Afternoon (Exhibitions)
'Restless' - Samstag Museum
After recently viewing the works of Teresa Margolles at the AEAF, which is part of the 'Restless' exhibition, it seemed only fitting that the Samstag Art Museum was next on the list. Margolles work 127 cuerpos / 127 bodies was a fascinating and very moving piece of which I was hoping to find the other artists as interesting. I definitely was not disappointed.
Francis Alys - Gringo, 2003 in collaboration with Rafael Ortega
Video documentation of an action, sound 5mins
To produce this work, Alys intentionally sought a location where there were a suitable amount and variety of dogs on the street to enable him to recreate an incident where he had been attacked by a group of dogs and he used his camera as a tool to ward them off. Watching the short five minute film left me feeling anxious and clearly uncomfortable as would anyone who has experienced anything of this nature. Although, one does have to wonder if he provoked the dogs on this particular occassion, he certainly fulfilled the intention of making the viewer 'restless'.
Lisa Reihana - PELT: Aquila, Camarillo, Sabino, Pilosus, 2010
Series of four digital prints on Hahnemuller 305gsm paper 160 x160cm each
Reihana is of a Maori background and all of her works have a significant reference to her cultural roots and history. The feathers used in her works Camarillo and Sabino boast a white feathered bustle which refer to a ceremonial past and the works Pilosus and Aquila wear a garment made from monkey fur. The titles of the works refer to horse, monkey and eagle, whilst the actual series title PELT make reference to the skin of an animal, which in this series is worn as a kind of adornment or second skin and in stark contrast to the flawless alabaster naked flesh of the models. These images are disturbingly beautiful, voyueristic, mysterious and undoubtedly capture your attention.
'Restless' - Samstag Museum
After recently viewing the works of Teresa Margolles at the AEAF, which is part of the 'Restless' exhibition, it seemed only fitting that the Samstag Art Museum was next on the list. Margolles work 127 cuerpos / 127 bodies was a fascinating and very moving piece of which I was hoping to find the other artists as interesting. I definitely was not disappointed.
Francis Alys - Gringo, 2003 in collaboration with Rafael Ortega
Video documentation of an action, sound 5mins
To produce this work, Alys intentionally sought a location where there were a suitable amount and variety of dogs on the street to enable him to recreate an incident where he had been attacked by a group of dogs and he used his camera as a tool to ward them off. Watching the short five minute film left me feeling anxious and clearly uncomfortable as would anyone who has experienced anything of this nature. Although, one does have to wonder if he provoked the dogs on this particular occassion, he certainly fulfilled the intention of making the viewer 'restless'.
Lisa Reihana - PELT: Aquila, Camarillo, Sabino, Pilosus, 2010
Series of four digital prints on Hahnemuller 305gsm paper 160 x160cm each
Reihana is of a Maori background and all of her works have a significant reference to her cultural roots and history. The feathers used in her works Camarillo and Sabino boast a white feathered bustle which refer to a ceremonial past and the works Pilosus and Aquila wear a garment made from monkey fur. The titles of the works refer to horse, monkey and eagle, whilst the actual series title PELT make reference to the skin of an animal, which in this series is worn as a kind of adornment or second skin and in stark contrast to the flawless alabaster naked flesh of the models. These images are disturbingly beautiful, voyueristic, mysterious and undoubtedly capture your attention.
Low Light and Trick Mirrors - This exhibition has been inspired by the use of the premise of the 'ready-made' and the idea of consumerism encouraged by mass media such as comic strips, magazines, the daily newspaper and billboards, along with the accumulation of mass produced objects. The interest is in what appears to be corrupted, derelict, discarded and superficial.
Mechamillenium - This was an interesting exhibition where the works embrace the Mechanaquest traditions of combining the raw elements -fire, water, earth and air in the images, along with components of machinery and technology giving an impression of a post-industrial aesthetic. The works are built upon the concepts of ancient poetry, precision, clockworks, modern time-pieces and the impact of independence. Each single frame is a conjoined piece of the bigger puzzle and as a whole represent the picture in its entirety before our lives divide, disintegrate and shatter. This exhibition brings all the pieces back together in order to reveal the entirety of our union and bridging the gateways of communication towards our ultimate rebirth, regardless of our chaotic modern lives. The results are dynamic, vibrant and executed with brilliant colour that is balanced with an undeniable earthiness. Brilliant.
PERFORMANCES
Harpurs Bizarre - Even though I have already seen a couple of shows, the first show that Beck and I attended together was a show called Harpur's Bizarre and it was just as it professed... bizarre. The write-up boasts of the 29 year old comedian - Sarah Harpur's award winning, one woman show that has been performed around the world as being a 'delightfully macabre comedy'. It also came with a WARNING: "Audience members are expected to willingly suspend their disbelief." And suspend our disbelief we did...for the most part Beck and I both looked like a 'dear caught in the headlights of on coming traffic' and I seriously felt as though I had entered the 'twilight zone'...it was very strange indeed. Harpur came across as somewhat scatty, bursting with nervous energy. The performance felt awkward and for the most part all I could manager was a forced smile. What was even more puzzling was that there was a handful of audience members who laughed openly at regular intervals, while we sat there in stunned silence....making it even more surreal. Beck seemed to think that maybe Harpur had not performed in front of a live audience before, but apparently this was not the case.
The only real point of interest for me, was the use of a pre-recorded video installation which accompanied Harpur's performance and with which she interacted throughout the show.
Juliet Meyers is a dynamo in her one woman self-titled show. This performance was in complete contrast to the previous performance and she comes across as a truely well-seasoned performer with her conversational style of humour. Her approach was easy, relaxed and an absolute pleasure to watch. In fact at one point I could not stop laughing and Meyers was not ruffled at all, she just included our interaction within her show. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Anna Lumb was another fascinating performer starring in her one woman show called I heart Jack. The cabaret show was interesting combination of jazz, dance, circus style tricks, roller-skating, hula hoop spinning and video performance all accompanied by a live electric double bass. It was a clever and artistic performance and Lumb was nothing less than entertaing. As a performer she was exceptionally expressive and gives 'great face' although because of the nature of the perfermance some less seasoned theatre goers may be left a little confused at the conclusion of the show.
Juliet Meyers is a dynamo in her one woman self-titled show. This performance was in complete contrast to the previous performance and she comes across as a truely well-seasoned performer with her conversational style of humour. Her approach was easy, relaxed and an absolute pleasure to watch. In fact at one point I could not stop laughing and Meyers was not ruffled at all, she just included our interaction within her show. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Anna Lumb was another fascinating performer starring in her one woman show called I heart Jack. The cabaret show was interesting combination of jazz, dance, circus style tricks, roller-skating, hula hoop spinning and video performance all accompanied by a live electric double bass. It was a clever and artistic performance and Lumb was nothing less than entertaing. As a performer she was exceptionally expressive and gives 'great face' although because of the nature of the perfermance some less seasoned theatre goers may be left a little confused at the conclusion of the show.
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