Finally managed to watch T2 Trainspotting this week! Having made plans to see it 3 times at the cinema and missing every single one we were really excited for it to be accessible once again. As with any sequel the chances of it continuing the excellence of the original is unlikely but this was a genuinely thoughtful method of catching up with the characters 20 years in the future. At point we were almost left with tears in our eyes watching these useless individuals make the same mistakes again and again. It truly is a very worthy sequel, respecting the rough edges of its forerunner while putting middle-aged flesh on the once raw ribcages of its oddly sympathetic subjects.
Another film we wanted to mention was Captain fantastic as this is another that got away from us at the cinema and was cast away to the ever growing 'FILMS TO WATCH' list which resides within google docs. If T2 Trainspotting got tears in our eyes, Captain Fantastic reduced us to infantile children, unable to control the physical representation of their upset. I proper journey with real life conflicts and uncertainty, which makes you question the beliefs of the characters and yourself simultaneously. A lovely part of is when the father asks one of the children what they are reading, and she goes on to describe the plot, he then retorts that he's not looking for regurgitation of what's on the page but her own thoughts on what it. She goes to describe the book as 'interesting' but this is met but a roar from the other 6 children that 'interesting' is not a real word and shouldn't be used if one is to convey true feelings. This has genuinely altered the way we're writing and from now on 'interesting' is being used when only backed up by other, more appropriate vocabulary.
In addition to films we've also managed to see some art! Ron Nagle has a solo show at Stuart Shave/Modern Art, not usually something we would warm towards but credit where credit's due. In the first room, one diminutive sculpture is set into a bright niche in each of the four walls. This style of presentation felt very appropriate for this jewel-like votive objects; each one combines hand-made abstract elements of contrasting texture and colour, arranged with a zen-like poise and balance.
A Handful of Dust is on at Whitechapel Gallery which is a whole exhibition is a playful and at times provocative response to Man Ray’s photograph, not so much a history of dust in photography as a series of tangential nods to his image, encouraging viewers to make connections. A clever title that references TS Eliot’s bleak modernist poem The Waste Land 'I will show you fear in a handful of dust' and perfectly captures the visual journey through the motif of dust, wartime destruction and natural disasters.
Also at Whitechapel was Benedict Drew's 'The Trickle-Down Syndrome'. It demonstrates Drew’s continuing interest in and response to global events and the current socio-political climate. He wants the viewer to be ‘overwhelmed by images’ and ‘disoriented by history, layers and layers of history’ in order to ‘generate a state of being that can escape’. The central installation is a symmetrical mound of mirrors, monstrous eyes, TV screens and a big quivering gold gong. A voice from the screens waxes lyrical about socio-political economics as electronic blips and bloops fill the air. Images of bodies moving through mud blob across the screens, static hisses, the gong shakes. It’s like a future altar, a place where the 'povos' go to praise their rich overlords. The experience is immersive and sensory, an audio-visual feast of video screens, kaleidoscopic projections, landscape drawings, sculptures and banners, as well as experimental synthesiser compositions and an audio narrative which accompanies visitors through five different rooms. There are some apt references to Busby Berkeley’s classic Hollywood stage sets to the surrealist artist, Max Ernst, all combining to create a sense of the artist’s idea of escape ‘as a potent form of resistance, ecstatic protest’.
Last but not least was Paul Pfeiffer at Thomas Dane Gallery, reminding us that long before we learned to Boomerang on Instagram, manipulating and looping video clips was his bread and butter. He carefully edits found sports footage, often from NBA games and boxing matches, to reveal the disturbing desires underlying sports spectatorship and our consumption of mass entertainment. It was great to see some of his earlier pioneering works IRL, as well as recent additions to the ongoing series 'Caryatids' and 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'. By drawing our focus to the cult of the arena, the exhibit unpacks the interplay of race, gender, celebrity and religion within professional sports.
