The dog days are over

Or in this case they have just began. End-of-summertime-saddness has taken hold yet I thought I would share some of the things that caught my eye, occupied my mind and sweetened the return to city life.

Belgium is renowned (and rightly so) for contemporary dance and this week I went to see a dance performance choreographed by our very own Jan Martens called "The Dog Days Are Over" which had a very strong effect on me and made me feel rather uncomfortable to be honest. For about an hour you witness a group of dancers, of all shapes and sizes, wearing kitsch revealing gym clothes reaching their physical limits through the repetitive act of jumping. An exhausting gym routine for your viewing pleasure with barely any music or interaction amongst the dancers, who at times you feel are looking you in the eye with agony. A study on the nature of entertainment and its voyeuristic element and a critique on society and the pains we go through, running like hamsters on treadmills in order to attract the looks of others. Not the most graceful or enjoyable piece but very strong and thought provoking. It's on tour at the moment so I definitely recommend catching it if it's on at a city near you. 

PS: The lighting is perfection. 

The starting point for the work is a quote by American photographer Philippe Halsman who said back in 1958: 

“When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears.”

"Contemporary Dance is Striptease for the Upper Class"

Jan Martens 

THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER - teaser trailer from Jan Martens on Vimeo.


Happiness hit her like a train on the track....

On another note I can't stop thinking about the hunting photos of Francesca Woodman. A photographer who took black and white, often blurry long exposure photos in the late 70s and though her carreer was short (she committed suicide at the age of 22) the eerie beauty of her photos is much celebrated today.
Enjoy a selection of my favorites.