Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 3:43 p.m.

Popped into the Sainsbury Wing of National Gallery this noon to have a look at the Titian: Metamorphosis exhibition (finally!). Before going I had no prior knowledge of what it's about except knowing that Mark Wallinger had an installation inspired by a Titian painting. The exhibition was alright but it was more like a recollection of the actual main dish i.e. the three ballets created by Royal Ballet House based on a poem called Metamorphoses by Ovid (and which inspired Titian's paintings which National Gallery had recently acquired), commissioned by National Gallery. At the central space were the three Titian paintings inspired by the Ovid poem on the story of Diana and Actaeon (a hunter which happened to see Diana bathing and punished by being turned into a stag, chased and killed by his own hounds), which Titian painted for the pleasure of men in the Spanish palace (for them to appreciate female nudes). The surrounding rooms featured stage sets, costumes and artworks by the three artists who designed the stages for the three ballets. The costumes in the gallery didn't look remarkable at all, not more than a few basic pieces of cloth printed with some patterns, but they looked fine when worn by ballet dancers on stage. The Wallinger installation was alright but I couldn't see much except the lady's toes as I wasn't tall enough to peep though the holes. There was also a smaller version of that 'mechanical Diana' used in Machina, one of the ballets. It's a robotic arm with three legs, at the end of the arm was a bright light. There was something human about its movement when it pointed down, looking as if it's pondering over something. Quite a number of people just stood to watch it as if it's some rare animal in a cage. This minimal set by Conrad Shawcross with only one giant robotic arm and nothing else on stage was the most intriguing piece in my opinion, and what a bold interpretation of Diana.

Review of the ballet