offset by the sense of balance that comes from the shapes. The overall effect is warmer than in Material, though to a lesser degree the numbness can still be felt, coupled with wonder at the surrealist collected unity of unrelated constituents.

The selection exhibited of the 9 issues of Scott Treleaven's This is the Salvation Army (1996-2003) captures the memory, and conveys a sense of what for many is associated with the melancholy and fury of issues of self and identity. Here, in the exhibition, the Salvation Army is described as "a queer/punk/occult hybrid to operate as a focal point for a (hypothetical) dispersed underground group of 'queers' who felt restricted by both straight and gay concerns." Drawn with pen and black ink and sometimes involving photocopied images, wolves and skeletal nudes are depicted. Some prose is included, in one instance lambasting Christian Fundamentalism, thus tying in with the double meaning of the title of the publication. This conveys the sense of liberation intended as the focal point for this group. There is sort of cool sensuousness to the artwork related in part to the stark contrast of the black and white. Overall, the examples exhibited appeal to the memory of adolescenct melancholy and identity issues, evoking responses similar to those drawn forth in many by the songs of Morrisey. Similarly subversive are the examples displayed of the twenty-six issues of File Megazine (1972-1989) by AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal. The most striking image is of a female nude crucified, wearing a gas mask. This is a black ink, printed photograph with the background coloured red along with the gas mask. It is quite a shocking image at first glance and calls up contradictory responses. On the one hand, the crucifixion connotes divine sacrifice and the elevation of humanity; on the other, the gas mask connotes fetishism and renders the sacrifice as a form of degradation. In this way it seems to impart the essence of misogyny.

The photograph postcard is the form of serial publication used in 100 Boots (1971-1973) by Eleanor Antin. Here we find rows of boots queuing in line along roads, pathways, in restaurants, in houses – in all sorts of natural and articial physical contexts. At first glance it is a humourous, playful series. However, on reflection, taking the historial and political context, perhaps the absence of humanity in the images communicates a sense of anonymity, echoing the enforced anonymity of those conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War. Perhaps the absence of colour in photographs lends the images gravity and can be felt ot compound this idea. Whether or not this was the intention, the series of postcards forms an interesting narrative. In a similar way, absence of colour can be seen to lend gravity to the photocopied photographs of Zerokkusu (1970) by Nobuyoshi Araki. Here exhibited , for example, a female nude can be seen; in another, a group of people in an office .The intensity of the tone used in the photocopying process is very low resulting in very vague, faint, grey images. There is a warm softness to them that can be felt to heighten a certain sense that these are faded memories inspiring feelings of nostalgia. Perhaps this sense is related to feelings we have about actual photographs that have faded with time. This is most affecting and beautiful.

In Numbers is a large collection that, in featuring the general format of the serial publication, allows us track the artists' development during particular periods of their working lives. It is a varied though not exhaustive survey defining the contours of an often overlooked genre and containing evocative and thought-provoking works which can be shocking and moving.

In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955, 25/01/2012 - 25/03/2012, ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH. www.ica.org.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Photography: Mark Blower

The Passage of Materials | Steve Claydon: Culpable Earth | firstsite | Colchester

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:23:00 +0000

Text by Emily Sack

Colchester in Essex is known as being the oldest documented town in the UK. A visit to this charming city is likely to include a tour of the castle, a pint in an historical pub, and, surprisingly, a large golden arc of a building showcasing cutting edge contemporary art from around the globe. Opening just several months ago, the new creation by Rafael Viñoly Architects makes its presence known in the historical town, encouraging an emphasis on the contemporary. Steven Claydon’s first solo UK show is the second site-specific exhibition created for the impressive space.

The contrast of old and new that is apparent in Colchester is a concept frequently explored by Claydon in his body of work, and in particular within Culpable Earth. Two of the pieces incorporate historical motifs in the form of faces as seen in sculptures and fountains in classical Rome or the Renaissance. In Who Conjured You Out of the Clay? (2012), a portrait bust of an anonymous figure sits atop a vermillion-coloured cube. The man bearded and in a flattened hat, seems at home in the gallery space – an image seen time and again in endless variations. The delicate moulding and muted colours contrast dramatically with the smooth, vibrant cube. Beneath the cube, at a vantage point more suitable for children than adults, lurks a mysterious beast waiting to devour whoever steps too close. Perhaps this creature belongs in a Last Judgement scene or is a descent of a fairy tale monster, but its presence reinforces the contrast between the historical and contemporary within the one.

A conversation with the artist revealed an interest in the lowest common denominator of objects, such as atoms and pixels, and this theme is incorporated in a number of the works on display. Several works include the cube form, often as a metallic framed cube, hollow and without surfaces. This references a simplistic conception of molecules and chemistry – the building blocks of life, so to speak – become some of the building blocks of the exhibition. The pixilation of images rendering an image in a series of tiny squares is explored through an interesting work made of beeswax. Dozens of rectangular pieces of beeswax are pinned directly to the gallery wall. From a distance, individual rectangles can be discerned, but on closer examination, it becomes apparent that each piece of material is printed with hundreds of tiny hexagons. This serves to remind the viewer that what is perceived as the lowest common denominator is rarely as simple as it is originally thought to be. Another aspect of the simplification of parts is the motif of primary colours of light: red, blue, and green throughout the exhibition in video and two dimensional works. These three colours on their own are limited, but combined in varied proportions a vast rainbow is possible. Despite the interest in the simplest of parts, Claydon acknowledges their limitations and explores the possibilities of their combinations. This is most apparent in the abstracted construction of a vehicle combining found objects in the form of wheels with assorted other media. Each piece of the puzzle remains separate and individual though their joint placement implies a complex machine.

Claydon plays with the viewer through the dichotomies of simplicity and complexity as well as history and modern. However, Claydon’s attention to the senses is what separates this exhibition from others because it is no longer a work of the visual arts, but a feast for the senses. Sight is clearly the most obvious of the senses, as highlighted in previous mentions of contradictions and complexities throughout the exhibition. The pixilated work constructed of beeswax exudes a sweet and organic scent that permeates the gallery space. The work could have been executed in any number of materials, but by electing to use beeswax, curiosity is heightened in the viewer by the increased depth of perception. Upon entering the building and approaching the exhibition space, a wavering drone fills the lofty passageway. Carrier (2012) is constructed of ceramic, a microphone, amplifier, and powder-coated steel. These unlikely materials unite to create a large bell from which a microphone is suspended, hovering like a pendulum over the amplifier. Variations in condition – from a draft to nearing footsteps – alter the position of the microphone thereby changing the quality of sound. Despite the works being held under the ‘no touching’ policy common in most gallery spaces, several of Claydon’s works give the impression of touch by the emphasis on materiality. The aforementioned Who Conjured You Out of the Clay? resembles marble or other stone, perhaps clay (as hinted in the titled). In actuality, however, the figure is composed of polyurethane foam. This contradiction in perception inspires an urge to feel the work to verify the claims of the object label. Additionally, the video installation entitled The Earth at Work includes images of pottery wheels and the sensuality of the wet clay in the potter’s hands is almost palpable.

Each of the works in Culpable Earth embodies at least one of the three dominant themes creating a varied and intellectually stimulating exhibition. In order to further the historicism and relationship of the work to the site, Claydon curated a small exhibition in an adjoining gallery called Equivalents. The title comes from the Carl Andre work featured (Equivalent VIII) referencing the multitude of possibilities that arise from the same simple components. Paired with Andre’s famous brick sculpture are several small Constable cloud studies. Both men working with bricks or the effects of water and air, attempt to document the complex results of basic combinations. And just in case the viewer has not been suitably challenged by the dichotomies of the exhibition, the works in Equivalents attract attention to the brick on the ground while simultaneously drawing the eye upwards as if to view the clouds in the sky. Steven Claydon has created an impressive collection of works for this exciting new space, and it will certainly be interesting to see what comes next.

Steve Claydon: Culpable Earth, 04/02/2012 - 07/05/2012, firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1JH. www.firstsite.uk.net

Join artist Steven Claydon and Michelle Cotton, firstsite's Senior Curator, as they discuss the works in Culpable Earth at 7 - 8.30pm on Thursday 16 February.

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Photography: Andy Keate

Simultaneous Shock & Awe | Dana Schutz: If The Face Had Wheels | Miami Art Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Text by Heike Wollenweber

Dana Schutz (b. 1976) has developed a distinctive visual style characterised by vibrant colour and raw and tactile brushwork. If the Face Had Wheels is a survey of the artist's work (spanning 2001 - 2011) that includes 30 paintings and 12 drawings, inviting viewers to enter into a world where fantasy and humour meet horror. Not an absurd question for Schutz. Her art is intense, ambivalent, bright and happy but with a grotesque and disturbing side, often based on hypothetical situations in fictional spaces such as Gravity Fanatic (2005), which depicts a woman reinforcing the existing gravity, therefore rendering her venture pointless.

The exhibition opens with Sneeze (2001), a painting capturing the feeling of a sneeze rather than just the visual image of someone sneezing. Sneeze, exemplifies Schutz’s penchant for creating art out of every day life. Schutz’s art evokes feelings, often very conflicting feelings, as her paintings are at first glance very bright and happy but upon further inspection the humour in her work often mixes with a feeling of discomfort or horror. The ambiguous feeling left thereafter is what makes Schutz’s work so intense and strong. Her paintings are powerful and reveal deeper meanings, additional ways of interpretation and intricate visual layers every time one engages in the work.

Schutz’s paintings are detailed and thick layers of oil paint lend a sculptural appearance. Her art has been described as disturbing, compelling and bizarre and indeed, it is all of those things because she manages to represent what adults in her age group have experienced. Inspired by real life Schutz’s art comments on life in the US in the new millennium as her generation moved from stability to uncertainty and anxiety caused by the recession.

The compelling art of Schutz depicts the life of her generation with a dose of subculture and the music of her time. The paintings Her Arms (2003), the The Autopsy of Michael Jackson (2005) and The Breeders (2002) are all based on musicians. The Breeders, depicts indie rock duo Kim and Kelley Deal built from two halves of body parts of Schutz’s fictional character "Frank", the last man on Earth as envisioned by the artist.

"Frank" is a central character in many of Schutz’s paintings such as Frank On A Rock (2002), Frank as a Proboscis Monkey (2002) and Reclining Nude (2002) in which Frank seems to pose for the artist in the style of conventional art but with an attitude of carelessness, somehow unaware of his status as the one keeping the human race in existence.

Body parts can be seen in many of Schutz’s paintings. Characters eat their own eyes (Eye Eater (2004)) and facial matter (Face Eater (2004)) or look upon a collection of noses, feet and arms to choose from as in Twin Parts (2004). The devouring of the body and self-eating essentially reflects upon a thought process of remaking and recycling. The artist draws a relation to art as there are limitless possibilities of reconstruction and new creations only eradicated as art if the process is based solely on survival. Schutz seems fascinated with the destruction and re-assemblage of not only the human body but also society and the artist engages in current affairs, changes and the future of humanity in her work and body parts take on secondary meanings relating to society structures.

The How We Would... series, conceived as the artist’s depiction of the present serves as a time capsule of sorts for future generations. Included in this series are How We Would Give Birth (2007) and How We Would Talk (2007), ironically a woman in a phone booth, a device already antique in the era and culture in which the piece was created.

Dana Schutz’s most influential work relates to everyday life with an absurd spin as in her Tourettes and Verbs series paintings Swimming, Smoking, Crying and Shaking, Cooking, Peeing. To sum up her exhibition If The Face Had Wheels Schutz could add another painting: “Thinking, Laughing, Gasping”, simultaneous shock and awe.

Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels, 15/01/2012 - 26/02/2012, Miami Art Museum, 101 W Flagler Street, Miami. www.miamiartmuseum.org

Caption:
Dana Schutz The Autopsy of Michael Jackson (2005)
Courtesy Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

Interview with Julia Vogl: Winner of the Creative Works Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:02:00 +0000

Text by Bethany Rex

Following the successful Creative Works Competition, Aesthetica Magazine has launched an annual Aesthetica Art Prize. The Aesthetica Art Prize is open for submissions from now until 31 August 2012, and provides an invaluable platform for emerging and established artists, offering contenders a first prize of £1,000. The four shortlisted professional entrants and four shortlisted student entrants will also their have their own exhibition at a venue in York, their work published in the Aesthetica Art Prize Annual and their work praised in Aesthetica Magazine.

We speak with the winner of the 2011 Creative Works Competition, Julia Vogl, an installation artist whose public artwork challenges the role of the artist and art in relation to political events, social behaviour, and the community where her work is shown.

BR: You recently won the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition (now the Aesthetica Art Prize), what made you enter the competition? What does it mean to you to have won?

JV: I kept hearing about the competition, but I didn't pay much attention as I don't usually enter contests. But then I read about Aesthetica Magazine, being a magazine that reflected on art, design, architecture and their overlap of territory, and I thought I would be an idiot not to apply, as my work really deals with that.

It is awesome that I won! It always feels good to win something, but to be part of a publication that features so many really great works and artists is really gratifying. It has been a terrific boost to my confidence, especially at a time where being an artist is fiercely competitive and hard to finance.

BR: Your work Colouring the Invisible was a five storey installation including 150 windows coated in multicoloured translucent vinyl. Could you briefly talk us through the idea behind the piece?

JV: The Slavonic School of Eastern European Studies, at UCL, has this incredible glass atrium, and when I saw it, I felt instantly I had to respond to it. The main subject studied there is language. Despite passport, or national identity, the thing that bridges many who use the building is language. I wanted to make a work that would reflect both the users and the architecture. I surveyed over 450 users of the building what languages they were fluent in. I received over 53 different languages. I linked a language with a colour of transparent vinyl and coloured a third of the glass in the atrium proportionally with the language. So English which was the most popular was turquoise and about 1/3 of the glass is turquoise. I was happy to learn later the architects for the atrium were inspired by Vladimir Tatlin's 1919 The Monument to the Third International (Tatlin's Tower) (never realized) who was influenced by the tower of Babel. As language is invisible, the idea was to transform the space and bring to light all the diversity- as well as draw more attention to the mesmerising architecture- hence Colouring the Invisible.

BR: Your artist statement focuses on the idea that “the art work must respond to site & or community.” Social practices in art are certainly gaining ground in terms of institutional recognition. Would you say your work fits into this genre?

JV: A critical turning point in my art practice came when I worked for Public Art for Public Schools in New York City. My job was to commission permanent art works for new school buildings. There I started to understand the role that public art can have in a community. It can make neighbourhoods safer, it can lead to positive engagement with strangers and generally it can beautify an otherwise neglected area. Here is where I became dedicated to making what I term my social sculptures. I am not interested in making large works that just it in a plaza, but making works that engage people, in either the making or experience of the work. I am also committed to challenging some social issues- and engaging in a social practice enables me to make work to serve as a catalyst for this.

I think institutional recognition of socially engaging works come from a somewhat broken society. Institutions investment in public works, initially seemed to be more prevalent during bad economic times, (The Great Depression, the 1970s and today) when there are social problems that policy is not immediately addressing. Public Art can not replace policy! It can however aid to bringing to light issues that are of concern in a community. Alternatively with immediate social networking and communication, people’s attention spans have shrunk, and social practices, guarantee an instant experience and that is probably very appealing for many institutions.

BR: What are your thoughts on art awards as a whole? Does the art world take itself too seriously?

JV: I think the jury is still out on my thoughts about awards. As a kid I never got any awards, and I was very always jealous of those who did, but I learned to make good work to make good work, and not for the recognition I would receive. I can’t deny that being short listed, or awarded something has made my CV stand out to certain people (including my parents!), and has as a result led to greater opportunities to make more work, and keep doing what I love to do. Also monetary awards, travel awards or studio awards are incredible gifts of encouragement.

Yet I do feel that certain parts of the art world pay to much attention to what is written in a CV rather then the visuals in front of them. I really liked that the application to Aesthetica Creative Works, was purely based on the work. Yes the art world takes itself too seriously, but that might be a response to the incredible demand to be apart of it. Strangely I think that those who make their own opportunities have more fun and become more successful - even if the road is longer!

BR: Do you think winners of these kinds of awards should receive monetary prizes? Is the scene too money driven these days?

JV: I like that this year they are offering, exposure in Aesthetica, and a show, as well as money. Standing out in the art world means continuing to make work and have it be seen but it also means getting your name out there. But of course at the end of the day an artist needs to eat. In fact I don’t think enough competitions or opportunities in the art world supply monetary rewards, and it is assumed that artist will work for free. I think only one part of the art scene is money driven, in my field, Public Art, many of my works are unsaleable. When I showed at The Affordable Art Fair in October - I wrote friends encouraging them to come see my work - with the understanding that my work was neither affordable nor for sale. Still the AAF supported me- and that was really great!

BR: How would you say that your style has developed over the years? Have you been influenced by any particular artists?

JV: I have always loved architecture, Lego, Bauhaus/Modernism, and textile design- this feeds into my aesthetic sensibility. I have also loved political campaigning- this comes from wanting to know what people think and understanding the world we live in. Conceptually I am captivated by Eliasson, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, and more recently Tino Sehgal and Francis Alÿs. I came to the Slade in 2009, as my undergrad Professor would describe me as “a bull in a china shop.” A bit all over the place but with determination. The Slade really allowed me to explore and then find a rhythm, and even create a manifesto to make strong works that would include all my loves- so I could make the work with a process that really excited me.

BR: What’s next for you?

JV: Recently I was included in the Catlin Art Guide, edited by Justin Hammond- it is a survey publication of the top 40 new emerging artist in the UK, so that is pretty cool. I am currently waiting to hear back from the Arts Council about funding my project HOME, a visual audio installation to pop up in London during the Olympics.
I am also working on my curatorial debut with the project ART VENDING. You will just have to stay tuned for where you might encounter that project.

I am always applying, proposing my own projects, experimenting and working in the studio. I have learned that the art world does not give you a time line of when things will happen, you never know tomorrow I could get an e-mail from The British Museum commissioning me to make a work for their incredible atrium. More likely I could also just get a call from a friend to be part of a group show in Peckham. Either way, it seems like there are countless exciting opportunities for an artist today, so I am just going to continue making good work and time will tell me what is next!

From 27/02/2012 - 03/03/2012, Julia Vogl will take part in YBA 2.0 Series, a group show at Frameless Gallery, with Thomas Adam and Sarah Pager. www.framelessgallery.com

For further information on Vogl's work, visit her website - www.juliavogl.com

The Aesthetica Art Prize is open for submissions until 31 August 2012. For further information see the website or call +44 (0)1904 629 137. If you would like to find out more about the finalists of the Creative Works Competition, you can purchase a copy of the Annual 2012 here.

Caption:
Colouring the Invisible, Installation Shot
Courtesy the artist

Jean-Marc Bustamante | Peintures Carrées (Square Paintings) | Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac | Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:18:00 +0000

Text by Matt Swain

Peintures Carrées (Square Paintings) is a new exhibition of works on square, screen-reprinted Plexiglas by French artist Jean-Marc Bustamante (b. 1952). Bustamante is a noted conceptual and installation artist who incorporates ornamental design and architectural space into his work. Emerging principally as a photographer in the 1970s, Bustamante has since explored the space between photography, sculpture, architecture and decor. His work represents mental landscapes and combines different artistic languages where past experiences blend to create a unique visual experience.

This new series of work, titled Colorito Colorado, makes reference to the Renaissance era when the key characteristic of the Venetian school was colour rather than drawing, with form achieved by painting in layers. Indeed, the initial impact is all about colour and the colours are dazzling. The shapes are reminiscent of simple, computer scribbles that could be construed as flattened sculptures. The process begins with Bustamante expansively drawing or applying large strokes of colour with felt pen on graph paper. Any trace of human interaction in the form of brush strokes or the layering of paint is removed through computer processing, and the image is then transformed on Plexiglas by the traditional process of silk screening. The Plexiglas plate is held in place by steel studs and defined by a steel frame.

In this context, and in the use of industrial processes, it is not surprising that some critics have made reference to Warhol in terms of simplicity and ethic, although Bustamante's work suggests that there are secrets to be uncovered and a greater level of detail beneath the somewhat flat, simplistic exterior. Bustamante likes to intrigue the viewer and this ambiguity leaves much of his work open to interpretation.

These works significantly develop his exploratory techniques using light and colour. Cardinal (2010) shows a falling range of colours set against a background of simple grey lines which serve to cast a shadow upon the gallery wall, symbolising motion versus stasis. This ambiguous relationship with form brings a sense of detachment for the viewer which can also be seen in Spring (2011). Using the same combination of colours, this relies less on motion and more on the stability of the senses.

Throughout, Bustamante's work is both playful and refined. Radiant (2010), possesses flashes of colour upon water whilst Mercator (2010) is the most direct work here, hinting at the artist's background in photography as well as giving a static chaos that explores the philosophical boundaries between painting and photography. Symbolically, the simplicity represents Bustamante's rejection of the poetic snapshot that is synonymous with French creative photography.

Bustamante's unique visual sense of the world lies between space and the context of place as well as the relationship between industry and technology. Ultimately, light and colour have replaced mass and gravity at the heart of his work, creating a renewed sense of timelessness. These works consistently attempt a new and thoroughly modern kind of painting and successfully offer an alternative way of looking at pictures for a brighter, simpler future that has been shaped by the past.

Jean-Marc Bustamante, Peintures Carrées (Square Paintings), 10/01/2012 - 25/02/2012, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Debelleyme, 7 Rue Debelleyme, 75003, Paris. www.ropac.net

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Visual Games | David Evans' Critical Dictionary | WORK Gallery | London

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:31:00 +0000

Text by Travis Riley

The exhibition’s title puts in mind an idea of declassification and redefinition. It is borrowed from Georges Bataille (1897-1962), whose Critical Dictionary was printed as a regular section of his surrealist journal Documents (published in Paris from 1929 through 1930), and functioned on the basis that “A dictionary would begin from the point at which it no longer rendered the meanings of words but rather their tasks.” This endeavour is embodied in David Evans’ curation of the exhibition. Far from attempting to become the usual invisible curator, he has made his presence very clear, structuring the works in the show dictionary-like, around a series of terms, each of which has one or more artwork to engage with it.

The clearest moment of declassification of a term comes in the threefold definition of ‘R/Rotten Sun’. On the far wall, facing the gallery entrance is the most immediate piece to fall under this header. Penelope Umbrico’s Flickr Sunsets (2010) consists, as the title would suggest, of sunsets appropriated directly from a Flickr search. In each case the image is cropped close to the sun, and printed at 4” x 6”, regardless of quality (or pixellation). The photos are arranged on the wall, as a grid, with no white space between them. The repetition causes the luminescent orbs to lose their individual significance, and although their light has been captured, no true sunlight can emanate from the resulting photos. These are rotten suns, but this is due to their flawed depiction.

In Dominic Shepherd’s Black Sun, (2008) the sun does not wish to be light. It is a circular, black mass, stuck, to a pre-existent (previously sunless) photograph. The appropriated image is Silent Water (1946) by Anthony Peacock. It is essentially a gaudy postcard image, comprising of a nude woman, some still water, and a wooden rowing boat. The image is given a strange weight due to the stark, contrasting addition. The black sphere, hanging precariously above the woman’s head, appears to be in woodland, not the sky, but nonetheless takes the label of sun. Without the context of its definition given by the picture’s title this intervention wouldn’t be a sun at all, and yet the viewer is given no choice. The sun is not only rotten in colour, but also because it is only a sun by a thin denotation.

The final image in this curated triptych is David Hazel’s Untitled (2005). It is a circular print comprising of a pure white circle at the centre that gradually emanates into blackness at its exterior edges. It is the opposite of the solid edged Black Sun that faces it across the room. A de-definition is contained in these three rotten suns. Their separate depictions cannot be reconciled, and if the viewer wished to find meaning in the term, they would be forced to choose between them. This fulfils Bataille’s idea of a critical definition. The contention between these pieces can no longer concern the meaning of the term only its task, those things to which it will be assigned.

Critical art has the potential to be humourless and overwrought, however in this exhibition, it is critical playfulness that takes the fore. Despite the underlying framework, the selected pieces do not lambast or condemn their subjects, merely reflect upon them. Under ‘G/Greenwich Meridian’ comes Simon Faithfull’s 0°00 Navigation (2010). The piece is a series of monochrome photographs arranged in a horizontal sequence, ceiling to floor. A lone male figure is depicted, travelling the route specified by the title, however Faithfull’s chosen photographs of the pursuit add a narrative of their own.

Unable to deviate from his inflexible trajectory, the figure is depicted in farcically avoidable situations. Most striking is a needless immersion, chest-deep in a pool of water. On one hand this implies a reductio ad absurdum criticism of the seemingly arbitrary placement of this significant line. More apparent however, is an inherent self-criticism. The rule-based journey entails an absurdity in its strictures. The Greenwich Meridian’s purpose is not to be walked, and as such the criticism falls on the walker as much as the route.

Throughout the exhibition small pockets of interrelation can be found. The theoretical work of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) and Guy Debord (1931-1994) plays an especially formative part in much of the art shown. A particularly strong Debordian psycho-geographical theme can be drawn between Faithfull’s 0°00 Navigation, Paola Di Bello’s La Disparition (1994), a Paris tube map with damage implicit in its printed reproduction, and Office of Experiments’ Overt Research Project (2000-2009), a photographic attempt to map advanced labs and facilities in the UK.

The exhibition follows the dictionary protocol throughout, but this is not an attempt to comprehensively capture all letters or terms. It is a dictionary, but freed from the rules of meaning, it seeks to investigate the detail and find correlative patterns. Here lies the strength of the exhibition. In all of its curatorial intent, it retains a fundamental principle; in a critical dictionary there can be no definite meaning. Evans’ curation forges a categorical framework, embracing definition, but refusing to use it as a constraint.

Critical Dictionary, 27/01/2012 - 25/02/2012, WORK Gallery, 10A Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG. www.workgallery.co.uk Event: One Plus One: Picture Editing After Bataille, David Evans and Patrizia Di Bello in conversation, Wednesday 15 February 2012 6.30-8pm, RSVP to press@workgallery.co.uk

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
Office of Experiments, Overt Research Project, 2008-2009. All images courtesy the artists

Palm Trees and Poker Players | James Hockey & Foyer Galleries | University for the Creative Arts (UCA) | Farnham

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Text by Bethany Rex

Helen Carmel Benigson (b.1985) is media-savy that is for sure; her work layers colour, print and sound to create immersive, dreamlike and hyper-sensual installations that explore the politics of sexual difference and female empowerment. Benigson looks at the nature of identity, performance and masquerade, and her latest exhibition at the James Hockey & Foyer Galleries at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) at Farnham is her largest exhibition to date.

Working in a range of media, Benigson's work is described as a "collision of all things sexy, cool and current." That's quite a big claim for someone who cites The Hills and the Kardashians as inspiration. Still, through her continuous reference to virtual reality, the concept of the alter-ego and the advent of the online profile (Benigson often performs as LA-born rapper Princess Belsize Dollar) Benigson reminds the viewer of the difference between the real and the virtual, and of the dangers and consequences of each type of existence. These are all important borders to explore.

Comparisons to Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist are understandable; saturated colours, psychedelic patterns, a palette that teeters on the border between provocation and parody, it remains to be seen, however, whether Benigson's delight in the dangerous and provocative is matched with a craft that is considered and a narrative that extends beyond 140 characters. We caught up with the artist named by The Independent as a potential successor to Tracey Emin to explore the truth beyond the fiction, maybe.

BR: Could you talk us briefly through your background? When did you first start making work?

HCB: I have just completed my MA at the Slade. I grew up in London and have been making art from an early age, although made my first video, at the age of 18, when I interviewed a butcher.

BR: When did Princess Belsize Dollar come into being? What does she represent?

HCB: PBD is a rapper, born in LA. She stands for a feminine, super-sexy activist who performs as a version of myself as well as a completely severe alternative.

BR: As an artist, you are often described as provocative. Do you feel this is an apt description of your practice?

HCB: 1% provocative, 99% evocative. Obviously my work borders on spaces of contention, such as the locations I choose to make work in, as well as making work about bodies. I am interested in the space of occupation / conflict and yes – provoking something harder / more intense / imaginative.

BR: Reading about your alter egos, it’s overwhelming. Could you briefly talk us through all these different versions of yourself?

HCB: There is my cousin, who is me, but not quite me, in that she looks like me, but not quite and lives in Switzerland so Swiss-German is her first language, although English is her mother-tongue. I also create avatars, who look similar to both of us. Then, there is PBD, a super-sexy, sweet version of myself. I am also now working with dancers, who do not look anything like me, but all stand in for me within the context of the videos. Identity is continually being framed and re-framed within the videos, sound and installations.

BR: What is it about the boundaries of cyberspace, and this idea of identity in different territories that captures your interest?

HCB: My practice is situated in a space that both replicates and borrows gestures and symbols from cyberspace and reworks them in a way that becomes a framework for the body and identity. There is now a new space to work about and in - that of online and cyber. My work is concerned with biology and technology and how new currents of information and communications are changing. This can be seen is our own schizophrenic performances on a daily basis.

BR: What work have you prepared for the exhibition at UCA Farnham?

HCB: I am making 8, 10 and 15 foot polystyrene palm trees that will become screens as I project videos onto them. I am creating a sort of faux-beach space, filled with real sand, the palm trees, enlarged beach-balls, deckchairs and a huge cinema screen. Visitors can come into the space, relax on the beach chairs and watch the films. I have also made a new film, set in the sand dunes in South Africa and at a poker game. This film, will form a section of a new, more extended film that I am working on to do with insomnia, poker and sleep-talking . At the opening of this exhibition, I will be rapping with my musical collaborator, Helen Bellringer. There will also be live poker games. Boys are invited to play poker, using my own customised playing cards and poker chips.

BR: How do you consider the interplay between photography and the more conceptual pieces in the context of this show?
HCB: I think about all the works, as sculptural objects and the relationship between the objects and the body. Much of photography comes from the videos. The videos work as a series of still prints, and I enjoy the idea of being able to print every image from the video and turn it into an object. In this show, most of the photography is in the Foyer gallery and the beach installation is in the James Hockey gallery, so there is not a physical relationship between the two.

BR: Are there any photographers or artists or just people from everyday life that have inspired the project?

HCB: Yes, Yto Barrada, made lots of work about palm trees, that I really like. I have just come back from LA and Cape Town, where every street is lined with palm trees and that has inspired it too. I recently saw Ryan Trecartin’s show in Paris, which was amazing and also Phyllida Barlow’s recent show at Hauser and Wirth – in her work there is a sort of fake monumentalism, which I completely relate to. Pipilotti’s Rist’s recent show at Hayward was also brilliant. I have been re-watching a lot of Entourage, set in LA, so that has also influenced me, I am sure, if only subliminally.

BR: Your work is often described as breaking such borders as those between the self and the world; art and life, and other dichotomies we are all too familiar with. I feel as those these boundaries were broken long ago. Do you bring something new to this ongoing discussion?

HCB: I feel that my practice both acknowledges and contests the limits of these boundaries. I am interested in the limit of something as a space in itself. I don’t think my work sets out to address the borders between self and the world, or art and life, although obviously identity within territory is a concern. I think there is a big difference between presenting dichotomies, which I don’t aim to do, and performing occupation, which I hope my videos begin to do.

Helen Carmel Benigson: Palm Trees and Poker Players, Curated by Christine Kapteijn MA(RCA) MBA, 27/01/2012 - 17/03/2012, James Hockey & Foyer Galleries, UCA Farnham. www.ucreative.ac.uk/galleries Helen Carmel Benigson is represented by ROLLO Contemporary Art

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Caption:
Installation shot
Courtesy the artist

The Familiar and the Exotic | Last Chance to See | Diane Arbus | Jeu de Paume | Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Text by Matt Swain

Diane Arbus (1923-1971)revolutionised the art she practised. Her bold subject matter and photographic approach produced a body of work that is often shocking in its purity, in its steadfast celebration of things as they are. Her gift for rendering strong those things we consider most familiar, and for uncovering the familiar within the exotic, enlarges our understanding of ourselves. In this first major retrospective in France, a selection of 200 photographs allows the viewer the opportunity to explore the origins, scope and aspirations of a wholly originally force in photography. It includes all of the artist's iconic photographs as well as many that have not been publicly exhibited.

The photographs are not arranged chronologically or thematically. Rather, they are presented singularly, accompanied only by the artist’s own titles, giving the spectator an individual experience of each image. There is richness and abundance of work here that serves to demonstrate the wealth of source material Arbus surrounded herself with, both geographically and culturally, particularly in New York. Arbus focused on deviant and marginal figures, turning them into extraordinary people through her distinctive black and white photographs; a hidden world unmasked.

Arbus’ work represents things as they are with striking boldness and purity; couples, children, carnival performers, nudists, transvestites, eccentrics and celebrities are all shown within the prism of their own world, demonstrating Arbus’ unique sensibility with regard to posture and light. A family one evening in a nudist camp, Pa., 1965 shows two females and a male seemingly oblivious to anything other than their own experience. Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C, 1967 is one of Arbus’ more iconic works and is immediately recognisable in its simplicity. With an American flag at his side, the boy wears a bow tie and button badges with war-slogans, eliciting both sympathy and understanding.

In other works, there is a darker, underlying mystique. Female impersonator putting on lipstick, N.Y.C, 1959 possesses a sparse, morose serenity in direct contrast to the implied faux glamour one is led to imagine would follow and in viewing A Puerto Rican housewife, N.Y.C, 1963; you are left with the distinct impression that there is something beyond the surface we know nothing about. Similarly, A young man in curlers on West 20th Street, N.Y.C, 1966 continues the female impersonator series. Again, it is the implied suggestion that there is another world beyond the veneer that gives this such an integral sense of connectivity.

Location is a significant component of a number of works. Rocks on wheels, Disneyland, CA, 1962, shows industry amidst the Californian landscape, whilst Couple on a pier, N.Y.C, 1963, reveals the tenderness of lovers, listening to a radio, unfettered by the outside world. A very thin man in central park, N.Y.C, 1961, needs little explanation yet possesses a powerful, other-worldly presence.

There are moments of humour, such as in Santas at the Santa Claus School, Albion, NY, 1964, and the Christmas theme is repeated in Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, LI, 1963, a delightful picture of domestic festivity. Arbus focused on celebrities too and both Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer are represented here. There is also a self-portrait, Self portrait, pregnant, 1945, which shows Arbus in a bedroom. However, it is the unknown figures, those on the fringes of society and with their own very personal story to tell that occupy the most emotive moments in Arbus’ work. Whether that is because we are aware of her friendships with so many of these people, or because we cannot avert our gaze, acknowledging that we are voyeurs looking in at something personal remains open to debate.

Almost without exception, all of the works feel like a personal encounter where you are engaging directly with the subject. This is the beauty and the mystery Arbus gives to us. A secret intimacy that the whole world is able to see, but with a parallel sense of never quite knowing the absolute truth. As Arbus herself once stated; “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells the less you know.”

Diane Arbus, 18/10/2011 - 05/02/2012, Jeu de Paume, 1 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris. www.jeudepaume.org

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
All images © The Estate of Diane Arbus LLC, New York

Coggles Street Style Film: Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetica) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:24:00 +0000

Natasha from coggles on Vimeo.

Over the past month, Aesthetica has featured Coggles' new campaign, Street Styles Series which aim to promote the brand's primary mission of including personality into their designs for people not models. This exclusive short from Coggles is a portrait of style, featuring Danish tattoo artist Natasha. Natasha styled herself for the film mixing vintage pieces with Paul & Joe Sister.