Friday 16 December 2016

The isthisit? Collection, Artists as Curators, Relationships, Manchester and Arrival

So, almost three weeks to catch up on... It’s been a weird term, full of change, disappointment and some excitement. It’s all gone very fast, but that always seems to be a thing, especially when I bring it up in this blog. I’ve learned a lot and have made some vaguely good pieces of work. I definitely feel like I’ve neglected galleries, which is the whole point of being in London in the first place, so that’s kind of annoying. I think I’m just tired, and in need of a break… Where did the summer go…? I don’t know…
Let me think back to last week. What was I thinking, what was I feeling? I guess I was in the midst of creating work for the Chelsea show, which I talked briefly about in the last post, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. I’d already created two of the three videos at this point two weeks ago, with the third one being considered. I finally got around to creating it, which turned into a very simple video, utilising the first Facebook Live video, which was of Zuckerberg taking the viewer on a tour of his office. In the video he talks a lot about the office layout, how there are no physical offices, simply desk space, so that the company becomes a fluid system of work which allows for transparency and no hierarchies to take charge. Everyone is (supposedly) on the same level. This reminded me a lot of Dave Eggers’ book, The Circle, which is a brilliant read.
I decided to distort this video, layering multiple altered versions of the same video on top of each other, changing Mark into a multi faced and multi layered being. This very simple distortion looks at the multiple layers of Zuck, the various public and private personas that he has. For me, this also comes back to the extremely tired notion that people proclaim a lot in this new age of internet surveillance; ‘I’ve got nothing to hide’. Obviously everyone does, and even if they think they don’t, they don’t make the rules on what is and isn’t valuable or ‘hide worthy’, so how would they know? Basically, Mark has something to hide, everyone does, and people want the privacy to hide these things, which is demonstrated by Mark’s house, which is purposefully set back from the street for ‘extra privacy’. This want for privacy is also picked up on in the 2013 film Terms and Conditions May Apply, which attempts to expose what corporations and governments are learning about ‘us’ through our internet usage. In the documentary, the filmmakers go to Mark’s house and attempt to interview him about Facebook’s privacy policy. He’s very dismissive and uncooperative until they agree to put the camera down and stop filming. There’s a very brief moment where Mark ‘loosens up’ and smiles at Max (the interviewer) when he’s been told that the camera isn’t filming anymore. This is simply coming back to the idea that we all have different selves, including the creator of Facebook, even if he attempts to be as transparent as possible, letting people photograph the interior of his house or film his offices.

The t-shirt arrived too, which had a nice sculptural quality to it when draped over the steel structure that all the videos were shown on. Although it wasn’t the exact shade of grey that Mark’s t-shirts are, I think that adds to the work. Coming into the different selves/slight distortions that we see between the public/private personas that people inhabit, which also goes for the offline/online personas that we all navigate and work within. Hmm…

So yeah, the structure for the show worked well, I was able to run a cable from the ceiling down to the piece, which completely removed the continued annoyance of using tape for wiring, as well as bringing a sense of connectivity to the work. It felt like the videos were somehow connected to this large institution, or the internet in general, through the power of the plug that allowed these works looking at the lack of the individual to function. I think it’s overall a successful work, packed full of content, an amalgamation of my curatorial practice and my solo one. I called the work ‘Let’s Be Friends’, which is kind of self-explanatory. The pictures of the final piece can be seen on my website here: http://www.bobbicknell-knight.com/lets-be-friends/



What else happened? The Sketchup Residency ended, which was a shame, but ultimately a good thing as I was probably going to run out of content and I was basically finished with the model. I really enjoyed showing my progress on Instagram, using hashtags for the work alongside just having it as a thing to experiment with, not worried by the connotations of the medium. I do keep coming back to the platform as an interesting thing to experiment with. I want to create something from it, another extension of isthisit?, but separate from it, not on its current Instagram. I keep saying it, but it never seems to happen. So fucking busy. Anyway, I really enjoyed the experience, turning this island into a surveillance state, full of Utopian ideas from videogames and films as well as a bunch of stuff from contemporary society. The venetian bridges used in the model, for example, hint at Venice’s seemingly Utopian petty crime statistics. One would assume that Venice, with its tiny streets and dark alleyways, would be a hub for petty crimes, but in reality it isn’t. This is mostly due to tourism, which would be directly affected if crime on the streets rose. This is a very weird thing, capitalism reducing crime, and crime reducing capitalism. A simple idea; whenever capitalism is seen to be overhauled, riots occur, shoplifting on a massive scale whilst vandalism occurs in droves. So, all these objects within the model have these small references, like the example above, to Utopian thoughts or considerations. I think it works? You can view and experiment with the model here: http://www.thesketchupresidency.com/
I do intend to do something with the Instagram photographs, most probably printing them onto aluminium to be wall mounted to the wall, maybe two or three, or this could just be done with photo manipulation on Photoshop, to be printed out if they are ever accepted to an exhibition or not… For now, here’s a quick picture of what I have in mind.
What other art have I done in the past few weeks? A217 was a thing. It was okay, but because we’ve all been so fucking busy, the promotion for the event was terrible, alongside the ‘curation’ part of the whole process slightly going to shit. This is what happens when you trust other people to do things. It was okay, I just think it’s hard to ‘curate’ your own work, especially when you may or may not like the work that other people have made for the thing. Hopefully it will be better for the new year. I showed the Colleen and Joshua piece, which still holds up. That’s two pieces of work this term about relationships, what the fuck is that about? I need to stop being so fucking emotional…
Anything else to write about in my art practice? Probably not, I think that’s it. I have a few fairly vague ideas for new pieces, but right now I need to concentrate on a few curatorial things alongside an essay that I need to write over the next few weeks that I completely forgot about. Uni things are slowly becoming less and less interesting to me, with the out of uni things becoming centre stage. Obviously uni is important, but I’m slowly getting to a stage where uni is feeling different to me, I’m not completely sure what, maybe more of a necessary thing. I don’t know… Or maybe that’s just how I’m feeling right this second and it will pass… Lots of confusion today, lots of unknowns.

In other news, I created an open call for a video art screening that will occur in the next few weeks, in/around my house in Suffolk during the holidays. The purpose is to bring together a bunch of video works surrounding the idea of the internet, utopia or science fiction tropes within the countryside setting. Because of its location, no one will actually go the screening, with the event living online for people to browse over when looking at my recent curatorial things. It’s going to be called an evening with isthisit?, taking inspiration from a screening event I went to earlier in the year being hosted by David Blandy and Larry Achiampong called, you guessed it, AN EVENING WITH LARRY ACHIAMPONG & DAVID BLANDY. I’m thinking of streaming the experience, and curating the videos carefully, so that I could get up and introduce them with full knowledge of what they’re about, etc. I’m not entirely sure yet. I may also turn it into a one night exhibition, with all the works being part of one massive looping projection… If you want to submit, follow the link here: http://www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/open-call--video-art/957
I’ve also begun to collect/buy art under the isthisit? moniker. This involves buying and commissioning work from emerging artists who I’ve been forging relationships with over the past few months. The works will be mostly digital, with some sculptural work alongside paintings and prints, etc. They will be part of isthisit?’s personal collection, to be used in future exhibitions, etc. I’m only looking to buy fairly small, inexpensive things, costing from £0 - £100, so nothing extravagant. I think it’s an important step as a curatorial thing and one that I’m excited to be doing.
Whilst that’s been slowly happening, I’ve been continuing to organise guest curators, which began this week! Helena Kate Whittingham started off the process with the humorously titled exhibition it isn’t is it? The process has been fairly smooth, which is due to it being such a loose experience anyway. Unfortunately, I don’t have someone else ready for next week, which is a shame, so it’ll be back to me for the time being. Here’s her curatorial notes, which were really good!
This is it. It isn't is it? Oh it is. There has to be more, no? Why are we all sooooo docile though? The 33rd online exhibition on isthisit is loosely based around institutional critique and frustrations with censorships and the 'art world'. Titled 'it isn't is it?' the name is a direct critique of the online exhibition space itself and critique is imbedded from the outset. Artist Liv Fontaine’s work ‘Let’s talk about art’ consists of Liv voicing her frustrations with the current cultural climate. 'Can U pay my rent please’, 'I can't even afford the submission fee for your grant' are lines in the work that resonate with me the most. The work also incorporates the irritation that occurs when your work consists of critiquing the commodified sexual woman, which then in turn becomes something that works against you; ' thinking is working and working is thinking but thinking isn't paying, but I gotta keep making.' Ugh, same! The work sits alongside Lilli Mathod’s cultural interference ‘Sketch Show’, which is wrapped up with contemporary comment within the guise of menial office conversation. In turn showing how bored she is with the everyday. The work is reminiscent of artist day jobs and I was particularly interested in the notion of these jobs informing practice. Mathod portrays many characters throughout her sketches with an air of absurdity in the mundane or albeit familiar. 'Are you tired of being overworked, underpaid, devalued and unloved day after day' (YES!) Mathod states as she considers very similar problems as Fontaine. The works flow symbiotically with sardonic undertones. Fontaine dominates the exhibition and Mathod compliments it. Both works consist of women talking to the screen and at times you see symmetry in the work, whether they are looking at each other or both looking at you, the viewer, through the screen. Liv’s shorter performance repeating on a loop only emphasizes the message more alongside Lilli's durations piece. Together they approach the issue of institutional critique in unison. For me, it was important that the works sat on this online exhibition space and not AFK as I am interested in the accessibility and affordability that the internet promises to uphold, becoming an embodiment of institutional critique in its own form.

For the last few weeks isthisit? has been going well with my curating too. The 31st online exhibition was called ‘Emigrate or Degenerate’, part of a quote from a government tag line in Philip K Dick’s renowned science-fiction book, ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’. The text comes from an advert, encouraging people to emigrate from Earth to Mars, to move towards a more networked reality. Within the context of the exhibition, I’m utilising the line in order to discuss post-humanist theories and the idea of the cyborg body, which is becoming more and more prevalent in life, as well as the artwork that people are creating in contemporary society. The exhibition is slightly dominated by Natalie Wardle’s video work ‘Cocky and Contour’ which sees the artist almost giving herself a second skin, layering on multiple coats of makeup as audio garnered from YouTube beauty bloggers is continually heard throughout the piece. Sandrine Deumier's exquisite video piece 'U.hotel' accompanies Wardle’s film, following an ambiguous character across various transformations and non-place locations, questioning the ambiguity of the trans-humanist vision. Simeon Banner's painting 'Client Server Relationship' depicts a figure, engrossed within the screen of their phone, seemingly unaware of their surroundings, already a cyborg because of their attachment to their technological device, as argued by Eula Biss in her book ‘On Immunity: An Inoculation’. The exhibition ends with Emma Connolly's painting 'Skin and Bone' that focuses on an internal body and the beauty of the organic form, bringing us back to the apparent present day formations of the human condition.
For the 32nd online exhibition, titled ‘Forward Thinking Futures’ three video works were exhibited, each looking towards the future of various objects or philosophies. Patrick Schabus’ film ‘We had the experience but missed the meaning’ is made up of scavenged and distorted footage, fabricating a fictitious future society that seems to be reflecting on the past state of video as a medium, whilst simultaneously informing the viewer of how film is being seen in this future tense. Having created this narrative, Schabus is able to reflect on the now as its occurring in front of our eyes; a feature of the piece that becomes increasingly meta as time continues forwards. Amber Clausner’s seemingly oppressive experience ‘WE FEEL’ is a collection of clips taken from YouTube, each of which predominantly feature the film maker vocally responding to the environmental phenomena that they’re documenting. In doing so, Clausner is visually critiquing how we consume content in the digital age, usually through the medium of a screen rather than through our own eyes. The childlike voice that’s heard throughout seems to hint at the wonder that is simulated by individuals everywhere when watching these short videos online, grown adults being transformed into awe inspired infants. The final piece, Andrew McSweeney’s video ‘I Don't Lie On a Chaise Longue...’ is responding to an interview with Sean Scully where the artist was basically stating that he didn’t sit around and complain all day, basking in the wealth that he had already accumulated. Although Scully belongs to an older generation of artists, his forward thinking personal philosophy is more attuned to a younger artist, working his way towards future success. This quote from Scully has been transformed by McSweeney into an incredibly minimal, endlessly repeating animation.
What else is going on? I went to Manchester for the weekend, which was an interesting experience. I guess it feels like any city that you don’t really know how to function in yet, big and full of stuff. I don’t know. I feel like I know how to function in London now, and every other city is kind of weird… Maybe I’m just tired and worn out right now. It’s been an exhausting few months, as you may have noticed.
I went to a couple of shows whilst I was there, and journeyed to Liverpool too for a couple of exhibitions. The main one I was fully invested in was Rachel Maclean’s solo exhibition at HOME titled Wot u :-) about? It involved a bunch of sculptural works, alongside some wall tapestries and a great 30-minute video that explored data and its commodification. I’ve only really experienced her films in the past, with the sculptures being the ‘new thing’ for me. They were pretty great, huge chunks of yellow flesh, both disturbing and comical at the same time. Well, mostly incredibly disturbing. It was a good show, full of distress and terrible looks to the future. Well, mostly it’s a re-skin of our own reality. Kind of like when a video game is just reproduced with a new brand, like the popular Call of Duty franchise. Always the same with a different aesthetic.
Liverpool was, yet again, a weird city. There were a few good art things however, with Tate Liverpool being one of them. Cécile B. Evans’ performative exhibition Sprung a Leak was quite the experience, if a little in your face with the amount of screens in the white rectangle of a room. It involves these seemingly autonomous robots, manoeuvring through the space whilst undergoing a dialogue with each other and the viewer. A lot of her work seems to be very ambiguous whilst being incredibly precise, as they always concern a very structured/considered script. Maybe it’s the amount of stuff in these videos and experiences that she creates, which makes it feel like these are ambiguous moments in time. It was interesting nevertheless, as well as the fact that it’s considered a performance, with the robots being the performers. Very cool.
The Open Eye Gallery had a show focused on the Jerwood Photoworks Awards, which was kind of dull. Photographs of things, people and places. I didn’t really learn anything from the experience, or gain anything.
There were a bunch of different things happening at the Bluecoat, which was an interesting institution. A favourite was Adham Faramawy’s Janus Collapse, a three screen installation that involved a lot of sand and a bunch of concrete pillars. The video that was showing simultaneously on these various screens depicted a bunch of different people, all melding together whilst going about various actions. The whole thing had a weird sheen over it, a weird lucidity that intrigued me. It reminded me of the various interfaces that Joey Holder uses in her videos, making them more than just a stolen clip from a random YouTube video. I’m not entirely sure on what the content of the thing was, with weird aesthetic visuals and slippery bodies reminiscent of ‘slick’ adverts and commercials.
The last exhibition during my time away from London was at Fact, both a cinema and exhibition space, similar to HOME in that respect. The exhibition was called No Such Thing As Gravity which was composed of various science based works, created by artists having not been scientifically trained. Some of them were more practical applications than purely art based things, like a car that runs off of water. It was a good show, full of projections and ideas routed in science.
That was Manchester/Liverpool, an interesting experience. Next we have the shows I’ve been going to in London. There are many, as I’ve been attempting to catch up. If you like to read, journey on to this next half of the blog.

Carroll Fletcher’s second exhibition in the four-part exhibition series Looking at one thing and thinking of something else was titled Observations, with the main draw being a dual screen installation by Natascha Sadr Haghighian. The piece is made up of two monitors skyping each other for the duration of the show whilst using an application called CatchEye, so that when you stand in front of one screen, you appear on the other. The application distorts your face so that you always seem to be looking at the camera, which is a really weird idea. Weirdly great. The screens are attached to a huge mouse type creature, which makes the whole thing even more weird and great.
Next up we have Tenderpixel with a solo show for Rehana Zaman which is aptly titled Tell me the story Of all these things. It involves three video installations and a large wall based print. The videos are split up, but form one large dialogue/interview that she conducted with her two Muslim sisters, talking about various aspects of their lives whilst they cook various dishes in an incredibly clean kitchen. Definitely worth your time, although it was a little frustrating on the opening night; a lot of people in tiny rooms who aren’t actually interested in looking at the work. Just fuck off and move please.
Seventeen has an interesting group show on right now called Morning uber, evening oscillators, lots of work around negative space and urbanism with a fun title. I need to be more relaxed about titles, they can definitely be a lot of fun to experiment with. Eloise Hawser had a bunch of very clean, very crisp sculptural assemblages on show, made from 3D printing technologies. A lot of her work is very good, very clean, I’d like to see more in the future.
Laura Bartlett Gallery had a kind of okay show, featuring photographs and a few wall based sculptures. Nothing really to ‘write home about’.
Campoli Presti had a solo show by Jutta Koether which was just a bunch of really un-interesting paintings. I didn’t really gain anything from the experience.
Matthew Darbyshire at Herald St was surprisingly good. He had completely distorted the gallery space, with the floor being a mass of dust and broken plastic appliances accompanying a variety of sculptural figures imprisoned within these structures reminiscent of 3D printers. It was an interesting contrast, between the virtual and the handmade life-size figures that were on show. Very good.
Maureen Paley was okay, photographs and paintings, not worth my writing time…
The Ryder was, as always, great. A solo exhibition from Fabio Lattanzi Antinori looking at financial algorithms and day-trading figures. The work varied from personalised pens to this beautiful screen printed flag. Such a good gallery.
Annka Kultys Gallery was so dull, a variety of these abstract paintings, that had purposefully ambiguous names, hinting at meaning where there wasn’t any. Like, what the fuck? How is this good? It really isn’t.
Vilma Gold had some okay work coming from KP Brehmer, a painter and graphic designer. It was alright, incredibly poignant in the ‘current climate’ but in reality, kind of dull and not that exciting. I don’t know, I was left with a tired tediousness.
Cell Project Space, however, was so good. A group show, featuring two artists who make great work, Kate Mackeson and Henrik Potter. Potter had created these beautiful aluminium frames which were used as a tableau to hold various items, from pieces of glass representing phone screens to lighters or nearly spent rizla packets. I was surprised at how much I liked these assemblage sculptures, such a clean and considered aesthetic that worked great as a canvas to hold objects and ideas. Why do I like this, but hate Helen Marten’s work? I’m not sure…
Anselm Keifer at the White Cube was okay, I enjoyed the extravagant installations that you had to walk through, experiencing these various environments that Kiefer has created… I would have preferred to go when it was a little less crowded, which made navigating around the post-apocalyptic beds a bit of a hassle. It was good, but not really my thing.
William Kentridge at the Whitechapel Gallery was fun, but yet again not really my thing. I liked the mechanised structures, although it was a shame that they didn’t have projections incorporated into them like I had assumed… I don’t know, a little dull.
However, the Guerrilla Girls installation that’s currently on view there is quite powerful. It’s made up of over 100 answers to a questionnaire that they sent out to nearly 400 galleries and institutions around Europe. The questionnaires were mostly enquiring about the diversity that’s occurring, or not occurring, in these institutions, as well as asking questions like ‘how much is an artist paid when they exhibit with you’, etc. It’s a very sobering piece, and quite saddening really. Also, fairly problematic being embedded in this institution that is the Whitechapel, although that is taken into account in the show, but still!
Another installation that’s currently there, which was also really good, was by Alicja Kwade called Medium Median, which featured 24 iPhones attached to a continually moving metal structure that was affixed to the ceiling. That’s just fucking cool to begin with. These phones were showing various star charts and their different current locations. It’s worth going to the Whitechapel for this alone, and it’s free.
Matt’s Gallery was weird but great. Featuring a two channel video alongside a continuous performance piece by Leah Capaldi. The films show a cowboy, preparing his horse for a ride. These are being projected onto two boards. One of them has two ‘leg holes’, with two real human legs poking out of them, resting on the floor. These legs are attached to a figure around the back of the installation, lying on a board in silence for the duration of the show. Aptly titled Lay Down, the work considers the manipulation of power structures. Quite fun actually.
Tate Modern’s turbine hall has a surprisingly good piece right now on show by Philippe Parreno. It feels like a living and breathing installation, changing as people explore the vast space. It’s a solid work, which I’d quite like to experience again as the space changes with it. Although, who wants to go to the Tate on a regular basis, not me.
Vitrine Gallery was fun, lots of neon rope like sculptures. I enjoy the relation between neon and the flexible nature of rope, dunno if I’ve seen that done before or not… It continually amuses me that Vitrine is just a window space exhibition; I’d love to do something like this in the future…
Union Gallery was okay, the title for the exhibition, Post-Digital, made me think it was going to be a lot more interesting than it was. Turned out it was a badly curated show full of copper sculptures. Not that great.
Hmm, what else? Lisson Gallery was quite bad. Jason Martin, who usually makes these incredibly tasty looking paintings had some not very tasty paintings on display. They’re the type of paintings you want to have, as they just look so tasty, but these weren’t as full of paint as usual. A lot less fun and a lot less edible and butter-icing like.
The other Lisson however, had a few works from Ai Weiwei on show. One of them was a 12 screen video installation that was made up of over 7000 photographs taken on Weiwei’s phone, continually changing at 4 second intervals. Although the meaning is obvious here, it was still very good. Another work in the show, Fondation, is made up of huge foundations that make up a monumental grid-like structure. Visitors are invited to sit on this formation, which contains small pillars rising out from the wood, to sit and reflect on the future. It was also used to house a performative discussion earlier this month, which is very cool. It was incredibly illuminating to walk on these foundations, taken from centuries old Chinese halls. The oddly delicate structure placed within the gallery space just made me not want to walk on it, but when you did you felt elevated, in both a literal and metaphysical way.
David Zwirner was okay, but as usual not that great. Thomas Ruff with a bunch of huge prints and Rose Wylie with some huge childlike paintings…
Almine Rech had a good show featuring Jeff Koons and his selection of gazing ball works. I’m usually not much of a fan, but their positioning within various classic paintings were really interesting, especially the analogue platforms that extended out of the works to hold the balls. A great fusion of a sculpture and a painting in a very literal way.
Frith Street was also good, Dayanita Singh envisioning the invisible curator of the space. Very subtle, showing process with actual finished works, which is actually quite good. I liked it.
Pi Artworks was dull, a show all about drawing…
Pilar Corrias had some work by Gerasimos Floratos on show. Huge paintings that I have no time for.
Now, Josh Lilley. A surprisingly great show by Carla Busuttil revolving around a video work, looking at a half fake/half real ‘hired gun’ company operating under the moniker of ‘Mosquito Lighting Private Security’. The paintings and sculptures all revolved around this fictitious company, taking inspiration from private security operations that are used in South Africa, rather than the normal police force which can’t be fully trusted due to bribery, etc. Really good and worth your time.
The Masons Yard White Cube was so dull, paintings. Dull paintings by Magnus Plessen.
The Gagosian had some more dull paintings by Ed Ruscha on show. Why are dull paintings still being shown? I know the answer, but still…
Pace London was okay, featuring a bunch of black and white photography work that we’ve all seen before. Nothing more to add really.
The Serpentine Galleries had some very good work on show. At the Sackler there was a solid show featuring some of Zaha Hadid’s early paintings and drawings, very constructivist and Malevich inspired. These are nice. The unexpected enjoyment, however, was the addition of some VR goggles which enabled you to literally experience some of these paintings, virtually surrounding and moving around you. You’re originally placed in a virtual representation of the gallery, with 4 different paintings on the walls around you. You move into these paintings and experience 4 different, incredibly subtle visual delights. Really beautiful and highly recommended.
The Lucy Raven video exhibition at the other location was okay, although some of the works were being repaired when I went, so that was a shame. I particularly enjoyed one of the visual techniques being used in one of the videos, where there were multiple layers of material on the screen, similar to an analog collage. The layers were then slowly removed, showing the original uncut image. It was an interesting way of layering this old footage, which I couldn’t identify, in order to create these new image assemblages that seemed to function as a whole. Kind of interesting.
Ken Price at Hauser and Wirth was fine, lots of pots and lots of delicate prints. The kind of thing I want in my perfectly white house. Yeah?
Stephen Friedman had work by Huma Bhabha on show, some huge collage works and sculptural cork pieces. I like the collages, they have a certain humour to them, cut outs from High Times magazine being a prominent feature within the work. Yet again, quite nice to have around, maybe in a group show now and again.
Massimo De Carlo had some weird sand painting type things by Jennifer Guidi. Okay, but repetitive, I don’t need to see 20 of the same exact thing to get the idea of repetition.
Blain Southern had a packed show, featuring 16 artists and a lot of artworks. Too many to actually go into serious detail about, as by this point I’m sure you’re tired of this post. There was a really nice film in the back featuring these Roman (I think) sculptures being illuminated in a very alien/odd way. That was kind of beautiful and subtle.
Maddox Arts was weird and not very good. Camilo Matiz knowingly copying artists like Amish Kapoor et al. It was okay, but their exhibitions are rarely that great…
And finally we come to the last show of the blog, Bloomberg New Contemporaries at the ICA. What can I say? Lots of work, downstairs was quite dull, whereas upstairs was slightly better. Quite a dark video by Zarina Muhammad was good, a little simple, but good, featuring morph suit dancing and video game violence. A really clean video piece by Ruth Spencer Jolly was fun, singing We Can Work It Out (the classic Beatles song) whilst the lyrics are typed out and deleted, line by line as a Facebook status. Saelia Aparicio Torinos’ steel structure with glass blown bottles was aesthetically nice to look at too… Yeah? I think that’s it probably…
So, moving away from the vast amount of exhibitions that I’ve been catching up on, let’s look at the films I’ve been engaging with. How fun and exciting!

Let’s begin with my maybe favourite film of 2016, Arrival. Oh my this is a good film, an exquisite film, from the incredibly powerful soundtrack to the fairly layered and clever plot. The acting was great and the story was thrilling. Really great and highly recommended to literally everyone. I’m so glad that at least one good sci-fi film has been released this year. Amy Adams is so great.
Storks was fairly fun, if a little not funny at times. Not the best animation and not the worst either.
¯\_()_/¯
Kubo and the Two Strings however was a beautiful experience; lovingly crafted animation alongside a heart breaking (if a little obvious) plot line with twists being seen a mile off. Really great though and highly worth your time.
David Brent: Life on the Road was fine, Gervais doing his thing. It was okay, if a little dull at points and incredibly predictable.
Paterson, the new film featuring Adam Driver, was beautiful. A quiet, contemplative film looking at the week in the life of a bus driver who is also an unpublished poet. Very nice, although his girlfriend seemed to just lounge around the house all day being ‘kooky’ which is more than slightly problematic. I also dislike it when ‘handwritten’ text appears on the screen, very cliché.
Frank and Lola, a very weird ‘psychosexual’ film starring Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots as lovers who are very angry and jealous. Lots of twists, lots of hate, lots of Shannon having sex. Weird but maybe good? I’m not sure.
Werner Herzog’s venture into the internet Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World is okay, but not that eye opening, although anything and everything is made better when Herzog is narrating.
I re-watched The Snowman to get into the Christmas mood. I truly love that film, really beautiful and such a call back to my childhood. How middle class.
The Santa Claus was a bit of fun, although Tim Allen is very hit and miss…
Is that it? I think I’ve seen more, but at this point my memory is getting incredibly hazy attempting to remember films that I engaged in nearly three weeks ago!

I also indulged in a few video games during this time, mostly co-op ones, which makes a change. Nidhog is this amazingly fast paced game centred around the sport of fencing. In the game each player inhabits a small pixelated 2D figure who carries a sword, whose sole purpose is to move to the other side of the level. The gameplay is incredible, with sword fights lasting from 2 seconds to five minutes. I love it and had a lot of fun learning to control these anonymous characters.
Trials Fusion is a better version of the old Trials games, which sees the player manoeuvring through a 2.5D environment on a motorbike. It’s fun and incredibly difficult but nothing new.
I also played Rocket League. The basic premise is football with cars, with the gameplay being incredibly enjoyable, propelling rocket powered cars into the air in order to score goals with balls the size of your vehicle. Very fun and definitely worth your time.
The last game was ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS which is surprisingly beautiful. Once again a 2D affair that sees multiple players piloting small rockets around a map, shooting and bombing one another in a futuristic setting. It gets interesting when you activate ‘Zen Mode’ which is a passive game mode that allows you to draw with your rockets, with the different weapons being transformed into different colours for you to use to create some beautiful colourful line drawings. At this point the music is key and works really well with this relaxed gameplay. It’s a truly beautiful experience, which is made even better by the incredible soundtrack.
I think that’s everything? I now have a few weeks to relax, write an essay for uni that I’m yet to even think about (FUCK) and put on a video art screening. I’ve also begun contacting people about micro commissions for the isthisit? collection, as well as continuing to put on weekly shows on the online platform. And I thought the holidays were going to be a break from all this.

Fuck.