L – Page 39 – Necromantic

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Nicoletta Ceccoli’s “Incubi Celesti”

These hauntingly beautiful, ethereal portraits of Alice in Wonderland-like figures clad in blue are from Nicoletti Ceccoli’s new series, fittingly titled Incubi Celesti (“Heavenly Nightmares”). This collection is currently displaying at the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome, Italy, until December 23rd.

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“The Exorcism of…” by Anti Sweden

I love the movement in this film, the dark, wild kinetic energy. Directed by Marius Tharaldsen and modeled by Vilde Victoria Madsen, for design agency Anti’s newly launched black denim line, “Anti Sweden.” Inspired by the Norwegian “culture of darkness” and the spirit of black metal’s aesthetics.

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Chris Berens – “Leeuwenhart”

Chris Berens’ Leeuwenhart show is currently exhibiting at the Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle. These precious, glowing, softly translucent works have a surreal fairytale-land feel, and a unique look which comes from Berens’ singular method of using inks (as well as bistre, graphite, and parquet lacquer) on inkjet photo paper, and piecing the works together in a patchwork fashion in 1-3-inch pieces; some patches are suffused with a haze, while others are sharp to the point of photorealism. The overall effect has a lot of depth, layering, softness, and wonderfully dreamlike, gently bizarre qualities.

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Hypnotic Abstraction: The Art of Sougwen Chung

Sougwen Chung is a Brooklyn-based designer and illustrator whose abstract drawings are utterly bewitching and entrancing. Incredibly detailed and intricate, these writhing masses, coiling infinitely upon themselves, have a sense of palpable kinetic energy, and, though the shapes are abstract, also a sense of being organic.

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Rotten Little Darlings: The Art of Zhang Peng

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Pedro Pires’ “Danse Macabre”

“For a period of time, while we believe it to be perfectly still, lifeless flesh responds, stirs and contorts in a final macabre ballet. Are these spasms merely erratic motions or do they echo the chaotic twists and turns of a past life?”

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Una Burke’s Medical Armor

Una Burke’s Re.Treat is a conceptual collection of artwear inspired by prosthetic devices and medical braces and the process of healing from trauma. The warrior-like body armor is reminiscent of medical corsetry, and evokes the idea of using human flesh as a shield against psychological harm. The means of protection also become a means of entrapment, binding the body tightly. She cites a few of her influences as Hans Bellmer, Alexander McQueen, and Erwin Olaf.

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“Before the Tide Comes In” by Zhang Jingna

Photographed by Zhang Jingna, featuring clothing by Mother of London.

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BioShock Infinite

This is the debut trailer for the third installment in the BioShock series, which takes place in the airborne city of Columbia in the year 1912, and deals with themes of American exceptionalism.

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Antichrist: A Brief Review

One of the best movies I’ve seen recently is Lars von Trier’s Antichrist from 2009, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, a truly unique and provocative experience. It’s almost impossible to describe what this film is like, or “about.” It’s like a slow-moving, beautiful, irresistible nightmare. I would describe it as psychological/surreal arty horror.

The movie is divided into four chapters, titled “Grief,” “Pain (Chaos Reigns),” “Despair (Gynocide),” and “The Three Beggars.” It tells the story of a nameless couple whose child dies in an accident, and who subsequently go to a cabin in the woods to cope with the mother’s trauma. The film seems divided into two distinct parts, very different in terms of what they give away about the story. In the first part, it seems very much as if the movie is really simply about her boyfriend-cum-psychologist trying to help her overcome her anxiety and panic attacks. Nothing that happens in the first part isn’t within the realm of reality. Once they move to the cabin, strange things begin to occur, and the movie shifts into a more surreal, nightmarish atmosphere, gradually building in horror until it reaches a fever pitch.

The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. It is worth watching for that alone. Overall the movie is eerie, highly atmospheric, erotic, intense and visceral, bizarre and gorgeous. It deals with the occult but not nearly in a literal fashion. It has these lovely scenes of surreal, disturbing beauty, like the piles of pale limbs and naked bodies entwined with tree roots in the promotional image above. Antichrist is a strange gem, mysterious, powerful, and profoundly psychological.