There were many insights into just how frighteningly intelligent Ofili must be and all of them related to the meticulous nature of the detail in his work. The afro pencil drawings and the sets of watercolours were a pleasant surprise. The pencil looked more like ink, I like the sort of mind that would sit and draw all those afro heads.

The last few rooms represent the work that Ofili has done since he moved to Trinidad; much loser, larger and freer. The subject matter has changed too, more spiritual and referential to his new environment. I particularly liked the darker paintings; the blue riders, iscariot blues, the healer and the very last painting in the room Ritual and Resistance. I watched the film about Ofili afterwards in the outer chamber,. What struck me the most is that Ofili has a very strong self-identity and as his work has developed he has become more comfortable with himself. a lesson to be learned and also I came out thinking more about how I would prepare my canvases in future.

However, Aaron Koblin’s Flight Pattern and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Make-Out were both informative, mesmerising and hypnotic. This is the sort of data representation, either to map North American flight patterns or a count of the number of internet videos of people kissing and the gender ratio. Both these pieces were quite beautiful.

The work that really caught my attention were those pieces that demanded my physical interaction,  like Yoke’s Dandelion or Ross Phillips’ Videogrid in which I  shamelessly gurned and  played. I felt like a kid on my first visit to the science museum. I wish an everyday mundane trip to the supermarket or  a bus ride could involve some sort of fun informative engagement like these.

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My brother has been involved in a revisit/remix project of the stunning 1957 film Mother India. In this rendition he has taken the 3 hour film and edited into 45 minutes. This he has done in collaboration with DJ Tiger Styles and a number of live musicians. It’s a moving edit as it really portrays the poignance of the relationship between the mother and her first son. It’s such a phenomenal film; its communist iconography and it’s depiction of an independent and strong woman, struggling to survive.  The sound has been removed completely and replaced by a live performance, similar to  Cinematic Orchestra’s Man with a Movie Camera project.

The project has just been on a mini tour to Australia and there are  performing again around the UK. Check out www.kalaphool.com for details of dates and I defy you not to cry at the end. I’ve seen it twice and barely held on to the tears both times.

More on my brother and his work

I spent a lovely day with my mother last week, teaching her how to use her blog. How can I put this..? Despite many academic accomplishments, my mum would not necessarily be the first choice for a job in a technical support team, so it was gratifying to see how easily she took to using WordPress which is a testament to the user experience design of this CMS. She is going to write about art history, film, and her mosaic work. She should have posts up soon so I haven’t linked to her yet.

All I have to do now is teach my dad about his!!!

It was good to go to yet another VSP event in Lisbon and check out the state of local and some international graf writers.