Thank you caffeine, my dear friend.
Another Thursday, another show..
6.20pm
I arrived at Gaffa and engaged in some small talk with Zoe, mostly about clothing, and the singing artwork upstairs. Excited to see it all, I grabbed a beverage and my boyfriend then followed the sweet melodies coming from above.
6.30pm
I strolled past the bathrooms and saw that, low and behold we had soap... Off to a good start.
6.31pm
And there she was, Patricia Alvarez in all her beautiful, hairy glory. Kath Fries had done an amazing job with the installation and I instantly felt like I was a part of the work, trapped in the very web that had captured a singing princess. With two glasses of white wine at her feet, (perhaps for stage confidence,) Patricia twirled and knotted her hair for two hours.
Her voice was reminiscent of Ariel from the little mermaid, and I suppose it was rather easy to imagine that we all where on the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by seaweed, drifting in it's currents. Seaweed, like hair, does have a textural quality that most find discomforting, and it's this discomfort which, contrasted with her soothing voice, was for me, what I found most intriguing.
As an urban woman, I spend a lot of money on hair. Colours, treatments, blow dry’s… Watching Alvatrez tease and split her ends was, certainly cringe worthy for me. However her expression never changed. Calm, composed and often trance like Alvarez remained, almost oblivious to the chattings of those watching on.
"Come here" I called out to my boy friend. When he arrived, I pulled hair off his back, only to have the strands slowly float down and stick to my shoe, dammit.
By now, hair balls were finding their way into every room of the gallery like dirty parasites…
but I kinda liked it.
6.50pm
Anything that has a warning on the door must be good. Perhaps this is my inner naughty child talking here, but either way I was keen to see what all the fuss was about with Steve Frizza’s ‘Connection Lost’.
His concept was brilliant. 5000 different individuals from around the world, given 5-15 minutes of webcam time, to do, pretty much what ever they wanted.
And it seemed that most wanted to get naked.
Stills from his conversations were then taken and transformed into wall paper which completely covered the walls, giving it a almost claustrophobic feel similar to Alvarez and Fries work from the room before.
The imagery was to say the very least, extremely confronting, and at times even physically confusing. To be frank, it was a genital party.
However what I found most interesting is that men where given only 5 mins of chat time, where as woman where given 15 mins. I guess this means woman need a little extra time and encouragement to take our pants off?
Personally I would definitely need at least a glass of pinot, a few compliments and perhaps even some Marvin Gaye before I would be exposing any nipples. Maybe Steve Frizza could fit all that into 15 minutes? Seems like he must be a smooth talker.
7.00pm
The oddly complimentary works of Ivan and Katherine Buljan Metropos awaited us in the next room. One artist’s bright, happy, almost child-like works contrasted by the other’s dark photographic imagery reminiscent of a hobbit’s vacation pictures from Mordor. Having the two displayed interchangeably in the same gallery space really made the observer acutely aware of the stylistic decisions each artist had made.
Ivan Bulijan’s work continued into gallery 3. Beer bottles, a stark filmless projector, burnt books hanging from coat hangers, staging miniature battle scenes. All very intense!
7.15 pm
We finished off the circuit in a room running 5 video portraits by Hugh Marchant. Unfortunately it was really crowded so we decided to return later and enjoy the films at our leisure.
7.20pm
Our heads full of art, we headed across the road to Sweeny's pub to meet my friend Alex. I’ve known her for years and her brutal honesty is always refreshing at arty events.
“A girl……knotting her hair into a web?? But why? Sure I’ll come!”
The sun was beginning to set over the city, and so we decided to stay for a cheeky one on the roof top amidst the nine to fivers.
7.45pm
Back to Gaffa. I was keen to see how deep Alvarez was in her web, but by this stage she had begun unravelling herself. A loud applause erupted as the last strands where detached.
7.45pm
Another lap, and it was time for good bye. On leaving I heard a broken glass, that makes two for two.
Maybe we should look at getting plastic cups.
Thanks again for a fun filled evening Gaffa!
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