SOMETHINGS I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS - Princess Julia

Princess Julia original Blitz Kid, legendary DJ, club princess extraordinaire - 50 and beautiful - style icon - co-publisher for music paper/fanzine The P.i.X - contributes to fashion website KCTV.co.uk - music editor for iD magazine

Kunstenfestivaldesarts 010

I am one of 30 young international producers selected for SPACE - Supporting Performing Arts Circulation in Europe organised by ONDA in Paris and supported by the European Commission.

One of the festivals I have attended this summer is the Kunstenfestival des Arts 010.

Kunstenfestivaldesarts takes place in Brussels, the only city in Belgium where the country's two largest communities live together. Several Flemish- and French-speaking institutions are involved in the project. Fundamentally conceived as a bilingual undertaking, it contributes to encouraging dialogue between the communities living in the city. 

The Kunstenfestivaldesarts' audiences are keen followers of contemporary, inspiring and atypical artistic offerings. The range of artistic creations in the international programme - both from more established artists and still fairly unknown talents - awakened people's curiosity and generated debate.

A large number of new works saw the light at this year's festival, for the most part initiated and co-produced by the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, and many of them held wonderful surprises in store for their audiences. Highlights include the premiere of the new work by Germany's Christoph Schlingensief, which proved a revelation for many, as well as the provocative new project from the Hungarian Kornél Mundruczó. There were also excellent creations from Belgian artists this year, such as Inne Goris, Etienne Guilloteau, Sarah Vanagt and Claude Schmitz: projects that have often allowed them to assert their artistic language and introduce it to a wider audience. 

This 010 festival was also an opportunity for opening up reflection on the city and the people who live there, through artistic projects by Lotte van den Berg, Sarah Vanagt and ZimmerFrei for example, but also in a series of initiatives such as workshops, debates and a travelling theatre for children (the Kamishibai project) which have taken the festival to people who do not normally access the city's cultural offerings. 

My personal highlight was in the form of Lotte van den Berg's piece - Het verdwalen in kaart 

Dutch director Lotte founded OMSK when she moved to Dordrecht and set herself up in the Energiehuis.  In order to get to know the city and its inhabitants, she invited them to create a show. A total of 72 residents, young and old, accepted her invitation, and Het verdwalen in kaart is the generous result. The sense of belonging, of individuality and of knowing oneself secure in a group is the red thread running through the silent performance. Lotte uses powerful, silently fading images to suggest extremes of joy and distress.

It is moving and extraordinary while being perfectly ordinary.  A simple act of creating and destroying, doing & undoing.  A gentle nudge to the edge of your seat, while all the time the very question of belonging is challenged again and again.

My new favourite online shop - needsupply

This online store seems to have more then enough delightful items to keep me interested, good sale on too. Worth flicking through - click on title above for link - bookmarked

My new favourite shop - Tokyo Bike

Tokyo Bike has a new pop up shop at Spitalfields Market - the shop & the bikes are just super pleasing to the eye, with minimal design aesthetics applied to both the bikes and the shop...it makes you just want to indulge in the cr-mo steel framed bikes, in block colours with tan leather seats, straight handlebars and 650mm wheels.
They look good - check them out - 

SOME THINGS I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS - Best Before by Rimini Protokoll

Cork Mid Summer Festival was a great success bringing together a combination of commissioned and programmed work, there was a strawberry ripple of international companies through a programme of homegrown work. I was only there for two days each of the weekends, so I missed other festival highlights like Jérôme Bel and Mike Daisy.

But I had my own two highlights, the first of which was Rimini Prokoll’s, Best Before.

I am a fan of their work ordinarily and this show was no let down.

Best Before pulls the multi-player video game out of the virtual realm and plugs it into an intimate theatre setting. Each audience member navigates an anonymous avatar, interacting with a panel of on-stage experts – an electronic artist, a game tester, a lobbyist and a traffic flagger. A simulated city, Best-Land, gradually develops as each audience member adds their personal touch with game controller in hand. Taking its inspiration from Vancouver’s gaming industry, Best Land evolves and devolves as the audience clashes and collaborates while making personal, social and political decisions.

The show, decisions and outcomes percolated through my brain for many a day after.

Next up was Superflex – Check them out – Click link below

 

http://superflex.net/

SUPERFLEX is a Danish art collective, founded in 1993 whose interventionist practice deals with economic markets, power structures, self-organisation and environmentalism. They understand their artistic practice as a set of tools, or as an invitation to positive action and participation rather than in terms of discrete works of art. Viewers often become co-producers, shifting the focus away from objects to relationships where the artworks can be redefined and modified by users.

More recently Superflex have been working with legal contracts, challenging public and private copyright laws which led to complex legal negotiations. By investigating the function of a contract, Superflex has created new works that are statements and proposals and can be understood as political acts redefining particular contexts and situations.

SOME THINGS I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS - STK

World Cup Final at Stoke Newington International Airport was a raucous affair to some degree, the boys at STK had set up the bed sheet and lashed a few beers in the fringe to facilitate a crowd of art loving football viewers, most of whom were avoiding the reality of the local sports bars.

The flurry and excitement of the match was accentuated by the twirling ‘loading’ sign of the internet connection swirling around trying desperately to keep up with the pace of play.

None the less it was a split crowd and when Spain rose to victory there was a modest celebration and a mass exodus of Holland fans.  But I was very happy, I was delighted to see Spain win and I thought of all my lovely Spanish friends celebrating with much joy. 

SOME THINGS I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS - After the Dance

First staged in 1939, After the Dance by Terence Rattigan offers a subtle, witty unmasking of the hedonistic 20s generation and a devastating study of repression and the human heart. Directed by Thea Sharrock this is an exquisite production, with impeccable detail and application of ideas. Benedict Cumberbatch plays David Scott-Fowler so wonderfully.

There was a point in the 3^rd hour of the show that I thought to myself – I haven’t for one second questioned anything I have seen, utterly convincing and brilliantly done.

Stunning!

National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre on until 11^th Aug

SOME THINGS I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS - starting with this

Ok so here is the deal ACT ART 8 - Censored included 100 Artists two of which were the wonderful Mr.Shaw and Mr.Schnabl.

Alex Shaw's film Jeannie Dee - The Pensioner Tranny DJ was a roaring success, beautifully shot with a dark hint of contemplation. Martin was a ball of fire locked away in an intimate space where he performed as the Human Jukebox, mixing up live songs with humour and serious vocals. 

The night overall was a mish mash of the brilliant to the not so great, but the highlights for SURE were Scottee and Johnny Woo…brilliant, talented, political and down right trashy.

BACK UP AND RUNNING - blogging again