Feral Kin @ Auto Italia

In March I tweeted that my hobbies this year are astrology and skincare - i am obsessed with that very specific language they both use. “Retinol, sagittarius ascendant, vitamin C, venus retrograde, hyaluronic acid mask ;:;:;:;:; I feel the same thing ////// It feels like the same vocabulary” That same thing about address and mode of address like;;; how horoscopes are somewhere between friendship and fiction. they address u as singular:: that feeling of youtube videos, beauty gurus speaking to their viewers as friends, individuals even though they r millions. Like.,,.,.,., idk why that interests me, that feeling of specialness in singular address. The press release was my favourite press release of the year and actually ever. More press releases written as horoscopes/birth charts pls. it wasn’t even the novelty of it; it was the switch up from that format :::: broad, disembodied, academic language that speaks to no one, addresses no one ;;;; language that speaks over ur head, doesn’t look u in the eye. I want this, I prefer this, where it speaks to u as narrator, as friend, as advisor, confidante.

I don’t really see shows like this in London. Last week I was literally complaining to Gab; London feels like that rolling scenery that background they have in sitcoms when-they’re-in-the-car-scenes. Idk if it’s just that nothing good is on, or if everything just looks/feels the same, or if i’m not going to the right places, or maybe I”M in a rut and i’m projecting. It feels like having rice for dinner every day; it all blurs into one u kno. Like… i mean this nicely. No one rly dares to experiment or be risky ‘’’ ‘’’’’’ do something unstable or to just see if it works. Chisenhale produces just rly nice shows all the time consistently and never flexes its muscles, it doesn’t stretch its legs out to try and see if they can stand on uneven ground bc they might do something kinda floppy and bad. And i don’t know if I like the way that makes things feel. It’s at odds with my entire art education, endless years of tutors reminding me it is ok to fail; acknowledging ur failures is good and a powerful learning tool. i feel like all of London’s failures must be hidden in private email chains and not acknowledged properly. We must all make bad art one day, and when we do, we should hold up our dirty laundry, out in public and say “LOOK, I MADE THIS VERY BAD THING. LET’S TALK ABOUT IT PLS.”, from there we grow ~like ph03nix 4rm the ASH3S~

But this one at Auto Italia wasn’t like that. THIS FELT PRECARIOUS. AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH I WANA CAPITALISE FOR EMPHASIS. bc i do feel like I miss out, London misses out. There isn’t really anywhere that operates on that scale, where you can stretch out and take risks and walk on cobbled ground in stilettos;;; places where u don’t have to sellsellsell or please the tourists and the old ppl or keep up appearances like. bc the way London feels like its structured; feels sticky and sweaty from running around all day. Rent is too expensive. All the ACE money goes to the ballet (bastards). Everyone is thin and cynical and never congratulates u. Air pollution also, that too.

This show felt like a really good scene show. Like mates. Friends and collaborators. Putting work together bc they wana, and it paying off - rly working in it’s eclectic-ness. It felt like someone went out on a limb, it felt SINCERE. and i want to rly rly rest on that sincerity for a moment bc i want to emphasise that that felt rare and special and so so valuable as a viewer. And tbh i could sit here and write what i thought the art was all about, but that’s not what we do is it rly? We tell u how we felt in that room;;; when i was in the room i was mostly rly just quite happy with the sincerity. I was so pleased and warmed by the work feeling like it was made and placed among friends, that i didn’t take much else in. Art in london can feel so cold, and u know it might sound weird and gross, this felt like someone goin to pop a spot. That is what it felt like. When u can feel something, some blackhead lump under the skin surface something under construction, and ur tryna extract it and fingers feels clumsy and then it bursts out and ur like ‘wtf is that’. and it is a shape a size u don’t recognise as the thing under the skin. ffs what a horrible simile. i am so sorry. but i think it is tru. Being in the room felt like that moment, when i didn’t recognise the shape or weight of anything there; it all felt new and not like the rolling car scenery. it all felt brand new. The works all bled onto each other, sitting in each others’ laps. I felt like where works could have ego and claim space, all the works oscillated and the videos rolled around the 3/4 screens, not looping, just doing the circuits. and in that, that is where it felt friendly::: in that ego-less loop of spreading out into each other. like in pictures when frends put their arms on each others’ shoulders. The art did that. aahhhhhh, stretching legs on the sofa, skin brushing against trouser. Just like that it all made me feel something shiny and new.

Feral Kin was on @ Auto Italia's space on Bonner Road, sorry it ended on the 9th. i hate writing about things that've ended :'( sorry frends