flickering signifier

Reporting for the New York Times, Caity Weaver takes us down a rather unexpectedly fascinating rabbit-hole with an investigative piece on the nature and source of glitter that proved unexpectedly controversial and secretive for an ostensibly frivolous product. The product is examined in all facets, from its festive sparkle, surprising applications, cultural use and connotations to its environmental impact. As Weaver found out, it is anything but a flippant business and remains on some levels an enduring and abiding mystery.

þorláksmessa

Though not officially recognised as part of the Calendar of the Saints until Pope John Paul II made it official in 1984 and followed up with a visit to the island, Saint Þorlákur Þórhallsson—Thorlak Thornhallsson, Bishop of Skálholt, had been considered the patron of Iceland for the greater part of a millennia.

His feast day, today, the anniversary of his death in 1193, marked the end of the customary Christmas time of fasting and signaled for households to prepare for Christmas in earnest, doing the last-minute shopping and finishing decorating the tree. Traditionally, Icelanders have skate, a sort of ray-like fish, on this evening—Thorlak also being the patron of fisherman and currently under consideration, informal investigation for being nominated as the patron saint of Autism, apparently as his interventions (we’re not exactly sure why but everyone needs a cause and a champion) have proved especially helpful for those on the spectrum.

wiener methode der bildstatistik

Having had a previous encounter with the ISOTYPEs of Marie and Otto Neurath (*1882 – †1945), we appreciated revisiting this subject with an in depth exploration from Open Culture that regards the universal character set as yet another among many earnest attempts to foster peace and empathy through an international language, a utopian effort like Esperanto and others. With the help of woodcut artist Gerd Arntz, this visual vocabulary grew to over four thousand pictograms to structure and address every facet of society and of course prefigures our contemporary use of symbols and data visualisations.

latimeria chalumnae

On this day in 1938, the a trawler on a fishing expedition in South Africa caught the first specimen of what would later be identified as an extant species of a type of primitive, limbed fish though to have died out in the Cretaceous Era, some sixty-five million years ago. Having more than a passing interest in the sciences, the captain of the vessel often shared unusual finds with the curator of a local natural history museum, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, who eventually recognised the sample as a coelacanth, coining the phrase a “living fossil.”

5x5

their santatanic majesties request: the Rolling Stone album had the working title of Cosmic Christmas

tinsel: a gallery of Mid-Century Modern aluminum Christmas trees

tinsel town: 1930s Hollywood in its heydays recreated as a diorama

brick & mortar: a bookshop in Tokyo now has a cover-charge

aðventuljós: a handy guide to the holidays in Iceland

twelfth night

Driving home for the holidays, we really enjoyed listening to this Royal Christmas Special from Rex Factor (previously) that examines the celebration, traditions and historical happenstance—births, coronations, etc.—from a courtly point of view. We think you’ll like this entertaining and informative episode as well, travelling or otherwise.

early modern

Though the buildings’ host nation rather disturbingly broke ranks with the international body that has not stopped eight examples of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture from being nominated for inclusion on the registry of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, possibly to be inscribed during the next year. If approved Wright’s iconic structures, including the Falling Water House and the Guggenheim, will join a panoply of architectural wonders both ancient and more contemporary.

contact print

Our thanks to the always terrific Nag on the Lake for the introduction to the impressive portfolio of artist and photographer Damion Berger through his series of compositions Black Powder that re-contextualise pyrotechnic displays by presenting them as black-and-white negatives, whose exposure properties can be chalked up to a chemical reaction like the subjects. Pictured is a scene from the annual fete of Saint Clair (patroness of laundry, television and needleworkers) celebrated in Sant Pau on the French Riviera.   Much more to explore at the links above.