Phrenology

Phrenology for you and your loved ones. 

The First Bad Man

The first novel by artist/filmmaker Miranda July entitled 'The First Bad Man' is un-put-downable. It's told from the first person perspective, narrated by the central character 'Cheryl'.
Cheryl works for a woman’s self-defense company that promotes feminine self-­empowerment. But she’s a psychological punch bag.
You can't help but ask "but why does she let him/ her/ them do that to her?"
Having said that, the book is warm, funny and compelling. I recommend it for it's sharp combination of dark/macabre and everyday weirdness.

Crimson Peak

Stylish and extreme sets, amazing costumes and SFX. Sound very evocative. A fairy tale - but without the juxtapositions of harsh reality that worked so well in Pans Labyrinth & the Devil's Backbone. Still, it was enjoyable - especially if you're not worried by the lack of sophistication in the story.

Quiet, please

Silence is a greatly underestimated source of power. In silence, we can hear not only what is being said, but also what is not being said. In silence, it can be easier to reach the truth.

A few more words about words...

Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss horticulture.
Jean Cocteau

A word about words

What can be shown cannot be said.

—Ludwig Wittgenstein

A word about art school training

Go out and measure puddles and not know why you’re doing it. 

Beat a sheet of metal into a dome because it feels good and is really noisy. 

Pick just one image from 300,000 and wonder why you chose it. 

Pay attention to your curiosity. It matters.

Quote borrowed from http://www.thedoublenegative.co.uk/

 

Quote of the month/year/decade

Robert Storr -
"I’m puzzled by radicals, men and women, with a stubbornly materialist point of view who decry the commodification of culture as if this were a recent development of 'late capitalism.' As if art was once an economic virgin. We’re not in late capitalism. We’re in late socialism. I don’t celebrate this, I just note it. Art was never pure."

Details from 'Comfort of Strangers' installation

Detail from 'Comfort of Strangers' installation © Kim L Pace

Detail from 'Comfort of Strangers' installation © Kim L Pace

The Artist as Collector

Artists collect things that inspire, fascinate or bewitch them. The Barbican exhibition 'Magnificent Obsessions' has chosen the most obvious artists possible (more or less) to propose the importance of the artist as collector...
The exhibition and book 'Deep Storage' by Ingrid Schaffner & Matthias Winzen has clearly been an important reference point for the curator of the Barbican show.
 'Deep Storage' (1998) looked at collecting, archiving and storage in artists' practice - as a contemporary artistic strategy. The process of storing is always one of mirroring and self-evaluation. Whether that self be a cultural body - like a museum or other public collection or a squirrel-ish individual, or Citizen Kane, ‘you are what you keep.’

Here's some images from the Magnificent Obsessions show:

The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent

'The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent' is a series of over 40 watercolour/mixed media drawings, a selection shown below:

'The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent' © Kim L Pace

'The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent' © Kim L Pace

'The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent' © Kim L Pace

Mannequin fans: From Her Wooden Sleep & Silent Partners

Canadian artist-curator, Ydessa Hendeles has composed a tableau vivant from a collection of 150 wooden artists’ mannequins, which is currently on view at the ICA. The collection has been assembled by Hendeles over twenty years, and the mannequins range from 1520 to 1930, and in scale from palm-size to life-size.

Blurring the line between collector, curator and artist, Ydessa Hendeles has created a palpable atmosphere with the mannequins - or is it just the uncanny sensation of 150 wooden bodies in a room?! An interesting comparative exhibition was the 'Silent Partners' show at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge earlier this year, view the excellent resources on their website: www.silentpartners.org.uk