Cloud Gate's Lunar Halo Questions the Body's Purpose in Our Current Technological Age


text by Lara Monro


Cloud Gate was founded in 1973 by Lin Hwai-Min; one of the first Taiwanese choreographers to bring contemporary dance to the Chinese world. His language became emblematic of the country’s own national struggle in establishing an identity for themselves, perched between communist China and the wider world. 

Cheng Tsung-lung took over from Hwai-min in 2020. Big shoes to fill. Fortunately Tsung-Long’s undeniable determination and vision—from humble beginnings as a street hawker of slippers to internationally recognized choreographer—made it a manageable challenge.

The timing of his appointment as Artistic Director, on the other hand, not so much. No sooner had he decided to create Lunar Halo—a production inspired by the natural phenomenon of the same name exploring how our bodies inhabit a technologically-advanced world—Covid-19 forced the world to pause. 

Light refracts through layers of ice in the atmosphere to produce a lunar halo, which is ultimately a sparkling ring around the moon. Tsung-lung first witnessed the arresting event in Iceland. Soon after, he went on to choreograph the 70-minute piece that includes thirteen dancers (seven male, six female) and examines “the invisible hand of all-powerful big data.” The hauntingly etherial soundtrack created by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós both compliments and jars with the dancers versatile movements, which are indicative of Cloud Gate’s unique training; a fusion of tai chi, calligraphy, martial arts, and meditation. 

To signify the forever growing dependance of society’s reliance on technology, the performers interact with one another in a multitude of mesmerizing, abstract, and experimental ways. Take the opening scene, where a sea of male bodies converge as one; flowing and shape-shifting between what looks like a strand of DNA and a centipede. Tsung-lung further exaggerates the overarching theme of technology, by using multiple LED screens to present images and shapes that reiterate the insidious nature of technology and our ubiquitous, cult-like dependance on it. As the performance draws to an end, a thin screen appears from the ceiling, presenting a larger-than-life naked male; perhaps a digital god, or Satan? 

Either way, Lunar Halo presents one of the essential questions of our age: if we can satisfy our needs and desires with just a few taps of a screen, what is the purpose of the human body? A beautiful irony in this case given the physical nature of the performance; the strength and reliance of each dancer and their dependance on one another. 

group of dancers huddled with big hair movement

Bold Tendencies Is A Cultural Hub in London That Exemplifies the Dream of Urban Adaptability

text by Lara Monro

Bold Tendencies is a cultural community hub located within the rooftop spaces of a multi-story car park in the heart of Peckham. Established in 2007 by contemporary art gallerist Hannah Barry, the not-for-profit organization has rooted itself within the bones of the local community and is recognized for taking culture and civic values seriously through a mix of standalone education and community initiatives. 

What was initially a bold arts project has turned an unlikely structure into one of the city’s most exciting public spaces. With breathtaking panoramic views of London and an accompanying (and very popular) bar, Frank’s, Bold Tendencies exemplifies the dream of urban adaptability. Sitting somewhere between pop-up and permanence it has harnessed a thriving cultural presence in a once dead, dark space. 

Sharon Eyal and L-E-V perform OCD LOVE at Bold Tendencies in 2019. © Susan Bingham

Over the past sixteen years, the hub’s cultural program has attracted 2 million+ visitors. It has commissioned 128 artworks to date, including Richard Wentworth’s silvery curved floor painting, Agora (which comes from the Greek term for a gathering place) as well as the gaping ghoulish fairground-style painted mouth of artist Matt Copson. Bold Tendencies also boasts award-winning live programs of music, dance, opera and readings, including performances by the internationally-renowned choreographer Sharon Eyal. And, let’s not forget to mention the car park’s bubblegum-pink, Instagram sensation, stairwell; an artwork in itself by Simon Whybray. 

Bold Tendencies’ 2023 Summer program, Crisis, includes artworks by Emory Douglas, Jenny Holzer, Kahlil Robert Irving, Sandra Poulson, and Abbas Zahedi. The live program opened with the Philharmonia Orchestra performing The Planets by Gustav Holst, and after the success of the award-winning production, The Endz, The Multi-Story Orchestra’s Young Creatives performed Routes. Set in Peckham, Routes is inspired by the musicians’ personal experiences of growing up in the borough. It is directed by Abi Falase, with music led by singer-songwriter Frances Lobo and composer Kate Whitle. The Multi-Story Orchestra is made up of a group of exceptionally talented young musicians renowned for their innovative and boundary-pushing approach to music-making. 

Manchester Collective, known for their innovative and daring collaborations, presented a one-off, double program of German composer and conductor, Richard Strauss’ final masterpiece, Four Last Songs, paired with Metamorphosen, a haunting work of rhythmic and melodic complexity for string orchestra written towards the end of the Second World War in 1945. To accompany the mesmerizing scores leading soprano, Ruby Hughes, beautiful (and haunting) voice reverberated off the car park’s exposed concrete frame, leaving hairs standing on the back of necks. 

Most recently, Bold Tendencies welcomed Irish chorographer Oona Doherty to their public programme for the first time with Hope Hunt, an ode to strength and vulnerability, hitting and swerving at extreme stereotypes of cultural and social class. Based in Belfast, Oona studied at London School Of Contemporary Dance, University of Ulster and Trinity Laban (BA Honors and Postgraduate in Contemporary Dance Studies). Doherty’s distinctive, visceral, and intense performances highlight her rare ability to connect a gesture with the web of emotions that sustain it. She explains, “my work attempts to play with the barrier between the flesh and the soul, the audience and the stage; to share a kinetic experience. I’m motivated to explore states of pure metaphysical honesty. To bring the sex, the punk, the romance and the chi back into the body, the black box, the white cube, and Ireland.’’ 

Still to come, Caleb Femi will present Stone Seed, an immersive live performance that celebrates the power of Peckham to rebuild and reclaim what has been lost in a rapidly changing socioeconomic landscape. Finally, the 21-year-old Swedish-Norwegian violinist, Johan Dalene will perform four pieces—chosen specially for performance in the concrete space—alongside his regular performance partner, award-winning British pianist Nicola Eimer. With music by Arvo Pärt, Francis Poulenc, Sam Wu, Edvard Grieg, Dalene’s program explores the crises of our time with extreme virtuosity and sensitivity. 

Book tickets for all up coming events via the Bold Tendencies website.

William Waterworth's Ein Tir Instinctually Captures Beauty @ Pipeline in London

A woman balances a rudimentary aeroplane-like structure on her head in a field. Zissou, 2023, by William Waterworth.

Zissou, 2023

review by Lara Monro
all images courtesy of the artist

Tatiana Cheneviere opened Pipeline in October 2022. The contemporary art gallery has taken a refreshing approach to presenting emerging and mid-career artists. It introduces each forthcoming exhibiting artist by showcasing a single artwork in a separate, enclosed space to the main gallery area. The art work is specifically chosen by the artist to provide relevant context to their practice and upcoming exhibition. As a result of working for over a decade at one of the most established international blue chip galleries, Cheneviere wanted to create a program that encourages a slower experience to understand the evolving parameters of a single creative practice. Cheneviere explains, “Pipeline’s aim is to reinvigorate the conversation between artist and collector and celebrate the subtleties of storytelling through art.” To date, Pipeline has showcased the work of a diverse selection of artists incluidng Tommy Harrison, Johanna Bath and Emmanuel Awuni. 

Ein Tir, which translates to Our Land in Welsh is currently on view at Pipeline. The exhibition chronicles three new series and key works by the photographer William Waterworth. Born in Macclesfield, Waterworth studied art history at Manchester University, where the work of Sally Mann captivated and inspired him to pursue his interest in photography. “I found Mann’s photos very moving. I guess they felt especially so back then because the paintings I had been studying as part of the art history course weren’t moving me in the same way. There was something about photography; its immediacy and realness.” 

Waterworth decided to leave Manchester for Paris where he studied photography for a year and through multiple influences began to adopt a photographic style, “after I left Manchester, and as a result of Sally Mann's work, I bought a book on Jeanloup Sieff. It was his deeply tonal black & whites that inspired mine.” Waterworth was awarded the Prix Picto de la Photographie de Mode and has since established a photographic career, which includes working with Alexander McQueen and Erdem. 

A dramatic black and white portrait of a man in chain armor with a rope crown. Hamlet as Knight, 2022, William Waterworth.

Hamlet as Knight, 2022

Dramatic black and white photograph of a nude male figure kneeling in a concrete circle outdoors. Benjamin Evans, 2023, by William Waterworth.

Benjamin Evans, 2023

Central to Waterworth’s practice is a quest for stories and the places they are formed, “I like stories and adventure very much, but what I like most about photography is how it can force you to be more open to all walks of life.” In 2016, Waterworth’s fascination with hearing other people’s stories led to a pilgramige up the East Coast of England from Grimsby to Lindisfarne. 

In Ein Tir, Waterworth has taken over the entire gallery space, the first time a single artist has done so at Pipeline. We observe Waterworth's love for exploring, recreating and capturing stories as well as his love for collaboration. His three new series are shown alongside a selection of collage works and text in the end room where a work presented by the next artist is usually shown. 

Waterworth has used the end space to function in its usual way by drawing back the curtain and contextualizing the other exhibited works. These new images chronicle his pilgrimage to Julia Margaret Cameron’s home on the Isle of Wight, the story of Zissou and the flying machine, and the journey a carpenter makes to the Alps inspired by Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain (1924). “Everything stems from the book at the front of the gallery. It’s made up of 100 photographs and is inspired by Guy Bourdin’s Untouched work of photographs. Then, there are ten framed pieces varying in size, which leads you to the back room; a wall of collage involving the three specific stories I made in March. We traveled to the Isle of Wight, the Alps, and Dorset. They are narrative-driven and could not have happened without the collaboration of Joel Kerr, who created the accompanying video work and Edie Ashley who designed the costumes.” 

Waterworth's deep interest in capturing inherent beauty stems from an instinct, “one's views on beauty is so subjective, but in my case I guess I respond to instinct and let that lead me. I don't really know what it is, perhaps a sensitivity or awareness. All I know is I can feel a great subject when they walk into a room. There's an unexplainable presence to them.” His ability to capture beauty is further reflected through the curation of his diverse body of work on view in the main room where he has carefully selected images from varying corners of his practice, including The Wrestlers (2021). 

Ein Tir is on view through June 10 at Pipeline, 35 Eastcastle Street London

Dramatic black and white photograph of a somber woman in white frills, facing the camera, as a man in black robes lifts his arms in the background. May and Tennyson, 2023, by William Waterworth.

May and Tennyson, 2023

Read Our Interview of Mattea Perrotta on the Occasion of Her Solo Opening @ Praz Delavallade in Los Angeles →

Mattea Perrotta, Perdòno, 2023 oil on canvas57 x 77 in195.6 x 144.8 cm

Mattea Perrotta
Perdòno, 2023
oil on canvas
57 x 77 in
195.6 x 144.8 cm

Our primary means of conveying meaning is through spoken and written forms, as well as sign language. But what do we do when faced with language barriers, unable to verbally communicate with another/others? Google translate is one option, but what happens when we use our imagination? Or when we explore the imagination of others through our own unique lens?

The earliest civilizations used cave walls as canvases to share their knowledge, beliefs, and stories. For visual artist, Mattea Perrotta, art has become a way of conveying her secrets and vulnerabilities. It has also become a lexicon to connect with others, often from different countries and communities. During her time in Morocco, challenged with learning Arabic but keen to connect with her hosts, she started using drawings to engage with her companions. It was a familiar and natural way of interpreting the world around her. 

A diagnosis of synesthesia at an early age was the catalyst for Perrotta’s need to develop an individual language; mathematical formulas made sense when color coded, as did phone numbers. This subsequently translated into her art form, which began with abstract shapes, defining her earlier career. Perrotta’s practice evolved organically, and in recent years a figurative approach has occupied her canvases as she investigates, questions and challenges the canon of art history referencing the work of Pablo Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci.

This May, Perrotta is exhibiting in her hometown, Los Angeles, for the first time since moving to Europe five years ago. Her solo show, In A Forgotten Tongue, at Praz Delavallade, signifies a turning point for the artist, harking back to an abstract style whilst continuing her investigation into art historical movements; Baroque, Renaissance and Cubism. Each shape within a canvas, or tapestry work, takes on its own vocabulary, distinguished by color and size. As this is Perrotta’s secret language, we are left with subtle signals and our imaginations to interpret the work.  

In the following interview, the artist explains why she describes her paintings as being similar to lasagna and what she will be researching during her residency this summer at the American Academy Rome. Read more.

Read Our Interview Of Charlotte Edey on the Occasion of Her Solo Exhibition @ Ginny on Frederick in London →

Charlotte Edey is a London-based visual artist who adopts a multidisciplinary practice as a form of personal and political expression. Drawing on a multitude of themes, her work addresses notions of femininity, gender, body politic, and mythology. Edey’s tapestry, embroidery and sculptural pieces are extensions of her drawing practice, and her distinct artistic language focuses heavily on symbolism and the investigation of space. Recognized for their surreal dreamscapes and pastel palette, she employs a recurring water motif that takes inspiration from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” which serves as an investigation of ‘hydrofemininity,’ and the belief that our bodies are fundamentally part of the natural world.  

Edey’s newest body of work, Framework, is currently on view at Ginny on Frederick. In this exhibition, a dialogue between each piece has been created by the artist as she examines various ways to blur the boundary between the real and the represented through the motif of the window and frame. Using these as a point of departure, she explores the notion of transparency to identify and differentiate between interior and exterior, public and private. Her intricately detailed—hand sewn and beaded—tapestry works and larger mirrored pieces are symbolic gateways that gently interrogate interior space, identity, and observation. We spoke on the occasion of Framework’s opening to discuss her development in recent years, as well as her interest in the symbolic interplay between windows, frames, and eyes. Read more.

Leave Your Thoughts On Boobs After The Tone: Read Our Interview of Carly Randall On Her New Short Film "TITS" →

Carly Randall is a visual artist, filmmaker and creative producer. Her work explores issues and themes that specifically impact women in modern society. These include knife crime, online bullying  and filter culture, as seen in her multi-award-winning dance film, FILTERFACE: Double Tap to Like, which examines how social media filter culture affects the mental health of young women. 

In 2022, Carly was awarded a Develop Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England to create a 2-minute-long, educational art film that exposes the language men use to talk about women’s breasts, highlighting the ubiquitously misogynistic and objectifying attitudes. Carly set up a hotline for teenage boys and young men to share their honest opinions on women’s breasts via voicemail. She created posters to promote the hotline, strategically placing them in prime locations around London’s East End Borough of Hackney (sometimes up to 200 a go), and shared with universities, colleges and friends who posted them in city centres nationally to ensure a diverse response that fairly depicts the breadth of the UK. To accompany the voicemails, Carly worked with a casing agent to bring together a selection of women from around the UK to shoot and film their breasts—those which our patriarchal society have deemed “undesirable": too flat, too big, odd nipples…

Carly has created a unique social experiment that creatively dramatizes the disparity between the ‘fantasy’ and the ‘reality’ of women’s breasts as a result of unrealistic representations created by the porn industry, perpetuated across social media and reaffirmed by patriarchal conditioning. I spoke with Carly about her motivations behind the art piece, how Playboy inspired her backdrop for the art film, and her main takeaways from listening to the voicemails. Click here to read more and watch the film.

Wayne McGregor's "Woolf Works" Premieres @ The Royal Opera House in London

shirtless man holding up a woman on a stage with dancers around.

Alessandra Ferri, William Bracewell in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works ©2023 Asya Verzhbinsky

text by Lara Monro


“The book is not form that you see but emotion that you feel”

— Virginia Woolf 

Born in Stockport in 1970, Wayne McGregor CBE completed his dance studies at Breton Hall College at the University of Leeds and the Jose Limon School in New York. His signature experimental style is defined by accelerated speeds and sharply articulated detail paired with an intellectual quality that explores the theatrical possibilities of technology and science. In 1992, he established the dance company Random Dance and was also appointed choreographer in residence at The Place. Over the last decade he has created works for Paris Opera House, New York City Ballet and Teatro Alla Scarla, to name a few.

McGregor’s appointment as The Royal Ballet’s Resident Choreographer in 2006 was considered a radical break from tradition given that his reputation was strongly rooted in contemporary dance. His masterpiece, Woolf Works, is exemplary of his ability to transcend the confines of what ballet should or shouldn’t be. At its premiere in 2015, it was met with outstanding critical acclaim, winning McGregor the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography and the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. 

This March, the Royal Opera House are bringing back the three act performance, which presents a physical manifestation of Virginia Woolf’s complex literary pieces; Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. It is a Gesamtkunstwerk of movement, sound, design and light that are indissolubly linked. Max Richter's score takes us on a transcendental journey, delving into the three distinct universes of Woolf’s works while Lucy Carter’s lighting design and Morizt Jung’s costumes seamlessly complement and translate her rich inner narratives. All the while, McGregor’s choreography carries the musical fingerprint and enforces the fully authentic voice of the author. 

blurry fast moving dancers with one woman in focus, with her back to the camera.

Alessandra Ferri, artists of The Royal Ballet in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works ©2023 Asya Verzhbinsky

Act one delves into Woolf’s famous novel, Mrs. Dalloway, which details a day in the life of the fictional upper-class woman, Clarissa Dalloway. Alessandra Ferri, the 59-year-old Royal Ballet principal, embodies both Woolf and Clarissa while the multi-layered, elusive web of music, I now, I then, begins with a recording of Woolf from 1937 reading her essay “On Craftmanship” before it develops into disparate and melodic strands. Movement and sound offer a stream of consciousness into the past choices and present realities of the book's three main characters: Septimus, Peter, and Sally. This includes a powerful representation of Septimus’s shellshock as a WWI veteran through contorted bodies and jarring movement. 

In act two, classical and contemporary styles clash and collide; bodies shape-shift, becoming one before they break apart. Fractured and flowing they represent the transformative qualities of Orlando; a journey into the main protagonist’s transformation from man to woman, and their ability to time travel over centuries. The stage becomes a sci-fi playground as the universe and dancers continually evolve. Adorned in golden Elizabethan ruffs and androgynous garments, laser beams capture the dancers’ pointe shoes like comets streaking through the air. The musical score, Becomings, mixes the classical with contemporary as Richter meshes La Folia from the 17th century with electronic, analogue modular synthesis, sequencing and digital processing. 

 
woman in sheer clothing being lifted above another performer, surrounded by blurry figures.

Alessandra Ferri, artists of The Royal Ballet in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works ©2023 Asya Verzhbinsky

 

In act three, we move away from the intense and high energy performance of Orlando into the most consciously poetic of Woolf’s works, The Waves. Regarded as her most experimental piece, the novel follows its six narrators from childhood through adulthood with a strong focus on the individual consciousness. Pounding waves occupy a large screen while Gillian Anderson’s voice introduces the act by reading Woolf’s last note to her husband before taking her life in 1941. The poignancy and emotional depths of the final scene are complemented by Richter’s score, Tuesday. The melodic contours build over twenty minutes with a beautifully haunting solo soprano carrying the dancers until they gradually evaporate into darkness. Fassi is left alone. Like a gentle wave meeting the shore, she folds out motionless onto the stage; a subtle yet profound symbol of Woolf’s tragic end and that of the performance. 

Woolf’s words dissolve in McGregor’s gesuntkunstwerk yet still manage to possess their literary wonder. Thanks to the collaborative mastery; the dancers’ unfathomable skill and dramatic performances, the music, lighting, and design — we are able to comprehend the beautifully complex world of Woolf and her works.   

Woolf Works is playing at the Royal Opera House until March 23. Click here to reserve tickets

dancer in mid-air with legs kicking out in a gold costume.

Joseph Sissens in Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works ©2023 Asya Verzhbinsky

Lara Monro Interviews Choreographer Holly Blakey In Anticipation of the Premiere of Cowpuncher My Ass →

Photo of four dancers dancing in unison in front of large windows

Photograph by Max Barnett

Born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Holly Blakey found contemporary dance as a teenager. After she was rejected by a number of well-known dance schools, she attended University of Roehampton where teaching dance was the only option. What was initially a devastating and painful life transition turned out to be a profound moment for Blakey, leading to a fruitful career as a choreographer. Free from the confines of institutional models and languages of dance, she created her own — one that advocates drama and our lived experiences. 

Honesty, intimacy, and a sense of community feed into her work, as does her fascination with music, film, and TV. Her ability to emulate pop culture has led Blakey to traverse multiple creative industries such as directing music videos for musicians who include Florence Welch and Coldplay. She also had a longstanding collaboration with the late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, whose widower Andreas Kronthaler, has designed the costumes for the return of her performance of Cowpuncher My Ass. This Wild West dance show, scored by Mica Levi, takes the notion of the hyper masculine, yet camp cowboy, as a starting point to explore the archetypes of masculinity through non-linear perspectives.  

Cowpuncher My Ass will be playing at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Wednesday 15 February at 7:30 pm. 

Autre’s London editor at large, Lara Monro, spoke with Blakey in between rehearsals to discuss how the performance challenges what might be deemed acceptable in choreography and much more. Read more.

Read Our Interview of Heather Agyepong on the Eve of the Centre for British Photography's Inaugural Exhibition →

 
Photograph by Heather Agyepong depicting woman in dress.

The Body Remembers, Le Cake-Walk, Wish You Were Here, 2020 © Heather Agyepong

 

On Thursday 26 January The Centre for British Photography will open for the first time. Founded by the gallerist and philanthropist, James Hyman, the charitable organization will present free, self-generated exhibitions as well as those led by independent curators and organizations championing the work of British photographers. 

Hyman explains: “We hope that through this initial showcase to make a home for British photography we can, in the long run, develop an independent centre that is self-sustaining with a dedicated National Collection and public program.”

There will be two leading exhibitions, organized in partnership with Fast Forward Photography. Headstrong: Women and Empowerment celebrates photographers based in Britain who have made work concerned with how they are represented, what they are dealing with in their everyday lives and what it means to embrace diversities that challenge the conservative order of a patriarchal society. And, Images of the English at Home takes the viewer on a journey from the street, up the front steps, and into the private spaces of the living room, kitchen and bedroom before sending them out into the back garden. 

Alongside the exhibitions, The Centre will spotlight five British photographers as part of an In Focus display; Natasha Caruana, Jo Spence, Andrew Bruce, Anna Fox and Heather Agyepong. 

Autre’s London editor-at-large, Lara Monro, spoke with the multidisciplinary artist, Heather Agyepong, to discuss her body of work, Wish You Were Here. Commissioned by The Hyman Collection in 2019, the series explores the work of Aida Overton Walker, the celebrated African American vaudeville performer who challenged the rigid and problematic narratives of Black performers. Read more.

William Basinski Live @ The Barbican In London

text by Lara Monro
photographs by Jose Ramon Caamano

On Thursday 9th of June in London, Baba Yaga's Hut showcased the American avante-garde composer William Basinski at The Barbican. Known for his obsession with reel-to-reel tape decks, loops and delay, Basinski has released a multitude of ambient and experimental works to great acclaim since the late ‘90s.  

Taking centre stage in a sparkly suit jacket and shoes, with hair tied back and framed by aviators, Basinski readied himself for a solo performance of his 2020 album Lamentations. Ambient waves of sound washed over the listening audience. The piece evoked tension and sorrow through drones, orchestral symphonies and the voice of a female operatic. William became an extension of his equipment with robotic glitchy movements - a welcomed addition to his overall performance.

The lighting show intensified the beautifully harrowing atmosphere - bright whites progressed to deep reds as the sounds unravelled. Unfortunately, a percentage of the audience felt the need to capture the performance, but didn’t think to turn off the flash of their camera phones, or worse didn’t care. The momentary brightness set against the darkly atmospheric room, for want of a better phrase, ruined the vibe.

Lamentations was captured and constructed from tape loops of Basinski’s archives dating back to 1979. There is no clear beginning or end, almost as if suspended in a deprivation tank. Those who attended having never listened to Lamentations or knowing the concept behind it may have been sitting in their seats perplexed and uncomfortable. It felt like the kind of performance piece that left half the crowd in awe and the other half wondering whether they could get the last hour of their lives back. 

Robert Ames conduscts the London Contemporary Orchestra under blue and green lighting.

The second performance was an orchestral arrangement of Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops 1.1 and 3 by the London Contemporary Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ames. The Disintegration Loops was born from disintegrating tape loops as they passed over a tape head – the unexpected result of transferring early recordings to a digital format. The orchestra played with dexterity and softness, using subtle nuances of slowing tempo and quietening sound, reflecting the inevitability of decay. The minimal use of individual instruments left a lot of space for the music to breathe. Impeccable timing was needed from all musicians to ensure the loops had cohesion. The performance was melancholic - again I felt it might have split the audience, either submitting the viewer into a dreamy trance state or a deep slumber. 

It’s not out of the ordinary to overlook the complexity of Basinski’s music. But, thanks to the sonic brilliance of The Barbican Hall, the sound was effortlessly projected alongside the classy and conceptual lighting, all of which elevated the performance pieces. 

Special thanks to Marlon Clark for his contribution to the piece.

Spotlights shine from behind Basinski into the crowd in the dark auditorium in front of him.

Shrinking Away To Nothingness: A Review Of Francis Bacon's Man And Beast @ The Royal Academy Of Arts

 

Francis Bacon, Head VI, 1949
Oil on canvas, 91.4 x 76.2 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2021. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

 

The Royal Academy presents Francis Bacon: Man and Beast, an impressive showcase of the Northern Irish artist. It reveals his unquestionable skill and craftsmanship as well as the infinitely dark depths of his imagination. 

Banished at sixteen from his Catholic family in 1926 for being openly gay, Bacon left Ireland for Berlin, then Paris until landing in London in 1929 to establish himself as an acclaimed artist. Exempt from military service in 1939 because of his asthma, Bacon spent time in London and Hampshire, surrounding himself with artists that included Lucian Freud. 

Walking through Man and Beast makes you ponder the shifting tides of post-war England and how it inspired individuals such as Joe Orton, the Kray Twins, Philip Larkin, and Bacon himself. Similar to Edvard Munch's Scream, Bacon’s work prompts an unsettling effect of synesthesia. Perhaps this is no surprise for an artist who strove to render the “brutality of fact.”

Profound and moving, his figurative works focus on the human form; crucifixions, self-portraits, and portraits of friends. Faces appear as if covered with nylon stockings, or cut away to expose the tendon and bone beneath; figures are reduced to a tiny space on the canvas, suggestive of being tortured in a shell, or shrinking away to nothingness.  

Many of these images accompany the show's exploration into his unerring fascination with animals. Be it chimpanzees, bulls, dogs, or birds of prey, Bacon felt he could get closer to understanding the true nature of humankind by watching the uninhibited behavior of animals. We see carnality, appetite and decay, raw expression of anxiety and instinct through his anthropomorphic forms. From his Picasso influenced bio-morphs from the ‘30s, male heads isolated in rooms, or geometric structures in the ‘40s to animals and lone figures in the late ‘50s, Man and Beast highlights his existential approach to painting and why he presented his unique human forms the way that he did. Francis Bacon: Man and Beast is on view through April 17 @ The Royal Academy of Arts. Text by Lara Monro

 
 

Read Our Interview Of Agnes? Following Her Transition Cum Durational Performance @ Belsize Park In London →

Octosapiens 14.jpg

Agnes? has made waves in London with her most recent exhibition, Transgenesis. Spending twenty-three consecutive days in the abandoned Belsize Park leisure centre, performing for eight hours straight, Agnes? has welcomed visitors to watch in awe as we see her transform into a larger-than-life, human-octopus creature, a form that symbolizes both life and death. Transgenesis, meaning one or more DNA sequences from another species being introduced by artificial means, is explored by Agnes? through her experience of transitioning from male to female. Since beginning her transition, Agnes? has explored the symbolic connotations behind water and its relationship to her experiences of ‘mutating’ from one being to another, using the liquid to wash down her hormone drugs, an action that is simultaneously transformative and destructive all in one swallow. Read more.

Read Our Interview Of Film Director Fiona Jane Burgess →

Fiona Jane Burgess, UK-based film director specializing in music videos, commercials, documentaries and fashion films, owes much of her career success to experiencing a number of challenges. Burgess found herself having to rethink her career path at 28, a time when she was also facing the realities of motherhood and the breakup of her band, Woman’s Hour. Fortunately, her natural flare as a director, which she exercised when shooting her own music videos, determined her career segue into film direction. Since delving into the film industry, Burgess has worked on diverse campaigns that span music videos, personal projects, working with the UK’s No.1 Baby Feeding brand, Tommee Tippee and some of fashion’s most recognised names, including Gucci and Burberry. Read more.