The WIP #40: The Substance
The Week in Photos (28 September - 4 October 2024)
In Bilbao, there is a cultural centre that has a swimming pool with a glass bottom on the top floor. You can stare up from the foyer at people swimming above you. It’s very strange, like staring up at the afterlife.
We were there to see The Substance, an intense new horror film about a middle-aged woman who takes a drug that allows her to be young again. It is a cross between Dorian Gray and Jekyll and Hyde. Dumb but enormous fun, like a rollercoaster.1
It has made me reflect on ageing and how we treat those who we think of as old. This chap seemed as spirited as the kid on the bike.
There are echoes everywhere.
It is great to be back in the Basque Country …
… and enjoy some Autumn sun and warmth.
Last weekend, in Glasgow, it was lovely to visit John Barry’s open house retrospective. Here is John after having written a text on the wall. His work is a combination of socially engaged practice with poetry. He had invited all his Hyndland neighbours and there were a lot of classic West End accents. The vibe was very congenial.
On Sunday, I made it just in time to Neil Clement’s Tactical scene at Govan Project Space. Northern Ireland has colonised the Glasgow art scene. In September alone, there have been shows or appearances by Cathy Wilkes, Niall McCallum, Smith/Stewart (one of whom is from there), and Neil Clements. Northern Ireland is a microcosm of British extremes—imperial and religious—so it makes sense that its artists would show us who we are.
The centrepiece of Tactical Scene is a modernist sofa resting on a khaki green parachute. In one corner, a slide projector shows a series of playgrounds that look like archaeological digs. Was modernism parachuted in? Is Northern Ireland a playground for the empire?
The sofa faces a red, white, and blue neon museum barrier. This protects bold paintings on the metallic non-slip surface (the kind used for wheelchair ramps). One painting has what looks like a cup and ring mark. The other has a bright grid structure. It’s a thoughtful, economical show that is more than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, it ended last Sunday, so you can’t see it.
On the way home, I walked past a comic con, which made me wonder if I should know more about Furries? Is a mask a way of avoiding ageing?
Claire Biddles has a strongly negative review on Letterboxd.