the queen of wands

We are directed to an exhibit that divines the often unattributed illustrator responsible for the most iconic and authoritative suites of tarot cards in existence out of obscurity and back into the prominence deserving of an individual that designed a deck that’s sold millions and the subject of frequent homage (see also here, here and here).
Pamela Colman Smith (*1878 – †1951)—who also went by the nickname of Pixie—was the amanuensis and muse of scholarly mystic Arthur Edward Waite (*1857 – †1942), to whom Smith was introduced by William Butler Yeats whilst working on commissions by the poet and playwright by mutual membership in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a society heavily into theurgy and cartomancy. Not to be pigeonholed only with the occult, Smith, aside from illustrating the works of Yeats, Bram Stoker and others also lent her talents to creating protest posters for the woman’s suffrage movement and for relief campaigns during the war for the Red Cross. In 1909, she interpreted Waite’s Key to Tarot in visual form and managed to produce eight refined pictures in the course of six months—two more cards than the standard major and minor arcana of seventy-eight with it being a mystery what those extraneous cards represented. Much more to explore at Hyperallergic at the link above.

the road’s my middle name

Courtesy of Kottke’s Quick Links, we are reminded that thirty years ago this week (21 March 1989), Bonnie Raitt—indulged by her record label to make the album that she wanted to make since they didn’t have very high expectations for its commercial success—released Nick of Time. Knowing later how formative the songs were to a generation who heard them on cassette tapes on car rides, Raitt did not mind being hailed as a come-back or even characterised as a woman of a certain age achieving success despite her circumstance.

elf uhr

Via Strange Company, we find ourselves transported to the cantonal capital of Solothurn at the foot of the Jura Mountains to explore its long held affinity with the number eleven (öufi in the local Swiss-German dialect)—though no one quite has the definitive answer for the association that can be found everywhere—the 11th canton to join the confederation, home to 11 guilds, plus 11 churches and chapels, 11 towers of the former town wall, and a cathedral with 11 altars, bells and steps. According to one source it was adopted in deference to a team of work coach elves (Elf in German is both an Elf and the number) who came down from the Weissenstein, the promontory that dominates the city, and helped make the long-toiling inhabitants more prosperous.

god help this american kid

Our gratitude to the always excellent Fresh Air (do listen to the entire episode) for acquainting us with the musical stylings of singer song-writer and guitarist Carsie Blanton. Incredibly, Buck Up is Blanton’s sixth album and all of them sound pretty spectacular and empowering. Learn more at the links above and the artist’s website.

kestää käytössä

We enjoyed watching this early 1970s commercial from Finland for the new Lada 1200 (domestically known as the ВАЗ-2101 or as “Kopeyka,” one one-hundredth of a ruble) but take heed as replaying it may summon a demon.

7x7

tusalava: life evolves and struggles to survive and thrive in a 1929 animated short from Len Lye—previously

datavis: climate scientists become tastemakers with “warming stripes”

sha na na: the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock venue line-up has been announced and some people are not impressed—via Miss Cellania’s Links

a coney island of the mind: ahead of his one hundredth birthday, a look at the uncompromising life and work of Lawrence Ferlinghetti

parting expressions: a look into the nuance of saying sayonara (さよなら)

afforestation: the Bonn Challenge is engaging all of us to save the world’s forest—via Maps Mania

a month of type: the studio of Mister Kaplin animates the alphabet—having devoted a day’s work to each letter

technocracy

Previously we’ve demonstrated—anecdotally—that despots and robots don’t seem to mix well, and whilst people have anxieties over being made redundant through automation and that there are definite trade-offs to be found in unfettered technological progress, tempered by the consul of the past or not, a surprisingly large portion of Europeans recently polled, a solid quarter of respondents, would favour allowing artificial intelligences to craft and execute policy over politicians.
What do you think?  We agree that there’s some share of disillusionment and political estrangement contributing to this outlook and the paternalistic bent as well as the tendency to reflect and amplify our worst inclinations to some advancements shouldn’t be ignored—which is why transparency is vitally important—but we suspect there’s also a vote of confidence to be found here as well—that perhaps in coalition with machines, governance could be a fairer and more equitable process.