This weekend’s news that Tilda Swinton was sleeping in a glass box at MoMA wasn’t exactly met with mouth-agape befuddlement. Even those oblivious to the fact that she’s done the piece before in London and Rome weren’t particularly surprised. It’s just the type of out-there yet chic thing Tilda Swinton would do. She’s always been like a stunning alien who really understands the aesthetics of this planet (and has an AOL e-mail address). She has the type of eccentricity you want to take a long bath in. So we assembled a bunch of videos that allow you to do exactly that. Fill up the tub; Swinton will provide the arty bubbles.
1. In 2003, Swinton worked with fashion designers Viktor & Rolf on the “One Woman Show,†which was a runway show where all of the models were made to look like Swinton and Swinton read a poem. You know, like a normal runway show.
2. Swinton performed spoken-word pieces as “The Voice of Hope†on Patrick Wolf’s 2009 album The Bachelor. She described the project like this: “My feeling is that we all but certainly come from the same planet: kith and kin. His music sounds like the great unexpressed soundtrack of a great film I want to see — and try to catch every night before I go to sleep. It’s a lovely thing to be part of that magical landscape.â€
3. If we were to thank George Clooney while accepting an Oscar, we probably wouldn’t do it in this manner. But, you know, that’s what makes Tilda Tilda.
4. In 2009, Swinton mounted a very large portable cinema on a truck and drove it around the Scottish Highlands as a traveling independent film festival. The project was featured in the documentary called Cinema Is Everywhere. She did it again in 2011 just for fun.
5. It’s not uncommon for a movie star to create her own perfume. It’s rare for them to base it on a poem by a twelfth-century Sufi poet.
6. This is what a Tilda Swinton advertisement for a clothing company looks like. It’s not exactly “Sarah Jessica Parker for Gap.â€
7. Roger Ebert has an annual film festival called Ebertfest, at which he gives out Golden Thumbs. Swinton … really appreciates hers.
8. This is how Tilda Swinton handles the paparazzi.
9. Also, there’s this: