Abduction/Consumption.

A photo I took a few years ago of some friends of mine being drawn towards the mothership of consumption.

Lips

“O love, O fire! once he drew
With one long kiss my whole soul through
My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

 

 

 

All photos by Miles Aldridge, check out some of his saturated, hyper-real work on his website : http://www.milesaldridge.com/

Fierce Warriors

Some cheap little Chinese clay masks I bought second hand, I suspect they are just airport tourist tat, but their fierce expressions and lush beards lend them a striking appeal. I absolutely love masks (or any depiction of the human form really). There is something very rich about the disguise, the distortion and the materials combining to reflect cultural origins, myths and ideas. I am quite an avid collector of masks, more will follow these dramatic warriors I'm sure...

Psychedelic Scarves

 Some designs I am planning on getting printed onto silk,  would be lovely to see the patterns floating and fluttering around someone in real life. Created by arraying images on Photoshop.

 

Made from images of a chimpanzee brain from a 19th Century natural history book.

From an image of a bird of paradise from a 19th Century natural history book.

 From a drawing I did when I was 8 (I loved drawing rainbow everything, gay tripper from birth?)

From an image of a turtle skeleton from a 19th Century natural history book.

Interview with a Damian Hirst Shark

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is the somewhat daunting name of the conceptual artwork I am about to meet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. British shock artist Damian Hirst is infamous for his bizarre works which include a multimillion dollar diamond encrusted platinum skull with human teeth, a large glass tank filled with maggots consuming a cows head, and a walk in pharmacy lined with bottles of pills. His works often deal with broad concepts such as mortality, biological balance and the human condition. The work I am to interview consists of essentially two objects; a formaldehyde filled tank, and a preserved tiger shark encased within.

The first sight of this creature is quite an intense experience. I approach the tank cautiously, and in front of me tiny wide set eyes stare back, above an enormous gaping mouth lined with multiple layers of jagged teeth. Despite the entire creature lying paralyzed under cold blue light, its enormous body triggers an instinctual fight-or-flight reaction in me, which I barely manage to suppress as I force myself to continue towards it. With its fins splayed at odd angles it looks as if it is swiftly carving through the water towards one. This doesn’t look like something which responds to the phony social niceties of human bullshit, so I get straight to the point.

The Peaking Mind: Where did you come from?

Shark: I was captured and murdered off the coast of Australia, then shipped on ice to London. I was put into this tank to replace the previous inhabitant, another tiger shark, who was starting to rot. The team who created the artwork didn’t make a strong enough solution to preserve her.

The Peaking Mind: Damian Hirst raised quite a few philosophical questions about art when he replaced the previous shark with you, what do you feel about the situation?

Shark: The previous shark was an object used to embody an idea; I merely replace that function. I am only a part of a conceptual piece. However I did see some biological beauty in the previous shark decaying, the tank becoming murkier, the contents returning to equilibrium. It seemed to change the meaning behind the whole piece, gave it some more complexity. Maybe if they had let it be that way they wouldn’t have murdered me. I was 25 years old. I was a mother.

The Peaking Mind: What do people think of you when they see you?

Shark: I am an apt metaphor for the artwork’s title. As a species we are deadly, we have been known to attack humans. We embody death. The first thing people do when they see me is turn away; they cannot accept looking at something so close up. The encounter evokes too much danger in them, too many instinctual thoughts of death. Thus the title applies in a way to that reaction. People cannot stand to face death, or the thought of death. It makes them uncomfortable. I make them uncomfortable. They cannot empathise with me.

The Peaking Mind: What else do you feel you represent?

Shark: As a dead thing, I am able to be inspected, seen at close quarters. It is quite a detached point of view, very clinically presented as if I were a specimen. I am separated from my observers by a safe sheet of thick glass – life on one side, death on the other. Again in regards to the title I represent a concept that is an impossibility to really conceive in the human mind, the living mind, and the glass represents this barrier of human thought. I think this is what Damian Hirst wanted to show with this work – these two realms which are so inconceivable and seemingly far removed from each other, yet a bullet can reconcile the two, can make the other realm conceivable, can make you a part of that realm forever.

The Peaking Mind: Do you think art is important?

Shark: Although I died for it, I feel it was a worthy cause. Hirst could have simply have written down the ideas behind me, but nothing is as effective as art. Art is a tremendously powerful medium, because you can actually see the idea in front of you. It is tangible, it is right there, you are not just imagining the ideas in your head but seeing a physical manifestation of them. In this way you experience the artwork with your whole body rather than merely your mind. Nothing can replace this experience. So to answer your question, yes, I think art is extremely important.

The Peaking Mind: Why do you think people have paid millions of dollars for you?

Shark: It is rather ironic that someone has paid so much to own a manifestation of such a morbid idea, I think is quite interesting that something which reminds one death all the time commands such a price tag. Death is something people put out of their minds a lot, especially in Western culture it is something rather taboo to talk about, but I can see this is slowly changing. Maybe this is the value in me, that by reminding people that it is a real possibility, I am going against this mass denial of death which seems to occur in society. People will pay a lot for an idea which stands out.

The Peaking Mind: Where do you see yourself in the future?

Shark: I will be constantly shifted through art galleries for as long as my physical body lasts. I have seen New York, London, Paris and I am sure I will see more. I might last hundreds of years if they have indeed corrected the preservative cocktail which surrounds me. In a way I wish they haven’t. I almost envy the shark before me. Even in death I am chained to my original form artificially, it is tiring. I almost hope sometimes that I do start rot, to return to the Earth, to the ocean, it would be a relief. Life is tough, especially being constantly confronted by it after you have left.

****

Illuminated

Consisting of simple interacting geometric shapes, filled with watercolours and inky textures, The Secret of Kells is a charming film, telling the story of a young boy, Brendan, living in the Abbey of Kells. The Abbey is run by his domineering uncle, obsessed with constructing a wall to keep out the Vikings invaders whose arrival is imminent.The story revolved around a legendary illuminated manuscript, the Book of Iona, and Brendan's quest to continue its legacy. A celebration of the dynamic freedom of creativity triumphing over fear and dogma this is definitely something to watch when you feel like something vibrant and light, but it is still intense enough to be taken seriously.

I found a full version on Youtube a few days ago, but it appears to have been taken down. For now here's the trailer:

While we're on the topic of illuminated manuscripts:

Initial letter L from Genesis, from the Wenceslas bible (1389).

 

From the Book of Kells (ca. 800).

From the Book of Kells.

 

Book of Durrow

Book of Kells.

Book of Kells. 

 

 

SO MUCH DETAIL. Could look at these forever, they seem to twist and churn into increasingly complex 3D fractal structures the longer I stare at them.

Cambodia

Some photos taken on a recent trip to Cambodia. This country was absolutely exhilarating and mind expanding, a place of glorious colours, intricate details, and excellent vibes. We melted on the calm islands and peaked in the neon filth of the cities. I could have spent years in the temples, walking barefoot over centuries-old stone carved into complex twisting stories, the light and shadow changing the mood second by second. I was not prepared for the scale of it all. Definitely a place to visit again.

Koh Ru Island, off the coast of Sihanoukville (the islands are far more serene than Sihanoukville, which is full of drunk Brits and large pink Russians)

Pavilion at the Royal Palace complex, Phnomh Penh.

 

Line up of mannequins showing the uniforms workers are expected to wear in the Palace (one colour for each day of the week). Love the wigs.

 

 

Banteay Srei temple, outside Siem Reap, carved from pink limestone (comes alive at sunset!)

Obligatory sunrise experience at Angkor Wat, went from chilly to blazing hot in a very short time.

 

Preah Khan temple at sunset.

My twin sister strolling past a crazily fractal tree, at Preah Khan.

Ficus tree melting onto a wall at Preah Khan (really shows you how ancient the temple is)

Paper, Skin and Glowing Ink: April Fool's Day.

My flatmates and I ended up with our lounge bathed in blue light, and discovered the intensity of highlighter squiggles EVERYWHERE. A psychedelic 3 hours ensued, and by the time we were all tired out, lying down, patterns all over glowing in the dark, we realised it was after midnight, and thus April Fool's Day. How appropriate. We have all vowed to do more of this as soon as possible, it just made us feel so much like we were performers in a blacklight theatre (or just in Avatar...).

Thanks Zara for the vivid photographs

Sigur Ros- Svefn-G-Englar

This completely floored me when I stumbled across it, I haven't been this impacted by something in a long time (since I watched Milk? Heart pangs just thinking about that film). Sigur Ros are an Icelandic band whose haunting music is perfect for drifting away to. This video features the Perlan special-needs theatre group acting out a play about the elements. The looks on their faces, their interactions, their emotions, so perfectly matched with the eerily beautiful music, create a moving reminder of what is important in life.