Various — The Rita- Correlations(Book)
Correlations is a glossy, colourful, if at points visually distributing coffee-table art book looking at the career of The Rita( aka Sam Mckinlay) legendary/ influential Canadian wall noise/ harsh noise project. The two-hundred-page tome brings together images of the project's influences, release cover artwork, art performances connected to the project, as well several write-ups regarding The Rita.
It's an oversized A4 hardback book. It features a black outer cover- with minimal pink text above and below two colour pictures- one of the open mouth of a shark and one of the battered feet of a Ballena- these are of course two key focuses/ themes on the projects nearing thirty-year career. The book is limited to five hundred copies and can be brought directly from here.
After the brief contents page/ credits pages- the book opens with a still from 1954’s The Creature From The Black Lagoon. It's of The Rita the boat featured in the film- which is of course is what Mckinlay named for his project after. This is followed by an eight-and-a-half-page write-up about the project entitled “Breaking In The Shark”- Visual Troubles With The Rita’s Artworks by Nicolas Ballet- this is illustrated with cover artwork from the project's release, as well as artwork/ imagery that inspired Mckinlay. The texts are fairly interview quote heavy- including one with our good selves. Though Ballet does manage to point out some worthwhile observations regarding the projects work/ inspirations
As we move on through the book- starting on page twenty-five we have another article this is by Lexi Turner, entitled Obsessions/Abstractions: The Fetish And The Rita- this runs at seven and a half pages of text, which once again is illustrated on opposition pages. The article title really lets you know what to expect, though like a few of the write-ups in the book- it's rather highbrow/scholarly.
On page forty-one we have the third and final article in the book Cheating Death Though Abstractions by Kier- La Janisse. This runs at four and a half pages, with once again photo artwork/ images on opposite pages. The piece once again largely looks at Mckinlay and his influences- and I’d say this was the most readable/ grounded of the three articles in the book.
From here the book moves into the visual sphere- as we go from pictures of ballerinas tapped/ damaged feet, toe cleavage( which Mckinlay themed his 2017 seven-tape release of the same name around), and shark mouths.
Starting on page eight one, we get a seven-page look at Choreography To Cracked Linear Textured Sound- this was a performance piece featuring dancer Kelly Davis- wearing one black and one white glove and tight- setting various poses- with this selection finished off with more pages of pictures of sharks, female feet( sometimes damaged), and other influences.
Page ninety-nine starts a look at Choregraph II- which is seemingly another performance art piece for a dancer, taking with black and white stock- with more than a few of the images blurred/ in motion. This runs at around six pages- once again this section is finished off with a selection of pictures/ illustrations- some of these quite troubling- like a shark-bitten leg, and a split picture of a naked woman touching herself/ another woman with only one arm- the other clearly ripped off in the past by a shark.
On page one hundred and fifty five we get the last lot of pictures from a performance art piece- this is entitled Thematic Textured Study- Rapid Lines Of Aesthetics. This runs at six pages, and consists of pictures of a woman wearing net tights in bed- some are inversed/ some overly exposed. The remainder of the book takes in more pictures- going from more influences and people that influenced Mckinlay, as well as a few pictures of The Rita’s live performances/ Mckinlay himself.
For many years The Rita has had one foot( excuse the pun) in the harsh noise world and one foot in the art world, and Correlations largely sits in the latter- with its imagery and texts relating to this world- so take from that what you will/ decide if this will appeal to you. Though that said it’s wonderful to see some of the classic Rita images and art presented in such a classy format, and I can certainly see myself revisiting the book the next time I put on some of The Rita’s work.