Recreation: I Only Want You To Love Me

It's been a long, long time since I engaged in art as a recreational activity. The stresses of A Level removed any concept of leisure from creation. Once the purpose, the pressure of deadlines, behind making something beautiful is taken away, it becomes harder to ... motivate oneself. I haven't had any artistic agenda for over a year. And it makes me sad.

'I Only Want You To Love Me' is Miles Aldridge's photography exhibition at Somerset House. His artistic agenda is to sell fashion - namely in Italian Vogue. His femme fatales are inspired by as diverse a range of sources as Alfred Hitchcock's heroines, and the ailing Virgin Marys of Raphael's Renaissance period. They are all flawless, aloof creatures. Blatantly high fashion and yet vulnerable: 'a presentation of luxury' marred with 'vapid consumerism', write the walls of his exhibition. Wow. The deep side of the superficial ...

Miles Aldridge's 'Sasha Pivovarova'

Miles Aldridge's 'Deflated' 

Maeve and I went to visit Somerset House on Friday. I've always said the sign of great art is that one comes away wanting some piece of it for oneself. It is the ultimate evidence of influence, effective elevation from everyday drudgery. We gawked at the oh-so-Italian OTT-ness of make-up and colour, the bouffant hair, the drama of composition. We went away wanting. Primarily, we went away wanting to play dress-up.

Alice meets 'Sasha Pivovarova'

We decided our agenda would be "recreation". Simply, to re-create the style of the exhibition. (We have plenty of time on our hands.) There's no political or feminist or fashion statement, and certainly no high art. We used a bedside lamp, an SLR, and Gimp as a substitute for photoshop. (Yes - really, the software is called "Gimp". It's as great as it sounds.) More importantly, we had fun. Recreational Art: An afternoon well spent.

Sinead meets 'Deflated' 

Special thanks to: Sinead, Maeve, Alice for playing with me.