The illusion, theatre and art of Marco Sanges

Amanda Magill gives us her impression of photographer Marco Sanges' work

Photography has always remained a bit of a mystery to me; I usually much prefer painted art or sculptures, partly because I am often envious of the talent required, and also because they are arguably imagination in concrete form. Something which you can see, just as you wish to see it. Photography has never really absorbed me as much as it captures something physical, which already actually exists. However, at Marco Sanges’ latest exhibition all my presumptions were blown away. I loved Sanges’ photographs for their imagination and the emotive response they caused in me.


What stood out about Sanges’ work is the incredible variety. Some photographs were full of vibrance and life, in an opium den fuelled orgy type of way; they made me smile with their kookiness. Others were chilling and sad; for example a series of photos of an old man staring into a mirror and seeming to become more and more distraught at the image looking back at him tugs at the heart strings. And then there are the in-between ones – those where the juxtaposition of glamour and destitution has you staring intently at the image trying to imagine the stories behind the characters. I have never felt so engaged in photographs and so utterly wrong about my preconceptions. Alongside his images, Sanges also had a short film showing, Circumstances. Very ‘film noir’ in style, once again I found myself smiling as silent characters gazed wistfully on, half expecting a man with a moustache to appear carrying a damsel in distress before tying her to some train tracks. Overall, Sanges’ work is as intriguing as it is shocking and creates a variety of emotions. I for one love it and look forward to seeing more of his imaginative and provoking work.



Marco Sanges's Big Scenes is on at the Hay Hill Gallery, Mayfair, until 14th August
http://www.hayhill.com/

An Ideal Husband

Miranda Nairn reviews an outdoor performance of An Ideal Husband

An entire production company made up of just five members is bound to make for an interesting performance and indeed, Heartbreak Productions touring theatre group did not fail to amuse with Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, performed in the grounds of Dunham Massey, Cheshire (National Trust). Set up, acted and dismantled by the actors, this company takes touring theatre to a new level. Each actor played two characters, with subtle and easy costume changes making the necessary distinction between the two. An upper class comedy with all the usual Wilde humour, this play performed in the round to evening picnickers strewn across the lawn of the Orangery, was the perfect way to spend a summer evening.

The actors really connected with the audience, even supplying us with masks to ‘act’ the guests in scenes of large parties and reading out the calling cards of acting audience members - over half the audience appeared to be blue-blooded! When we were unfortunate enough to be rained on for the last fifteen minutes of the play, the actors deftly managed to incorporate the rain into their dialogue and laughed at the emerging situation as picnickers huddled under umbrellas and tried to save the last of their food!

Overall, it was an energetic and well thought-out production, perfected by an idyllic and perfectly appropriate setting which makes for a lovely family evening out or a romantic date. Heartbreak Productions are touring all over the country and coming to London with a performance of The Secret Garden in the Walled Garden at Chiswick House – what could be more suitable for a summer’s eve?

For more information visit http://www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk/

Splintered

Peter Gough attends the preview of the latest British low-budget horror, Splintered...

To my mind, the best thing about low-budget horror and psychological films is that Britain does it better than any other country. There is a certain feel to low-budget British films that you just cannot get from non home-made films, and the latest release, Splintered, did not disappoint. Filmed in only five and a half weeks, and as the first UK feature to be shot on the US-developed Red Camera (replacing the old 75mm camera and offering far better quality), I enjoyed Splintered far more than several bigger budget movies I have seen in my time.



The premise is familiar; a group of young adults go to North Wales in search of something that has been killing cattle in the local area. Up to this point the film fulfills all the usual clichés. However it is beautifully shot and the location of "St Joseph's" has a understated malice all of its own.

What struck me about Splintered (as discussed over a drink after and agreed upon) is the quality of the film. Firstly, it is excellently shot and uses a good mix of light and shade to create a menacing but believable scenario. Secondly, the quality of acting from the relatively young and unknown cast was astounding, in particular from the lead actors Holly Weston and Stephen Walters. Walters was very impressive when spitting, leering and growling; his performance reminded me of me after a beer or two!



This is not to say that Splintered is unique as it is highly influenced by a genre now forty years old, but along with many, it pays homage to the early pioneers of horror films. The female lead is intelligent and not a ‘typical’ victim which is refreshing from comparable American low-budget films of a similar ilk. If you are after high brow intellectual debate or a treatise on Tacitus you will, quite possibly, not find Splintered entertaining in the slightest, but if you are after an enjoyable and well-shot romp through North Wales it’s a must-see!

The gore is evident but not gratuitous, and although you see what happens the scenes don’t linger. John Carpenter's Thing from 1981 will leave you far more disturbed. If you like films like the larger budget Creep with Frana Potente then you will enjoy this. A film I would cheerfully watch again.

http://www.splinteredthemovie.com/

Architects and the Dilemma of 'The Small Space'

The V&A’s 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces is an intriguing exhibition, inviting visitors to first locate the different components of the show within the museum, and then to explore and work out the purpose and identity of each of the structures.

Choosing seven final designs out of nineteen proposals, the museum has donated space to demonstrate the physical side of architecture, which, most often in exhibitions, tends to take the form of sketches, 2D designs, and the occasional scaled down 3D model.

1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces allows us to fully engage with architecture as a final product, and not just what the mind can make of an idea or drawing. It features, among other designs, a tree house, woodshed and a tower with a spiral staircase (warning: the steel steps do not make for a comfy fall!). For fans of architecture and the more playful among you, a must-see free exhibition.



1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces is on at the V&A until 30th August
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/architecture/smallspaces/index.html

The Railway Children at Waterloo

Miranda Nairn gets a real feel for the much-loved story in a new production at Waterloo Station



Staging a play on a station platform is an achievement in itself, but combined with an impeccable cast and a real steam engine (the original from the film), this leaves the Railway Children at Waterloo Station an unmissable production. Performed on an old Eurostar platform at Waterloo, just getting to the set is an experience in itself; winding through the ghost town of the old terminal building with empty shops with the signs still above them, towards your seat on either ‘Platform 1’ or ‘Platform 2, you step back a century to a typical old school train station.

Sliding blocks create different scenes across the platform, and the Railway ‘Children’ are in fact acted by their grown-up selves looking back on their
childhood – which although veers away from the idea of the Railway Children in theory, in practice the more experienced adult actors make for a much better overall production.

With a large cast of characters and an extremely well constructed set, the audience feels completely immersed in the lives of the Railway Children, with the long absent father’s homecoming at the platform edge definitely wetting a few eyes!

A grown up story in essence and not entirely suitable for the very young (quite a few empty seats could be seen after the interval when some children departed for good!), the audience was of a mixed age range – so no one need be apprehensive about going to this production, and embracing their childhood memories in an original and unusual production in an unbelievable setting.

Running only this summer http://www.railwaychildrenwaterloo.com/
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Exhibition of the Month

JULY: MARCO SANGES: BIG SCENES



Marco Sanges is back; ready as ever to shock and tantalise visitors, this time at the Hay Hill Gallery with a second run of his show Big Scenes, first seen back in February at the Hackney Empire.

For this second solo exhibition, Sanges adds to the mix scenes from his black and white series, Circumstances: photographs from which first attracted me to Sanges’ unusual photographic comment on an imaginary, fantastical world of theatre and drama. Also on display will be Sanges’ short film Circumstances, which, although at the time of writing I am yet to see, promises yet more surreal surroundings, mystery and intrigue which will accord well with the colourful portraits of the actors which make up Big Scenes. Don't miss the chance to enter Sanges' world while the door is freely open!




Marco Sanges: Big Scenes is on at the Hay Hill Gallery from 19th July to 11th September
http://www.hayhill.com/

Architecture on the Thames

Pulling away from Temple Pier and heading west on the river, the buildings lining the Thames were slowly reflected back up to the excited group of passengers onboard, ready to explore London from a completely different angle. With architect Benny O’Looney at the helm (of the tour, and definitely not of the boat), the London Architecture Festival 2010’s river tour kicked off with a view of the back of the buildings along the Strand, with the Savoy hotel standing out among the cluster of 19th century buildings. O’Looney willingly shared his enthusiasm for the city, urging us to ‘behold; the great London Eye’ swiftly approaching on the South Bank, moving right down to the ‘most impressive’ Battersea Power Station.


The trip was fascinating. The LFA had provided a fabulous opportunity not just to see the sites from the river, but in learning the most unusual facts about the buildings prominently featured on Thames riverside made the city seem a brand new place, even for a Londoner of twenty-three years! Passing buildings through Lambeth, we glimpsed the red-brick Victorian buildings of the former Doulton Pottery Works, and came on to see the architects’ practice of Norman Foster, in a superb example of the Nineties trend for sharp, linear constructions, flanked on the west side by the smooth curves of a 21st century modern apartment block. Turning after a view of the Lots Road Power Station, we headed out east, imagining a forgotten time of dockers and traders reminiscent now only in the warehouses lining both sides of the river way out past Tower Bridge. On the approach to the Canary Wharf complex, the cranes revealed the continuing growth of the city and never-ending possibilities for modern office structures. Ending at Greenwich Pier, the chatter of my river companions made it clear that many fascinating facts learnt over the past three hours would be told again and again over many different dinner tables that same evening.

LFA ended on 4th July 2010. http://www.lfa2010.org/

The Edges of the World

The gay world of Ernesto Neto’s sculptures provides a unique and immensely fun experience. Inside the gallery, the tunnels, cavities, tubes, tones and textures are innately biomorphic, whether it feels as though one’s in the bowl of a caterpillar or caught between the layers of skin. The pleasure, wonder and sense of exploration his sculptures draw out make the exhibition reminiscent of a playground. Thus, one’s own participation, and that of all the others in the gallery, is infused into Neto’s work.


Outside, Neto captures three aspects of a city park, a monument, a lake and a walkway, in a way which is perfectly in keeping with the gallery’s urban setting. The sculpture ‘interacting rising leaves,’ six meters high and weighing four tonnes, incredibly snakes its way upwards without one single bolt in it – the leaves are simply slotted into each other. Then there was ‘walking to the future,’ an urban park, in which neatly planted palm tress are encircled by a narrow, elevated path. When constructing it, Neto was thinking of Philippe Petit’s amazing feat in walking across a tightrope between the Twin Towers and the current fad of free running. Inevitably, I ended up climbing onto Neto’s representation to wobble my way around the loop!


Neto is Brazillian and, indeed, his works oozed Brazil. From the luminous colours of the gauzy fabrics, the bong of a drum or the delicious smell of spices stitched into the wall of his ‘dens,’ the experience is a truly exotic and sensory one. A must see.

Ernesto Neto’s The Edges of the World is showing at the Hayward Gallery until 5th September.


http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-and-visual-arts/other-art-on-site/tickets/ernesto-neto-and-the-new-d%C3%A9cor-51409

The Surreal House

In the Barbican’s The Surreal House exhibition space is transformed into a rambling home in which each chamber houses anything from film, sculpture, photography or painting, exploring a latent world of dreams, fears and desires. The first level of the gallery explores the relationship of man to interior domestic space; we have Freud’s fabulously anthropomorphic desk chair. And, we do not only see the man in the house; paintings such as Hieronymus Bosch’s Tree Man depict the home awkwardly housed in the bulbous stomach of a man. Indeed, the surrealists’ fascination in interior space as an exploration of the self led to some artists propounding the notion of their living space as a work of art in itself, as in Josef Sudek’s My Studio. For me, the highlight of the exhibition was Mayo Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon in which he playfully performs with the interior of a house through a set of remarkable contraptions in which a bed becomes a piano and a kitchen sink a bureau!



The uncanny and enigmatic also includes the paranormal as in Edward Hopper’s fantastically eerie House by the Railroad (which apparently was the model for the house in Hitchcock’s Psycho). Jan Svankmajer’s video, Down in the Cellar, depicting a fearful girl running through a dark cellar to collect potatoes under the surveillance of the glinting eyes of a black cat, also struck a chord. Who has not, at some point in their lives, been even a little bit scared of a dark cellar and a black cat?!

The exhibition’s pervasive monochrome colours and manifest symbols of death were cleverly juxtaposed with pieces of high comedy. Thus, Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Black Bath), conjuring up the unmistakeable image of a sarcophagus, and Marcel Duchamp’s Fresh Widow, a turquoise window frame with polished black leather as the window panes, are placed alongside Buster Keaton’s farcical video, Steamboat Bill Jr, in which he stands unflinching as his house collapses around him in winds reminiscent of the beginning of the film The Wizard of Oz. The dividing line between the fragility of our reality and delightful fantasy becomes impossible to define.



In all, my impressions of the exhibition were mixed: there was plenty of intrigue but also much material, such as Noble + Webster’s Metal Fucking Rats, against which I drew a blank. The upper level of the gallery, which aimed to draw parallels between architecture and the surreal, housed Dali’s celebrated painting Sleep, a bloated sleeping head supported in the air with flimsy looking crutches, and photos of his Dream of Venus pavilion. But, ultimately, the link between architecture and surrealism on this floor was not all that convincing.

The Surreal House is showing at The Barbican until the 12th September; http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=10567.

Galleries of Modern London

After three long years, the Museum of London’s most recent overhaul has finally been unveiled: The Galleries of Modern London, a massive development that showcases over 7,000 objects and has helped the museum regain its identity in the heart of the City. Following the V&A’s Renaissance Galleries which opened back in the autumn of 2009 it seems as though tourists and residents alike are in for a true treat at some of the capital’s oldest and most well-known cultural institutions as they catch up with the modern era in great extensions of brilliant architectural design.



With a generous lottery grant of £20 million, the Museum of London is now able to show to visitors a much larger collection, many artefacts of which were formerly buried away in boxes far from the interested minds of visitors. Exploring the 'modern' city, we see examples of history from 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, through to the present day. With interactive activities, the Museum shows off its well-thought out processes to remain as popular as ever in the 21st century, and the new galleries certainly ensure its long-term future.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk