Avant Gardens ed. 10
Welcome to Avant Gardens, a blog/newsletter where I explore all things strange, experimental, and exciting in the arts.
Hi everyone. Sorry this is a bit late, there’s been a lot of work on my end - film composing, presentations, marking, teaching, and thesis writing. But I’m here now for the 10th ed. of Avant Gardens. It’s so bizarre how quickly this has gone by and what a funny little project it’s been. I have some thoughts (which you can read at the end of the post), but for now I will leave you with some art…
Jaimie Whitbread - The Pond
Taken from the artist’s website…
“Kelpies, if you’re not nerdy enough to know already, are mythical creatures in Celtic folk tales. They appear as white or black horses at the edge of rivers and ponds to lure unsuspecting folk into riding them (a genius move, really – I know there’s no way I’d turn down a free pony ride). Once their victim has touched them, however, their skin becomes viscous and the victim is stuck fast – they’re whisked into the deep to be either eaten, or – in some tales – married (yeah, I dunno about that one either. Probably a metaphor.)
As for my part in the tale – I enjoy painting pale, white, strangely elongated horses in shallow water. It’s just something I do.”
Kelpie is also a kind of dog breed (which my girl Storm is). Very smart and very cheeky.. not surprised they share the same name as this Celtic creature.
Jaimie is an artist/writer from Texas, you can check out more of her stuff (so very whimsical) here.
Chris Friel - Asylum 6 (2020)
Chris Friel is a British photographer known for his abstract style photography. Looking throughout his portfolio, you can see why. Contrast, shapes, textures. It feels a bit like a Rorschach. There’s some haunting about his images, but still beautiful. This combination is usually my favourite. You can check out his work here, at his website.
Carter Burwell - Thugs Passing in the Night
This one is from the In Bruges (2008) film - one of my faves. Burwell is such a quality composer - there’s always this uneasy tension he brings to his scores. This is probably a bit more normal than some of the other audio work I’ve shared here, but I’ve always found this track so haunting.
Rima Day - SCRIPTUM XXI
I’ve been clearly feeling textiles lately. I love when we use materials to create organic, bio material - there’s something so eerie about it. This is one piece from Day’s larger Scriptorium work. You can see the rest of her incredible work here.
Annelie Krantz - Untitled
I’m not sure what will become of Avant Gardens next. I (lightly) considered finishing it at 10, but it forces me to get out of my head and back into exploration/admiration/seeking of others. I think subscribers also seem to enjoy the content :)
I’ve been very (naturally) anti social media and tech platforms run by evil people - more-so than usually lately. Nothing is perfect, but at least here on my little website there’s no algorithms, advertising, or doom-scrolling. I’ve been thinking more and more that I’ll begin moving my world away from social media (which I’ve kind of been doing subconsciously over the last year anyway) and sharing more here instead. So instead of platforming 5 different works, a bit of a journal of the creative things I’ve been up to, and then a dash of other exciting artists/works I’ve come across. That feels like a healthy mix of the two, and hopefully where I feel better about how I show up/engage in online spaces.
So for now, I’ll see you next time - slightly changed, but still very much of the essence of Avant Gardens xx
