Koliada, Oleh, Contemporary #2, English Drama: Martin Bladh, Old Captain Press: Zhytomyr, 2019.
Contemporary #2: English Drama: Martin Bladh.
Swedish-born Martin Bladh is a contemporary multimedia artist who has resided for a decade in London, England and established himself as a unique proponent of the New Theatre of Cruelty adhering to the original Antonin Artaud’s disrepute legacy. Hybridizing genres of drama, poetry and fiction Bladh gravitates toward performance art, actionism in particular, with its main focus on stage performativity based on Wiener Aktionismus (Viennese Action Art movement) of the 1960s to purposely shock through self-torture actions. Solidly accompanied with music and photography Bladh’s theatrical arsenal transcends the subject-matter traditionally tabooed by the mainstream, including the objectives of death, necrophilia, sadomasochism, pornography, narcissism, lustmord and monomania. The 2nd issue of the “Contemporary” series traces Bladh’s artistic genesis analysing his works throughout a 2004 – 2019 period to revisit the concepts of cruelty and violence as segments of the current underground art, a built-in element of the counter-culture superstructure. All the presented literary analyses are exclusively supported by the authorial photographs and collages, both disturbing and fascinating, therefore 21+ readers’ discretion is advised: nudity and acts of torture are graphically reproduced without condescension or censorship as homage to the artist’s intentions. The edition also includes the recent interview with Bladh as well as a substantial cross-cultural entry on his genre fundamentals: the Theatre of Cruelty retrospective and three influential artists, Antonin Artaud, Francis Bacon, and Hermann Nitsch, the artist finds relevant to his method. 2019 Contemporary #2: English Drama: Martin Bladh. Book. A5 format, 416 pages, an interview and analysis, 200+ pictures; full colour, digital press. A hardbound cover with a tassel. R 21+
