The Wire contributor Daisy Hyde speaks to British performance artist and Gazelle Twin creator Elizabeth Bernholz about Olde England, Brexit and her new project Pastoral.
“Gazelle Twin aka Elizabeth Bernholz returns with her first full length release since 2014’s Unflesh. Called Pastoral, the album examines the darker side of the often misconstrued idyllic setting of rural England. ‘There is a horror in every idyll,’ she declares, ‘and danger lurking beyond the ‘quaint’. The village square – once host to centuries of public torture – becomes a floral framed postcard, dolled up for the summer fête. Bigoted vitriol gently murmurs amidst tearoom chatter, as the neatly framed pastoral picture dissolves into a solemn ennui.’
“Pastoral’s lead track ‘Hobby Horse’ juxtaposes childhood innocence and playfulness with anxiety, brutality and confusion. In the accompanying video Bernholz takes on the persona of a jester, mocking the viewer while angrily proclaiming in a devilish whisper: ‘My eyes are stinging/My ears are ringing/My hands are tied and I can’t get out of here’.
“‘I am feeling like it’s very much a tabloid demo,’ she explains. ‘It’s the devil acting the fool, playing us ALL for fools.'”
Watch the video for Gazelle Twin’s ‘Hobby Horse’ below and learn more about her Rewire 2019 performance atGazelle Twin.
Get your Rewire 2019 Festival pass atTickets.