OUTWITH

Drawing Restraint 9 - Matthew Barney + Bjork

Its core idea is the relationship between self-imposed resistance and creativity, a theme it symbolically tracks through the construction and transformation of a vast sculpture of liquid vaseline, called “The Field”, which is molded, poured, bisected and reformed on the deck of the ship over the course of the film. 

Barriers hold form in place, and when they are removed, the film tracks the descent of form into states of sensual surrender and formal atrophy; this shift in the physical state of the sculpture is symbolically mirrored through the narrative of The Guests, two occidental visitors to the ship played in the film by Matthew Barney and Björk, who we first see taken on board, groomed, bathed and dressed in mammal fur costumes based upon traditional Shinto marriage costumes. 

They take part in a tea ceremony in which, in the film’s only moment of spoken dialogue, they are informed about the history of the vessel, and then, as an increasingly powerful lightning storm breaks out overhead, the tatami mat room they occupy floods with liquid vaseline, a fluid which we sense has emanated from The Fieldsculpture itself. 

In a harrowing liebestod which is the climax and centerpiece of the film, the Guests, locked in an embrace and breathing through blowhole-like orifices on the back of their necks, take out flensing knives and cut away each other’s feet and thighs. The remains of their lower body are revealed to contain traces of whale tails at an early stage of development, suggesting rebirth, physical transformation, and the possibility of new forms. 

Having reached a state of maximum disintegration, the sculpture of The Field is then reorganized and the ship emerges from the storm, sailing through a field of icebergs towards the open southern ocean. In the last shot, two whales can be seen swimming behind the ship, headed for Antarctica.

Barbara Hammer: Nitrate Kisses

Lesbians and gays were silenced for generations in the 20th century in their stories covered up, their letters and diaries burned, and their history left unrecorded. Homosexuality was illegal, and socially so it was kept hidden. In popular culture, gay and lesbian themes had to be disguised, encoded. Old movies would use scenes of ancient Greece or stories from the bible to present homoerotic images in an acceptable manner. Sapphic love was mired within chaste romance and usually ended with lesbian characters going insane, being murdered or committing suicide. So entire historical chapters about a large part of the population remains blank, empty, nonexistent.

In an attempt to address this gap in the historical record, Hammer constructs an aural record. She includes spoken accounts of the early twentieth century. These oral histories are played back throughout the film along with music – everything from blues to Kurt Weill — from the periods discussed. Cultural evidence of a queer existence. Visually, though, the film takes a totally different path. Hammer uses B&W explicit footage of various same-sex couples (three of women, one of men) having sex. Even though we’re inundated with nudity in contemporary cinema and porn is ubiquitous nowadays, you rarely see couples quite like this. Especially the case of two elderly women — a long-time couple — joyfully making love for the camera. Aside from the sex, there are also lots of clips from period films, music, and lesbian pulp fiction. And every so often it’s topped off with an agit-prop quote plastered across the screen from literary theorists like Michel Foucault.

Nitrate Kisses is vigorously resistant to conventions like narrative, linear storylines, or synchronized sound and picture. Doesn’t matter. It’s not disjointed at all. The film is an engrossing and engaging historical record.—-CIUT-Daniel Garber at the Movies (Toronto)

The Alignment - Jeff Mills, dir Heleen Blanken

The film is about telepathic communication between three sources. It’s about alignment in many forms; arranging the right setting for communication; aligning multiple frequencies and creating the perfect environment for a transfer. So basically, the characters are aligning their frequencies with each other and the third party. 

Refugees of the Septic Heart reflects the heart beat of a nation as it perches on the brink of change. At times philosophical and provocative six dancers search for a society freed of greed, manipulation and control. Gritty physicality and decaying urban sounds evolve into an optimistic undercurrent of mischievous, spirited and irrepressible movement. Inspired by music producer Shackleton’s undulating rhythms, snaking percussions and hypnotic melodies Tom Dale Company unites Barret Hodgson’s digital animation, spoken word by Vengeance Tenfold and Dale’s inventive choreography in a feast of visuals, movement and music.

Refugees of the Septic Heart continues the collaboration between the creative duo (Dale & Hodgson) behind the internationally acclaimed I Infinite.

Sighthill Stone Circle

Designed and erected by astronomer Duncan Lunan in 1979 - therefore it’s the first astronomically aligned circle to be built in the UK for more than 3000 years.

 The stones stand as a connection between Glasgow’s ancient past and the modern 21st century city it is today.

Luminarie De Cagna

55,000 LEDs
28 meters high

http://vimeo.com/35914033

(was on display at the 2012 Light Festival in Ghent, Belgium)

Kuedo @ C2C Festival Showcase

I’ll confess to not knowing much about Kuedo, I had his Fact Mix on rotation late last year but for some reason that didn’t encourage me to explore his own productions (I can be foolish like that). Only recently did it click that a tune I’d put on a YouTube playlist called Star Fox was Kuedo AKA Jamie Vex’d. In 2004 Vex’d were big for me, I loved the urgency and aggression of their productions - more rooted in jungle (at that point a genre I completely misunderstood) than the other dubstep I was exploring.

8 years later, you can still hear the origins of the Vex’d sound but Jamie has taken it in a direction I could never have imagined. His set starts with bass driven lullabies for space travellers children and builds slowly into epic soundscapes made dynamic with hectic bass and synth patterns. He utilises a relatively limited palette of sounds, punctuated with the recurring percussion of a tight closed cymbal. There is an ethereal, siren like quality to Kuedo’s melodies, which if you allow will wash over you creating a textured landscape where it becomes possible to lose yourself and explore deep space. Rather than defining your experience, this allows you to find your own rhythm and dance pattern. Towards the end of the set, lift off occurs and the dark menacing roots of Vex’d pound heavy bass.

From the Scottish Film and Television Archive - a public film made in 1971 covering Glasgow’s redevelopment - directed by Oscar Marzaroli.