⭐️An especially interesting fact is that in ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐’s art, there’s a direct connection to the great musician and Brian’s long-time close friend ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐.
๐ข๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ: This career retrospective pretty much gathered up all the footage from Michael Clark’s history. It wasn’t unlike a Bill Viola exhibition: there were these massive video screens that took you through his development, training and personality to show how he grew into being the choreographer that he became. My highlight was when he started to work with the legend that is Leigh Bowery, and the ballet he created for the Fall called I Am Curious, Orange. His work had been quite calm and contemplative up until then, and then he hit his punk period and it got really fun, really noisy.
(๐โ๐ ๐บ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐โ 19๐กโ, 2022 / ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฆ ๐พ๐๐กโ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ค๐๐โ)
 |
| Photo credit: Mads Perch; exhibition poster / edit by Olga |
Clark was born in Aberdeen and began traditional Scottish dancing at the age of four. In 1975 he left home to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, and on his final day at the school he was presented with the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award.
Michael Clark has collaborated with fashion designers BodyMap, artists Sarah Lucas and Peter Doig, performance artist Leigh Bowery, and musicians Wire, Laibach, The Fall, Jarvis Cocker and Scritti Politti.
⭐️๐ด๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ณ ๐ช๐ณ๐จ๐น๐ฒ ๐ช๐ถ๐บ๐ด๐ฐ๐ช ๐ซ๐จ๐ต๐ช๐ฌ๐น⭐️
The exhibition represents an exploration of Clark’s crucial presence in British cultural history.
It follows his career with its unique multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates a wide range of subcultural influences since the artist’s meteoric rise as a young choreographer in the 1980s. Film, photography, and material from Clark’s practice is presented alongside his legendary collaborations across visual arts, music, fashion and film.
๐จ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ค’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐-๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐จ
๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฌ. ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐’๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
The dance world wasn’t ready for Michael Clark. His ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ performance, which premiered in June 1988 at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, was like nothing that came before it. With a classical orchestra exchanged for seminal Manchester post-punk band ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, tutus for outlandish and outrageous costumes by ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ฒ and ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฉ, the stage was “chock-full of nonsensical and funny images”, according to one spectator. “A huge green telephone hurried across the stage, never to reappear, a carton of McDonalds fries lowered gently from the roof, spilling its contents over the dancers who fall down dead, ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ [Smith, Fall guitarist] wheeled in on a giant Big Mac and, incredibly, Mark E. Smith looking downright dapper.” As much a gig or party as a dance performance, the frenetic display of 14-inch platform shoes, windmill headdresses and dancing oranges and lemons was illuminated with lighting design by video artist Charles Atlas, to a backdrop of visceral video collages by artist and filmmaker Cerith Wyn Evans.
[...]
 |
| Photo credit: Placeboworld |
๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ was the pinnacle of Clark’s collaboration with ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, who released the soundtrack music in an album entitled ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ the same year. (He had been working with the band for some time, famously appearing on The Old Grey Whistle Test with them in a bottomless unitard. “That was very funny because all the parents of the group were waiting, because it was the first time we were on TV ... and all they get is Michael showing his arse off,” said ๐๐๐ซ๐ค ๐. ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ก in a later interview.)
“For me, I Am Curious, Orange goes much further than a radical deconstruction of Clark’s ballet vocabulary,” says Ostende of its enduring power. “It is a key artwork of 1980s British art.” Furthermore, the work reflects Clark’s unprecedented gift for introducing dance to new audiences; fans of music, fashion, art and film – perhaps even of football, given the Celtic and Rangers references. Embodying the angelic and the demonic, the classical and the punk, the piece captured the spirit of the late 1980s, embracing subculture, club culture and gender politics alike. He made contemporary dance pop – in both senses of the word.
(๐ด๐๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐, ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 9๐กโ, 2020)
๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ (1988) is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ.
The music was mostly pre-written by ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ก and bassist ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ฒ. A live version was recorded during an Edinburgh Festival performance of the ballet, and issued in 2000 as I Am as Pure as Oranj.
๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฃ's title is derived from Swedish director Vilgot Sjรถman's films I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968).
⭐️By the way, at ๐&๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐, the exhibition is opened until September 4th, 2022, so some of you have a chance to see it!
Post by Olga
