Art // JORDAN EAGLES Blood Work

"It must of necessity be concluded that the blood is driven into a round by a circular motion in living creatures, and that it moves perpetually..."  William Harvey (1578 - 1657) from  On the Motion of the Heart and Blood

It would have been impossible to anticipate the full effect of seeing a sheet of blood, preserved in plexiglass and resin. In the same way that Kubrick confronts us with our own gaping mortality in the climax of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the sheer vastness of all time and space, Eagles' work is an equal if more internal confrontation with life and death. He creates an arresting representation of our vital fluid, our life force: here it is before us, captured, glorified, decimated.

In BLOOD DUST 4 the volume of blood caught in resin is so great that all we can see is a smooth, black surface seemingly absorbing all the light that strikes it. It is only on closer inspection that the familiar crimson gives itself up to us, lost in the blackness shimmering like crushed velvet, the deep red of life, a richness only to be glimpsed.

My favorite three pieces, ROZE 18, 17  & 14 are displayed as a tryptic, each standing large at roughly 1mx2m. 

ROZE 18 made of blood, gauze, plexiglass and UV resin, has an extraordinary color range from black to brilliant ruby. The fluid mosaic pattern has a strong sense of organic creation, of living tissues, the shifting arrangement of life. 

ROZE 17 almost a negative version of 18 has the addition of blood dust (fine, potentially decomposed matter). The focus of 17 is the delicate trajectory of the gauze, vein like, cappilary, always an imperfect symmetry, the freely constructed grid of life. Streams and rivulets patterning the gauze, trapped in motion in the resin. The blood dust gives this pieces a less bold tone, brown creeps in, the whole is rust tinted.

We move with this rust closer to the brilliant, religious gold of the thick copper streams that course through ROZE 14, the only of the three to feature copper in it's construction. It is regal, hypnotic, awe-inspiring. The blood is thick and black once more, in sharp and excellent contrast to the golden pathways, the opposition is exquisite, precious.

As you step away from ROZE 14, the distance merges the streams, creating a greater sense of the gauze as a material, and here before us, an opulent blood-tapestry.

The continuation of this exhibition explored blood as death and ending. BARC20X20-1, LIFE FORCE 2011-1 and LFV are all constructions of burnt blood. A terrible ensnaring of our own frailty and mortality, what was so strong and resplendent is now decimated. These thin layers of blood are set in larger casing, allowing the light to filter through the entire, part scorched, layers showcasing it's, and subsequently our, fragile nature. 

Natural order has ceased. Haphazard chaos rules.

How angry the hot blood death.


- Kate

-------------------------------------------

'Blood Work' is showing at the Mütter Museum, Philadelphia until  March 31, 2014
http://www.jordaneagles.com/
http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/exhibitions/

Notes from the Mütter Museum on Eagles' methods: 

"Through his self-invented process, Eagles encases the materials in plexiglass and UV resin and manipulates the texture, quality , and colour of blood. Eagles heats, dries, burns and pulverises the blood [...]. The resulting works preserve the blood - notoriously difficult to achieve [...]. Eagles has been creating multidimensional works with animal blood procured from slaughter houses for over a decade."

LOVED THIS TOO MUCH! Any one else in for 'bio-art'? x

Style + Stage // The Curious Incident ...

Metallic Skirt - ASOS Old // Dress - Mirabela Dress Missguided 

Styling: Kate Maxwell // Photography & Direction: Ellie Rogers

A very simple outfit post inspired by the stage show THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME, playing at the Apollo in London.

Th show used a brilliant 'black box' as a framework for the staging, creating an environment where the action played out over the walls as well as on the stage itself. 

A dazzling use of lightning and sound created an utterly immersive world, where we share in Christopher's autism. 

The outfit is inspired by this use of a black structure to stress a bright and shifting subject, on stage this is Christopher's world, and here the foil skirt (one of my all time favorite items).

Has any one else seen the show? How does it compare to the book?

Music // 2013 ROUND UP // Loved LPs

(I've started a page on facebook, come and 'like' it if you'd enjoy notifications about new posts!)

My 5 favorite albums released in 2013

Selection based on:

How often & intensely I listened to them
How much they open my musical horizons

1. The 20/20 Experience - Justin Timberlake: A beautiful journey about love, from the tingling thrill of a lusting chase, to the dark sexually charged songs in the center of the album to the grand finally of deep sacrificial love, unity and wholeness with Mirrors and Blue Ocean Floor (a song a wrote about earlier this year as a PICK 6 love song). Musically this album shifts from classic round shallow pop sounds to blues, focusing all the while on captivating vocal harmonies.
2. Yeezus – Kanye West: All Songs Considered's end of year discussion makes some great points about this album, namely, Kanye is a hugely dislike-able figure, but his music, despite him, is very powerfully constructed. He is hugely polarising, but this album was hands down one of my most enjoyed, dark, aggressive and tribal. (Read more here at #8). 
3. Silence Yourself – Savages: A tremendously earnest album, angry female post punk excellence, I wrote about their presence and sound here earlier this year. Have a peek!
4. Amok – Atoms for Peace:  Is it just me that's surprise this isn't on any major music blog's round up!? I loved this poetic, calculated, cold and echoing album. It completely resonates with a layered monochromatic sound. Beautiful.
5. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels : Sweet Mother. This album completely rocks my socks, I can't even deal with it. This is the album that open my eyes to the sheer delights of hip-hop. If you don't move to this, go see your doctor, you're probably dead. Witty, intelligent with killer base and even catchier beats. Listen to my favorite track here with an outfit I styled, inspired by it.

Other albums of note!

• Anxiety – Autre Ne Veut
• Pokey La Farge - Pokey La Farge
• The Eulogy - Cakes Da Killa (read here at #2)
• Dangerous Intentions - Patterns
• Hit Vibes - Saint Pepsi (read here at #2)

I feel like it's a strange list and there is so much I haven't listened to it's overwhelming! Your thoughts on 2013's new releases? What did you rate the most?

Film // ROUND UP 2013

A year in Film: The Good, The Excellent, The Wishlist...

The Good

Solid films. I liked their aesthetics, they were made in good taste, but in terms of story telling, of structure or character, they did not find their mark. 

Ain't Them Bodies showed so much promise but was emotionally under-developed, the characters feeling so close to whole, perhaps a lot was lost on the cutting room floor. Also Ben Foster is a goddamn delight. (Oh and check out the style post here!)

The Place Beyond The Pines arguably had some of this year's most spine-tingling cinematic moments, but ultimately was consumed by it's own over-powering ambition.

Silence found one beautiful, calming, pensive, introspective emotional note but never reached beyond.

Frances Ha was very enjoyable and has real emotional value for the magic 20-something bracket, but it's self awareness kept it in the realm of parable instead of human drama. (Although this is not necessarily a problem.)

The Excellent

The Act of Killing // Leviathan // Spring Breakers // Star Trek Into Darkness (holyquinto)

The Act of Killing left me speechless and retching. Not only is this excellent, challenging filmmaking, it has such a crucial cultural and historical resonance. It should be compulsory viewing. We are all capable of the act of killing. This film is our own confrontation with the monsters that are sleeping in all of us. Of the horrors we can enact. And the importance of our guilt, shame and knowledge of this.

Leviathan also had me retching. This intense epic is unlike anything I have seen.The best outline I can give: an experimental documentary film about trawler fishing that creates a palpable sensory experience of life at sea. It's disgusting, terrifying and mystical.

Spring Breakers was another hypnotic number. A sickly neon fairy tale, it's dreamlike nature, unreal plot and alien color palette was trance-like and transporting.

Star Trek Into Darkness... Fast, funny, inventive, never taking itself too seriously but always having a lot at stake, this was blood-pumping science-fiction. The end credits featuring the original overture was outright boner inducing. Proper space adventure.

The Wishlist

Here are some films I missed but am SUPER KEEN to see:

• Mud
• Blue Jasmine
• Before Midnight (hell I need to catch the whole series)
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Blackfish
• 12 Years a Slave
• Blue is the Warmest Colour
• Only God Forgives
• American Hustle
• Epic of Everest (restored footage from the 1920s climb of Everest, premiered at the LFF earlier this year)
• The Great Beauty
• The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
• The Selfish Giant
• Wadjda

The list, as always, goes on. But that's the bulk of it!

[As a side note I saw  Bling Ring and A Field in England, so you don't have to. Oh. My. Lord.]

So! Who saw what!? Thoughts? Feelings? 

2014 - COME AT ME BRO

Stage // 2013 ROUND UP

To begin my 2013 ROUND UPS: lightning reviews of (almost) everything I saw on stage this year, from Stage-Bergs (that left me cold) to some simply breath-taking plays. Have a butchers.

Stage-Bergs "Just... Why..."

Chimerica (West End Theatre)

Confused and erratic, this play did not know what it was. Romance? Political drama? Supernatural thriller? It was flawed at a fundamental story level, based on the idea of writing the ‘back story’ to the famous TANK MAN photograph.

Singin' in the Rain ( West End Theatre)

Unfortunately I found this to be a shallow, money making exercise. It lacked any sense of chemistry between the three leads. It preferred to be a hollow, lifeless carbon copy of a classic than attempt any sense of reinvention.

The Middle Zone "I like it, but..."

Max & Ivan's The Reunion (Narrative Sketch Fringe Comedy)
It featured their characteristic multi-character, meta gag, break neck pace, however the banal setting and set-up removed the epic scale that made their previous shows stand out.

The Drowned Man: Punchdrunk Theatre (Immersive 'site specific' Theatre)
"‘The Drowned Man’ is like watching a blue whale glide by an inch from your face, simply too big to take in. As pure spectacle, Punchdrunk are now operating on a level that makes criticism basically redundant. But in terms of straight-up theatre, they have made better." - Andrzej Lukowski [I love this review]

Indeed, The Drowned Man was a hugely impressive combination of immaculate attention to detail in an immeasurably vast set, but an almost incomprehensible, fragmented narrative. A shame.

Jane Eyre by the Shanghai Ballet 

The narrative told from Bertha (the mad wife)'s perspective, gave the story a new angle, one of heart breaking infidelity. The bold and surreal finale saw the three protagonists strip to nude body suits and sit intertwined in center stage, a message that this love story is intrinsically triangular. Unfortunately the music was a jarring collage of famous classical pieces that cheated the whole of it's own complete world.

The Golden Brush by the Hungarian National Ballet 
The choreography was delightful, the point work sharp and precise. The narrative was almost impossible to discern, the protagonist appearing to have sex with most of the female cast until he became blind...? In the third act the stage was overrun by crazed nuns, followed by two roman soldiers who lift our protagonist onto a plinth and crown him with thorns... Entertaining if bemusing.

Just great "I have no words"

Henry V (West End Theatre) [DRESS REHEARSAL]
This was great. Although Law seemed unsure what to do with his hands for Act 1, this production was hugely entertaining, from slapstick comedy to epic battle. The set was inventive and clever, from the billowing smoke of the siege to the starry sky of the encampment, we are captivated. It really makes me regret not seeing any other performance of this showstopping season by the Michael Grandage Company. A longer review will be up soon with an outfit inspired by the play.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (The National Theatre on the West End)
If the roof hadn't caved in I would start by DEMANDING that you buy tickets now. What an utterly mesmerising show. The ingenious use of lighting within a cubed stage space gave this show a 4 dimensional feel. Funny, gripping and magical, this is the best kind of West End show. Outfit post here!

The Low Road (Royal Court)
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. A fantastic three hour epic about the birth of capitalism set in America in the late 1700s. Razor sharp wit, poignant satire and a brilliant surreal finale involving space bees. Thank you Bruce Norris. This rocked my socks.

Pope Joan (National Youth Theatre)
Sophie Crawford was captivating as Pope Joan/John and while not all of the acting was of the same standard, the powerful setting of St James Church on Piccadilly more than compensated (this was truly intelligent site-specific theatre). The climactic murdering of Joan was shocking and brutal, and the issues of sexism in our society felt incredibly, uncomfortably relevant.

And there is it! Fantastic :)

Cheers to all the theatre-going buddies, thank you for enduring my ticket-buying-coercion, more of that in 2014 I assure you.

To come... Films & Music...

 

BEAUTY // Lime Crime 'Great Pink Planet'

Super pale blue-tinted pink with a light candy-pop, this lipstick has an ultra creamy texture.

Although it's very creamy, I find this doesn't lead to an even coat. However, I applied direct from the tube (with no brush) and did not use primer, both of which might lead to smoother results!

As an opaque lipstick, the finish is essentially matte but with a strong shine.

It wears really well. Although it only lasts a few hours before needing a top up, it fades completely evenly, which is important in such a candid shade.

The pigment is very crisp, very light, very pale, adventurous and delicate, it gives a reverse-gothic finish. 

It's a great shade to use as a mixer with other lipsticks to create a more pastel pigment.

Have a look at Leanne Lim Walker's review of Airborn Unicorn (the infamous purple that took the bloggosphere by storm) and Red Velvet.

Aside from the lipstick, I'm wearing my Daily Get Together make up in these photos.

Is any one else interested in out-of-the box pigments?! Send 'em my way!

Film // LA NOTTE (1961)

Il Deserto Roso (The Red Desert) by Antonioni, is a long, quiet, alien film. It's characters guarded & broken.

It is cryptic.

But then, at it's climactic point, the protagonist voices with total simplicity and clarity exactly what she is feeling. It took my breath away, this moment of understanding, in the space of ten words, the whole film pulled together and the effect was devastating.

La Notte, a beautiful, black and white, melancholy passage through one day and one night, strikes the same chord in this same brilliant, moving manner.

During the day the landscape is industrial, urban, unforgiving and ugly. At night they attend a party, the scene is lavish and extravagant.

The story is episodic: a visit to a dying friend, a seduction by a deranged inmate, watching boys set off rockets in the fields, a night club.

It is a life-like narrative. Haphazard incidents culminating within us to shape our decisions, emotions and self-perception.

The characters are like islands. Each isolated. Communication has broken down.

Until the final scene. As dawn rises and we lie in the sand bank of a golf course. As two lovers discover the fatal truth. Expressed once more, in total clarity.

It is beautiful. it hurts.

La Notte is an absolute bruiser, captivating throughout every cryptic scene.

Watch it :)