The Woman Who Fell to Earth: Tilda Swinton
Tim Walker for W Art
If there was any possibility of aliens walking among us, Tilda Swinton would be in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Alien, or Miss Universe, if the contest actually included the whole universe. Swinton is a strange creature, and we like her that way–her androgynous looks, her life in Scotland, away from all the Hollywood riff-raff, surrounded by hens and dogs, her movie role choices which are always the “weird characters” and who, of course, no one else could possibly play. In a recent interview Swinton revealed the most difficult character she’s had to play, and despite playing angels and witches, her answer was “a corporate lawyer” in Michael Clayton, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Beyond her movie roles, which can automatically put a movie in a “need to watch” list, Swinton is known for her impeccable style. Often seen in menswear-inspired looks, her bleached-blonde hair almost matches her skin color sometimes, she often seems like a vision.
Tim Walker for W Art
For their Art Supplement issue, on newsstands now, W magazine reunited the actress with photographer Tim Walker, their third collaboration for the magazine, for a surrealist story shot inside the Menil collection museum in Houston. In a very “Swinton” twist, she is not merely posing next to work of arts in fancy gowns, but she becomes the art itself, in an avant-garde outfits that resembles ceramic, or with a face painted to look like Magritte clouds. Indulging in such productions is nothing new for Swinton, as she often participates in performance art pieces, like when she slept in a crystal box at the Museum of Modern Art last year or this year, where she invited guests at a gallery in Paris to give her their coat, which she then interacted with–tucking a note in a pocket, perhaps–before returning them at the end of the evening. If there ever was a woman who can unwittingly become a performance artist, she would be it. But then again, if she’s really not of this world, then her greatest performance is simply being Tilda Swinton.
