In Southwark, the curious facade of the Fashion and Textile Museum attracts the eye of many curious passers-by. Typical of its creative yellow and pink exterior, the Fashion and Textile Museum offers continuously diverse programs and exhibitions and has set itself as a place of expression for designers and fashion artists around the world. This season, they are offering us a historical outlook on the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) in their new exposition “150 years of the Royal School of Needlework: Crown to Catwalk”. The exhibit retraces the rich historical story of the school and explores the re-emerging art of needlework through some of the most memorable pieces of the archive of the RSN.

The RSN, which is now celebrating its 120th birthday, was founded as a non-profit organisation in 1872 by Lady Victoria Welby. The goal was not only to revive the lost art of needlework but also to give work to educated women by creating an industry that was mainly run by female workers. The school has been accepting commissions from the Royal Family from its earliest days and has managed to perdure over time by building a reputation of variety and versatility in their work. The assiduity of the school can be well resumed by their mantra: “when in a rush on a job, never a seat shall go cold”. Their frenetic rhythm has made them able to perform some admirable miracles, such as the last-minute creation of Queen Victoria’s sublime funeral pall. Many other stunning royal garments produced by the RSN can be seen at the museum, from wedding ornamentals to coronation regalia.

History enthusiasts will enjoy this exhibition as much, if not more, than fashion lovers. In addition to the historical origins of the school and its participation in many memorable events of the Royal family, the exhibit explores other moments from the past of needlework. We are shown how in the First World War, soldiers were given embroidery kits as part of their occupational therapy, thus starting a long tradition of using needlework to improve mental health. Other archives include religious robes and vintage lingerie, showcasing once again the versatility and the range of the work of the RSN.

The second floor will not only bring you to another epoch but to a whole other level of experimentalising and modernity. The collaborations, the runway pieces, the international features and the current projects of the students prove not only that needlework is not dead, but that it is more vibrant and creative than ever. This orientation towards the future and the space of expression that is left to new generations was extremely inspiring and refreshing to see.

Get your tickets for this historical yet innovative take on needlework at https://fashiontextilemuseum.org/exhibitions/150-years-of-the-royal-school-of-needlework-crown-to-catwalk

The Red Dress worn by Natasha Faye Hopkins / Dave Watts Photography

Reviewed by Céline Galletti – Celine is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from France and Italy, she follows her passion for writing and art by studying Comparative Literature at UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and understand the city’s vibrant arts scene, and be a part of its creative storm.

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The British Museum presents Feminine Power: the divine to the demonic, the first exhibition of its kind that takes a cross-cultural look at the profound influence of female spiritual beings on global religion and faith. Over 80 unique objects have been drawn from the British Museum’s collection including sculptures, paintings, sacred artifacts and contemporary depictions of deities, goddesses, saints, witches and demons from ancient and medieval cultures across the globe. All are brought together alongside modern and contemporary artworks to create a thought-provoking look at the diversity of representations and complex meanings of the divine female over time. It reveals how female authority and femininity have been celebrated, feared, and revered, shaping our understanding of the world.

Spanning 5,000 years of belief and disbelief in human history, the female being has been synonymous with wisdom, nature, desire, mercy and justice and her rich, often contradictory traits, still determine how we understand femininity today.  Shaped into clay figures with prominent tights, stylised breasts, and pubic triangles, the female form has been often associated with the abundance of the land and the sea. The female image merges with nature and animates its creative and destructive forces: embodied in the figure of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, who erupts and destroys everything in her path, but paves the way for a new life in the process.

Alongside beliefs about creation and the fertility of the earth, the exhibition explores some of the many ways in which passion and desire have been spiritually associated with feminine influence. Tlazolteolt, the Huaxtec goddess of purification, is known to the Catholic missionaries of the 15^th century as ‘the mistress of lust and debauchery’ and eats filth to cleanse transgression. The Bolivian embodiment of lust is perfectly rendered in the demonic figure of China Supay who wears a fierce and obscene mask. In art, female sexual power came to be expressed through her nudity. Such is the case of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, an emblem of the ideal of female beauty whose power resides in her ability to inflame passion in all its forms from love and sexual ecstasy to rage and despair, bringing about both reconciliation and conflict.

The seductive power of women is the subject of almost all tales presented in the exhibitions. The Hindu goddess Radha is worshipped as the embodiment of beauty, love, and devotion. Her story charts the anguish and ecstasy of sexual desire culminating in Radha’s triumph over the god Krishna as she lies on top of him during sex. Similarly, the first woman to be created by God and first wife to Adam, Lilith, refused to lie beneath him during sex asserting equality with her husband. For such defiance, however, she was forced to flee Eden and had been long vilified by future Christian readings. What’s made explicit in these narratives with striking clarity is the undeniably large extent to which sex and desire underpin civilization and still influence modern views on female authority.

Female demons, witches and monsters permeate mythology and folklore from across the globe. For all, they are feared and believed to inflict madness or death on anyone who crosses their paths like the figures of Circe and Medusa in Greek mythology.  Like Lilith’s one, their stories are often linked to suffering. They are widows bent on vengeance or women who died in childbirth honoured for their bravery and sacrifice in the same way as warriors who died in battle like the Aztecs, of Mexico, Cihuateteo. Now as then, women pay dearly for their independence by defying expectations of submissive female behaviour encouraged within certain cultures.

What the exhibition reveals with extreme audacity is that the many ways that female power has been perceived in cultures and spiritual traditions around the world still guide our own views on femininity and human experience. The attitude to such feminine powers is often paradoxical. Images of the Virgin Mary are soft and caring and her figure has been uniquely important in the daily lives of Christian worshippers. However, this reverence has not necessarily translated into a higher status for women themselves. Some cultures pray for female beings as the source of authority and leadership, and like the Hindu warrior goddess Durga they are often associated with outstanding physical strength. Their role is often to bring about justice. The Ancient Greek goddess of war and wisdom Athena is still admired today for her supreme wisdom and fearlessness which continues to evoke strength, intellect and order in the collective imagination.

The show is overwhelmingly ferocious, beautiful and creative. The themes are certainly difficult to understand and can discourage those who are not well versed in the humanities disciplines, or religious and anthropological studies. To overcome this inconvenience, the British Museum has invited five special guest academics and comedians to respond to the themes of the exhibition. Their personal and professional points of view guide viewers through the different sections. The exhibition concludes with an area for visitors to share their thoughts and impressions on the themes of the exhibition.

For more info/book tickets – https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/feminine-power-divine-demonic

19 May 2022 – 25 Sep 2022 Daily: 10.00–17.00 (Fridays 20.30) Room 35 The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery Tickets: Adults from £15, Members and under 16s free.

The Creation, Judy Chicago, USA, 1985, coloured screen print in 45 colours on black paper. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Reviewed by Rachele Nizi- After completing her MA in Reception of the Classical World at UCL, Rachele joined Abundant Art as a creative writer. Her British and Italian origins have inspired her to want to study Art History and European Literature, with an interest in the afterlife of antiquity in the Western tradition.

This May, the Peacock Theatre was taken over by German Cornejo’s Wild Tango in a show that overwhelmed the senses with Argentinian tradition, artistic innovation, colourful costumes, charismatic dancers and gravity-defying acrobatics. Whether you are a novice to tango or already a connoisseur and fan of German Cornejo and Gisela Galeassi, this show will find a way to delight you by creating an immersive experience of Argentinian culture and dance. This vibrant atmosphere and spirit on stage were only matched in energy by the enormous standing ovation received at the end of the show, to which the dancers had to come back to the stage and perform one last dance for the public.

The dance show started by introducing us to the origins of Tango, according to which men practiced among themselves before being ready to dance with women. The predominantly male duos of dancers offered a performance that blurred the gendered and heteronormative division between leaders and followers, and even then only three women would often dance between themselves or be the leaders when paired with a male partner. While the first act drew a lot from the typical sensuality of tango, with costumes of lace, leather and masks; the second half was a refreshing and surprising explosion of neon colours and modern experimentalism. Overall, the performances were a well-mixed cocktail of tango, urban dance, malambo, contemporary and circus that, combined together, definitely justified the “Wild” in “Wild Tango”.

Rising tango power couple and stars of the show German Cornejo and Gisela Galeassi were visibly thoroughly invested in this project, both as directors and performers. The dancers too were extremely magnetic, and their technique and engagement in the dances were even more remarkable than the choreographies themselves. The chemistry between everyone was palpable and has me looking forward to seeing the same dancers reunited in their next London-based show, Tango After Dark. The band was also a notable element of the performance, as the music was played live by a quartet of voice and guitar (Luciano Bassi), bandoneon (Matias Rubino), drums (Jeronimo Izarrualde) and piano (Ovidio Velazquez), which added to the immersive and spontaneous aspect of the night.

This Wild Tango was a great introduction to (or rediscovery of) tango for English audiences, all within the beautifully pleasant venue of Peacock theatre. The show truly transports you to another universe of rhythm and passion that makes it difficult to sit still while watching it. Tickets for upcoming shows can be found at https://www.sadlerswells.com

Wild Tango / Leo Mason photography

Reviewed by Céline Galletti- Celine is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from France and Italy, she follows her passion for writing and art by studying Comparative Literature at UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and understand the city’s vibrant arts scene, and be a part of its creative storm.

Out-Spoken returned back to the Southbank Centre last week, showcasing a range of talented poets and new musical artists. Poetry is an art form that is often made to feel prolific – second-hand almost. Out-spoken has done a brilliant job at creating a space that embraces this form of artistry, forming a space and community where language can be celebrated and enjoyed.

The night included sets of both poetry and music, from Max Porter, Jackie Kay and Simon Armitage; and music from bshp and Kay Young. This evening, the theme of much of the poetry was largely centred around rebellion, protest and defying the system. In a time when the world is going through various crises, it is important to be able to share these ideas, emotions and stories.

Starting with Max Porter – who recited so passionately – and brought natural energy to the room, touching on themes of capitalism and ignorance in society. Porter emphasised the dangers of work culture in Britain, where work is seen as ‘just work’ and separated from the impacts it can have on others’ lives. This was in relation to work in the Arms industry, dealing with refugees and migration, and so on – jobs that deal with the livelihoods of others. The words ‘Safety and Affluence’ were repeated throughout his performance – two words we take for granted living in this country: sometimes at the cost of others’ safety.

This performance was followed by Scottish poet, Jackie Kay (pictured). I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Kay’s poems, as well as the humour and personal stories she added in between. Her poems were centred around protest and rebellion, in the face of racial, gender and LGBT discrimination in the past and present. As a woman of colour, I found that these poems resonated with me personally, and others in the audience. Kay referenced significant moments such as the 1980s Women’s marches to ‘Reclaim the night’, Nelson Mandela protests and the recent BLM protests – all of which sparked a feeling of solidarity in the audience.

Finally, Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, was welcomed to the stage. He read a selection of poems and music lyrics, all of which were enjoyed by the audience. I particularly liked his poem ‘Let’s Bird Table’ which used various terms used in the corporate world to ridicule working culture.

The musical acts from bshp and Kay Young created a lively atmosphere throughout the evening. Bshp had a spectacularly strong voice, which transcended across the audience. Kay Young, an upcoming jazz and soul artist, recently signed to Jay Z’s management company ‘Roc Nation’ ended the evening on a high note. Kay Young captured the audience as we all danced to the end!

Out-Spoken is an outstanding organisation that creates a space for those who appreciate the artistry of language in all its forms. I thoroughly enjoyed this event and urge you all to join in for the next one!

Out-Spoken will be back at the Southbank Centre on 30 June 2022, book your tickets now at: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/literature-poetry/out-spoken-june?eventId=901400

Photography by Karim Kamar, Out-Spoken / Southbank Centre

Reviewed by Ridha Sheikh – Ridha is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. She is a recent History and Politics graduate from Queen Mary – University of London. Ridha is excited to explore and share her strong passion for London’s art scene.

BRIT School alumna Sarah Meth had the displeasure of releasing her debut EP, Dead End World, in the February of 2020, approximately a month before the nation went into lockdown, and everyone decided that the only two worthwhile pastimes in life were amateur epidemiology and artisanal baking. Perhaps if she had released it only a few months earlier, she would have built up the requisite momentum to be carried through; if she stalled to a couple of months later, she might have seized greater attention from a terminally bored population (as did countless average electronic producers at this time). As is the way of the world, the impact of Dead End World – a strong debut – was blunted by COVID-19. It’s a shame, too, since Dead End World was filled with the intimate, lonerist tunes that an isolated listenership needed, much more than they needed the recently furloughed Kyle’s avant-garde passion project.

At the same time, Dead End World was an almost quintessential debut. It’s an artefact preserved from Meth’s earliest endeavours. ‘What Does It Mean’, for example, is a really good song. It does not demarcate itself stylistically, though. The track sits neatly into the London jazz(?) tradition which dogged the latter half of the 2010s à la Puma Blue etc. (no disrespect to this scene, I am still a big fan). Saturated brushes, crooned vocals, and tapey hiss are well done, but instantly situate the songs in this genre.

While the delays of the pandemic meant Meth was off to a slower start than ideal, she’s wasted no time, and her sophomore EP, Leak Your Own Blues, released this month, is a great demonstration of this. She has bored further into the emotional threads of her music and refined her sound into something recognisably her own.

Meth’s independence was confirmed to me at her sold-out performance at St. Pancras Old Church – her first headline show. The church is still very much in use, and walking in, I wondered if I had walked in through the wrong door to an actual service, since its manner was so undisturbed by the gig. Meth and her band were performing in the sanctuary of the church, and we were all sat in chairs arranged in pews. And as with the other kind of sanctuary, I felt warm and enveloped in her melancholy melodies. There was something unconventional but very sweet about listening to Sarah backdropped by icons of Christ.

Despite the memo to wear blue, the title of the single, ‘Blue’, and the incredibly stylish blue scarves being sold as merch, the atmosphere was unanimously happy at the end. Sarah seemed so pleased to be finally playing a headline show, and the trick of her showmanship is that everyone feels invited to feel familiarity with her. The crowd would not relent in insisting an encore, and one member shouted out for her to play ‘What Does It Mean’. She replied that she’d moved past that, and while I really like that song, she is absolutely right. Sarah Meth is sighting greater pastures now. She hadn’t prepared an encore and chose to play one we’d already heard that evening. Not a problem: the sign of a great song is that you’re happy to hear it over and again.

Check out Sarah Meth – Blue (Official Video) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRYbt_FFAQs

Sarah Meth / Photography by Jody Evans

Cian Kinsella is a Classics teacher and part-time pub quizmaster living in London who is primarily interested in music but is also interested in theatre, literature, and visual arts. He is particularly intrigued by the relationship between art, criticism, and the capital forces always at play. Furthermore, he believes that subjectivity – which is ultimately at the heart of all artistic and cultural criticism – should not be concealed, but probed and perhaps even celebrated. Who decides what we like? How do they construct widely held beliefs about what is good? These are two of the questions Cian looks to address.

Fourty years have passed since the release of the 30-minute television series “Ways of Seeing” created by writer John Berger and adapted to a book of the same name in 1972. In it, we read: “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” But what does it mean to be looked at? The Dulwich Picture Gallery answers the question with an exhibition dedicated to the enigmatic motif of the ‘woman in the window’. It makes us re-evaluate the very act of looking.

Inspired by Rembrandt’s 1645 painting ‘Girl at a Window’, the exhibition brings together over 40 works by artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, David Hockney, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, and Wolfgang Tillmans and reveals how artists have long used the age-old motif of the ‘woman in the window’ to elicit a particular kind of response ranging from empathy to voyeurism. Featuring a range of media including sculpture, painting, print, photography, film, and installation this show makes us re-consider issues of gender and visibility.

‘Reframed: The Woman in the Window’, is filled with revelations. It convincingly denies the widely accepted claim that Dutch artists of the seventeenth century had a monopoly on the woman and window concept. The oldest work here dates right back to 900BC when a Phoenician artist carved the face of a temple prostitute on a piece of ivory. The ancient ivory and pottery on display showed women peering through the open-air windows with such abrupt and defiant frontality as to make the viewer reel back. These works reveal the early history of the motif and its use in representations of power, seduction, spirituality and the afterlife suggesting a view of a spectacle beyond. Here the window seems to act as a door between secular and sacred worlds, ironically referred to as a proxy for the female anatomy.

Warning against the ‘lust of the eyes’ that could lead to sinful thought, dominated Medieval and Early Renaissance depictions of people looking out of a window. Exceptions were made for representations of the Virgin and Child. An example dating to 15^th century recalls her role as Queen of Heaven. The Virgin is staged to be adored while standing at the ‘window to heaven’, yet she cautiously avoids gazing at our eyes looking down at her infant. Her presence expresses her own attitude toward herself and defines what can and cannot be done to her. This idea encouraged fifteenth-century artists to take up the motif as an innovative way of painting female portraits.

For centuries ‘the woman in the window’ represented a female type, a nameless and idealised woman, often reduced to a head or a bust. In defining the ideal nude, Dürer believed that this ought to be constructed by taking the face of one body, the breasts of another, the legs of a third, the shoulders of a fourth, the hands of a fifth – and so on. Similarly, the abstracted or fragmented representations of a woman framed by a window suggest that the female figure is irrelevant and interchangeable, emphasizing the void concealed in her presence. Turning away from the viewer, lost in indecipherable thought Sickert’s woman at the window turns herself into an object, and most importantly an object of vision: a sight. Only the personal and often intimate relationships between artists and their models and muses, witnessed in the works of Picasso and Wolfgang Tillmans, restore a sense of particularity and individuality to those faces flattened by the frame.

A window is essentially a frame within a frame that might act as a stage as in the case of the woman on the balcony, or as a domestic prison, echoed by all the caged birds in many of the paintings presented in the show. But what it emphasises, almost inevitably, is the loneliness of the figures. Often confined within domestic interiors, occupied in an activity traditionally described as ‘women’s work’ such as sewing or cooking, a woman longingly looks out of the window as in Isabel Codrington’s The Kitchen (1927).

A woman is looking out posing for us, or we are spying on her; we catch her unaware, or the artist holds her in his gaze. She has the world before her, a world she can see but never reach. A key aim of the exhibition is to turn the focus towards women artists who have adopted the concept of the window as a site of communication, connection and inspiration. The last section explores the works of six female artists who have taken ownership of the motif, in some cases using their own body and image to explore the construction of identity.

Men frame women; women reframe themselves with intuition and courage. The show is enthralling, stimulating and intelligent and offers a lesson about both art and life, and the experience of seeing and being seen.

This exhibition is on until 4 September 2022. For more info or to book – dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2022/may/reframed-the-woman-in-the-window/

Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm. Closed Mondays except for Bank Holidays.

Reviewed by Rachele Nizi- After completing her MA in Reception of the Classical World at UCL, Rachele joined Abundant Art as a creative writer. Her British and Italian origins have inspired her to want to study Art History and European Literature, with an interest in the afterlife of antiquity in the Western tradition.

Even if you were so on the pulse with new music that you were dubbed the music scene’s Fitbit, you’d be forgiven for briefly daydreaming and wondering how on earth (or away from it) Nukuluk got to where they are today. Admittedly, they haven’t sold out Wembley or the O2, but you would not be forgiven for not knowing where they will be tomorrow, because the proof is in the pudding.* Like all pudding, though, the sum of its parts is greater than its constituent ingredients – unless you really like butter, chocolate, sugar, and dough (I know these things are excellent, but let’s roll with it).

Scrumptious ingredients aside, what really elevates most puddings is time spent in the oven, and the same can be said for salted caramel Nukuluk shortbread. They began as a solo project by frontman Syd Nukuluk (he wasn’t lucky enough to be born with such a cool name – it’s a moniker), which just over a year ago was ‘killed off’, in his own words. He was killed off with the ominous Facebook statement: ‘Syd is gone, Nukuluk remains.’ Intriguing. This was followed, ‘now operating as a collective’. I’m always sceptical of collectives, in addition to platforms, spaces, or any other way of dressing up an arts project as something other than what it is, because it usually implies that the substance is too weak to carry it. What’s wrong with being a band?

At any rate, it would seem more that Syd was actually sacrificed to some pagan deity, because since then, the collective has gone from strength to strength. The deity in question would be Bristol label and promoter Spinny Nights, with whom the South-East London-based performers partnered up in the latter half of 2021. They hosted Nukuluk’s sold-out performance at Brixton’s Windmill in celebration of their debut EP release last November – zombified frontman Syd now duels it out with co-frontman Monika (another pseudonym… get it?), alongside instrumentalists Mateo, Olivia, and Louis.

While the Brixton party was great, it was slightly marred by technological hitches and teething issues. But for the inaugural edition of their monthly residency at the Bermondsey Social Club, it seemed that this collective had collected itself. Even from behind the venue’s shuttered garage door, the metal could not keep the energy from radiating outdoors. The tracks from debut EP Disaster Pop felt more realised and rehearsed; newer tracks were bursting with youth. I see partially why they choose to be called a collective: members know to step back from the limelight at the right time. Syd is even more committed to his role as vulnerable emo, and Monika’s punk-rap hybrid delivery demands and commands the attention of the audience. But they cannot both have all our attention at the same time, and they intuitively showcase each other when necessary, retreating into auxiliary roles.

The raw yet computer-ish sound of Nukuluk could best be described as a desktop PC with the casings torn off in an emotional tantrum, revealing all the wires, hardware, and motherboards underneath. Found sounds and heavy basses abound, occasionally adjoining more traditional rock band instrumentation. Moving forward, they may consider how Monika and Syd can work together; the duelling vocalist thing is cool, but Nukuluk are more than capable of exploring more than one direction. That they have a residency is no surprise – Nukuluk is here to stay. I’ll let them be a collective.

*The pudding is their music.

Cian Kinsella is a Classics teacher and part-time pub quizmaster living in London who is primarily interested in music but is also interested in theatre, literature, and visual arts. He is particularly intrigued by the relationship between art, criticism, and the capital forces always at play. Furthermore, he believes that subjectivity – which is ultimately at the heart of all artistic and cultural criticism – should not be concealed, but probed and perhaps even celebrated. Who decides what we like? How do they construct widely held beliefs about what is good? These are two of the questions Cian looks to address.

Livia Rita – singer, designer, choreographer, film maker and visual artist – is without a doubt the textbook multihyphenate, and rest assured their Wild Card premiere of FUTURA Glitch at the Lilian Baylis Studio adjoining Sadler’s Wells was hyphens abound. Even as I sat eating soup in the café before the show, I was drawn to a small interactive installation ran by their ‘coven’. At various stations I was guided through sound art, homemade scents, and a manifestation ritual involving horseradish, parsley, and cranberry juice. The walls were adorned with images and small eclogues of text relating to different themes.

In spite of this initiation, I had no idea what to expect when the show actually begun. Ostensibly this is part of the idea: according to the Sadler’s Wells website, the appropriately named Wild Card entails ‘a new generation of artists [being[ invited to curate their own night.’ At the very least, I inferred there would be music, dance, and elaborate costumes. As Rita began singing while emerging from a blossoming flower, I thought I knew what I was in for: a highly choreographed and ‘showy’ live performance by a singer with a small ensemble. Rita’s presence on stage (or in this case, in studio) is undeniable, and her voice is categorically good. As are their songs – this was hyper/electropop done well. She wormed her way through the audience and covertly demanded they reformulate themselves as she uncovered new audience-performer paradigms for each segment.

Then the coven came out, bringing Rita’s hyphens with them. Up until this point in the first act, Rita was alone, other than a sole performer who mostly remained stationary. As the performance progressed, we came to know and (maybe) love each member of the coven. There was the ivy-covered moss creature, the shroud in stilts, the pale duo who looked like woodland sprites. And with their introduction, Rita knew to pull away in the interest of the show, and at times, the music gave way to movement: there was now a glimpse of narrative. Individual members even had their own talents which shone, such as the moss creature’s brass solo, and the extended harp solo.

If the first act was the whacky act, the second half was the concerted act. From the get-go, something was different – the narrative choreography was more synchronic, and the music felt like a setlist, like songs rather than an experience. Where the electronic sounds of the first act sometimes felt like a backing track, one of the coven was now a visible DJ in the second. Perhaps to some, this is less of an achievement. I would argue that what the second half achieved was greater than the achievement of the first. While the harp, brass, movement, et. al. in the first act was wonderful, they dragged. While the costume changes of the first act were cool, they occurred in the second with a lesser frequency but a greater impact.

The finale of the second act was truly the highlight, however: the DJ began to play a simple, repetitive, but rhythmically addictive techno beat, and Rita began a dance routine. Then, the coven joined in. Then, a couple of audience members. This continued for between 15 and 20 minutes – take this with a pinch of salt, since time dissolved during this period – with everyone in the audience gradually being drawn into this iterative dance. FUTURA Glitch was intensely at its most organic now, and I think this is what it was trying to achieve throughout: a magical space at the crossroads between technology and nature.

At one of the installations before the show, I was told that FUTURA Glitch was ‘kind of’ about the earth, and truthfully, some parts of the show were lost in translation and in the hyphens. I never figured out what the sole performer who remained stationary was doing. Rita should chase the flame which kindled towards the end of the second act. The symbiosis peaked as we were escorted out – artist applauded audience, and audience applauded artist. What a feeling.

You can watch the trailer here:  www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/wild-card-livia-rita-futura-glitch/

For upcoming shows / Livia Rita’s 2022 tour: liviarita.com/upcomingshows

Wild Card Livia Rita Futura Glitch / Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Cian Kinsella is a Classics teacher and part-time pub quizmaster living in London who is primarily interested in music but is also interested in theatre, literature, and visual arts. He is particularly intrigued by the relationship between art, criticism, and the capital forces always at play. Furthermore, he believes that subjectivity – which is ultimately at the heart of all artistic and cultural criticism – should not be concealed, but probed and perhaps even celebrated. Who decides what we like? How do they construct widely held beliefs about what is good? These are two of the questions Cian looks to address.

Exploring radical ideas around the climate crisis, Barbican’s latest immersive exhibition, Our Time On Earth transforms their Curve gallery. 

Our Time On Earth is a meditative experience. In the first space, visitors are encouraged to pause and listen to the voice playing overhead, “your breath comes from sea creatures and trees”, and “just one breath shared by all living things”. This novel way to begin viewing an exhibition sets the tone – not dissimilar to adjusting your breathing and setting your intention at the start of a yoga class. 

The exhibition features work from 18 artists including Marshmallow Lazor Feast, SUPERFLUX and Silent Studio. Many of the works presented explore the role of technology in connecting with nature and our approach to the climate crisis. Consequently, Our Time On Earth is quite tech-heavy; animation, video, and interactive screens. However, this focus prompts interesting questions, which are explored throughout the show; can we live sustainably and continue to focus on the digital? Is it possible to truly connect with nature digitally? …Is this exhibition environmentally friendly?

Marshmallow Lazor Feast’s Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest explores this idea further, presenting a viewer-engulfing digital animation of the intricate nerve network of a tree and its roots. Created in collaboration with Bio-Leadership Project founder Andres Roberts, the piece demonstrates the tree’s role in connecting the soil and the sky, and ultimately, creating the air we breathe. The gentle ebb and flow of the video are equally part fascinating and part mesmerising. 

In the next space along we see SUPERFLUX’s Refuge for Resistance, a dining table installation ready to host a multi-species dinner party. The work encourages the viewer to consider their place in a natural world where all living beings are considered equal. In contrast, positioned alongside Refuge for Resistance is a digital image of a city, devoid of human activity and reclaimed by nature; animals wander, vines grow freely, and tower blocks crumble. It’s peaceful but unnerving – reminiscent of a shot from The Last Of Us. This dystopian feeling is definitely not recurrent in Our Time On Earth, instead, viewers are prompted to slow down, consider and reflect on our relationship with nature.

A little deeper in the exhibition there is a focus on textile production. We’re shown examples of innovative sustainable materials currently being tested, developed and even sold. In one of the glass cabinets we see a dress with a Zara label, raising perhaps one of the most fundamental questions of the climate crisis – can we live sustainably whilst still being ruled by capitalism? 

Our Time On Earth is pragmatic, inspiring…maybe even, hopeful. In the midst of the ever-worsening climate crisis, it’s great to see the power of collective creativity and its application to envisioning a better future for Earth.

Our Time on Earth runs from 5 May – 29 August 2022. Find out more and book tickets here.

“Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest” by Marshmallow Lazor Feast photographed by Amy Melling (see biog below)

Reviewed by Amy Melling – Amy is a Curator and Creative Producer whose practice is centred around community-led arts projects. Her current research is focused on curatorial methods for exhibiting artworks outside. Amy has a keen interest in the arts and recently completed an MA in Curating and Collections at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.

Park Motive, the musical moniker of home producer Sam Herschmann, has been performing and releasing music for approximately seven years or so now.  Their first release, ‘No Slip’, was released on the Slow Dance ’16 EP alongside tracks by Glows and Asha Lorenz, the vocalist of Sorry, who are currently touring the States. In between bands at Brixton’s Windmill, Sam tells me that Park Motive’s first ever gig – also Sorry’s first gig – was at the embryonic form of what became Slow Dance: a boat party in Royal Victoria. Supposedly it was a legendary night that is still spoken of by the happy few who attended.

In the time that has elapsed since then, Park Motive has been gestating and confidently realising itself, while many of their peers have prematurely entered the ring, not yet fully formed. Herschmann has spent this time succinctly incorporating influences ranging from house and techno to folk and Brazilian pop, and has smithed his own introverted interpretation of dance music. Meanwhile, the live iteration of the act has consisted of the same six members for the best part of four years. The culmination of this is the exemplary sophomore single ‘Undark’, released at the end of April alongside a music video (see below) directed by Cuan Roche.

The current series of Slow Dance’s monthly residency at the Windmill is called ‘Slow Dance <3 [i.e. ‘loves’]’, and the idea is to showcase smaller acts that the Slow Dance team is big on, and who may not get much exposure otherwise. For the ninth night of this series, they elected to host a special electronic and dance edition. And like most electronic events on a Wednesday evening, it was not that busy. However, it was great – the dual threads running through the evening were experimentation and fun.

Opener Bubble People is a lone performer with a table of modular synths and equipment. The sound was eclectic, nodding to current trends in hyperpop without losing its edge. Towards the end of the setlist, it leapt into the sphere of old school jungle, replete with lo-fi synths and intricate drum breaks. Following this was Pink Eye Club, which sounded like someone who had never been to a weekday student club night before had been told about one between 2003 and 2008 and was then instructed to recreate it. The shoeless man on stage was accompanied by a laptop playing instrumentals that were somewhere at the nexus between house, trance, and football anthems in the vein of Ant & Dec’s ‘We’re on the Ball’ and ‘Three Lions’. While the irreverent lyrics occasionally felt unconsidered, they didn’t detract too much from the music. I’d like to think that in an alternative universe, Mike Skinner moved to Wigan, and The Streets sounded something a little like this.

Headlining was a relatively new formation of the Park Motive live band. In response to the struggle of consistently finding the time for six full-time professionals to perform, a diet line-up of Herschmann and drummer, Ali Horler, has been assembled parallel. Just as with soft drinks, though, the slimmed down product is not objectively worse, but certainly different. Herschmann balances the organic with the electronic; mechanical rhythms with unabashed feeling. The two-man version of Park Motive leaned harder into the glitchy and weird side of the music, but perhaps at the cost of the hypnotic synchronism of the full line-up. Despite relying more on electronics, though, the set felt primal and stripped back to its essential components. At any rate, after years of working in one way, Park Motive is exploring new avenues into their sound. Will this feed back into the sound of their new music? Only time will tell. The forthcoming ‘Incident’, which will feature on Park Motive’s debut EP, felt particularly well-executed and lent itself to the marriage of electronic textures with airy live drums.

Park Motive image by Photographer Genoveva Arteaga

Cian Kinsella is a Classics teacher and part-time pub quizmaster living in London who is primarily interested in music but is also interested in theatre, literature, and visual arts. He is particularly intrigued by the relationship between art, criticism, and the capital forces always at play. Furthermore, he believes that subjectivity – which is ultimately at the heart of all artistic and cultural criticism – should not be concealed, but probed and perhaps even celebrated. Who decides what we like? How do they construct widely held beliefs about what is good? These are two of the questions Cian looks to address.

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