Fleshed Out

If you’re looking around Ariel Books in Paddington this week, things might seem a little odd. While you’re browsing, be warned that you might see a woman floating in murky water on the shelf and crying red and blue tears. There could be a sexy, anime-like girl in hot pink thigh-high boots, smashing wood with an axe near the modern fiction. Near the entrance there’s a woman getting her back tattooed; and at the rear of the store, people are eating sushi off a lanky geisha’s naked body. In the kid’s section there’s a hypercolour talking mannequin. And if you’re not careful, you might bump into some gold headphones hanging in the middle of the room – they’re just past the drag queen fish who’ve taken a seagull hostage.

These are just some of the scenes you’ll find in Elena Knox’s quirky and stimulating video installation show, Fleshed Out. Though currently wearing the hat of curator for what she says ended up feeling like a mini film festival, Knox is a woman of many talents including poet, performer, musician and filmmaker.

Respected Sydney photographer and journalist Robert McFarlane, who opened the show last week, suggested Knox is creating a new hybrid film genre. This may well be true – since the work is primarily an inventive way of sharing poetry with the world, rather than trying to compete with the film world itself.

The work The Lingering and the Stain shows footage of Knox having the poem of the same name tattooed permanently on her back, in between flashes of her acting out its story, wrenching herself through sharp thistles and barbed wire. As McFarlane shrewdly pointed out in his speech, the girl is not afraid to commit. “She takes her work seriously, but not herself!” he said.

Indeed, Knox dances to her own tune. We see it clearly in one of her later works, Drawn and Quartered, where she is covered head to toe in green tartan body paint, jumping and cavorting amongst images of a gecko, a creamy skinned baby and the words of the matching poem.

This exhibition is the first of its kind to be shown at Ariel Books. Having knocked back many an artist’s proposal for a show, this time they accepted, because they liked that the works could accompany their books in harmony. People will discover these video poems as they saunter around the bookshelves, instead of being hit by an overwhelming display in just one spot. As Knox has pointed out, the show is a clever move in a world where the humble book page may be obsolete any year now.

There are a total of 11 video works displayed in-store, spanning the years 2004 – 2011; a sophisticated retrospective of Knox’s creative work. The films have toured internationally during this time, making it quite a special event to have access to the entire catalogue in one place continuously for over a week. Originally supposed to close on September 4, the show has been extended until September 11 by popular demand, indicative of the public’s response to the works.

Fleshed Out will make you leave with more than a book – food for thought is inevitable. Elena Knox’s poems will make you ponder, while her films will make you curious, confused, and possibly even a little turned on. The only certainty is having no idea what she’ll come up with next. This is a constantly evolving artist whose future work will be exciting to follow.

Elena Knox’s Fleshed Out
An exhibition of video poetry
Ariel Books, Paddington
August 31 – September 10