What is our cultural Identity?

The main question asked on the National Portraits guided tour exploring 'cultural identity' by Liz Rideal.
What I like about these meetings at the Gallery is that every curator and guide has a different take on the themes being explored, and their own view of the portraits. We were took on a whirlwind blitz of over 12 portraits in the gallery from the 16c to contemporary photograph portraits. Exploring and questioning what it means to be 'British', from the sitters to the artists.

Starting off in the Eighteen by Twelve Print exhibition, looking at black and white portraits from M.I.A to the Princes William and Harry, gave an idea at the vast range of famous sitters housed in this exhibit. When considering the sitters Tracey Emin and the two Princes and what we could value to be true British actually when delving into their heritage reveals mixed nationalities in their backgrounds. So who is a true Brit?

Moving onto the Michael Landy sketch portraits supports the statement that most artists who study in London, aim to make work designed to stay in London, via varying shifting populations.



Looking at one of my favourite pieces in the Gallery; portrait of Zaha Hadid by Michael Craig- Martin, comprised via an LCD monitor/ computer with integrated software. It cunningly changes colour whilst you watch this portrait, cleverly and subtly done, made me believe that my sight was deteriorating. Asking whether line and colour can effect personality, as it is believed that Hadid's personalty is of a bright, colourful and vibrant nature, so then this portrait's style has represented her character perfectly:



Looking back at non British artists in the Gallery, it is funny to then come across German artist; Hanz Holbein's massive portrait of one of Britain's most famous iconic figures; Henry VIII. Questioning is this a British portrait?

Liz Rideal further questioned when thinking about our multicultural society, "How do we arrive?" Sometimes not war, or extradition makes us move, but merely population shifts-travelling etc.
Which led the group to the final portrait that is causing excitement and hype for the fact that this portrait goes against the Galleries main criteria for housing its works. This is of course the portrait by Benjamin Robert Haydon of Napoleon Bonaparte with Duke of Wellington (companion portrait)alongside, some calling this the 'struggling heroes'.



The galleries criteria is based on that the artist/sitter must have been a resident in the UK or have given something to the British society they live in. Of course, we know, Napoleon did neither!

Late night Hidden Histories

Went along to another late night shift at the National Portrait Gallery for the Gallery talk on Hidden Histories. Looking at a selection of portraits from the gallery, and a delve into their past, secrets and stories behind the sitters and artists of that time. Led by Sarah Ciacci she chose 3 very different portraits ranging from the 1500 1800s, and elaborating of the hidden story behind each one.



Firstly looking at the oil based canvas the portrait by unknown artist of Sir Henry Unton, in which portraits like this aren't usually seen in the Galleries collection, but because of it unique design and composition has been house at the National for quiet a few years. A rich tapestry of Unton's life includes past and present scenes from his life, with notably his portrait displayed openly at centre of this scene. The scenes from right to left displays moments in his life that correspond, or tells the viewer of the life that Upton had and the kind of gentleman he was. Importance's (of the time to status) such as, (wealth) at birth, studying at Oxford, travelling through Europe, studious, musician and publican.
The detail in this painting is incredibly rich from intimate faces to hand gestures, and the clearly marked essence of the passing of life into death, much to why this painting was composed in this way, and to me very notably but subtly the symbols of day into night at the very corners of the painting.



Thomas Howard portrait (Earl of Arundel), an oil on canvas by Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens chose to represent Howard realistically, compared to other portraits of this period where such paintings produced would have been edited and made to look much better than the actual sitter, were common. Rubens delivered exactly what he saw in this non idealisation of Howard's portrait, making this work interesting in its authenticity. This portrait valued here at the National in recognition of Arundel who was considered important for bringing new contemporary European art to London, and later setting up the Arundel House. A very dark but beautifully mysterious portrait.



Portrait of Mary Jane Seacole by Albert Charles Challen. This is a treasure of a portrait (and my favourite) only 9 1/2 in. x 6 1/4 in size and just discovered in 2002. Mary Seacole is best known for her nursing work in the Crimean War, although didn't really become known or famous for her duties and work until her autobiography was publicised. Her work is compared to that of Florence Nightingale, but obviously Nightingale being the more noted and pictured in art and history of the too nurses. With a recent new publication of her autobiography and the recent purchase of this portrait by the National in 2008, her reputation and work has now finally be reunited and valued. Beautiful portrait.

Look at reality through the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize

Went to go and see the last week of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery.

"The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010 presents the very best in contemporary portrait photography, showcasing the work of talented young photographers and gifted amateurs alongside that of established professionals and photography students.
Through editorial, advertising and fine art images, the entrants have explored a range of themes, styles and approaches to the contemporary photographic portrait, from formal commissioned portraits to more spontaneous and intimate moments capturing friends and family".

What I admired about this years exhibition is the concept of striving to find the 'real' in reality. Every image had an in depth story and truthfulness about it, nothing seemed compositioned in order to express an opinion. (All except Steven Barrittt's admitted self portrait of; Untitled from the series Analogous Mythography in which the arranged detail in this image was cleverly positioned, to form that of an obsessive Britney Spears fan - to put it frankly, though this image is not to be underestimated as simply as that).
Not wanting to take my time I found myself surprisingly encapsulated to stay at each frame longer than Trafalgar's traffic lights; what could be perceived as a simple 'headshot' became, to me, actually a door/window into not only the sitters life, but that of the photographer. By selecting just one image, caught a precise moment of innocent realism, the simple beauty in the photographers connection with the sitter. To me, that is what made the Taylor Wessing Awards the most contemporary and engaging of exhibitions I have seen.

Most of the images varied in content, tone and subject matter. What I was pleasantly surprised by was the amount of portraits that focused on the single female shots. I have to mention Abbie Trayler-Smith, with Untitled 2, (part of an ongoing series), Jeffrey Stockbridge, with Tic Tac and Tootsie (twin sisters Carroll and Shelly Mckean) from the series Nowhere but Here, Panayiotis Lamprou, with Portrait of My British Wife, from the series Human Presence and the first prize to; David Chancellor, with Huntress with Buck from the series Hunters. All of which gained places within this exhibition, all of which focused primarily on the female form/role.

Very interesting work from this years entrants!

Whitechapel's Current Disturbance

After the excitement with working with Oscar Tuazon's last exhibition, I head straight to the top floor of the Whitechapel Gallery to be recaptured by an exhibit that engulfs the whole room.
OK so the beams of wood are slightly smaller to that of Tuazon's, and OK, yes they don't pummel through the walls to the adjacent rooms. But... engulf, encapsulate and fill this gallery room it does do.

To observe the sheer magnet of this structure from the corner of the room, I am met with a chicken like coop of wooden beams and wire mesh, with singular light bulbs caged within a box within a box within a room.
To stand back and see the simplicity and cleanness of these individually placed bulbs like wounded detainees; bulbs lying on their sides, to the intricate spaghetti-like junctions of wires relevantly (if you look) on show within the middle of this caged structure.

The Northern lights has nothing on this piece of art which continual, through its own workings and patterns, generates the light to simply turn on and off through different degrees of intensity. Surrounded by four speakers the room is alive within the hum of electricity, which feels like a small burning torture of excitement, knowing that the exhibit itself is the performer in control.

This, from reading, seems to be part of what artist Mona Hatoum is exploring, the sense that this installation is creating a liveness, and therefore creating a performance itself. With the visual brightening and darkening of the bulbs to the variant hum from the speakers, it is clear to feel as though I have no control over what I see. Oppressed to stand and watch as the installation takes over, the sense of a singular bulb within a wire cage is a burning image I cannot seem to replace.

Continually thinking....

“Keeping It Real: An Exhibition in 4 Acts” seeks to explore the line between art and reality and the relationship between the artist and the tactile world. British – Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum‘s light-filled creation was first shown in 1996 at the Capp Street Project, San Francisco and is now being shown through March as a part of Whitechapel Gallery’s initiative to open private collections for public viewing". (www.artobserved.com/tag/white-cube)

Robert Lepage meets The Blue Dragon

"Set in the effervescent paradox that is modern China, this new instalment focuses on Lamontagne’s encounters with a former student classmate and a young Chinese conceptual artist. As the lives of these individuals collide, unexpected doors open, bringing about fundamental changes for each of them".

Packed with high expectations of Robert Lepage's current sequel to his earlier acclaimed The Dragon's Trilogy, I was not disappointed.
Lepage, playing the lead role of Pierre Lamontagne, opened with a soft narrative to the artistic creation of Chinese calligraphy, and how the symbols used create more than a thousands words for merely one image. This introduction to Lepage's character set the tone to the warmth of dialogue that was about to unfold over the next 120 minutes.
The relationships between the three characters was compelling to watch, and felt more like three friends on stage, which reveals the long lasting collaboration between Lepage and Marie Michaud. Their ease of dialogue and constant switching between dialects made the script drift through naturalistic story lines that hooked and drew you into the verging darkness of the story that was about to be approached.
At times I felt compassion, hope and fear for all three, which is a credit to the director and the movement direction given over to them. Not to mention the beautiful movement pieces by Tai Wei Foo, who played the girlfriend in this triangle love affair. Her effortless movements left you spellbound and captured the innocence of her part in this story.

Flawless and magical were the projections and visual media that linked and illustrated the story, in which the 'technicals' and live performance blurred, that I didn't realise the awkwardness that the use of projections can have on performances. Including the use of the new modernisation through the sense of a mandarin KFC advert, which was a pleasant surprise and quite amusing!
The swift transitions between scenes elevated the progression of the story and didn't labour too much on once scene ending and another slowly beginning.

Unfortunately there were parts which did have a tendency to be weighted and drag, which I felt wasn't needed as much. As an audience member I felt the pain and indecision of these characters without having the need for the action to become too static and laboured.

On saying that I very much enjoyed the conclusion, which replayed the last couple of minutes three times, with alternative endings. This left me with the sense of enjoyment and audience power to decipher their own conclusions, and uplifted the story from becoming too dark.
Lepage's performance work cleverly mixes collaborations and media together to present a solid, clear and creative piece of work. Much enjoyed!

Who has control at Old Vic Tunnels

Performed in Lautes Licht in a similar venue to that of Shunt Vaults, though at the even darker and duster venue of the Old Vic Tunnels, as part of their dark clown carnival and red light themed night.
This time it was interesting as the audiences members were able to be in the same space as the performers, and as some did able to talk directly to the performers.

The concept was still the same, the audience member control a dimmer pack which controlled the intensity of a profile light. The change in intensity controlled the performers performance intensity;

Low light=soft actions/ voice whispered
Full light= big actions/ full voice etc

The space really worked well for this type of work, as the audience were finding the performers in different 'pockets' of space throughout the tunnel area we had. Although, as I realised, because the spectator had direct control very close to the individual performer, they were unable to see the concept of creating a narrative with all the performers together. The spectator seemed much more interested in playing with the one performer and making them do crazy things at full light/ high intensity.
But on the other hand, what I liked about this; one of my actions was running (at full intensity) which what the audience put me through the most. I still had control of my own body and knew how far I could push myself, but because I could directly look and be very close to the light controller and other audience members in the space, the relationship changed when they could see that I was actually doing that action. I wasn't faking the result or 'acting', then after a while and the 'controlling' effect wore off, the spectator began to feel bad about the way they were pushing the performers to carry out their tasks. Which from my part, I had more control than they did, as little did they know I could of kept on going!

ONIZ at Horseplay!

ONIZ Performance Company were at Horseplay Live Arts event last night in Camden for the start of our process into creating a performance around the idea of flooding and water.
This first performance research installment looked at how an audience reacts to material we presented.
We became a fictional animal charity for the night; SOR - Save Our Relatives. In which we approached audiences members and engaged in a conversation about gorilla's, giving statistics and information about these animals. We then invited them to a playful adoption auction, where they could adopt a gorilla from the four case studies we had. Not for the exchange of money, but more to raise awareness in a fun spirit way for our charity.
During this process of our auction, we included flood images from recent Pakistan events but also the Cumbria floodings back in 2009, saying (in the same charity tone) that you could adopt someone from these two places also.

We weren't giving our opinion about animal adoption, or sponsoring a person, or even about auctioning. This performance was about gauging an audiences reaction from being lighthearted and 'cute' about gorilla's to having the same tone about recent natural events that have occurred.

What became interesting was some peoples reactions.

Some audiences members really became upset or showed their cared for the gorilla's, and wanted to find out more about where they are from, their names and if they get to see them etc.
Where there was one comment relating to the Cumbria image of; 'Do I get to know their name if I win them'- which struck me as their choice of words became really apparent.

Also from feedback from members of the audience who caught on to the device we were using, and said they became shocked that other spectators who choosing the Gorilla's to adopt and not someone from Pakistan.

Which I felt support my initial understanding that a majority of our society would rather help animals first, then other countries before a neighbour. Which I think feels more easy to do because their is a distance from yourself to the Charity, and is not 'on your doorstep'. Which I have to admit I've noticed in myself, in that I cant look at images of tortured animals, and yet I have become desensitised to human suffering through media images.

Ethically each audience member knew afterwards our process and that it was a performance piece, but hopefully they could see their own reactions within the event we held.

This is a beginning of our practical exploration, which I think is really beneficial to practically do a performance experiment to see how it is responded by a viewer.