Putrefaction: disintegration of biological material (e.g. proteins) through the operation of microbes, disintegration of corpses
(cadaver); the agents of putrefaction distinguish themselves partly through a (foul) distinctive smell: hydrogen sulphide, marcaptans, indole, skat-ole, phenol etc. Also appearing: methane, fatty acids, basic substances, usually poisonous, like neurine, putrescine, cadaverine and muscarine.
I chose to believe that several known (and lesser known artists) have turned the aesthetic destruction inwards by staging poetic suicides as a closure to a major body of work. Their lives would be read like straight lines, their works indicated as dots upon these lines which reach contextual perfection in death: the last masterpiece. The protagonist's life becomes a real life drama, his action, work and achievements are enacted as chapters in a novel or tracks on a concept album. The final act of self-annihilation would be his last sublime creation. I fantasise about earning my own pedestal in this private pantheon of beauty. – Martin Bladh
To Putrefaction by Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak
Hardbound
44 pages
Size 21x27cm
Edition limited to 50 copies
Martin Bladh
Martin Bladh is a Swedish-born artist of multiple mediums. His work lays bare themes of violence, obsession, fantasy, domination, submission and narcissism. Bladh is a founding member of the post-industrial band IRM, the musical avant-garde unit Skin Area and co-founder of the publishing company Infinity Land Press. His published work includes To Putrefaction, Qualis Artifex Pereo, DES, The Hurtin’ Club and Darkleaks - The Ripper Genome. He lives and works in London.
Karolina Urbaniak
Karolina Urbaniak is a visual artist, musician, designer, professional photographer and co-founder of Infinity Land Press. Her published work includes To Putrefaction, The Void Ratio and Altered Balance – A Tribute to Coil (a collaboration between Urbaniak and the award-winning poet and novelist Jeremy Reed). She also composed the soundtrack to the limited edition of Jeremy Reed’s and Martin Bladh’s book Darkleaks - The Ripper Genome. Urbaniak is currently collaborating with british writer Steve Finbow on the multimedia project Death-Mort-Tod - A European Reliquary, forthcoming on Infinity Land Press.