“Devour her!” hissed the Devil. Momentarily, from behind my white half-face mask and long red tresses, I must have stared blankly at this monstrous black figure. He hissed again with greater urgency: “Devour her!” and pointed at the broken figure of Misumun, her clothes torn away, crawling slowly from the evil freaks. As his acolyte I was bound to obey. I sprang naked from the stage and feasted greedily upon the fallen geisha.
This was but one weird moment amongst many at The Underdog on 27 August 2016 when Club Hell took residence for the night as part of Come to the Sabbat Festival of Dark Arts. I was among the cast for a performance of Monsterlune’s Tales of Lunar Madness. When I arrived at the venue a little before 6pm, Starsha Lee – the headline band – was preparing a ferocious rehearsal.
Tales of Lunar Madness was scripted and designed by Estelle Riviere Monsterlune: “monstrous hermaphroditic phantasmagorias, excreted by the cavernous mind of Mme Monsterlune; a surreal hallucinogenic tale of geishas, human sacrifice, demonic black magic, mutant babies and brephophagy.” There would be fourteen of us performing the tales. First, however, came Suri Sumatra and the Flaming Nuns from Sapphos…
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
The Flaming Nuns had left us in wimples and piety; when they returned to our chaotic carnival backstage they were topless and dripping with sugary blood. Meanwhile, Ben Hell – psychotronic sound and vision maestro of resurrected Club Hell – was preparing for forthcoming Monsterlune madness, with the Winter Quartet finely strung and ready to perform a live Danse Macabre. Our swelling audience massed blackly.
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
Anticipation was rising. Our backstage area was comfortable enough, but served as a foyer for public toilets so we had a constant stream of curious visitors. There was also a tiny attic space stuffed with drum kits, plus our deluxe rider of wine, crisps and nuts. Soon enough the freaks got into costume, while Adam – my fellow acolyte – and I got out of ours. Estelle was somehow holding it all together.
© Lou Looby Love
© Lou Looby Love
At last: show time! Adam and I seethe onto stage first; next comes Joe, the bondage human table; then finally Estelle as geisha Misumun beneath a veiling black umbrella. Behind us Ben projected the blood and flowers film we recorded two months earlier. Estelle performs black magic, selling her soul to the Devil for eternal youth. Enter the exotic demon Suri Rangda – there is evil dance… Misumun is to be flayed.
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Lou Looby Love
© Lou Looby Love
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
We leave the freshly flayed Misumun alone in her torment, hallucinating a succession of nightmarish visions. Now the freaks will enter, one or – in the case of the conjoined twins – two at a time. This is a superb showcase of Estelle’s extraordinary costumes and the imaginative talents of those inhabiting them. Finally the demon returns… with a hermaphrodite… who gives birth to many children… for Misumun to eat.
© Lou Looby Love
© Lou Looby Love
© Lou Looby Love
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Philip Seargeant
© Lou Looby Love
Upon conclusion of the dark parade and sacrifice of babies, there is a second-coming for me and Adam, this time escorting the Devil himself. With measured ceremony, the Devil takes his throne and calls for Misumun to be his wife. She enters once more, an outrageous bride accompanied by a shower of freaks. The marriage is celebrated, but the Devil’s hunger is not sated by a mere soul…
© Lou Looby Love
© Lou Looby Love
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Lou Looby Love
© Philip Seargeant
© Philip Seargeant
“Devour her!” hissed the Devil. Geisha Misumun, stripped and torn by the multitude of creatures, is to be eaten. I am first to jump upon her; others soon follow. Chaos reigns yet our hitherto silent audience knows this feasting is the denouement. They drown us in enthusiastic applause; as an unchoreographed rabble we quit our meal and stagger from their presence, leaving Estelle abandoned semi-naked on the floor.
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
© Satanic Mojo – Facebook gallery
Backstage it was party time. Everyone could let down their hair, masks, tentacles and umbilical cords. It’s been a pleasure to immerse in the weirdly fantastical Monsterlune world this year and gradually get to know its inhabitants a little better. This night I was due elsewhere, however, so whilst Estelle was still outside being shibari rope-bound, I began dressing in readiness for an early exit.
I got into my clothes, Estelle got out of her ropes and I was able offer congratulations and farewells before leaving. Farewell, too: Delphine, Elodie, Erika, Joe, Sarah, Steve, et al. On my way out I passed Ben in the doorway and shared a final fleeting moment of laudation and reassurance. He’d presented a stupendous environment within which Estelle fashioned truly fabulous tales. Bravo, les freaks magnifiques. Bravo!
I have to stop losing umbrellas. For years I had relied on those little fold-up umbrellas available from pound shops, but when exposed to anything greater than a stiff breeze they would succumb forever. Deciding this to be a false economy I began investing in more expensive ones. The problem now is I keep leaving them at life drawing venues, as was the case after a recent long pose session at the Garrett Centre.
I was returning for the Friday night group run by Adrian Dutton. Upon arriving, I went backstage to change into my gown, leaving my umbrella beside my clothes. We were soon underway with quick poses: 5-minutes standing, another 5-minutes standing (as above), 5-minutes kneeling, and 10-minutes sitting on the floor. Then the first half-hour of the standing pose that would carry us through the evening.
Our tea-break overran but I wasn’t complaining. Upon resuming after the interval there was an hour to go. I remained on my feet throughout and was invited to take a stretch every 20-minutes – an invitation I gladly accepted. When the session ended, I quickly dressed and hurried back to the main room to take photos of the artworks. And in my haste I forgot the brolly. D’oh! It had been a good evening… but not profitable one.
It was the day after France’s highest administrative court suspended a ban on ‘burkini’ swimsuits, which was imposed in a Mediterranean coastal town. Two days before that came the nauseating sight of armed French police forcing a Muslim woman to remove clothing on the beach at Nice. I am against any State telling women what they can or can’t wear; I am also against cultural, societal or religious tradition pressuring women to dress in ways they might not otherwise choose. Meanwhile, in Hackney…
…Esther and I had been invited to be one of two demonstration duos modelling at the Hackney Down Free Festival – an event run by The Star by Hackney Downs pub, where I’ve been a Tuesday night life model on many occasions. It seemed unlikely we could be nude in the centre of an outdoor family fun day so Catherine Hall, who runs Drawing the Star, suggested we pose in our swimwear. Esther stripped to her bikini and I kept my trunks on. No problem… or so we thought.
We were a long way from the French Riviera, yet even in laid-back liberal Hackney we were caught by the swimsuit police. While Esther and I both limbered up, a black-clad festival functionary had button-holed Catherine, who then relayed to us their insistence that we cover up. We were dumbfounded; in a park, on a warm day, dressed in normal swimwear to promote the life art group hosted by the festival organiser – yet somehow we were inappropriate.
For Catherine’s sake we obeyed without protest. Nonetheless, in all my time working at various events, I’ve never come across such a sad, pointless, unwonted restriction. Specifically their demand was that I wear a T-shirt and Esther wear a skirt; it beggars belief. I’ve been outside wearing just swimming trunks in countries across the Middle East and southeast Asia without causing any concern. In Hackney, however, it could not be tolerated. Quite astonishing.
But anyway… to work. We were on the 1pm to 2pm shift, with fellow models Leo and Ian following us from 3pm to 4pm. We began with a back to back pose for 10-minutes, then turned about to face each other with an arm outstretched for 15-minutes. For our third pose, lasting 20-minutes, Esther stood whilst I sat on the floor holding one of her legs. We ended with Esther reclining and me sitting by her side for 10-minutes. Apart from the cover-up nonsense, it was a lovely session on a pleasant day.
The forecast had warned of rain as the afternoon progressed, and indeed there was a short shower before 3pm. Leo and Ian could easily have faced a washout, but instead nature smiled upon them and the sun emerged, bringing with it yet more people to try drawing. Esther and I joined in too, and enjoyed a relaxing hour of al fresco art, whilst Catherine introduced newcomers to the practice. My drawings are below – not strong on proportion, but fun. I hope others enjoyed it too and will try Drawing the Star.
Two great institutions of the British life art scene combined to present a very special one-off spectacular this summer. All The Young Nudes runs life drawing groups as club nights, complete with bar and ultra hip playlist in cities across Scotland. With the added consideration of very reasonable ticket prices, their gatherings are always hugely popular. On 23 August, they joined forces with Spirited Bodies in Edinburgh to coincide with the Fringe Festival.
Spirited Bodies has been organising large scale multi-model events for first-time and experienced life models – primarily in London – since 2010. Artistic Director, Esther Bunting, last worked with All The Young Nudes in 2013 so this would be an exciting return foray. For me, however, it was to be a debut collaboration north of the border. I travelled up with Esther as her partner, roadie, photographer, and participating model. Our setting for the evening would be an alternative music venue: Studio 24.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Esther had booked ten models about a month in advance, but individual issues right up to the afternoon before meant this figure went down, up, down, included me, then reached ten again when, with serendipity, an experienced male model unexpectedly joined us on the evening itself. We were: five female, five male; five experienced, one with a little experience, four with no experience, a good variety of ages and physical characteristics. Best of all, the models hit it off and bonded warmly from the outset.
Before artists started to arrive, Esther briefed everybody on her plan for the evening’s poses. We practiced eight tableaux; each with a specific theme but within which the models had complete freedom for self-expression. Esther adjusted our positioning to create overall balance and interesting sightlines from all angles. Soon enough, Charli and Keira of All The Young Nudes began welcoming artists. Charli set the playlist to shuffle and, come eight o’clock, the drawing commenced.
Pose 1 – connections
Our opening 5-minute pose encouraged the models to create connections with each other. Ironically, this probably happened to a greater degree in our subsequent poses but nice shapes were made nonetheless. I was on photography duty for this one, but the others all posed.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 2 – circle of movement
I was photographing this pose too – the other nine models arranged themselves into a circle and, one at a time for 10-minutes, each took a turn to move very slowly for a few seconds before touching the model clockwise from them and freezing while that model took over moving. I love this format, which we’d last tried at Lewisham Arthouse.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 3 – someone walks in
Esther took the camera and said she wanted me in the next tableau. For 10-minutes we were to imagine that a relative, friend, or work colleague who didn’t know we were life models, had walked into the room. Our reaction to the surprise was the pose that we held. This one was both a lot of fun and created personal relevance for each of us.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 4 – gangsters
In the last pose most of us had been shrinking violets, so to rebuild our confidence we followed it with 15-minutes posing as gangsters. I raised a finger gun and shielded my eyes as I was sitting directly in line with the primary spotlight. Before starting, Esther had wondered whether heaters would be needed, but – no – these lights were hot.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 5 – bacchanal
In our last 15-minute pose before the interval, we were all to relax as if participating in a Roman bacchanal. The theme potentially allowed for some wild orgiastic interaction, but our tableau was mostly post-debauchery lounging about. As per each group pose, the models combined very well in the space, mindful of all our artists’ sight lines.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 6 – growing
After the drinks break we resumed with short poses. I was back on photography duty for our next two tableaux, the first of which was a 5-minute movement pose. All of the models were to start low down like small seeds and then very gradually grow upwards to become flourishing flowers or trees. They paced it beautifully.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 7 – witches
For our penultimate work, we conjured up some good old fashioned clichéd witchcraft. There were sacrifices, spells, familiars, fear and fantasies. Again, Esther had provided the theme and adjusted the overall balance but self-expression came from within each model. I think this may have been a favourite for several of them.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Pose 8 – the beach
And so to the beach. Our final pose was also our longest at 25-minutes, so the beach format gave a valid reason for models to lay down and make themselves comfortable. I had missed the previous two poses so remained upright for this one – as if perched on a bar stool, sipping cocktails. Under the burning spotlight we might even have tanned.
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
© Spirited Bodies and All The Young Nudes
Art
It had been a fantastic session. The models had been superb, every one of them, and the artists seemed to have enjoyed it greatly too. No fewer than 47 had crammed into the space, and found sufficient room to draw or paint in reasonable comfort. They had certainly risen to each of Esther’s challenges and been integral to a good atmosphere throughout the evening. After the last pose, artworks were set out upon the floor for all to admire. I photographed as many as I could – a selection are reproduced below.
Works by Linda Kosciewicz and Colin Dunbar are among those shown – apologies to the artists whose names I did not catch.
In time models dressed, artists packed away and people began drifting from the venue until eventually only Charli, Keira, Esther and I were left. Charli and Keira had ensured everything was organisationally perfect, such that all Esther need concentrate on was the tableaux, the timings, the models’ well-being and how well they were visible to the artists. When the space was reasonably tidy, Esther and I said our fond farewells too, and disappeared into the night… celebrating with delicious Kurdish pizza.
Extra curricular
As a warm-up for this event, we’d whiled away the afternoon hiking to Arthur’s Seat, overlooking the city. Our recent trip to Venice seems to have established a tradition that at some point on our travels one or both of us will strip off for a nude photo shoot. Esther suggested it be me on our way down – a bit risky but it all added to the fun of our Edinburgh adventure. We loved every part of our visit and would very gladly return to Scotland… hopefully to include working with All The Young Nudes once more.
Art Macabre and Freud Museum invite you to spend time reflecting on the concepts of self, subject and psyche through sketching. A life drawing event inspired by Mark Wallinger‘s Self Reflection exhibition. This special exhibition by Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger will mark the Freud Museum London’s 30th anniversary and the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sigmund Freud. The artist has created a transformative work for Freud’s study and a permanent sculpture to be situated in the Museum garden.
It was to be my third time modelling – after ‘Eros and Death‘ and ‘Drawing from the Unconscious‘ – at the superb Freud Museum with Art Macabre, but a first time there with my partner, Esther. It would also be the first time we’d shared a booking with the experienced and ever-popular model, Carla Tofano. We are all so well known to each other across social media that it seemed extraordinary our paths had never previously crossed. With many friends also present, this would be a highly enjoyable session.
The Ego and the Id
Upon arrival, we found Art Macabre’s supreme being, Nikki aka Raven Rouge, busy in the museum garden. Here too were Jon – whom I had modelled with at the ‘Sherlock Bones‘ event last year – and life model, Ms Nara; on this occasion they’d volunteered to help Nikki run the event. Esther and I were to start here, modelling outside. It was a warm, comfortable evening, perfect for al fresco nakedness. We commenced with two 10-minute poses as ego and id – Esther being the ‘id’ (of course!)
Rorschach
Having thus got the ball rolling, we then withdrew to our main indoor pose space whilst Nikki introduced Carla. I think the idea was that some artists might follow us and start drawing our next poses, but understandably they all wanted to savour this first chance to capture our fellow model, who had been body-painted by Nikki with Rorschach test ink spots upon her torso. Carla would be posing indoors with more ink spots projected onto her skin later – surely sending artists’ “underlying thoughts” into overdrive.
On the couch
Carla’s captivation of the audience meant Esther and I had a fleeting moment to relax upon a replica of Freud’s famous couch, but when artists started to enter our upstairs room we hastily sprung into dynamic poses. Such professionals! First, for 15-minutes Esther’s id was dominating my struggling ego. Then for 20-minutes the id stood while the ego restrained it from behind. We enjoyed these poses – all the more with friends Catherine, Farida, Irene and Rodger each taking time to draw us.
Nikki was flitting between the museum’s rooms, but on this occasion it appeared that very little manoeuvring of artists was needed. Both our room and Carla’s had plenty of people drawing at any one time, with artists also at liberty to browse the museum and its special exhibition. We ended with a 15-minute pose, ego and id connecting, and a 10-minute pose, in which ego finally had the high moral ground – I can’t vouch for how well we’d reflected Freud’s concepts, but we’d inspired some pretty good creativity.
Other selfs
Meanwhile, before twilight faded outside in the garden, even more modelling had been in progress. After Carla followed me and Esther indoors, Nikki invited all her artists to continue the ‘self reflection’ theme by being the model themselves. Our friend, Rodger needed no second invitation to sit naked in Sigmund Freud’s back garden, but he was the only one to go the whole way. Alison and Amy also posed, but kept their modesty intact. That’s Rodger and Alison seizing their moments below.
Reflection
It had been an excellent evening. I’d overstretched my left arm for our second pose in the garden but otherwise nothing was horribly uncomfortable. Once dressed, we went downstairs to admire the artworks before Esther, Carla, Rodger and I quit in search of food – over burritos and margaritas, we chatted away what remained of the evening. It was a genuine pleasure to meet Carla at last and to share in some intelligent, worldly conversation; it was a joy to work with Art Macabre; it’s my love to pose with Esther.
My first Monsterlune moment had been as a purple bondage elephant on the catwalk at Loudest Whispers 2016 in February. My second was also as a fashion model, for a photo shoot at Anstey Hall in Cambridgeshire – to be blogged when the work goes public in autumn. My third was a very different proposition altogether: sprawled on the floor of a flat in north London, writhing naked and blindfolded among flowers and other nude bodies while fake blood was being spattered across us from the wings.
© Philip Seargeant
It was Sunday 26 June, just after 4pm. Esther and I entered a busy front room where sheets were already covering half the floor and one wall. Close at hand were a ladder, a laptop, projector, lighting, props, an abundance of food and liquor, all attended by a characterful collection of preternatural participants. We were here for the making of a film to be used as backdrop for ‘Monsterlune Tales of Lunar Madness‘ at Club Hell on 27 August. The principal players were…
- Estelle Riviere Monsterlune – artist, designer, costumier, model, and more
- Ben Hell – film director, music maker, the man behind Club Hell, and more
- Nicoletta Wylde – blood-drenched performer, writer and stage manager
- Elodie – joining Esther, Estelle, Nicoletta and me naked among the flowers
- Karla da Silva – photographer and artist at Karla da Silva Photography
- Philip Seargeant – fellow independent photographer
…plus, of course, myself and magnificently multi-talented Esther; a strong cast.
© Philip Seargeant
© Philip Seargeant
© Philip Seargeant
© Philip Seargeant
Esther and I were most pressed for time so we were indulged to be photographed first. Side by side, head to tail, on a white sheet with flowers strewn about, we were initially captured completely naked, and later wearing plain white masks. Nicoletta and Elodie followed with bright lights dimmed and colours playing across their skin. When Esther and I next took the floor we were more intimately entwined, with our faces under white cloth and bodies under kaleidoscopic light.
For the big finale, Nicoletta and Elodie joined us with cloths over their faces. Flowers were arranged around us, Ben gave direction and Estelle undressed to lay across us with her own face wrapped. When the film shooting started, out came the fake blood, to be spattered over us in ever more frantic sprays and globs as first we twitched and groaned, and later writhed and spasmed. The cloth stifled us, our limbs were twisted, the blood was cold, yet the whole tableau was utterly extraordinary.
We passed the point of having all the footage we needed, and Ben freely admitted he was now simply enjoying the spectacle. With blood supplies running low, however, he reluctantly called a halt. Esther and I hauled ourselves upright and staggered into the adjacent bathroom to wash ourselves down. After dressing, we said our farewells and slipped away into the night. I’m sure there must have been renewed extraordinariness after we’d left – certainly there was on the night of the performance…
It has been a hectic few weeks for this part-time life model, some-time art performer. There was sound and movement with Spirited Bodies at the end of July; then a week taking Girl in Suitcase to Venice with Esther; subsequent yet-to-be-blogged poses for Art Macabre at the Freud Museum, plus a Spirited Bodies collaboration with All The Young Nudes in Edinburgh, followed by Neo Naturists capers back in London, and a Monsterlune performance at Club Hell.
Yet in the midst of all this weirdness and wonderment, actually I’ve posed for just one single conventional life drawing group throughout the whole of August. I have Toynbee Art Club to thank for a booking that regrounded my appreciation of the essential craft: that is, the lone human being, naked in a space, without adornment or props, nothing but their own body and imagination, flexibility and stamina to inspire creativity among diverse artists over a period of two hours. It’s the purity of that challenge I love.
It was a warm Sunday afternoon, but not stiflingly so. I’d arrived at the Dellow Centre early enough to change unhurriedly into my dressing gown and take centre stage in an art room occupied by a dozen or so artists; some were familiar faces, others were first-timers to life drawing. Four poses occupied the first hour, up to our break for tea: 10-minutes standing, 10-minutes kneeling, another 10-minutes standing, and half an hour having a nice lay down.
The second hour saw me seated on the floor for 25-minutes, and finishing with a final standing pose for 35-minutes. No theatricals, no theme, no performance, just true life art. Nonetheless, even this brought with it a first in my experience: an artist who had never drawn a live nude model before was so happy with the session that she asked me to sign her drawing (below). I love all the variety in my work, but simple pleasures remain to be enjoyed in the practice.
steve ritter 