Arresting the senses.
Something strange happens when you spend 6 hours in the cinema, especially when it happens to be in Clapham… Carlos is the story of a man driven by ideological delusions, a stupendous sex drive and a lust for world domination. The film is effectively a docu-drama based on the life of a terrorist known as the Jackal. All in all action packed, at least for the first 3 hours but lacking in really getting inside the head of this man, but if you like raw sex, constant smoking, boozing and violence -get yourself down to the cinema, for the rest of us it’s a reminder of the amorality of world politics.
From a purely visual sensory experience to one that engaged all the other sensory synapses - Crept Upon The Waters - Sensory Performance Installation by Stephanie Johns, part of the Bloomsbury Festival was the surprise treat of my weekend. With no expectations, masked with an opaque pair of goggles, glasses removed and given earphones - I entered an environmental installation based on The Tempest but experienced through colour, textures and smell. As the voice tells you:
“Ferdinand Listen, let the rope be your guide. Discover through your journey, Relax and take your time. This space needs understanding through the senses, The rope is to your right, now you may begin…”
A constant soundtrack accompanies you through different environments from a beach with the crunch of sand under your feet, through a woodland glade onto a lake then into a forest, with pine branches slapping at your face and creating a heady aroma. No longer reliant on looking, you feel and sense the space in a new way. Brilliant.
