“ ‘All present, Cap'n!' responded the mate Opheltes, leading along the shore what he thought was a prize he had won in a lonely meadow, a boy with a beautiful face like a girl's. Their captive appeared to be staggering and struggling behind a drowsy, drunken stupor. I looked at his dress, his face and… Continue reading On Bacchus and the Beast
Category: culture
On Decisions
"In passing from history to nature, myth acts economically: it abolishes the complexity of human acts, it gives them the simplicity of essences ... it organises a world which is without contradictions because it is without depth, a world wide open and wallowing in the evident, it establishes a blissful clarity. Things appear to mean… Continue reading On Decisions
On Saint Sebastian
Detail of 'St. Sebastian' by Sandro Botticelli, 1474 Forbearance in the face of fate, beauty constantly under torture, are not merely passive. They are a positive achievement, an explicit triumph; and the figure of Sebastian is the most beautiful symbol, if not of art as a whole, yet certainly of the art we speak of… Continue reading On Saint Sebastian
On Esmeralda
During quarantine, we've been drinking a lot of vodka and watching Disney films, which has been cathartic as I cry every time (a good way of releasing pent-up emotions). Even though I regularly watch my favourite Disney flick The Hunchback of Notre Dame, (mostly when very hungover) I have more clearly realised how fabulous the… Continue reading On Esmeralda
On the Jar of Moles
This weekend my sister was visiting me, and we went around some free museums in London on Saturday afternoon. I like to do these kind of tourist activities when I have a visitor from home, it's when I most enjoy exploring odd, curious corners of the city. Everywhere we went in central London was about… Continue reading On the Jar of Moles
On Delphyne: Part 4
Smoke and Visions Rosie Dahlstrom: digital collage of Delphyne with a cigarette, 2018 'Feet don't fail me now,Take me to the finish line,Oh, my heart, it breaks every step that I take,But I'm hoping at the gates, they'll tell me that you're mine.'Lana Del Rey, 'Born to Die' (from Born to Die, Polyador/Interscope Records, 2012)… Continue reading On Delphyne: Part 4
On Confessions
“The confession has spread its effects far and wide. It plays a part in justice, medicine, education, family relationships, and love relations, in the most ordinary affairs of everyday life, and in the most solemn rites; one confesses one's crimes, one's sins, one's thoughts and desires, one's illnesses and troubles; one goes about telling, with… Continue reading On Confessions
On Manon
A week or so ago, I was briefly back at Chelsea College of Arts for an exhibition of Chelsea and Hong Kong artists who had completed an exchange residency, showing the results from their time in either London or Hong Kong. As part of our conversation, I mentioned the 'Sex or Death' game; something daft… Continue reading On Manon
On London Art Book Fair
"We must take over the means of production in order to create our own meanings." riot grrrl manifesto, 1991 Some notes from visiting the London Art Book Fair at Whitechapel Gallery, 5th - 8th September. I listened to a few speakers at some of the events, small publishers and artists talking about what they do,… Continue reading On London Art Book Fair
On Delphyne: Part 3
Gender Many female figures involved in Christian history have transcended their given gender roles in varying ways, as we remember from the earlier examples of Joan of Arc, Abbess Benedetta or Pope Joan. For some female would-be saints their male guise was to prove how special and godly they were, that their divine purpose could… Continue reading On Delphyne: Part 3