New York-based contemporary multimedia artist Signe Pierce self-identifies as a reality artist, exploring the blurred lines between art and technology, between art and life, and the concept of heightened reality through her neon urban signature photographic style characterised by a glamorous, saccharine aesthetic. The vibrant colour palette she uses is dominated by bright pink andContinue reading “Signe Pierce: Glamorous over-saturated hyperreality”
Tag Archives: reviews
Short reviews: Lurid Cult Horror films – Fascination, The Beyond, and Videodrome
Fascination (1979) is an artful aesthetically-pleasing erotic Gothic horror film situated between arthouse and grindhouse, directed by Jean Rollin. Rollin tends to be associated with the sexploitation genre, yet he is recognised for the surreal dark fantasy style of his lyrical, tantalising, elegant, and atmospheric films, combining sensuality and visual poetry. Fascination’s opening scene takesContinue reading “Short reviews: Lurid Cult Horror films – Fascination, The Beyond, and Videodrome”
Costume design symbolism in Crimson Peak (2015): Lucille’s breathtaking blue velvet dress
Crimson Peak (2015), directed by Guillermo del Toro, is a visually stunning, gloomy cinematic horror spectacle, noted for its incredible and haunting aesthetic. A particularly remarkable and alluring feature of the intricate production design is Lucille’s breathtaking blue velvet dress. The bewitching symbolically-charged Victorian design of the dress includes a black garland resembling a vine withContinue reading “Costume design symbolism in Crimson Peak (2015): Lucille’s breathtaking blue velvet dress”
Review: Gregory Crewdson’s cinematic photography
Gregory Crewdson’s dark, atmospheric, cinematic photographs capture perfectly framed frozen moments incorporating disconnected figures which seem to reflect the domestic and natural landscapes they inhabit; the mundane landscapes are often characterised by an eerie solitude and transformed into something otherworldly, haunting, and compelling. His photographs seem to both reveal and conceal something, creating ambiguous narrativesContinue reading “Review: Gregory Crewdson’s cinematic photography”
Review: Mira Nedyalkova’s underwater photography
A selection of artworks from the stunning, eerie underwater photography collection by Bulgarian visual artist and fine art photographer Mira Nedyalkova. Mira’s work depicts the beautiful facets of pain and sadness in fluid forms, whilst linking water with eroticism, as well as exploring the erotic in the light of the emotional and the aesthetic. WaterContinue reading “Review: Mira Nedyalkova’s underwater photography”
Film sequence analysis: Melancholia (2011) – the surreal overture
The opening sequence of Melancholia (2011, Lars von Trier), a collection of gloomy, surreal, painting-resembling, slow-motion shots, is an insidious introduction to the themes of this compelling cinematic symphony of death and destruction. What completes the eerie dreamscape is the exquisite, haunting piece of music by Wagner – the Prelude to the tragic opera TristanContinue reading “Film sequence analysis: Melancholia (2011) – the surreal overture”
A glimpse of Annihilation (2018). The Uncanny Within.
After the success of his intense directorial debut, Ex Machina, Alex Garland creates a cinematic adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s first book from the Southern Reach Trilogy, Annihilation. The sci-fi thriller turns out to be a visually stunning exploration into the unknown, which in this case borrows the form of the enigmatic ‘Shimmer’, a disquieting yetContinue reading “A glimpse of Annihilation (2018). The Uncanny Within.”
