Uber curator James Lavelle having a cup of tea photo Mark Westall
In these troubled times when the world appears to be teetering on a knife edge of global unrest, it’s no surprise that the dystopian vision of master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has appealed to an entire new generation of art lovers and cinephiles. Curated by UNKLE and Mo’Wax founder, and musical innovator James Lavelle, ‘Dreaming with Kubrick’ features an engaging mix of film, art and installation by contemporary artists and filmmakers including; Doug Aitken, Gavin Turk, Nancy Fouts, Haroon Mirza & Anish Kapoor, Jane & Louise Wilson, Paul Fryer, Harland Miller, Jocelyn Pook, Joseph Kosuth, Marc Quinn, Mat Collishaw, Michael Nyman, Mick Jones, Nathan Coley, Peter Kennard, Polly Morgan, Samantha Morton & Juliette Larthe, Sarah Lucas, Thomas Bangalter, Paul Insect and Toby Dye.
I visited the exhibition with my father-in-law, Oscar-winning Sound Recordist Ivan Sharrock, who worked on Kubrick’s iconic 1980 film ‘The Shining’, so he gave me some personal insights into the film, which was the starting point for artworks in the exhibition. The thoughtful installation of the exhibition, designed by James Lavelle as an ‘immersive experience’ takes the visitor on a journey through hot and cold, light and sound, into a Kubrickian world populated by characters, sounds, visions and metaphors of his seminal films; The Shining, Dr Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lolita, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
Upon entering the galleries a glass case containing a space helmet, situated within a dark room, demands closer inspection, which reveals a monkey peering back at you, poking it’s finger inquisitively. Mat Colishaw’s homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey juxtaposes astronaut with ape by overlaying a human skull with the visage of a primate. The next room hits you with a blast of heat emanated by Stuart Haygarth’s ‘Pyre’, a mountain of glowing electric fires referencing a scene in The Shining where Jack Nicholson sits in a room with a roaring fireplace.
Matt Collishaw Daydreaming Kubrick photo Mark Westall
A room leading off the ‘Pyre’ sculpture houses a unique installation created by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard: ‘Requieum for 114 Radios’ feature a collection of radios broadcasting an eclectic mix of vocalists including Blaine Harrison of Mystery Jets, Jarvis Cocker, Beth Orton and Jehnny Beth of Savages. The unseen singers perform a contemporary version of Dies Irae from the Roman Catholic Requieum Mass, which Kubrick used in soundtracks of A Clockwork Orange and The Shining, and the figure of 114 radios comes from Kubrick’s fictional CRM 114 discriminator device from Dr Strangelove.
Still from Jane & Louise Wilson film photo Lee Sharrock
Leading away from the fire room in an echo of the infamous psychedelic carpets featured in The Shining, is a trippy floor installation “The Shining Carpet”, created by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, which is begging for a little boy to race along it on his tricycle. Gavin Turk also references The Shining with his mirrored maquette of the infamous maze in the grounds of the fictional ‘Overlook Hotel’. My father in law Ivan Sharrock informed me that the entire film was shot in Elstree Studios (apart from the scene of the family arriving at the Overlook Hotel in their VW). The fastidious Kubrick had a complete scale model maze built in Elstree, as well as a maze for all the night shooting when lead actor Jack Nicholson was chasing, which was filled with artificial leaves, and dendritic salt to represent snow. The ceilings were blacked out to create the claustrophobic feeling captured on celluloid. The set for The Shining was the largest ever built at Elstree, and the obsessive, highly methodical nature of Kubrick meant that there was a long and arduous production period for the film, with principal photography taking over a year.
Photo Mark Westall
Another engaging piece referencing The Shining, is ‘Darkness and Light’, a beautiful abstract painting by Rachel Howard inspired by its sinister imagery including the horrific bath scene where a beautiful 20 year old woman turns into an old lady, her skin melting when Nicholson touches her. Ivan told me that when they shot the scene, the make up artist Tom Smith had used a huge bucket of Heinz vegetable soup and poured it all over the lady. Kubrick walked in and took one look before saying “Hmmm” and walking out. Paul Fryer provides some shock value with his hyper real life size waxwork of Kubrick, encased in an upright glass-fronted freezer, referencing the iconic denouement of The Shining, and Chris Levine’s trippy ‘Mr. Kubrick is Looking’ projects a portrait of Kubrick into the peripheral viewer of the vision using LED light technology. Each room off the main corridor provides new and unexpected visual and sonic thrills. In one room created by James Lavelle and John Isaacs with Azzi Glasser, menacing giant teddy bears reference ‘Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Lolita’, one wearing a giant cod piece and the other with red heart-shaped sunglasses. Anish Kapoor’s collaboration with Haroon Mirza is a clever yet discomforting interplay between light and sound, playing a similar psychological game to Kubrick.
In another room Nancy Fouts has created a ‘breathing’ camera, ‘Kubrick’s Camera’ is a recreation of one used by Kubrick, given new life with a breathing soundtrack. Fouts has also made a giant director’s chair that pays homage to the directing great, which can be found on the Somerset House terrace. Next to the Fouts installation is a mesmerising immersive film by Doug Foster ‘Beyond the Infinite’ is inspired by the ‘Stargate’ sequence in ‘2001: Space Odyssey’. There are also some impressive new film pieces featured in the exhibition, including Jane & Louise Wilson’s engaging interview with actress Johanna ter Steege, who talks about her meeting with Kubrick about a film that never happen. The film is reflected to infinity with a series of mirrors, giving it another dimension. Samantha Morton and Douglas Hart have collaborated with Juliette Larthe of Prettybird on a disquieting semi-autobiographical short film scripted by Morton, recalling a childhood experience of watching Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.
Still from Toby Dye film photo Lee Sharrock
One of my favourite pieces in the exhibition is a brilliant split screen film by Toby Dye and RSA Films. Four endlessly looping films are shown on screens in a cubic room, with Dye applying some of Kubrick’s pioneering camera techniques and featuring characters inspired by his filmography. Claustrophic but completely engaging, characters including Joanna Lumley as a Barry Lyndon character, and a little girl inspired by The Shining, play out on separate screens yet interconnect, a sense of hysteria elevated by UNKLE’s soundtrack ‘Lonely Soul’.
There are some unique interpretations of Kubrick’s oeuvre, notably Polly Morgan’s ‘Metanoia’, a phallic taxidermy snake squeezed into a concrete triangle, a metaphor for the bulging codpieces in A Clockwork Orange, and ‘Eye’, an exquisite marble sculpture created by Mat Chivers by digitally manipulating a 10 second sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey and translating the data into stone.
This is a must-see exhibition, carefully and thoughtfully curated, featuring some of the most exciting artists and filmmakers working today, which demonstrates the enduring popularity of the iconic filmmaker, whose visual lexicon has penetrated popular culture. An inspired mix of artists, filmmakers, musicians and image-makers have contributed Kubrickian artworks to this exhibition, from iconic street artists Paul Insect and Invader, to blue chip gallery heavyweights including Anish Kapoor and Marc Quinn, with unique film from exciting young film directors Toby Dye and Dexter Navy. Crossing boundaries between film, music, art and sound, this is a fitting and exciting tribute to a director whose imagery has infiltrated our culture.
Kubrick’s prophetic visions of violence and the duality of human nature endure today, and in a fragile world where war and terrorism have become a feature of our daily life, the words of artist Rachel Howard ring true “However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light”.
Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick is on until 24 August at the West Wing, Somerset House, London
#dreamkubrick www.somersethouse.org.uk
Daydreaming Kubrick photo Mark Westall
