Seeing Cate Blanchett enact the redback spider’s deadly mating ritual has always been on our wish list—and now the artist Del Kathryn Barton has delivered with her new film, Red, which is startling visitors at the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide (until 30 April). In a bid to depict the spider’s frenzied sexual climax, Blanchett cuts her clothes apart to reveal a webbed body suit. But even Barton was taken aback by the Oscar-winning actress’s passion for the part. Barton told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Her energy exploded off the monitor. We were all blown away. At that point, I knew that the stakes on Red had just gone to another level. I was actually shitting myself just a little bit.”
