The Surreal House at the Barbican – part 2.

The Surreal House at the Barbican – part 2.

 Erotic – an evening event

                                                                 The Crew

 As interesting as it was , the main reason we were here was not to see The Surreal House  which we had already attended on one of the opening days ,  but to join in one of the special events.  The evening show billed quite simply as  ‘ EROTIC ‘  was co-hosted and organised by two leading members of the London avant -garde performance scene.      Johnny Blue Eyes , artist , fashion designer celebre (the model Kate Moss is said to be a fan  ) and creator of the ‘ House of Blue Eyes’  is a big man in many ways and has often performed nude throughout his twenty year career.

                                                                         Bel, Johnny & Lara
 Johnny was partnered  by Lara Clifton , one of the originators of The Whoopee Club who has been successfully running decadent parties with a flavour of burlesque, for the last eight years.

                                                                      In the jungle
Held in the Conservatory situated on the third floor high above the City streets, this truly amazing space , sometimes called  ‘ a tropical garden in the sky ’  was a perfect setting for this trip into the modern vision of living surrealism.  The foyer entrance with a conventional bar area ,  a fairly normal  performance stage and one or two static displays,  leads directly into the secret garden where lurking in the bushes were creatures of the night.  

                                                                          Wild Animals
Naked or semi naked people with animal heads ,half human , half flesh emerged from the bushes as if they actually lived there while the rest of the cast ,  when not performing  joined  the visitors to parade and promenade around the walkways, terraces and water features  of the tropical gardens. 

                                                            Some Interesting Visitors
This was essentially an interactive event with visitors encouraged to join in producing what Laura and Johnny engagingly described as ‘real live art ‘.   “Bring along your cameras and videos , take pictures and involve yourselves as much or as little as you like” they said  - and most people did just that.     Students from St Martins College helped with some of the design installations, within which small groups of actor/musicians played out a series of amusing (and sometimes quite rude) plays on improvised stages.   

                                                                   The Big BAD Wolf
 The Beau Belles kept appearing out of no-where – and vanishing just as quickly - while in the background a trio of musicians played wonderful haunting jazz, creating exactly the right kind of ambience for this unusual evening of entertainment - just a few of the extraordinary performers who combined their individual talents to make this only too short evening into an immediate hit. 

                                                                        The Beau Belles
Dancers, actors, musicians, burlesque performers, exhibitionists of all sorts including of course almost all the paying guests were in a strange and fantastical beautiful way an essential part of this amazing erotic party. 

                                                                              Scaramouche

Keep an eye out for Johnny and Laura- they are bound to be around somewhere , sometime.  

c. The Erotica Spy   Jan 2011