bildnerei der geisteskranken

Having visited the Prinzhorn gallery in Heidelberg recently, I had a deep appreciation for this extensive and respectful curation of some of the Outsider Art that comprises the collection from Public Domain Review.
Inspired by Swiss psychiatrist Walter Morgenthaler published his studies on the creative and therapeutic energies of Adolf Wölfli, a patient under his care at the Waldau Clinic, assistant to the director of the psychopathology school Hans Prinzhorn amassed a catalogue, drawing on his training as an art historian and informing his overarching theses that we are driven by urges and tendencies to create—to leave traces of ourselves—that are revealed in the repertoire of the mental ill, whose upbringing may not recognise the same norms and mores that would otherwise inhibit examination. Especially worthy of note are the sculptures of former bricklayer Karl Brendel (several pictures at both sources), who until given wood to carve as a medium expressed himself with masticated bread.  More to explore at the links above, including pages and pages of unique and insightful images with attributions at Public Domain Review.

riverboat soul

My Mom introduced me to the musical stylings of Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three, a rambling quartet that defies categorisation, referencing ragtime, bluegrass and swing but refined as to not come off as period or nostalgic. Take a sample with a performance of three songs from NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series that comes a few years after their first album, “Marmelade.” One on of the artist’s new pieces that’s also really catchy—“Something in the Water”—should pop up next in the playlist right after this medley finishes.

daisy bell

Somehow this 1962 MacLaren’s Imperial Cheddar Club Cheese (club referring to a style that blends cheddar with other mature cheeses is flavoured with peppercorn and garlic, the label since wholly acquired by Kraft) advertisement subtlety prefigures the whole distracted boyfriend, me—also me meme.

 

arts & crafts

Hazel Terry of The Art Room Plant provides an exquisite and circumspect tour of the Watts Memorial Mortuary Chapel in the village cemetery of Compton in Surrey that an absolute gem, inside and out of Celtic Revival style filtered through Art Nouveau and Romanesque influences. Beginning construction of a chapel for a new cemetery on the commission of the parish council in 1896, work was overseen by local artist in residence Mary Fraser-Tytler but virtually the entire village—many of whom were precarious-employed as agricultural workers—took part. Much more to explore at the link above.

spider and gumdrop

The mission to inspire an eponymously titled Adam Ant song in 1984, NASA’s Apollo 9—the third crewed undertaking in the programme, took off from Kennedy Space Center on this day fifty years ago for ten days of trials in low Earth, geosynchronous orbit to test extravehicular activities (previously), spacewalk, and decoupling, docking performance of the gangly landing module and the bulbous command and service module that looked like a diving bell were given the title nicknames respectively and had those call-signs for radio communication. This battery of rigorous rehearsal helped ensure the success of later missions to the lunar surface.

mad men

Honoured as a laureate by the American Institute of Graphic Arts for his significant contributions to the field, the life and career of Alvin Lustig (*1915 - †1955) by complications of diabetes.
Lustig’s interests and acumen were not only restricted to designing book jackets and covers and magazine illustration but also to architecture, working with Victor Gruen on retail outlets, and interior design with a special emphasis on office spaces. His “Lustig Chair” made for Paramount studios was particular popular and inspires and informs retro-styles to this day. At the invitation of Joseph Albers, Lustig briefly taught at Black Mountain College. His wife and collaborator, Elaine Lustig Cohen (*1927 - †2016), was an accomplished artist, archivist and designer in her own right, sharing the same distinctions as her late husband and earning more over the course of her professional career.