nevermind the bricolage

Girl in a Band

I did a fair amount of train travel the past week or so and consequently had an hour or two each day to kill while I travelled from London to my mum's house. So I did a lot of reading.

I picked up Kim Gordon's autobiography on a whim. I haven't been the biggest fan of Sonic Youth over the years, but I was aware and interested enough to pick it up and was glad I did. To be honest, I wasn't ready for the honesty, insight and depth that I uncovered. Silly of me really, a girl in a band with her husband for three decades, why wouldn't there be depth and insight, but somehow I didn't figure it that way. Of course, the fact that her marriage ended and the band broke up only added dimension to an already interesting story of one woman's encounter with art, music, New York and being in a band. 

For instance, this is what she had to say about California, where she moved with her family when she was five years old,

"I've always felt that there was something genetically instilled and inbred in Californians--that California is a place of death, a place people are drawn to because they don't realize deep down they're actually afraid of what they want. It's new, and they're escaping their histories while at the same time moving headlong toward their own extinctions. Death and desire are all mixed up with the thrill and the risk of the unknown. It's a variation of what freud called the 'death instinct.'"

Not your usual rock biography fodder. The book is filled with nuggets like that. It's also filled with pain and heartbreak over betrayal, adultery, divorce and the loss of so many things. Whether you know Kim Gordon or Sonic Youth is not necessary to enjoy this book--it's a book that is more than the sum of it's expected parts.

 

starman critchley

 

When David Bowie's performance of Starman was beamed into living rooms around Britain in 1972 it ignited something. That singular pop music moment not only launched Bowie into the new level of fame and socio-cultural influence, it also had a profound effect on so many people I know, myself included. It has produced at least a couple of really interesting books over the years including a recent one from UKGQ magazine editor Dylan Jones called, When Ziggy Played Guitar, and the latest book from philosopher Simon Critchley, simply called Bowie.

I read it from beginning to end in one sitting, it's less than 200 small pages--essentially short, one or two page encapsulations of Bowie's work, his impact, some philosophical engagement and canny insights from someone whose work I connect with. Critchley, gets Bowie completely, or at least he captures the Bowie I have connected with for years.

For me there were no Beatles or Rolling Stones, the only music I listened to before DB was from the blues/r+b/soul/reggae world of my musical youth-bowie shifted the ground beneath my feet, gave voice to my particular coming-from-nowhere-in-britain frustrations and desires and opened up just about everything to me, including the way I thought about and engaged with the world on many levels. Over the years Bowie has been a constant (even the Tin Machine years!!) and I waited for a decade like many of his fans for new work, convoinced that all the stories were false and that eventually post-reality, post-heart problems, the man would once again deliver music, and out of nowhere (where he seems to reside) came The Next Day and it's plaintive single, Where Are We Now? and we were off again.

Critchley takes snippets of Bowie's lyrics, personnae and reflects on them via his canny philosohical lens--he undoes our fascination with narratvie idea, what he calls the 'lie that stands behind the idea of the memoir,'--disconnects fact from truth and argues that falsity and inauthencticity are necessary to truth-telling-speaks of bowie's ability to 'deworld the world-and so much more.

It's a fan's book, but much more. If you are not a fan of Bowie, and they exist of course (how I fail to understand but there you go!!), you could still get a lot about life from this little book and i highly recommend it.

"For in truth, it's the beginning of nothing /And nothing has changed
 Everything has changed/
 For in truth, it's the beginning of an end
 And nothing has changed/ Everything has changed"

 

 

 

my struggle: diving into knausgaard's world

I don't read much fiction. I say that with no pride, I think my life is probably the poorer for it, but I seem to have so many other things pulling at me in terms of my work and the thinking that goes with it, that I always edit out fiction-time in favour of non-fiction works. This probably means that I am a closet workaholic, maybe the fact that I have three regular jobs is also a testament to that! But life is short and interesting and many things pull at my curiosity so...

But recently I picked up a novel or sorts. It's not really a novel, more an autobiography told in novel form, by Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard called, My Struggle (Min Kamp in Norwegian and allusions to Hitler's Mein Kampf are intentional--the final book which is yet to appear in English, apparently contains a 400-page essay on the Nazis and the recent mass-killings in Sweden by Anders Breivik).

Knausgaard's struggles encompass life in all of it's brutal mundanity, and believe me, it is mundane--there is so much detail of seemingly inconsequential stuff but banality of life is really what he is after that and to cover a couple of areas particularly: his alcoholic father and death. Yes death.

In fact, I had no idea of the fuss around these six lengthy volumes, somehow I had missed the book-fever attention they had garnered. But I saw the cover with the authour's intense face looking out and the title smacking me in the facr and I opened it up and was hooked.

"For the heart life is simple. It beats for as long as it can. Then it stops. Sooner or later, one day, this pounding action will cease of its own accord, and the blood will begin to run towards the body's lowest point..."

That was enough for me and I picked up the book. Knausgaard is a novelist who tired of writing fiction and set out to achieve something different and it would seem he has done so in these books. In his native Norway, a country of 5 million, he has sold about half a million copies, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. This is writing not for the faint-hearted, there is no Oprah-fication aha moment, public confession, just unflinching reflection on his father's death and alcoholism, his falied marriage, his second wife's bipolarity and his conflicting feelings about fatherhood and parenting.

Death permeates the book, and while some would perhaps recoil from such a thread, especially when it is presented so coolly at times, it is what gives the book such depth and rhythm, you can feel it haunting the pages. He writes of people who witness accidents and notes,

“that which belongs to the body and is concrete, physical and material, this death is hidden with such great care that it borders on a frenzy, and it works, just listen to how people who have been involuntary witnesses to fatal accidents or murders tend to express themselves. They always say the same, it was absolutely unreal, even though what they mean is the opposite. It was so real. But we no longer live in that reality. For us everything has been turned on its head, for us the real is unreal, the unreal real.”

The first volume ends with his father's death and closes with these words,

"Now I saw his lifeless state. And that there was no longer any difference between what once had been my father and the table he was lying on, or the floor on which the table stood, or the wall socket beneath the window, or the cable running to the lamp beside him. For humans are merely one form among many, which the world produces over and over again, not only in everything that lives but also in everything that does not live, drawn in sand, stone, and water. And death, which I have always regarded as the greatest dimension of life, dark, compelling, was no more than a pipe that springs a leak, a branch that cracks in the wind, a jacket that slips off a clothes hanger and falls to the floor."

Lest you think it is all death and dying, well it is, sort of, there are passages of real insight and beauty about most things in life. early on he writes of his daughter's birth and launches into a short meditation on the human eye taking in Rembrandt's final self-portrait and his own daughter's eyes 'like two black lanterns.'

My Struggle is no picnic, or beach read, or perhaps it is best read on a beach with life in all it's beauty and mundanity unfolding before us, wherever one reads it, it should, in my opinion be read and the life sucked from all its pages.

The Swastika: can it be redeemed?

As many may know, one of my ongoing jobs is at an art school in the advertising department where I teach on words and concepts and ideas in the world of ad and design. I'm fortunate to be able to explore any number of topics in most of the classes I teach and it allows me to indulge my own fascination in things like the origins of swearing, how language works, where ideas come from, design and culture--so many things really. 

Some where along the way I came across the work of Steven Heller , a man with a storied career in the world of visual and graphic design. He has written something like 120 books on issues related to graphic design and visual culture, covering a mind-boggling range of topics.

My latest read has been his book on the swastika. Swastika: Symbol beyond redemption? is an exploration of the origins of the symbol and its transition to symbol of evil. It's a provocative work that has been called polemical. It's a fascinating into controversial territory taken from a very personal angle. You can read an interview with the author here, which might deepen your curiosity, beyond the provocative icon he explores the book is also a great tool for thinking about how symbols work in society.

And here is a talk he gave on totalitarian regimes and their use of propaganda which is really worth a look and listen.

Steven Heller on propaganda & design at Gel 2009 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

Adolf Hitler was a logo.

 

GBH

I have a book called The Wes Anderson Collection, by Matt Zoller Seitz, which explores Andersons film, via essays, interview and an expansive visual record of his almost obsessive commitment to detail. it's th evisual component of anderson's films that I am drawn to, don't get me wrong, I love the stories in and of themsleves, but it's the wya they are told visually that holds such joy for me. When I'm feeling uninspired, I often look at the book, just to marvel at the fantastic stuff that gets put into his work.

I recently came across a mention of Dublin-based graphic designer Annie Atkins, who does a lot of graphic work for Anderson's films, as well as other films. She creates some of the elements that Anderson puts into his films which makes watching them such a delight--the world is complete, down to the minute detail.

His most recent Grand Budapest Hotel has been called a 'return to form' personally I wasn't aware that he had lost form but there you go, to each his own. I watched this film with geelful delight and revelled in it's mischief. Ralph Fiennes was just perfect in his role and his character arc perfectly complimented the quirky and somewhat dark threads of this particular story. You can check out a lot of Atkin's work here and you'll see the amazing work she does.

mysterium coniunctionis

'the world of alchemical symbols does not belong to the rubbish heap of the past, but stands in a very real and living relationship to our most recent discoveries concerning the psychology of the unconscious' c.g. jung

I had never heard of this work until I came across this rather wacky book cover-it piqued my curiosity and I went on a search to discover more about it. Mysterium Coniunctionis was Jung's last full length work, in it he presented his research on alchemy and its contribution to psychology and human self-understanding. Alchemy, a sort of protoscience that contributed to the emergence of modern chemistry and science, had/s three major goals: the transmutation of base metals into gold; the creation of a panacea-elixir of life; and was committed to the discovery of a universal solvent,

"Alchemy is the art of liberating parts of the Cosmos from temporal existence and achieving perfection which, for metals is gold, and for man, longevity, then immortality and, finally, redemption. Material perfection was sought through the action of a preparation (Philosopher's Stone for metals; Elixir of Life for humans), while spiritual ennoblement resulted from some form of inner revelation or other enlightenment," H.J. Shepherd.

Alchemy has obviously been around a long time and was very integral to the development of Western civilization and culture. I have noticed lately that it appears to be making a comeback of sorts. Writer Erik Davis notes that 'many of the earliest books on electricity described the force in distinctly alchemical terms, dubbing it the "ethereal fire," the "quintessential fire," or the "desideratum," the long-sought universal panacea,' in his book, Techgnosis. Damon Albarn's opera project Dr. Dee (well worth a listen in my opinion) was about the great alchemist Dr. John Dee, adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, whose secret moniker for private communication with the Queen was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming (yes, that's where 007 came from). Old ideas and influences don't go away, they are eclipsed and ignored for a time, then often picked back up and rejiggered for a new time and a new perspective.

I don't have much of a point here, other than to note, that  alchemy, rooted as it is, in a pre-modern view of how the world works, remains a source of influence in small and often unnoticed ways in our world, and I find that interesting. Jung was not willing to dismiss the symbolism of alchemy but sort to understand its influence, meaning and contribution to the emerging world of psychology, and somewhere along the way someone designer put together a particularly cheesy book cover that piqued my curiosity enough to get me exploring the field a little more.

books worth knowing about

So print might be dead, but I still like books, haha! I am a big fan of the physicality of print, I can also contend with digital reading products, it's not an either or, but there is still something about the smell of ink on paper, the feel of opening a book for the first time, the look of text on page-the joy of writing in the margins that is not outdone by great options in digital environs in that arena (notes, highlighting, web links etc).

Anyway, a few of the diverse books that have come my way lately that are all worthy additions to any library. most of them would fall into the 'coffee table' end of the spectrum, which is where I find print books to be the most important personally. But I'll begin by referencing the book on the top of the pile.

24/7 Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep by Jonathan Crary has such a disturbing first chapter that I couldn't put it down. It's a book about sleep and how economics has changed it, "sleep is an uncompromising interruption of the theft of time from us by capitalism." This is not a book for the faint-hearted really, sleep, the author argues is essentially incompatible with capitalism and much effort has been made and is being made to overcome it, in the name of security, productivity and a host of other ways. I can't say that this is a dystopian book, but it definitely moves in a sober tone throughout. But it is also fascinating, again, as Crary notes, "sleep has a dense history, as does anything presumed to be natural. It has never been something monolithic or identical, and over centuries and millennia it has assumed many variegated forms and patterns." Think you know sleep? read this book and you'll realize how little you probably know.

Penance is a piece of performance art made into a book by writer and all around style guy, Glenn O'Brien. Trading on his catholic roots he dressed up as a priest and set up a 'confession booth' in the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York. Confessions were recorded by an assistant dressed in a latex 'nun' costume and what followed is recorded in the book. It's more insightful than you might imagine, more honest, and at times, quite comical.

Brian Eno Visual Music is a collection of the past 40 years of Eno's museum and gallery art installations and projects combined with his views, methods and practices of making music. The are sketchbook pages, installation notes and screenshots of various projects plus essays on his contribution to music and new media art. The man is fascinating, probably one of the most significant figures on the cultural landscape and definitely a man whose musicality has produced so much magic (Roxy Music, Bowie, U2, James, Coldplay, ambient music, on and on).

Victore, or Who Died And Made You Boss? This is a book I have given away a couple of times, so it's not new to me, just worth getting again. It is graphic designer James Victore's first book, outlining his take on teaching, practising and subverting graphic design today. Here is a famous graphic designer who mines philosophy and religion and employs elements of thinking from those domains in his work. He doesn't want clients, he searches for collaborators and the result is some of the most innovative graphic work around.

The Wes Anderson Collection. Don't really need to say much more. I want to live in a world curated by Anderson and this book simply adds to that desire. If you love his films and appreciate the aesthetic at work in all of them, this book will give you insights into the process and creation of them.

 

Penance

Glenn O'Brien, patron saint of Interview magazine, writer, 80's cable tv host, ' GQ's style guy' and a man of considerable style launched a project in 2012 called Penance. It was a performance piece which involved O'Brien dressing as a faux priest and setting up a 'confessional' at the infamous Chelsea hotel in New York. He was aided by swimsuit model Michelle Vawer who played the part of a nun in a rather fetching latex 'habit' and recorded the confessions. Part tongue-in-cheek, part performance piece and part reflection of the particularities and peccadilloes of modern life, Penance has now been released as a limited edition, 240-page book, filled with images and confessions. In some ways it reminds me a little of David Byrne's project, The New Sins, from a few years back, a different take on some similar threads if you will. O'Brien's is available here. He also tweets at @lordrochester (see Johnny Depp in The Libertine and you will understand).

Ulysses "seen"

Need to read James Joyce's Ulysses but can't get your head around his peculiar use of language? This could be for you, a digital, illustrated version of the masterpiece, someone has been taking a lot of time with this and it shows. There is an iPad version avaialable as well.

hello my name is paul smith

The man is always full of surprises.