le chant du monde

Early-career comparisons to Pablo Picasso are to be forgiven as he and fellow artist Jean Lurçat were virtual Dopplegänger and perhaps the albeit unique and pioneering abstract paintings of the later French artist and near-contemporary were passed over as derivative with Lurçat never achieving the renown of his Spanish counterpart, but the comparison (though importantly a point of access) does detract from the artistic merit of Lurçat’s later works, executed through his rediscovery of the medium of the medieval tapestry (tapisserie), and adhering to the craft’s stylistic horizons as much as possible. Limiting the palette of colours the artist availed himself of made monumental projects possible and after experiencing the Apocalypse Tapestry—for its depiction of the Book of Revelations—that the duke of Anjou had commissioned his residence in Angers, Lurçat realised that the format allowed for the hallucinatory abandon that he expressed in his earlier period when first decommissioned from fighting in the war.
Though off the battlefield, Lurçat and the members of his salon, a workshop of talent to operate the traditional looms and create the panels under Lurçat’s direction, were resisting tyranny in a multiple year, therapeutic catharsis that became The Song of the World, an abstract, contemporary to be inverted version of the Apocalypse, over-turned through a collective effort, hung in another wing of the same palace that displays the original. Learn more about Jean Lurçat and his vision at Messy Nessy Chic at the link up top.

your prize—a nubian goat

As a reminder to engage with story-telling more often—especially in its unmediated venues and within the limits the author limned for his voice—we really enjoyed this romp, via Coudal Partners, through the paperback canon of Philip K Dick with thirty-three picks of bizarre covers from domestic and international markets.
This curated selection represents only a small portion of his forty-four novels and scores of other pieces of essay and short-fiction and one has to wonder about what tales and commentary yet remain undiscovered because it won’t translate well to other narrative formats, with a handful (this or that and the other)—having undergone major rewrites and leaving much out—emerging on the other side. Sheep and goats were not considered a booby-prize either since after the nuclear apocalypse when the book is set that has destroyed most of life on earth, empathy towards and caring for animals was seen as a mark of the highest esteem and humanity.  Though knowing the story, I thought the title referred to something aspirational but rather to a Replicant’s need to count (electric) sheep to fall asleep.  Perchance to dream.  Do you have a favourite, perhaps of another author or franchise-universe, in this genre? Maybe these wild paperback illustrations mark the closest sometimes the unfilmable, impossible to produce adaptations get to a poster in the coming attractions section.

hark! a vagrant

We appreciated finding out about the long-term art project of Jenny Polak that makes the complacent classes perhaps take more notice of those in precarious situations—especially migrants who live in terror constantly that an immigration officer might bash the doors in and rip their family asunder. Like a floor-plan outlining a fire escape route, Polak’s series of posters tip people off on which paths to avoid during an ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid and struck us as the sociological and marginalised heir to the system of subtle markers that vagrants (hobos) developed in the late eighteen-hundreds to cope with the harshness of their existence and perhaps make the way less treacherous for those that follow.
Vagabonds (and perhaps those under the threat of deportation have done the same) contrived a vocabulary of symbols and signs to help orientate fellow travellers. For instance, a triangle with hands warned of a homeowner with a gun, interlocking circles represent handcuffs and the expectation to be arrested for vagrancy, a top-hat signifies a wealthy family and a picture of a cat meant that there was a kindly woman around these parts. I wonder if we might not advance a whole system of signs pointing to helpers to guide our imperilled community members, whatever their conferred status.

autograph hound

Public Domain Review informs of the unique, multi-year project of a rather star-struck seventeen-year old quilter from Rhode Island.
From 1856 to 1863, Adeline Harris solicited by post the autographs of leaders and luminaries of her day and received back not only the signatures on little silk squares as requested but was rather overwhelmed with some households sending other historic artefacts to incorporate into the quilt—three hundred and sixty autographs, many personalised with a short epigram. This is far better than a selfie with a celebrity or a vaunted re-tweet or mention, we think. Contributors included Abraham Lincoln, Jacob Grimm, Charles Dickens, Alexander von Humboldt and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Be sure to visit Public Domain Review at the link up top to learn more about the project’s signatories and its creator.