“For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed.” Blaise Pascal, Pensées #72
I’m a little fascinated by these young women and their discipline which was termed “aesthetic gymnastics”. The play between the objects and their perfectly trained bodies and the judging system feels a bit like a beauty pageant perverted.
Semâ Bekirovic, Event Horizon, 2010
I didn’t know about this artist before. I wasn’t even planning a visit to The Hayward. It was one of those days when you just stumble across something really worth finding. Semâ Bekirovic often plays with chance in her work so it feels rather apt that I found her in this way.
I loved the paint videos, Stuff (2010), where objects sink into invisibility as they became immersed in white paint; it was lovely to watch them disappear, eventually and without a trace. These videos made me think about existence and form, where something exists and then it doesn't because its body disappears, what trace does it leave? Does something still exist just because it is no longer visable? What is its legacy? It's the only thing that disturbs me about death, that your body is still there even though 'you' aren't. When I go I want to dissapear, POOF! I don't want my body to succeed my being, I don't want to leave a trace, I want to evaporate back into the ether, to return to my source, but immediately, I don't want to decay. If possible at that moment i'd like all memories, any images. of me to be gone too, removed from the minds of others. To come into being and then out again.
And then there’s Event Horizon, a dot on the landscape walks closer and closer to you until it blots out all light. It made me a laugh and also made me choke on my laughter. There was warmth there, I guess because as the dot became closer you found it had legs which humanised the image but then when it covered all vision so all that’s left was black and you felt the darkness – it sort of made me go cold, again from form to nothingness. All a bit Blaise Pascal really. So, if you can take a visit to the Hayward Project Space before 25 July 2011.
“I know what women want,” and what do they want? “they want to be beautiful”.
Storyville, Valentino, The Last Emperor, 2010-11
Deleuze on his idea of what love might be: “…compositions of relations with one another … And this type of flexibility or of rythm which occurs when you present your body, and from that time your soul also, you present your soul or your body, under the relation that is composed directly with the relation of the other. You truly feel that this is a strange happiness.” I guess one could say the same for an encounter with an artwork that matters to you.
This is genius! Mark Wallinger’s political poster for the Guardian today. Too bloody right, Cameron is a joke or possibly a psychopath given half the chance. He must not get in. Here’s what Wallinger says: "I hope people look at this and see that there are real choices. I’m sick of people saying, 'Oh, they’re all the same.' They’re not, and it’s up to us to see the differences."
Oh God. Check Let's Paint TV, It’s so brilliant and will make you laugh. This idea of Multi Tasking is Oriana’s thing right now. Check Mr Paint TV and Her work out together in LA while cooking and playing badminton. If only day time tv was more like this.
Sissel Tolaas: Life is Everywhere “I collected smells instead of writing a diary.”
I found these publishers at Publish and be Damned last year, I bought a couple of their editions and thought the design, concept and content was really sophisticated. They concentrate on one artist per season and work intimately with that person. Here’s their latest with Sissel Tolaas, a Norwegian scientist and artist who has dedicated her life and work to the world of smells. Each page has a different scent, but not anything flowery, we’re talking ‘difficult smells’…(?). I think they’re great. Find them here.