I am a DFH at heart, so I was ecstatic to fall over scans of both Domebook 2 and How to Build Your Own Living Structures on the new-to-me and awesome Public Collectors site. Thanks, Greg Allen.
Category Archives: art
Art in the Mail
Yet another good thing about the Internet – finding artists you’d never otherwise encounter, who sell beautiful work at irresistible prices.
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Update – Stephanie has an etsy site/storefront. Go and buy art! (Also added to blogroll.)
Staffordshire hoard
…has a Flickrstream (via Making Light) and, of course, a web site. If you’ve been under a rock or out of satellite range for a few weeks, a Saxon hoard was discovered in Staffordshire (Mercia) on July 5 by Terry Herbert (using a metal detector).
Let the crowdsourcing begin. A comment on the picture below:
You say these are stylised arms, are they not actually zoomorphs of Woden’s ravens? It is common to have back biting creatures and these two are clearly birds. The zoomorph of raven to hand could represent Woden reaching into the world of man through his birds.*
Other commenters are skeptical, but any reference to wolfbirds Hugin and Munin is a win in my book.
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Definite zoomorph on a hilt.
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For those whose thirst for Saxon objects is unslaked, the British Museum has Sutton Hoo info available on line.
One last personal bit. I can’t encounter British archeological artifacts without thinking of the year I spent in Wales as a child. We visited castles, Roman sites – you name it. My folks also got my sister and I a subscription to Treasure magazine. I loved the whole thing, but one of my favorite features was “The Wonderful Story of Britain” – Treasure also introduced me to The Borrowers, but that’s neither here nor there.
Art, animals and wunderkammer
A week or so ago, I heard through the grapevine that the Shark Girl had been free diving with a group of Spotted Dolphins when a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins swept in and sexually aggressed the hell out of the smaller Spotteds (I’m deliberately not using the word I heard when we were talking about it – rape). I was, initially, really disturbed by the story – Flipper? John Lilly’s buddies? Thanks for all the fish? Rapists? WTF? My emotional reaction remains, but intellectually the story made me reflect on anthropomorphism and how little of the interior lives of other animals we understand. I have little doubt that inter-species aggression is not a good thing for the victim and perceiving it as a good thing would be profoundly maladaptive – beyond that, I’m not sure what to think. It sure wouldn’t be the first time that interspecies sex was used to express dominance – that foo-foo dog humping your leg is not in love with your shoes – the message is something else entirely.
With all this percolating in my head, I came across the work of Isabel Samaras in Juxtapoz. Her latest exhibition is called “Into the Woodz”:
I guess the theme is “Woodland Fabulous”! When I started with the paintings of Goldilocks and Baby Bear I wanted to put in some nice solid visual clues so you’d know who they were without having to be told — there’s a bowl a porridge, some “Just Right” brand oats, and I gave Baby a big gold dookie rope necklace with a gold nameplate that said “BABY” on it.
I had been doing all these animal drawings in my sketchbook and had given some of them necklaces made from gold foil chocolate wrappers.
It suited him so well that I added a gold tooth with a diamond chip and a bling ring and Goldy got some huge gold doorknocker earrings. I started pulling out old records I had from the 80s – Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock, EPMD, Salt-n-Pepa, Derek B, Kool Moe Dee, Sweet Tee and RunDMC. Next thing I knew I was painting a porcupine with gold “love/hate” rings and a bunch of mockingbirds having a rap war sitting on a big boom box.
Mocking Box (The Rap Wars)
[I chose this one because I’ve heard of some urban mockingbirds greeting the dawn by imitating car alarms – life = art. Dr. H]
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The next piece was set deep among the trees and I just never left. I became one of the girls who didn’t come out of the woods! And I started to wonder ‘who else might be in there’? Forests are wonderfully mysterious places—if you go to an intensely old one with massive moss covered trees you really do half expect to see a party of dwarves marching along or odd things springing out at you. They’re magical places.
In this case the animals are a bit “urbanized”—they’ve come into contact with human culture and taken a few things back into the woods with them. *
Some wonderful grist for my “we see our reflection in everything” mill. I don’t think it was specifically her intent (that’s why art doesn’t come with an instruction sheet), but the image of a squirrel with a rope and a gold nut really makes concrete for me the way stories and myth make animals avatars of certain human characteristics – for dolphins, the intelligent and peaceful older brother. On a slight tangent, the painting on Isabel’s book calls another favorite artist to mind.
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For folks who want more, Ms. Samaras has a blog and – as noted – a book.
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When my Netvibes feed from Bibliodyssey popped up a new post with the title “A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities“, I couldn’t click over to Peacay’s place fast enough. In amongst the monitors and birds of paradise was this fellow:
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The birds look reasonable and I recognise the Flying Dragon, but I think Albertus Seba may have gotten a feejee mermaid style gaff as well – I’m not sure there are any Revelation lizards crawling/squirming/dragging around – but I could be wrong. That hasn’t stopped folks from rendering the Beast in Lego (h/t Tom B.).
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Let’s see… From delphine rape to the Whore of Babylon in Lego. Yep, that about covers it.
Egg and Nest
Down to Cambridge yesterday, to take in Rosamond Purcell’s Egg and Nest (pdf link) show at the HMNH, kick around a bit and attend Janet Browne’s lecture on ‘Darwin at 200’. Egg and Nest is stunning – incredible photographs beautifully hung. If you’re in the area – GO!
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After you’ve taken in the Purcell show, there’s all the rest of the HMNH to wander around in – the Sea Creatures in Glass will be on display until March 1 – time’s getting short.
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I took along some party favors for the post-lecture get together – a big thank you to Leighton Jones at Floating Point Digital Images for getting said favors to me as quickly as he did.
Purcell at HMNH
An FYI for folks in the northeast – this is going to be good.
Owl Eggs (c) Rosamond Purcell
The Harvard Museum of Natural History opens a new exhibition Egg & Nest: Photographs by Rosamond Purcell on February 12th, 2009. World-renowned photographer Rosamond Purcell’s photographs of exquisitely elegant eggs and remarkable nests present an artist’s view of natural history. Egg & Nest will be on display only through March 15th.
In her artist statement in the exhibition Purcell states, “Visually nothing could be more different than an egg and a nest. The first is always perfect, no matter what the outer variations in shape; an egg is endless, irreducible. A nest, on the other hand is an artifact assembled by beak and claw, often messy, but always adapted to the needs of the next generation of birds. ” *
(2/9) Promoted from comments – Denise lets us know that, ” There’s a slide show of a number of the book’s images at the Harvard University Press website: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/puregg/“. Also, Curious Expeditions posted a review of Egg and Nest at almost the same time as I put this post up – great minds and all that!
Another bit of brilliance
I discovered Anonymous Postcard via a tweet from @MarsPhoenix. What does AP do? From the FAQ:
Anyone who wants to express feedback to any third party submits a claim. Claims can take the form of praise, suggestions or criticism. We process the most compelling claims by turning them into postcards and then figure out the best person to send them to. We post images of what we sent along with the original claim in the gallery.
What does it look like in practice?
To: His Excellency Mr Robert Mugabe, Harare
Claim:
Congratulations on ending the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe! Let’s toast the occasion together with a glass of local tap water!
(By the way, we’re glad to see the new house has been completed.)
Resulting postcard:
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To: The City of London
Claim:
I counted 36 cranes on your skyline on October 17, 2008. That’s too many.
Result:
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Three completely unrelated links
First – an excellent post – Hunting and Fishing Like Adults – over at Patrick’s place. Coincidentally, I recently watched the No Reservations ep where Frances Mallman talks about patience – an underrated virtue in today’s world.
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Second – S. Clay Wilson bashed his head (badly), got pneumonia and spent a bunch of time in ICU in November (via BB). He’s out now and there are some benefit concerts coming up for those on the west coast. If you don’t know his work already, Wilson is one of the greats of underground comix – his stuff is not for everyone – the amount of sex and violence is way high, but he’s a favorite of mine.
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Third – this map:
has been getting a lot of notice on the web (here, here and here). I find myself firmly in the pointing and laughing camp – New Hampshire and South Carolina? That’s beyond “he’s smoking something” and well into industrial strength CIA hallucinogen testing protocols. Georgia goes to Mexico? *shakes head*
Three links
From E, a link to Bungalow in a Box – nice little cottages suitable for a variety of things. I’m thinking on a ridge overlooking salt marsh up in Pembroke (ME).
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Via Bruce Sterling, some marvelous haecking.
Rhinoceros was used to create 3D interpretations of the sketches of Ernst Haeckel, a prominent German biologist, naturalist, and philosopher. The articulation of micro-surfaces related to the biological function of the organism was of particular importance in my work.
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My favorite part about the piece is that a viewers understanding changes dramatically based on distance. From 10′ away, ones perceptual resolution is relatively low, thus the object appears as a chaotic mass. From 5′ away, directional variations and a density patterns emerge. From 2′ away, one can identify continuous lines tracing through the geometry and order becomes increasingly apparent.
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Finally (and saving best for last), this post on BB clued me to a new book by Klea McKenna.
The late psychedelic pioneer and ethnobotanist Terence McKenna was also an avid naturalist. His favorite specimens were his butterflies, more than two thousand of them netted in Indonesia and Columbia while McKenna was running from the law after a hashish bust forty years ago. Now, McKenna’s daughter Klea has photographed the collection and created an interactive gallery and limited edition artist book with the material.
More info about the book here – it looks fascinating. From McKenna’s web site:
Unboxing
It came today.
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Nice card!
Got a Match?
Something a little different – a match on two categories of technology for reasons that are pretty abstract. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the shotgun and the bicycle. Bear with me – I think a case can be made.
Near-platonic simplicity. Lightness is important for both – more so, perhaps for the bicycle, which could weigh nothing and not effect performance – for the shotgun, some weight damps recoil. The general unwillingness of folks to carry/pedal around extra ounces leads to a paring away that leaves just enough gun/bike to get the job done. On a good bike or shotgun, everything there is necessary; all parts contribute and integrate.
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Fit. Shotguns are not so much aimed as they are pointed. When you put the gun to your shoulder, you want it to be in the same place every time and you want your head positioned so that you are looking down the length of the barrels consistently. If the gun is oriented slightly differently every time you mount it (stop giggling – that’s the right phrase), it doesn’t matter how well you swing through – you’ll miss more often than I do (in other words, lots). If you are looking to minimize wasted energy, fit is important on a bicycle. You can pedal a bike in a lot of different positions, but if the idea is to translate your effort into forward progress, you’ve got to pay attention to the saddle/pedal relationship. I can’t think of two other things (and I’m including clothing) that benefit more from a good body-object match.
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Decorative elements. Somewhat in tension with point 1, but within the tight constraints of weight and function – and often augmenting the effort on both in an artistic way – is the human urge to decorate and add meaning thereby. Color case hardening (shotgun), pantographing (bicycle), engraving (shotgun), lugwork (bicycle), choice of wood (shotgun), drilling out (bicycle) – all, when done well, enhance the object. On a personal note, I’m nuts for color case work. My ideal would be a sidelock with a tiny amount of engraving around the edges of the sideplate and any screws and the rest bare save for an oil slick of case hardening (and gold-washed inside, where no one can see, but where it will help prevent corrosion).
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Made by people. At the high end (where the similarities are most apparent), there are craftspeople involved – brazing, filing, carving, drilling. It shows, again, both in form and function.
I’ve had this little set of arguments (“bike and shotgun, why do I like thee so much? let me count the ways.”) floating around in my head for years. It’s getting attention now because of a recent post on Knucklebuster. Seems there was an American motorcycle manufacturer named Merkel.
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Way back when, bicycle and motorcycle (and aircraft) technology bled into each other pretty seamlessly. Shotgun lovers will also recognize the name – not the same company, but there is a famous German shotgun maker also named Merkel.
So – here’s thought 1. Since old motorcycles shared a lot of elements in common with bicycles – what would be cooler than a board track-ish moped? Small motor in that U-shaped down tube, pedals well positioned, brass tank with ‘Flying Merkel’ lettered in green paint and gold leaf. Design student – we need to talk.
Thought 2 – perfect pairing with the slightly greater complexity of the Flying Merkel moped? A Merkel 96k drilling (that’s a side-by-side shotgun with a rifle barrel tucked underneath, usually) in 12ga x 12ga x .30/06. Dinah running along side, the little teckel that I hope to get this spring tucked in a saddlebag or in my coat – jaeger, jaeger, über alles.
The San Bartolo murals
Back in 2001, William Saturno found the San Bartolo murals.
When archaeologist William Saturno went to Guatemala six years ago, nothing worked out the way he planned. None of the local guides could take him to see the carved monuments he wanted to research, leaving him with nothing to do.
“Not being particularly good at sitting around and twiddling my thumbs,” Saturno says, he decided to investigate a rumor that three hieroglyphic Maya monuments had been uncovered by looters in the jungle nearby.
According to the map, Saturno and his guides could reach the monument site by driving forty kilometers and then trekking on foot through the jungle. At the beginning of the road that would take them to the site, however, Saturno’s team encountered a sign that read “Camino en mal estado.” The sign itself was falling apart, Saturno says. “That should have been an indication of what we were in for.”
After an arduous, twenty-two-hour journey, the group finally arrived at the San Bartolo site, which wasn’t the one they were looking for. Exhausted and dehydrated, Saturno ducked into a looter’s trench to escape the oppressive heat. “I shone my flashlight up on the wall,” he says, “and there was the mural.” *
I’ve heard him describe the trip and apparently “exhausted and dehydrated” is an understatement.
One of the Peabody Museum’s current exhibits is “Storied Walls: Murals of the Americas“; two walls of one room are devoted to the San Bartolo murals. There are some photos of the murals, but what held my interest were the 2 digital scan+watercolor recreations by Heather Hurst. Absolutely amazing – religious sequential art.
I’m going to post a couple thumbnails here, but no slide show. If you’de like to see more, please click through to my Flickrset – I’ve annotated some of the picture and all of them ought to be seen BIG.
Bloodletting was an important ritual practice. Stingray spines were used: women – tongues, men – foreskins (at least that’s what the plaque said – looks a little far back to me).
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NPR’s Talk of the Nation on San Bartolo here. I have a video tour of the site stashed somehere – if I find it, I’ll post a link.
Update – Video here. You may have to download and play it locally – it played fine for me under Windows using VLC.