Michael Landy Saints Alive at National Gallery

[jasperjoffe]

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/michael-landy-saints-alive Enjoyed this,.. perhaps more so because I won a t-shirt. But what more can you want besides an entertaining free show where you can win a prize! Well lots of things, but still. The point of the masochistic clockwork (electrically driven) mechanical saints is seemingly obvious: Religion as absurdity, entertainment, fair ground grotesque, and at the same time rewarding and moving and transcending. The contrast between science and belief yada yada, I wonder if I thought more carefully there'd be something there. But the spectacle of noise and creaky movement and the machines beating themselves till they break is a little more than a thesis, it brings the old myths to life. Perfect for the national gallery of course.