bug (13. 394)

 

Pronounced “boog,” we joined our neighbours for a long Labour Day weekend on a colourful campsite just south of Bamberg on an island in the river Regnitz at the mouth of the Aurachtal. 

Though the retreat made no pretensions of being an artists’ colony, there was a surfeit of paintings and statuary everywhere, first discovering the art in the restaurant, converted from the former studio and dance hall of the camp’s founders, Fritz and Else Hoffmann-Bug (the nobiliary particle adopted for the couples’ adopted residence and long-term project) who began the campgrounds after the war in 1952, exhibiting his own works and chairing the first professional visual artists’ association for Upper Franconia.

We were going to order wine with dinner, but then remembered how Bamberg is famed for its beers, and had a Rauchbier (the flavour won from toasting the malted barley) that paired well with the smoked trout, with a distinctive taste like s’mores and campfire. The restrooms for the campers were rather vaulted affairs themselves, outfitted as a gallery of paintings and murals and a singular experience to pass through and assuredly much appreciated by guests—the camp remaining in the family over the subsequent generations and maintaining the showcase and artistic spirit of the establishment. The village was until recently also host to the museum and publishing house for the adventure franchise of Karl May before being repatriated in 1995 to the writer’s native Radebeul.

 

windows on the world (13. 365)

Opening on this day in 1976 and in operation until destroyed during the September 11th terror attacks in 2001, the complex of dining and entertainment venues developed under the guidance of restauranteur Joe Baum (responsible for renovating the Rainbow Room of Rockefeller Center and creator of America’s first themed destination dining establishments) and architect Warren Planter (student of Eero Saarinen) whose concept for the interior was that of a grand ocean liner with plush accents and brass railings and a terraced layout that afforded views from every table with logo, dinnerware and lighting designed by Milton Glaser.  Housed in the upper storeys of the North Tower (Building One) of the World Trade Center, all staff present on the day of the attack perished, the impact of American Airlines Flight 11 cutting off all means of escape above the ninety-second floor. Though never conclusively confirmed, it is speculated that the identity of The Falling Man is restaurant audio engineer, Jonathan Briley, brother of Alexander, the soldier and later seaman character from the disco recording act, Village People. The iconic photograph is owned by Elton John and was named after the 1950 oil painting by Max Beckmann that seems to foreshadow the trapped jumpers.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a return visit to the Störmthaler See (with synchronopticæ)

fourteen years ago: comparmentalising the internet 

fifteen years ago: the life and afterlife of William Shakespeare 

sixteen years ago: around town, a visit to the Kyffhäuserdenkmal plus default browsers

9x9 (13. 340)

sen̓áḵw: the return of a Squamish Nation village exempt from zoning laws and an elegant solution to Vancouver’s housing shortage—first heard on NPR  

patience: a meditation on Solitaire—see previously  

tanker war: veterans of the 1981-1988 Persian Gulf crisis share flash-back inducing parallels  

granny shelf: an appreciation of the overlooked products in one’s grocery aisle—via Web Curios  

rückenfigur: a retrospective exhibition of Expressionist artist Gabriele Münter  

season ticket: brilliant vintage bus passes of the Milwaukee metro  

easter armistice: attacks continue as thirty-six hour truce for the Orthodox holiday between Ukraine and Russia approaches  

phreak box: an emulation of tones that hacked payphones—via Kottke—see previously  

diego garcia: US opposition forces UK to abandon plans to return the Chagos islands to Mauritius

ex’23 (13. 318)

Courtesy of fellow peripatetic Messy Nessy Chic’s latest batch of finds, we are acquainted with pioneering theorist and consultant Faber Birren (whose given name, from his maternal grandmother’s surname is a flourish of nominative determinism, a close anagram of Luxembourgish for colour) whom after an adolescent period of experimenting with dyes and painting murals pursued a a programme of pedagogy at the University of Chicago. Unable to surrender his conviction in the importance of colour, regarding it as an article of faith, and dissatisfied with the lacking curriculum in his field of study, Birren dropped out and began a course of self-study in 1921, publishing several influential articles on putting chromatics and contrast to use, eventually establishing his own firm with clients including Monsanto, General Electric, DuPont and the US military. Birren was later contracted as a consultant colourist for Disney advising animators for the schemes of Bambi, Pinocchio and Fantasia and with the outbreak of World War II, Birren was conscripted to make work environments safer for the influx inexperienced workers coming to factories to replace the workforce diverted to the war effort. The coding conventions Birren prescribed are still in use today with the best preserved examples being the sea-foam green used for control panels (the object of this investigation and conserved in museums and legacy installations and universally adopted, also with fire-extinguishers), the lighter shades being used on walls and consoles to reduce visual fatigue. The title nom de plume is from Birren’s colour scale of reflected light in the most calming spectrum and sourced from his trade range colour.

8x8 (13. 198)

the mckinley colonies: the US settlement on Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud 

„…“: another omnibus listing of aphorisms and sage quotations  

manannán: 1940 sci-fi Irish language novel that contains the likely first use of a mecha outside of Japanese literature  

in the realms of the unreal: outsider artist Henry Darger—see previously 

spring has sprung: early heralds of the coming season—see previously 

archive.yesterday: Wikipedia bans controversial news and features article mirror for citations after the service launches denial of service attacks on websites linking to it—via MetaFilter  

lapsis muris: linguists uncover another usage case of uh—see previously  

tron/troff: explore your neighbourhood in the virtual grid

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ukraine and Europe excluded from peace talks (with synchronopticæ), an enigmatic online diary plus an ancient cistern in Naples

thirteen years ago: elision and mishearing 

fourteen years ago: graphic artist Tim Doyle 

fondation vasarely (13. 182)

Dedicated on this day in 1976 with its inaugural opening, the architectonic museum in Aix en Provence showcases the pioneering Op Art designs of Victor Vasarely (see previously) and promote his vision of making the arts accessible for all and founding a city of tomorrow. Forty two six by eight metre cells constructed in situ house various exhibits. Coming out of the Bauhaus school tradition, the Hungarian-French artists went on to produce abstract paintings, cladding, façades and sculptures that referenced optical illusions as a sort of visual kinetics (plastique cinétique) that relied on the shifting perception of the viewer—a stylistically satisfying middle-ground between the moving artwork of Calder, Duchamp and Man Ray and the disorientating MC Escher.

simply paris (13. 157)

Among the latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice, there was an email with the above subject line picturing an unidentified couple at various tourist attractions of the French capital in July of 2009. Not only is the woman’s face obscured with redaction but so is for whatever reason the visage, arguable amongst the most-well known in the world, of Leonardo Da Vinci’s portrait of Mona Lisa—possibly betraying the use of AI or poor taste and certainly reaffirming the rather sloppy job that’s characterised this mandate, which the department has claimed to have satisfied its legal obligations but has failed to uphold its own expressed pledge and excuse for the months of delay of protecting the identity of the victims of Epstein and associates’ sex-trafficking and rape, including so far the names, images and personal information of around a hundred survivors of the the expansive scandal.

das kunstwerk im zeitalter seiner technischen reproduzierbarkeit (13. 136)

Courtesy of Damn Interesting, we are directed toward the seminal 1935 essay by pioneering media theorist, cultural critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin—one of the many exemplars of the oppression and rejection of German-Jewish intellectuals under the Third Reich, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Informing later studies by Marshall McLuhan and Susan Sontag, Benjamin wrote of the limitless nature of publishing and distribution to have an estranging effect on the authentic experience of art, though while democratising access and stripping the ritual from production, the assembly line nature direction of publishing houses and film studios, exhibition of artefacts lessens the spectators’ identification with what’s being witnessed. Benjamin nonetheless aspired to write radio dramas and adored movie stars like Catherine Hepburn. This commodification of author and artist, however, is not veneration of the aesthetic value but rather the politicisation of it that affords the chance for all to be critics and creators, the potential for expression but not the right to it, since the gatekeepers are not talent or excellence by rather monied interest of the industry—or it the case of authoritarian regimes, the state itself as a tool of maintaining the status quo. Contemporarily and retroactively, the paralipomena—that is, things and topics omitted from the critical edition of his essay, like the prevalence of photography or as applied to television and social media, influencers and the spectacle of tribalism (see previously) make Benjamin’s observations very relevant, particularly for the performative gratification seeking to redeem what’s been lost to distraction and desensitisation.  Often misquoted from another collection of essays, Theses on the Philosophy of History, as having said, “History is written by the victors,” more nuanced, Benjamin posits that  “incumbents are however the heirs of all those who have ever been victorious. Empathy with the victors thus comes to benefit the current rulers every time.”

model village (13. 126)

Via the Blört Everlasting and Present /&/ Correct, we are directed towards the imaginary town of an “unconscious architect” in the papercraft district made by Peter Fritz, an Austrian insurance clerk reconstructing buildings from his home town from memory, running the range of every typology encountered from the residential to utilitarian as a pastiche of vernacular styles during the 1950s and 1960s. This all but anonymous collection of nearly four hundred structures was found a charity shop and exhibited at the 2013 Venice Biennale by Vienna-based artist Croy Nielsen, fine examples of the venue’s theme of an encyclopaedic palace. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: deferred resignation programme (with synchronopticæ) plus who goes MAGA?

twelve years ago: crypto and money laundering, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership plus Dr Strangelove 

fourteen years ago: movie posters from a parallel universe plus botanical nomenclature

fifteen years ago: optical effects 

sixteen years ago: smoke-free workplaces 

7x7 (13. 112)

les chansons de bilitis: a century old literary hoax of a fictional lesbian poet incited dialogue and reevaluation on the genuine figure of Sappho and queerness in antiquity  

apt mascot: a manufacturing error created the Cry-Cry Horse and its popularity for the Lunar New Year has prompted suppliers to reinstate the stitching mistake  

tam o’shanter: a poem for Sunday’s Burns Night  

ts and cs apply: new updated user agreement for US TikTok draws scrutiny regarding its privacy policy, including sexual orientation, mental health and immigration status  

coming attractions: an imagined trailer for Star Trek: Voyage to Vengeance as directed by Quentin Tarantino 

the disappointed tourist: an elegy to lost places  

composition yellow, blue, black red and white: reevaluating the cross-dressing Cornish artist Marlow Moss whose work influenced that of Piet Mondrian—via Kottke

synchronoptica

one year ago: jazz artist Keith Jarrett (with synchronopticæ), a Bolivian abundance festival, assorted links to enjoy plus Trump pledges to overhaul federal emergency response agency

thirteen years ago: the assassination of Caligula 

twelve years ago: impending base closures and a reduction in US forces 

sixteen years ago: relaxing US campaign financing reforms plus petty kingdoms 

10x10 (13. 100)

the cameraman’s revenge: a 1912 stop-motion film featuring taxidermied insects by Ladislas Starevich—see previously  

collateral damage: Trump’s seizure of Venezuela has deliberate knock-on effects for Cuba 

the monkey’s paw curls: prediction markets and betting on everything  

a spirit of dialogue: the World Economic Forum begins its summit in Davos (previously) in moment of geoeconomic warfare 

il tormento di sant’antonio: an examination of Michaelangelo’s juvenilia, the painting (more on the subject) not attributed to the artist for half a millennium  

bic cristal: the flagship product of the French sundry firm turned seventy-five—see previously  

mercator projection: famed Flemish cartographer believed that there was a magnetic mountain, Rupes Nigra, at the North Pole, accounting why compasses point towards the arctic—see also  

snow crash: Facebook quietly discontinues the Metaverse  

vanity project: Trump has formed an intergovernmental agency to oversee reconstruction in Gaza called the Board of Peace as an alt-UN with billion dollar membership dues—see previously here and here 

how now, brown cow: back-scratching bovine causes animal behaviourist to reassess their intellect—see also

selbstbildnis mit zottelhut (13. 095)

Through the rather remarkable discovery of a previously unknown miniature portrait commission kept in the archives of the sitter’s descendants for over five hundred years, we are introduced to the early Renaissance mannerist artist called Hans Baldung “Grien”—adding an nickname he acquired from his student days for his penchant in working with the colour green, incorporating it into his monogram ʜɢʙ. After studying under master Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg Baldung founded his own studio and workshop in Strasbourg, supplementing his projects by painting the aristocracy of the Free Imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. An advocate of the Reformation, like Dürer and Cranach, Baldung produced paintings, woodcuts and prints (also working in stained glass and tapestries) traditional religious settings with protestant iconography and the usual mythological allegories but also indulged a life-long preoccupation with the subject of witches and witch-hunters, among the first artists to concentrate on the theme (his monicker may also have been a conscious echo of the German word “grienhals,” a German synonym for hexe) as well as nontraditional motifs like Phyllis and Aristotle, the female form in general and depictions of eroticism, heretofore unseen in the art world in any medium.

9x9 (13. 084)

foreverware: Eerie, Indiana was the Stranger Things of the late 1990s 

correlation is not causation: the mullet index of South American regime change—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

thirty-six views of the eifel tower: Henri Rivière’s woodblock prints inspired by the ukiyo-e scenes of Hokusai—via Messy Nessy Chic  

yakity-yak: prolific toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb at 104—via Damn Interesting  

the high price of exceptionalism: America’s problems are solved problems  

classifieds: an appreciation of the enduring earnestness of Craigslist, one of the few remaining refugees of the early internet before everything was commodified  

waggle dance: an optical compass inspired by bee navigators  

business in front, party in back: an annual hairstyle competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg  

mr burns: a post-electric play: post apocalyptic Simpsons stage show to have cinematic adaptation

høstutstillingen (13. 075)

Aspiring artist hailing from the historic city of Stavanger, Aage Stor-stein (*1900—†1983) studied in Paris in the 1920s, where inspired by Picasso developed his own unique style of Cubism executed in soft pastels and later exhibited there and his native Norway as well, eventually securing a teaching post at the National Academy of Fine Arts. Winning a competition to decorator the west gallery of the city hall of Oslo, Storstein’s frescos of the landscapes and mythologies of the country can be found there. More works and history from ultrawolvesunderthefullmoon at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ), a hike up the Hohe Schuhe plus a trivia break down of all fifty US states

twelve years ago: a visit to Döllbach, selling shame plus out with the Christmas tree

thirteen years ago: reflexive verbs 

fourteen years ago: floating a financial transaction tax plus combating predatory practises in online credit

fifteen years ago: mitigating thaw-induced flooding 

sixteen years ago: naming winter storms 

pale ale (13. 050)

As our faithful chronicler informs, on this day in 1876, the red triangle logo of the Bass & Co became the first colophon to be logged under the 1875 Act to establish a Register of Trade Marks when it came into force on New Year’s Day—which according to company lore, had employees queuing outside bureau offices on New Year’s Eve to be the first—strange for a bank holiday and Public Domain Day, as a demonstration of the brewery’s pioneering prowess in international branding and marketing. The iconic logo, simple yet pervasive, has been featured in over forty works by Pablo Picasso from his Cubist period as well as more contemporarily in James Joyce’s Ulysses, Leopold Bloom noting the triangle in the “Oxen of the Sun” (The Cattle of Helios in the Odyssey) episode and in Édouard Manet’s final painting (see also) Un bar aux Folies Bergère with the beer bottles depicted instantly recognisable and their conspicuous presence interpreted as an allegorical expression of anti-German sentiment following the Franco-Prussian war. Further achievements accomplished under the logo include being among the first corporate sponsors, licensing for production by foreign distributors and the earliest export entrant into the Japanese beer market.

living flower (13. 036)

Masterful at marketing and self-promotion across all media, Salvador Dalí never encountered an art form that caused him to shy away from disrupting with his signature surrealism. Though his career in jewellery design spanned for several decades, one could be forgiven for thinking it was a one-off project (see also) as his most radical creations were exhibited as a contemporary collection, with a forward for his 1959 catalogue calling them a protest against emphasis on precious materials. Craftsmanship was not reserved for costume jewellery, however, with diamonds, rubies, platinum and gold and some broaches and pendants were motile, as can be seen on the Pathé newsreels clicking through to the source above. Modelling an ensemble of Dali´’s pieces is Madelle Hegeler including a leaf-veined hand, the Eye of Time Watch and a pair of garnet and pearl lips inspired by Mae West’s come-hither smile. More from Open Culture at the link up top.

public domain review (13. 021)

In anticipation of Public Domain Day 2026 (previously), here is a preview of the selection of literary and artistic works from 1930 and musical compositions from 1925 (under US jurisdiction, songs have a full century until IP lapses under current law) whose copyrights expire and are released to whomever and for whatever purpose. Artists’ works include Piet Mondrian’s Composition II, the pictured untitled work by Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Abel Lafleur’s Jules Rimet Cup—the original trophy of FIFA, along with countless works in the Art Deco movement registered in that year. Among dozens of cinematic works, All Quiet on the Western Front, the Three Stooges’ Soup to Nuts, The Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers and Savadore Dalí’s and Luis Buñuel’s L'Âge d’or are counted in, as well as audio recordings by the Gershwin brothers like “I Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You,” “Georgia on My Mind” by Hoagy Carmichael, “Dream a Little Dream of Me,”Leo Robin’s “Beyond the Blue Horizon,” the inspiration for the Star Trek theme (see also) and “Sweet Georgia Brown.” Comics and cartoons include Betty Boop, Disney’s first appearance of Pluto (as Rover) and Flip the Frog and other characters created by Ib Iwerks after he left the studio. More from Duke Law School at the link up top.

kunstkammer (12. 956)

Having written on the subject of curio cabinets quite extensively beforehand (see here and here), exhibits public and private exhibits of one’s collection, we very much appreciated the chance to revisit the topic of presentation (and preservation) through the lens of the seventeenth century genre of gallery painting originating in Antwerp introduced by Public Domain Review contributor Thea Applebaum Licht. There’s a curated assortment of these exuberant canvases, recursive and metaphysical, of artefacts and artworks in a idealised reception space, whose study in detail, whether or not such assemblages existed outside of the commission’s imagination whose symbolic imagery and iconodules convey the refinement and erudition they not only hope to express in their collections but also aspirations from a uncategorised cornucopia by today’s standards of accessioning.

11x11 (12. 895)

american psychosis: pathologising along with artist Jordan Sullivan  

kojève and cigarettes: uncovering the history of Hegelian tobacco and the American spirit  

usenet: a 1995 CBC segment featuring Cory Doctorow on how to internet—via Waxy   

karzer: revisiting privilege and imprisonment in German universities  

de facto recognition: leaked US draft to end Russian war in Ukraine  

dress code: ignoring all other disruptions and baseline unpleasantness, US transportation secretary encourages flyers to not dress down for their flights to improve the overall experience for all passengers  

tiled words: a daily crossword puzzle-Tetris hybrid—via MetaFilter  

algospeak: taboo, newly minted unwords of search and social media

victor insulations: the ubiquitous American diner mug—via Miss Cellania  

in like flynn: over-exposure to the stupidest ambitions of society at large has brought us all down—via Web Curios 

operation charlotte’s web: ICE ruins a classic of children’s literature—some pig 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: hand-washing and optimism  

thirteen years ago: the holiday winterval plus Martin Luther and bowling

grendel’s mom (12. 864)

We very much appreciated the introduction to artist and wordless novelist Lynd Ward through the lens of his 1939 hand-tinted woodcuts for his graphic novelisation (pioneering the genre) of the classic tale of Beowulf. Also working with the media of lithography and mezzotint, Ward was inspired to take up illustration when a teacher pointed out to him that his surname was “draw” backwards whilst recuperating at sanitarium for tuberculosis patients ay Sault Ste Marie in Ontario and honed his skill as an engraver. Settling in Leipzig with a scholarship, he first encountered picture books that were able to convey a narrative without captions and upon returning to New York City developed his portfolio for commission, first in an adaptation of Japanese folk tales.

A series of three classics brought out by Heritage Press in the late 1930s awarded to Ward also included The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Misérables fully established his credentials, avoided by the mainstream publishers for a time over depictions of racial injustice for earlier illustrations referencing slave trade and lynchings, though Ward’s work never shied away from taboo and subversive themes. Similar to the hortatory opening of Homer’s Iliad “Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage,” the Old English epic poem starts with the invocation Hwæt!—listen to my story.  Although preferring to work in monotone, the contrast of hot and cold colours for the heroic legend really demonstrate Ward’s mettle.