[<<] January 2006 Jahsonic (04) [>>]
2006, Jan 16; 10:07 ::: Le Sacre du printemps (1913) - Igor Stravinsky
Roerich's 1913 set design for Part I: Adoration of the Earth.
Le Sacre du printemps (English: The Rite of Spring) is a ballet with music by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. While the Russian title literally means Spring the Sacred, the English title is based on the French title under which the work was premiered, although sacre is more precisely translated as consecration. It has the subtitle "Pictures from Pagan Russia."
At its premiere on May 29, 1913 in Paris, there were loud arguments in the audience between supporters and opponents of the work. This eventually degenerated into a near-riot. Vaslav Nijinsky's choreography was a radical departure from classical ballet. Different from the long and graceful lines of traditional ballet, arms and legs were sharply bent. The dancers danced more from their pelvis than their feet, a style that later influenced Martha Graham. Although the music and dance were considered barbaric and sexual and are also often noted as being the primary factors for the cause of the riot, many political and social tensions surrounding the premiere were contributing factors as well. Stravinsky himself was so upset due to its reception that he fled the theater in mid-scene. The work is now a standard of dance troupes around the world and has been choreographed by Pina Bausch and Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
Most people will have met the Rite of Spring through Walt Disney's Fantasia, a 1940 animated movie in which imaginative visual images and stories are added to classical music. In 1961, Stravinsky wrote that he received $1,200 (his share of a total $5,000) for the use of his music in the film, explaining that since his music was not copyrighted for use in the USA it could be used regardless of whether he granted permission or not, but that Disney wished to show the film in other countries. In order for the music to follow the animated story concerned, various sections and episodes were presented in a different order from that in which Stravinsky's original score has them. Stravinsky described the performance as "execrable" and thought the segment as a whole "involved a dangerous misunderstanding".
The Rite of Spring is the fourth piece to be played in the film, illustrated by "a pageant, as the story of the growth of life on Earth" according to the narrator. The sequence shows the beginning of simple life forms, evolution up to the dinosaurs, and their eventual destruction. The movie was not considered successful at the time, but has since been hailed as an ambitious and talented use of animation for 'serious' art.
Many subsequent film composers have been influenced by The Rite of Spring and sometimes make indirect references to it; for example, John Williams's theme for the Dune Sea of Tatooine in the original Star Wars soundtrack begins with a permutation of the introduction to Part II of the Rite of Spring.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring [Jan 2006]
See also: succès de scandale - dance - music - Igor Stravinsky - ballet - classical music - 1913
2006, Jan 16; 10:07 ::: Intonarumori (1913) - Luigi Russolo
Intonarumori (1913) - Luigi Russolo
L'Intonarumori fu una famiglia di strumenti musicali inventati nel 1913 da Luigi Russolo. Essi erano formati da generatori di suoni acustici che permettevano di controllare la dinamica, il volume, la lunghezza d’onda di diversi tipi di suono.
Intonarumori dal vivo
La prima apparizione pubblica degli intonarumori fu nel 1913 al Teatro Storchi a Modena dove Russolo presentò un “esplodente”. Nel 1914 fece molti concerti a Milano (Teatro Dal Verme), Genova (Politeama) e Londra (Coliseum). Nel 1921, finita la Prima Guerra Mondiale, presentò tre concerti a Parigi (Théatre des Champs-Elysées) e, nel 1922, collaborò con Filippo Tommaso Marinetti componendo sottofondi musicali creati con intonarumori per ‘’il tamburo di fuoco’’.Apprezzamenti importanti
Il lavoro di Russolo venne preso in seria considerazione da autori come Honegger, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Milhaud, De Falla, Casella, Edgar Varèse (che presentò l’ultima esibizione pubblica di Russolo nel 1929 durante l’inaugurazione di un’esibizione futurista a Parigi), Kahan, Diaghilev, Claudel e Mondrian che scrisse un articolo sugli Intonarumori per De Stijl. --http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intonarumori [Jan 2006]See also: Luigi Russolo - noise music - sound art - futurism - 1913
2006, Jan 16; 10:07 ::: Aurora boreale (1938) - Luigi Russolo
Aurora boreale (1938) - Luigi Russolo
Image sourced here.See also: Luigi Russolo - futurism - 1938
2006, Jan 16; 10:07 ::: KultursajtSwedish comment on Jahsonic
Jahsonic Seriekrock
Jahsonic är en 5500 sidor stor kultursajt. Det blandas friskt mellan högt och lågt. Mellan fint och skräp. Jan Geerinck (som skapat Jahsonic) har arbetat hårt för att kunna erbjuda detta sammelsurium av inspiration, lärande och intellektuell stimulans. Målsättningen är att man ska ge sig i kast med sajten utan av veta var man hamnar, att hittade det oväntade runtom hörnet på det man egentligen sökte. Fina ord, så kolla själv. Oavsett om du vill veta mer om Paul Valéry eller Hugh Hefner. www.jahsonic.com --via http://www.shine.se/showpage.asp?pageName=etc [Jan 2006]
2006, Jan 16; 09:07 ::: This Is Big Audio Dynamite (1985) - Big Audio Dynamite
This Is Big Audio Dynamite (1985) - Big Audio Dynamite [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Big Audio Dynamite was the primary musical outlet of Mick Jones, formerly of punk pioneers The Clash.
Big Audio Dynamite (BAD, for short) was founded in 1984 with film director Don Letts (The Punk Rock Movie, various Clash videos, and later the Clash documentary Westway to the World).
The first BAD album, This Is Big Audio Dynamite, was released a year later. The single "E=MC2" was in heavy rotation in dance clubs at the time. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Audio_Dynamite [Jan 2006]
See also: New Wave - The Clash - UK music - pop music - 1985 - Don Letts
2006, Jan 16; 09:07 ::: Never for Ever (1980) - Kate Bush
Never for Ever (1980) - Kate Bush [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The first sampler I ever heard was on a 1980 record. The track Army Dreamers, from the Kate Bush album Never For Ever. Although my ears told me that I was hearing a cello there was no mention of a cellist, just a credit to one Geoff Downes on 'Fairlight'. Whatever this mysterious device was, I wanted one! --Paul Wiffen, 1991The appearance of the Fairlight CMI in 1979, the first well-known digital instrument capable of sampling, started a revolution. The Fairlight was used on scores of popular recordings by artists such as Peter Gabriel and Art of Noise.
Never for Ever saw Bush's second foray into production (her first was for the Live on Stage EP earlier in the year), aided by the engineer of her first two albums, Jon Kelly. Andrew Powell's production of the first two albums had resulted in a definite sound which was evident in every track, with lush orchestral arrangements supporting the live band sound. The range of styles on Never for Ever is much more diverse, veering from the straightforward rocker, "The Wedding List", to the sad, wistful waltz of hit single, "Army Dreamers". Never for Ever was the first Kate Bush album to be composed on synthesizers and drum machines (in particular, the Fairlight CMI), her earlier albums being composed on the piano.
Never for Ever proved to be Bush's first record to reach the top position in the UK album charts, also making her the first female Briton to ever achieve that status.
Bush's literary and cinematic influences were at work once more. "The Infant Kiss" was inspired by the 1961 film The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr and Michael Redgrave, which in turn had been inspired by The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, while "The Wedding List" drew from François Truffaut's 1968 film La Mariée était En Noir. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush#Never_For_Ever_.281980.29 [Jan 2006]
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI (computer musical instrument) was the first digital sampling synthesiser. It was designed by Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie in Sydney, Australia in the late 1970s, and rose to prominence in the early 1980s.The first buyers of the new system were Peter Gabriel, Todd Rundgren, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and Stevie Wonder, and one of the first commercially released song to use it was Jean-Michel Jarre's 1981 LP Magnetic Fields, Concerts in China (1982) and Zoolook (1984). It was also used in The Buggles last album, Adventures in Modern Recording (1982) and Gabriel's Shock the Monkey in September 1982. It also found use on Kate Bush's Never for Ever, which was released in 1980. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairlight_CMI [Jan 2006]
See also: pop music - 1980 - 1980-1990 sampling
2006, Jan 16; 09:07 ::: David Toop presents: Haunted Weather (2004) - Various Artists
David Toop presents: Haunted Weather (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Disc: 1
1. Jukebox Capriccio - Christian Marclay 2. L.A.S.I.K. - Matmos 3. Resistance to Change, Pts. 2-3 - Terre Thaemlitz 4. Missing Voice [Excerpt] 5. Flight Path Trace - Peter Cusack 6. J'Adore la Bouche #1/Berlin 1936 - Yuko Nexus6 7. Three Active Serves - Sarah Peebles 8. Start Up + No Wave - Haco 9. Filament 2-5 - Sachiko M, , Otomo Yoshihide 10. Sferics - Alvin Lucier See all 17 tracks on this discDisc: 2
1. Parhelic Triangle - Autechre 2. Caecilia - Christian Fennesz 3. C7:: Continuum - Ryoji Ikeda 4. Reflecters - Derek Bailey, John Stevens 5. Analapos [#] - Akio Suzuki 6. Vatnajökull - Chris Watson 7. Maa - Pan Sonic 8. Swan Style - John Butcher 9. Clean Tone Falling - Kaffe Matthews 10. Bottle at Park - Toshiya Tsunoda
Haunted Weather : Music, Silence, and Memory (2004) - David Toop [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Is it possible to grow electronic sounds, as if they were plants in a garden? Why are childhood memories of sound and silence so important to our emotional development? Is it valid to classify audio recordings of wind or electrical hum as musical compositions? Why have the sounds of our environment become so important to sound artists and why is atmosphere so important in music? In Haunted Weather, David Toop asks these questions and gauges the impact of new technology on contemporary music's sound.
David Toop is a highly regarded author, music critic and musician. Since 1995, he has released three solo albums, curated five compilation albums (including the soundtrack to Ocean of Sound). His books include Rap Attack 3, Ocean of Sound and Exotica.
See also: David Toop - silence - music - 2004 - sound art - contemporary music
2006, Jan 15; 19:07 ::: Into Battle With the Art of Noise (1983) - Art of Noise
Into Battle With the Art of Noise (1983) - Art of Noise [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The Art of Noise was a pop group formed in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, music journalist Paul Morley, and session musicians/studio hands Anne Dudley, J.J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan. The group's mostly instrumental compositions were novel and often clever melodic sound collages based on digital sampler technology, which was new at the time. Inspired by turn-of-the-century revolutions in music, the Art of Noise was initially packaged as a faceless anti- or non-group, blurring the distinction between the art and its creators. The band is noted for their innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music and particularly for innovative use of sampling. The name of the group alludes to an essay by noted futurist Luigi Russolo. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Noise [Jan 2006]
See also: sampling - art - noise - futurism - Luigi Russolo - 1983 - sound art
2006, Jan 15; 19:07 ::: Homo ludens;: A study of the play-element in culture (1938) - Johan Huizinga
Homo ludens;: A study of the play-element in culture (1938) - Johan Huizinga [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Homo Ludens, or "Man as Player," was a book written in 1938 by Dutch Historian and Professor Johan Huizinga. It discusses the importance of the play-element in culture and society.
Now in myth and ritual the great instinctive forces of civilized life have their origin: law and order, commerce and profit, craft and art, poetry, wisdom and science. All are rooted in the primaeval soil of play.Play Theory
Term used by play theorist Johan Huizinga in Homo Ludens to define the conceptual space in which play occurs. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Ludens [Jan 2006]See also: Netherlands - behaviour - play - 1938
2006, Jan 15; 19:07 ::: Music video
Video Killed the Radio Star (1979) - Buggles
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by the Buggles, which was later made into a music video. It is noteworthy because it was the first video shown on MTV, when the channel debuted on August 1, 1981 (at 12:01 AM). Because there were few videos to choose from, this one seemed the logical choice for the fledgling network.
Written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley, the song reached number one in the UK charts in 1979. It appears on the album The Age of Plastic.
The song was covered by the Presidents of the United States of America in 1998. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Killed_the_Radio_Star [Oct 2004]
See also: 1979 - UK music - music video - 1980s
2006, Jan 15; 11:07 ::: Caribbean musicThe music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences. Some of the styles to gain wide popularity outside of the Caribbean include reggae, zouk, salsa and calypso. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_music [Jan 2006]
See also: music genre - Caribbean music - black music - Yoruba - Jamaica
I'd cite The Beatles (or more precisely producer George Martin) with the greatest single edit of all time. This is when John Lennon wanted to use the first section of one recording of 'Strawberry Fields Forever', but take the rest of the track from a completely different and more progressive version. His comment to George Martin, when he pointed out the difficulties of pitch and tempo, was 'you can fix it'. The fixed version is the definitive one that we all know, two recordings perfectly merged together by one decisive splice. --Greg Wilson via liner notes to Credit to the edit, vol. one (2005) - Greg Wilson [Amazon.com]
2006, Jan 15; 11:07 ::: Audio-editing and 'Strawberry Fields Forever'See also: Beatles - edit - Greg Wilson
2006, Jan 15; 11:07 ::: Festival de Cine de SitgesThe Festival de Cine de Sitges (also known as Festival Internacional de Cinema de Cataluña) is one of the most recognizable film festivals held in Europe and considered the world's best festival specializing in science fiction film [and fantastic film]. Founded in 1967, the festival normally takes place every year in early October in the Spanish coastal villa of Sitges, located about 40 kilometers (24.9 miles) south of Barcelona.
Among the most relevant attendees of recent Festival de Sitges are Anthony Hopkins, Quentin Tarantino, Dino De Laurentiis, Ralph Fiennes, David Lynch, Sam Raimi, Terry Gilliam, Vin Diesel, Tobe Hooper, Tony Curtis, David Cronenberg, Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Peter Greenaway, Guillermo del Toro, Martin Sheen, Stan Winston, Rob Cohen, Ray Harryhausen, Takashi Miike, Douglas Trumbull, Fay Wray, Jeroen Krabbe, Tadanobu Asano, Dario Argento, Rob Bowman, Guy Maddin, Ben Gazzara, Eli Roth, and Hideo Nakata .
Some of the most notable films shown at Sitges include:
2003 Kill Bill Zatoichi 2002 Red Dragon Spider The Bourne Identity Spirited Away Vidocq 2001 Mulholland Drive Ghosts of Mars 1999 Ringu 1993 Europa 1991 Wild at Heart The Fisher King 1989 Dead Ringers 1988 Abyss Flatliners 1987 Hellraiser The Company of Wolves 1986 The Fly Blue Velvet Aliens 1985 Navigator Willow 1984 Akira 1979 The Brood 1978 Rabid--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_de_Cine_de_Sitges [Jan 2006]See also: film festival - Spain - European cinema - science fiction film - fantastic film
2006, Jan 14; 11:07 ::: Prince of Bohemia (1840) - Honoré de Balzac-- Mon cher ami, dit madame de la Baudraye en tirant un manuscrit de dessous l'oreiller de sa causeuse, me pardonnerez-vous, dans la détresse où nous sommes, d'avoir fait une nouvelle de ce que vous nous avez dit, il y a quelques jours.
-- Tout est de bonne prise dans le temps où nous sommes ; n'avez-vous pas vu des auteurs qui, faute d'inventions, servent leurs propres coeurs et souvent celui de leurs maîtresses au public ! On en viendra, ma chère, à chercher des aventures moins pour le plaisir d'en être les héros, que pour les raconter. --http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Un_prince_de_la_Boh%C3%A8me [Jan 2006]
"My dear friend," said Mme. de la Baudraye, drawing a pile of manuscript from beneath her sofa cushion, "will you pardon me in our present straits for making a short story of something which you told me a few weeks ago?"
"Anything is fair in these times. Have you not seen writers serving up their own hearts to the public, or very often their mistress' hearts when invention fails? We are coming to this, dear; we shall go in quest of adventures, not so much for the pleasure of them as for the sake of having the story to tell afterwards." -- Honoré de Balzac, 1840 via http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/french-authors/19th-century/honore-de-balzac/a-prince-of-bohemia/ [Jan 2006]
See also: Bohemia - Honoré de Balzac - 1840s
2006, Jan 14; 11:07 ::: La Vie de BohèmeLa Vie de Bohème is an often-adapted story first appearing in Henri Murger's magazine articles in the early 1800s. These were turned into a play, La Vie de Bohème, in 1849, and later were compiled into the book Scènes de la Vie de Bohème (Paris, 1851). It has also been made into several operatic versions, the most famous of which was composed by Giacomo Puccini.
The story includes a group of friends in the Bohemian artistic subculture of France (see Bohemianism). As the group is poor, and some of its female members work as courtesans, challenging personal situations arise when one of the characters, who suffers from tuberculosis, must balance survival against romantic love.
In the late 20th century, the musical Rent was based on La Bohème, with AIDS substituted for tuberculosis. A movie, Moulin Rouge!, was also loosely based on this plot; it was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who had previously directed a wildly successful Australian production of Puccini's opera version which opened on Broadway in 2002. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Vie_de_Boh%C3%A8me [Jan 2006]
See also: Bohemia - 1830s - 1840s - art - subuculture
2006, Jan 14; 10:07 ::: The Club des HashischinsThe Club des Hashischins (sometimes also spelled Club des Hashishins or Club des Hachichin), was a Parisian society dedicated to the exploration of drug-induced experiences, notably with hashish.
It was active from about 1844 to 1849 and counted the literary and intellectual elite of Paris among its members, including Dr. Jacques-Joseph Moreau, Théophile Gautier, Charles Baudelaire, Gérard de Nerval, Eugène Delacroix and Alexandre Dumas.
Gautier wrote about the club in an article entitled "Le Club des Hachichin" published in the Revue des Deux Mondes in February 1846, recounting his recent visit. While he is often cited as the founder of the club, in the article his says he was attending their monthly "séances" for the first time that evening and made clear that others were sharing a familiar experience with him. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_des_Hashischins [Jan 2006]
2006, Jan 13; 18:07 ::: Guitar Solos (1993) - Fred Frith
Guitar Solos (1993) - Fred Frith [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Fred Frith (born February 17, 1949) is an English musician and composer. He is brother of Chris Frith, a psychologist working at University College London.
He primarily performs on guitar, producing an innovative series of experimental Guitar Solos albums during the 1970s. He also plays bass guitar, violin and xylophone. He was a founder member of British avant-garde progressive rock bands Henry Cow and Art Bears. While living in New York City he formed two improvising groups in the early 1980s, Massacre and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, Lars Hollmer, The Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Derek Bailey, Rova and others. Frith has also made two records with experimental group French Frith Kaiser Thompson (consisting of John French, Frith, Henry Kaiser, and Richard Thompson).
He is a professor of the Music Department at Mills College, Oakland, California. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Frith [Jan 2006]
See also: experimental music - USA - Robert Wyatt - Bill Laswell
2006, Jan 13; 18:07 ::: The Sociology of Rock (1978) - Simon Frith
The Sociology of Rock (1978) - Simon Frith [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In The Sociology of Rock (1978) Frith examines the consumption, production, and ideology of rock. He explores rock as leisure, as youth culture, as a force for liberation or oppression, and as background music. He argues that rock music is a mass cultural form which derives its meaning and relevance from being a mass medium. He discusses the differences in perception and use of rock between the music industry and music consumers, as well as differences within those groups: "The industry may or may not keep control of rock's use, but it will not be able to determine all its meanings - the problems of capitalist community and leisure are not so easily resolved." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Frith [Jan 2006]
See also: rock - sociology - Simon Frith
2006, Jan 13; 11:07 ::: Carlo Mollino
Carlo Mollino: Architecture as Autobiography, Revised and Expanded Edition (2006) - Giovanni Brino [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Synopsis
Carlo Mollino (1905 - 1973) has been called many things: designer, architect, sex and drug-obsessed genius, connoisseur of extreme decoration - but he has never been called untalented. This monograph covers all facets of Mollino's career as a leading exponent of Italian postwar design: furniture, clothing, interiors and racing cars, as well as a sampling of the erotic images for which he is increasingly renowned. He also worked as a designer of fashion, theatre and film sets, and all of these endeavours are presented in this wonderfully comprehensive volume. --from the publisherSee also: architecture - biomorphism - Carlo Mollino - Italian design
2006, Jan 13; 11:07 ::: Dalila chair (1980) - Gaetano Pesce
Dalila chair (1980) - Gaetano Pesce
Image sourced here.Gaetano Pesce (b.1939) is an Italian architect and designer. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano Pesce [Jan 2006]
See also: biomorphism - Gaetano Pesce - 1980 - Italian design
2006, Jan 13; 10:07 ::: Hermann Finsterlin
Architectural drawing (end 1910s, early 1920s) - Hermann Finsterlin
Image sourced here.Hermann Finsterlin (born August 18 1887 in München, died September 16 1973 in Stuttgart) was a visionary architect, painter, poet, essayist, toymaker and composer. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Finsterlin [Jan 2006]
Organic architecture
Organic architecture is a branch of architecture which promotes harmony between man and nature through design so well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition. Architects Gustav Stickley, Antoni Gaudi, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Bruce Goff, and most recently Anton Alberts are all famous for their work with organic architecture.A quintessential example of organic architecture is Fallingwater, the home Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the Kaufmanns. It was built on a site that would challenge any architect and which obviously inspired Wright, a steep and rocky hillside over a waterfall. Combining native rock construction with daring cantilevers colored beige to blend with the environment, the structure cannot be imagined on any other site. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_architecture [Jan 2006]
Expressionist architecture
In architecture, two specific buildings are identified as expressionist: Bruno Taut's Glass Pavilion at the Cologne Werkbund Exhibition (1914), and Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany completed in 1921. Hans Poelzig's Berlin theatre interior for Max Reinhardt is also sometimes cited. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism#In_other_media [Jan 2006]Biomorphism
Biomorphism was an art movement of the 20th century. The term was first used by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. in 1936. Biomorphist artists focused on the power of natural life and used organic shapes, with hints of the shapeless and vaguely spherical forms of biology. It has connections with Surrealism. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomorphism [Jan 2006]See also: biomorphism - architecture - Germany - 1910s - 1920s
2006, Jan 12; 23:07 ::: The Dragon Slaying the Companions of Cadmus (1588) - Hendrick Goltzius
The Dragon Slaying the Companions of Cadmus (1588) - Hendrick Goltzius
Image sourced here.Hendrik Goltzius (1558 - January 1, 1617), Dutch painter and engraver, was born at Millebrecht, in the duchy of Julich.
After studying painting on glass for some years under his father, he was taught the use of the burin by Dirk Volkertszoon Coornhert, a Dutch engraver of mediocre attainment, whom he soon surpassed, but who retained his services for his own advantage. He was also employed by Philip Galle to engrave a set of prints of the history of Lucretia.
At the age of twenty-one he married a widow somewhat advanced in years, whose money enabled him to establish at Haarlem an independent business; but his unpleasant relations with her so affected his health that he found it advisable in 1590 to make a tour through Germany to Italy, where he acquired an intense admiration for the works of Michelangelo, which led him to surpass that master in the grotesqueness and extravagance of his designs. He returned to Haarlem considerably improved in health, and laboured there at his art till his death.
Goltzius ought not to be judged chiefly by the works he valued most, his eccentric imitations of Michelangelo. His portraits, though mostly miniatures, are master-pieces of their kind, both on account of their exquisite finish, and as fine studies of individual character. Of his larger heads, the life-size portrait of himself is probably the most striking example. His master-pieces, so called from their being attempts to imitate the style of the old masters, have perhaps been overpraised.
In his command of the burin Goltzius is not surpassed even by Dürer; but his technical skill is often unequally aided by higher artistic qualities. Even, however, his eccentricities and extravagances are greatly counterbalanced by the beauty and freedom of his execution. He began painting at the age of forty-two, but none of his works in this branch of art--some of which are in the imperial collection at Vienna--display any special excellences. He also executed a few pieces in chiaroscuro.
His prints amount to more than 300 plates, and are fully described in Bartsch's Peintre-graveur, and Weigel's supplement to the same work. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Goltzius [Jan 2006]
See also: mythology - dragon - Netherlands - 1500s - 1600s - fantastic art
2006, Jan 12; 12:07 ::: Brian Eno in his glam period
Brian Eno in his glam period in Ciao 2001 n. 38, 23 settembre 1973
Image sourced here.
2006, Jan 12; 10:07 ::: Thomas Hirschhorn (Contemporary Artists) (2004)
Thomas Hirschhorn (Contemporary Artists) (2004) - Alison M. Gingeras, Carlos Basualdo, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
The work of Thomas Hirshhorn (b. Bern, Switzerland, 1957), recently on view at such major international art venues as the Tate Modern (2003), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, 2001), and the Art Institute of Chicago (2000), are giant, labour-intensive, room-sized collages of low grade materials, that is to say, rubbish. Part-text, part-sculpture, part-junkheap, incorporating furniture, cardboard boxes, wooden frames and more, these baroque installations reflect an extraordinarily prolific imagination. Their sheer volume and the time it takes to read and see these massive, detailed installations make them unforgettable, often quite humorous experiences unlike the work of any other contemporary artist. --via Amazon.comThe ongoing controversy is also reflected in the scandal resulting from a performance by the painter Thomas Hirschhorn at the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris on December 5, 2004. In the performance, which was supported by the publicly funded Pro Helvetia institution, where an actor pretended to urinate on an image of Blocher.Thomas Hirschhorn (Bern, 1957) is a Swiss artist. He received the (2000/2001) Marcel Duchamp Prize and the Joseph Beuys Prize in 2004. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas Hirschhorn [Jan 2006]
Kassel, 2002
Kassel, Germany, Documenta art show: Hirshhorn's Bataille monument. Here is the offical short text:"Thomas Hirschhorn plugs himself into the communicative potential of thought discontent with the enforced definitions and limitations of a hyper- capitalist, multinational rhetoric of globalization. Neglecting material worth, his work encompasses diverse sculptural models in an impoverished taste for the product wrappings of consumer industry – aluminum foil, plastic, cardboard and plywood – suspending capitalist desires in a state of constant creative anarchy. Following a logic of ephemerality, accumulation and a potential openendedness, Hirschhorn’s perishable monuments to Benedict de Spinoza (Amsterdam, 1999), Gilles Deleuze (Avignon, 2000), Georges Bataille (2002, Kassel) and Antonio Gramsci (not yet realized), reflect upon communal commitment and “the quality of internal beauty” (Hirschhorn). Personally and socially mapping the city of Kassel for more than a year, Hirschhorn integrates the Bataille Monument actively into the lives of a marginalized local community for the duration of the exhibition. Forgoing traditional terms of knowledge production, the work returns the museum’s ritualized function of displaying and collecting to the public realm."See also: Switzerland - trash - contemporary art
2006, Jan 12; 10:07 ::: HuO: Hans-Ulrich Obrist: Interviews (2003) - Hans-Ulrich Obrist
HuO: Hans-Ulrich Obrist: Interviews (2003) - Hans-Ulrich Obrist [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1993, he founded the Museum Robert Walser and began to run the Migrateurs program at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris where he now serves as a curator for contemporary art.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans Ulrich Obrist [Jan 2006]
Book Description
It is not an exaggeration to write that Hans-Ulrich Obrist is everywhere, has curated everything and has interviewed everyone. If "peripatetic" is the word most overused to describe him, it is not inappropriate. The Swiss-born, everywhere-based curator and head of the Programme Migrateurs at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris has an unstoppable wanderlust and a related symptom: his penchant for interviewing anyone and everyone who piques his curiosity, be they artist, scientist, writer, curator, composer, architect, thinker, etc. Since 1993, Obrist has conducted more than 300 interviews, 75 of which are collected here in a selection that respects the cultural and professional diversity of the interviewees. Each interview is introduced by a short text outlining the biography of the interviewee and giving some contextual information on the recording of the interview. Hans-Ulrich interviews everyone, including Marina Abramovic & Gregory Chaitin / Vito Acconci / John Armleder / JG Ballard / Matthew Barney / Dara Birnbaum / Christian & Luc Boltanski / Stefano Boeri / Daniel Buren / Giancarlo de Carlo / Maurizio Cattelan / Johannes Cladders / Constant / Minerva Cuevas / Giancarlo de Carlo / Jimmie Durham / Olafur Eliasson / Brian Eno / Juan Garcia Esquivel / Yona Friedman / Hans Georg Gadamer / Gilbert and George / Edouard Glissant / Felix Gonzalez-Torres / Dominique Gonzalez Foerster / Douglas Gordon / Dan Graham / Joseph Grigely / Zaha Hadid / Stuart Hall / Thomas Hirschhorn /Carsten Höller / Walter Hopps / Roni Horn / Yong Ping Huang / Pontus Hulten / Pierre Huygue / Arata Isozaki / Toyo Ito / Billy Klüver / Rem Koolhaas / Bul Lee / Ernest Mancoba / Roberto Matta / Cildo Meireles / Jonas Mekas / Mario Merz / Franz Meyer / Santu Mofokeng / Yoko Ono / Gabriel Orozco / Frei Otto / Lygia Pape / Claude Parent / Philippe Parreno / Michelangelo Pistoletto / Cedric Price / Ilya Prigogine / Jacques Ranciere / Gerhard Richter / Pipilotti Rist / Israel Rosenfield / Jean Rouch / Anri Sala / Tino Seghal / Katzuyo Sejima / Seth Siegelaub / Paolo Soleri / Ettore Sottsass / Luc Steels / Rirkrit Tiravanija / Agnès Varda / Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown / Franz West / Cerith Wyn Evans / Anton Zeilinger Paperback, 5.5 x 8 in./1000 pgs / 0 color 0 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20264 --via Amazon.comSee also: Switzerland - curator - contemporary art
2006, Jan 11; 22:07 ::: The Soundscape (1977) - R. Murray SchaferFor fans of David Toop's Ocean of Sound (1995).
The Soundscape (1977) - R. Murray Schafer [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: soundscape - music theory
2006, Jan 11; 22:07 ::: The Immortal Bard (1954) - Isaac Asimov
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possibly features The Immortal Bard (1954) - Isaac AsimovThe Immortal Bard is a 1954 science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. Like many of his stories, it is told as a conversation, in this case between two professors at a college faculty's annual Christmas party. It has since been republished in several collections and anthologies, including The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov. It is likely that Asimov wrote this short story after seeing how literary academia viewed his own writing. His autobiography, In Memory Yet Green, describes how science fiction gradually became more "respectable", while at the same time, professors of literary studies wrote things about SF — even about Asimov's own stories — which he completely failed to grasp. The Immortal Bard is an expression of Asimov's own deep admiration for William Shakespeare which also satirizes the interpretations built upon Shakespeare's work — symbolic, Freudian, New Critical and so forth. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Bard [Jan 2006]
See also: 1954 - SF lit - William Shakespeare - American literature
2006, Jan 11; 21:07 ::: The Turn of the Screw (1898) - Henry JamesAdam Salton sauntered into the Empire Club, Sydney, and found awaiting him a letter from his grand-uncle. He had first heard from the old gentleman less than a year before, when Richard Salton had claimed kinship, stating that he had been unable to write earlier, as he had found it very difficult to trace his grand-nephew's address. Adam was delighted and replied cordially; he had often heard his father speak of the older branch of the family with whom his people had long lost touch. Some interesting correspondence had ensued. Adam eagerly opened the letter which had only just arrived, and conveyed a cordial invitation to stop with his grand-uncle at Lesser Hill, for as long a time as he could spare. --The Turn of the Screw (1898) - Henry James
The Turn of the Screw (1898) - Henry James [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is a ghost story that has lent itself well to operatic and film adaptation.
Due to its possibly ambiguous content and powerful narrative technique, The Turn of the Screw became a favorite text of New Criticism. The reader is challenged to determine if the protagonist, a nameless governess, is reliably reporting events or instead is some kind of neurotic with an overheated imagination. To further muddy the waters, her written account of the experience -- a frame tale -- is being read many years later at a Christmas house party by someone who claims to have known her.
The account lends itself to many different interpretations, including those by Freudian psychologists and those trying to determine who or what exactly is the nature of evil within the story. In her 1976 dissertation The Concept of Ambiguity: The Example of James, Shlomith Rimmon analyzes aspects of verbal and narrative ambiguity in this and other texts by Henry James. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw [Jan 2006]
See also: Henry James - 1898 - ghost - American literature