Except the dark, I expected it to be dark.
...and I was right.
With the entrance glowing a hauntingly luminescent red, we tentatively entered with excitement, where 6 men in black lace headdresses lined the stairs - and it was at this point, we knew it was going to be good.
The first room we entered was one of my favourites; the walls were slathered in beguiling fashion illustrations, and were all attached to different designers. The best part about it, aside from some of the gorgeous drawings pictured above, was the fact that the room was dark, and that you were given fake candles to hold and walk around the room with.
Although it was something so very simple, it created such an enormous sense of atmosphere, and had such a strong transportive quality. That one candle instantly made me feel like I was in the victorian era ( i.e. I felt like scrooge and I liked it) and it honestly made me feel so excited for the rest of the exhibition - simple pleasures.
Next we wandered through to a room full of what looked like fossilised artefacts; there were skulls bound with rope, you could get a lock of hair cut off and made into a necklace, and eerily dressed people were walking round whispering in your ear, it was all a little bewildering so we quickly exited and moved on.
Opposite the room of rope and skulls, was its antithesis, a room seeping grandeur and resplendence. It was the Veuve Clicquot bar, and it was far removed from the dark dinginess of the corridors.
We made our way through the corridor and encountered a sight of dripping water and a rather ghostly looking woman on our way up a flight of stairs...
Next we entered another one of my favourite rooms, if not my actual favourite - BUT, we couldn't take pictures (sob).
It was a huge room which played 3 very dark, very twisted fashion films on a projector. The films themselves were jaw dropping in their quality, each one as soul-stirring as the next, and they were full to the brim of gorgeous gowns that transpired on film in such a mesmerising, highly commendable way.
Another thing I was smitten with was the scattered seating; they had mismatched armchairs and dining table chairs strewn disorderly across the floor. We sat in 2 discarded, old fashioned cinema sets lined with a rich maroon velvet cushion, and once again, its the little things - like the opportunity to sit in antiquated cinema seats - that contribute to your enjoyment of the experience.
Not too long after we entered a room which revolved around a woman skinning a chicken; she would remove its feathers and make sculptures like the above. It was a sort of macabre beauty, and definitely something you wouldn't forget to mention again.
Next up was another really effective room, which was actually created by Amanda Harlech and explored notions of female empowerment in the practice of witchcraft. Harlech wanted to create a space that stimulated the visual and aural senses, and I can vouch for that and say that it definitely did!
The uneven floor was saturated in crispy leaves, and the room was filled with a distinctive 'outdoors' scent; a scent that was both unpleasant and familiar. The inclusion of a strong scent was something I was really amazed by - again, its something very simple that sticks with you, something that enhances your experience, and teamed with the flashing white light and indistinct sounds it all became eerily bemusing.
In this dingy room everything glowed in the dark, which is always highly amusing and engaging.
Then we encountered a skull comprising of many dollar bills...
We walked through a room that filled your nostrils with the scent of incense, one that showed you a fake dead baby calf laying upon a wooden crate and another room that displayed this simplistically mesmerising piece...
The final room was such a fun way to end the exhibition!
The room was dimly lit with a heavy red lighting; it had such an infectious, feel-good atmosphere, with songs playing and people dressed in costumes from one of the fashion films dancing relentlessly on glowing podiums. It was all very bizarre but so enjoyable!
Towards the end they began to fill the room with smoke, and more people came piling in to see what was going on. We all agreed we could have happily stayed in there all night, and wished that they had turned it into a little party at the end, but alas, it was edging towards 10 and we had to get going!
It truly was an experience in every sense of the word, it tantalised the senses and provided you with many a talking point. Its an event I know I will always remember and talk about, an invaluable experience that I would happily do all over again.
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