Of Milk and Slime

I saw these pics by Bart Hess on the FaceCULTURE blog a while ago, and haven't been able to get them out of my head.





I love the texture and movement, and how they show something 'yucky' as beautiful in motion. They remind me of Julia Kristeva's discussion of abjection:

"The repugnance, the retching that thrusts me to the side and turns me away from defilement, sewage, and muck" - a reaction evoked by "that skin on the surface of milk," which revolts her despite being totally harmless (Powers of Horror, p.3).

Except here, the gelatinous mucus draws you in, rather than pushing you away (or is it just me? I would like to know how it feels in the slime.) It seems soft and... clean?



Hess has also created another set of works, the STRP mutants, for the 2011 STRP Art & Technology Festival in the Netherlands. His description states:

"The mutants evolved around the idea of transformation. They visualize movement and the ever changing boundaries between the different disciplines: art, music and technology."

They also remind me a little of superheroes, somehow fused into their costumes.








This festival looks ace. Wish I could go.

STRP Festival leader 2011 from bart hess on Vimeo.

Lots more videos on Hess' Vimeo account (links above) if you are interested in seeing more, or you can visit his website here.