this side surface/this side depth
Starry Night/About Face
Vincent van Gogh/Bridget Moser
Surface is a part of depth…but it’s not depth…it’s the surface of its depth.
If you cover it with a stick, it will become a stick.
Take it off.
It is now a finger.
They osculate, those surfaces and their depths,
sticks and their fingers,
You wouldn’t know it,
they kiss in confidence.
Sometimes depths secrete a pungent fug.
A residual odour (not necessary nauseating) seeps through the sieve that separates
surfaces and depths,
sticks and fingers.
That’s how we know there are depths beneath surfaces,
fingers beneath sticks
On describing surfaces/on describing depths
Starry Night/T-shirt
Starry Night/leggings
Starry Night/skirt
Starry Night/sports bra
Starry Night/jacket
(short sleeves/exposed arms)
(skin tight/second skin)
(free from frills/female Vincent van Gogh)
(form fitting/breast supporting)
(keeps the cold out/keeps the stars in)
Utilizing adjectives is a great way to describe paintings/utilizing adjectives is a great way
to describe paintings without describing paintings.
Vincent van Gogh’s whimsical ([hwimzi-kel-] given to whimsy or fanciful
notions) brush strokes capture an
expansive ([ik-span-siv] having a wide
range or extent; comprehensive;
extensive) night sky. Immense ([ihmens] extremely large or great,
especially in scale or degree; vast; huge;
very great) bright ([brahyt] radiating or
reflecting light; luminous; shining) stars
fill the boundless ([baund-lis] having no
bound; unlimited) sky above a sleepy
([slee-pe] ready or inclined to sleep;
drowsy) town creating an overall effect
that is both adventurous ([ad-ven-cherous] inclined or willing to engage in
adventures; capricious) and tranquil
([trang-kwil] free from commotion or
tumult; peaceful; quiet; calm).
/
Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh (18531890) painted Starry Night in June 1889.
He depicts the night’s sky from his eastfacing window in Saint-Rémy-de-
Provence asylum. Utilizing the PostImpressionist style, van Gogh creates a
night scene filled with abstraction ([abstrakt] existing in thought or as an idea
but not having a physical or concrete
existence) and symbolism. The term
Post-Impressionism refers to the
predominately French art movement
from approximately ([a-prak-se-mit]
close to the actual but not completely
accurate) 1886-1905; it encompasses a
range of artistic ([ar-tis-stik] having or
revealing natural creative skill) styles
including symbolic ([sim-bal-lik]
serving as a symbol) (most notably Paul
Gauguin (1848-1903)) and the scientific
([si-en-tif-ik] based on or characterized
by the methods and principles of
science) approach of Pointilism
(Georges Seurat (1859-1891)). PostImpressionist painters like van Gogh
reacted to Impressionism’s stylistic ([stiel-is-tik] of or concerning style) focus
on a natural ([na-ch-rel] derived from
real life or nature or closely imitating
nature) depiction of light and colour.
Starry Night features pronounced ([pronounst] very noticeable or marked)
brush strokes and saturated ([sach-erat-id] (of colour) very bright, full; free
from an admixture of white) colours,
which contribute to the painting’s
abstraction ([ab-stract] existing in
thought or as an idea but not having a
physical or concrete existence). van
Gogh’s inclusion of a cypress tree on the
left side grants the painting a symbolic
([sim-bal-lik] serving as a symbol)
weight. The cypress is a tree of
mourning; perhaps referring to van
Gogh’s emotional state in Saint-Rémyde-Provence’s asylum.
Starry Night:
van Gogh’s most iconic painting/the world’s most realistic astronomy software
Starry Night:
arguably the most iconic Post-Impressionist painting/arguably the most premium choice
for beginner, enthusiast and advanced stargazing
Utilizing adjectives is a great way to describe performance art/utilizing adjectives is a
great way to describe performance art without describing performance art.
Bridget Moser’s spectacular ([spek-takye-lar] beautiful in a dramatic and eyecatching way; a spectacle)
performance, About Face, brilliantly
([bril-yant] exceptionally clever or
talented; outstanding; impressive)
captures everyday ([evre-da] happening
or used everyday) human ([hyu-man]
relating to or a characteristic of people
or human beings) activity. Performed
on a black ([blak] the very darkest of
colour owing to the absence of or
complete absorption of light; the
opposite of white) elevated ([el-a-vat-id]
situated or placed higher than the
surrounding area) stage in Artspace’s
impressive ([im-pres-iv] evoking
admiration through size, quality, or
skill) facility, Moser interacts with
ordinary ([or-din-ar-e] with no special
or distinctive features) objects in a
comical ([ka-mi-kal] amusing; comic)
fashion. Her remarkable ([ri-mar-kebel] worthy of attention; striking)
performance has audience members
pleasantly (ple-zant] giving a sense of
happy satisfaction or enjoyment)
laughing as they walk fulfilled ([foolfild] satisfied or happy because of fully
developing one’s abilities or character)
out the door.
/
Peterborough’s Artspace presents About
Face, performed and conceptualized by
Bridget Moser, curated by Victoria
Mohr-Blakeney. Acting as her most
recent ([re-sent] having happened,
begun, or been done not long ago or
not long before) and longest ([lon-gist]
lasting or taking a great amount of
time) performance, About Face
highlights that which already exists,
commonplace ([ka-men-plas] not
unusual; ordinary) mundaneness and
the objects that occupy it. Chairs and
chair covers, clothes and coat hangers,
iphones and Nike runners, video screens
and sound systems. These objects (or in
some cases noises emitted through said
objects, ding from the iphone, boom
from the speaker) reflect who we are and
the world that we have created (perhaps
to house said objects). The physical and
the ephemeral, mixed with humour and
absurdity, Moser dismantles our preexisting perception of the world asking
us how we deal with being alive.
About Face:
provides life-changing experiences for people with facial differences/is Bridget Moser’s
latest performance
About Face:
that’s actually hard to put into words; not because it complicated, but because what we do
is so varied/what our lives could be if we let go of everything we thought we knew
On surfaces and faces/on depths and identities
Female face mask/neutral face
A surface face/a depth identity
(plastic or silicon/empathetic or disengaged)
(plastic surgery or Botox/empathetic or disengaged)
There’s an elastic string attached from one side to the other; it stretches around, holding
onto the right and left ears (yours) behind a pre-existing face (yours).
(mine)
(mine)
This face reflects who I am as a person.
These are my eyes; they are two gateways into my soul.
I call them Gateway One A (left eye) and Gateway One B (right eye).
This face reflects who I am as a person.
These are my lips; I prefer them coloured.
I prefer plume.
This face reflects who I am as a person.
These are my ears; they curl in at the tips.
My doctor says I’m lucky.
This face reflects who I am as a person.
This is my noise; I’m not fond of my nose.
It’s plugged with blackheads.
This face reflects who I am as a person.
These are my cheeks; they are shaped like peaches.
They are not fuzzy.
This face reflects who I am as a person.
This is my chin; I have nothing more to say about my chin.
It’s a chin.
This face reflects who I am as a person.
This is my forehead; there’s a brain behind it.
It thinks among other things.
How do you deal with being alive? / I treat every depth like a surface and every surface
like depth. / Does that really work? / It makes life more humourous. / That’s ridiculous. /
I prefer absurdity.
On saying goodbye…
Aside slow moving fuckers…I’m wearing black Nike runners…I’m about to kick
someone’s face…
Dorothea Hines
2015/16