Hauntological Double Takes

James Castle

The Graphic Work Of György Kepes

György Kepes was a Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, then Institute of Design, then Illinois Institute of Design or IIT) in Chicago. In 1967 He founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he taught until his retirement in 1974.

In 1965-66, Kepes edited a set of six anthologies, published as a series called the Vision + Value Series. Each volume contained more than 200 pages of essays by some of the most prominent artists, designers, architects and scientists of the time. The richness of the volumes is reflected in their titles: The Education of Vision; Structure in Art and Science; The Nature and Art of Motion; Module, Symmetry, Proportion, Rhythm; Sign, Image, Symbol; and The Man-Made Object.

Haus-Rucker-Co

Haus-Rucker-Co was an experimental Viennese architectural and design collective founded in 1967.  They produced a wide range of ‘disposable architecture’ which included pneumatic structures, air-mattresses and very odd look helmets which were designed to change sensory impressions.  These designs look odd, slightly perverse yet strangely futuristic and tinged with a spirit of radical sixties optimism.  

 

Auras

The Anguish Of The White Page

As Radiophonic month starts to come to a close, it's time to blog a few things which caught my attention this month.  This artwork is from a wonderfully curated travelling exhibition called Magic Show.  The show is a wonderful mixture of supernatural phenomenon and conceptual art.  “L’Angoisse de la page blanche” (The Anguish of the White Page) by Ariel Schlesinger is a kinetic sculpture which consists of two A4 sheets paper which slowly revolve around each other.  For more otherworldly treats, have a peek here and here. 

Computer Orchestra

"Birth Of A Building" Radiophonic Film Soundtrack

I tried embedding this on the blog to no avail.  So here's a link.  It's good to share.

News

Hard Format, one of my favourite websites for all things musical and graphic, has written a short piece on my Prospective 21e Siècle post. Hurry over there to check out some wonderful examples of graphic design for the contemporary music industry. It really does put my meager efforts to shame.  A Sound Awareness will resume with more Radiophonic related weirdness next week, in the meantime, please check out recent posts by the very brilliant Toys & Techniques and Unmann - Wittering blogs.

The Tomorrow People

I couldn't really resist posting this.  Another lovely title sequence. This time by Jerome Gask. Hints of the paranormal, Eastern Block animation, psychedelia, Stan VanDerBeek, stark letraset op-art graphics..... what more could you ask for?  A Dudley Simpson soundtrack perhaps?

The Graphic Work Of Bernard Lodge

A good title sequence can make or break a television programme or film.  Bernard Lodge designed and engineered the early title sequences for the science fiction drama 'Doctor Who' including this lovely piece of inspired proto-psychedelia from 1963.  By exploiting the abstract patterns of light which occurred when a television camera was pointed towards a monitor, he was able to create a fictional organic architecture of light, time and space.  The technique, known as 'howlaround' was originally pioneered by a BBC technician called Ben Palmer for the programme 'Amahl And The Night Visitor' but it really came into it's own with this wonderful collage of image and sound by Bernard Lodge and Delia Derbyshire.

David Cain

Sinister and odd.  These are the two words that spring to mind upon first hearing "Seasons" by David Cain.  The record was conceived in 1969, as part of the BBC schools programming for radio and later issued on lp with the intention  of providing teachers with a valuable resource for drama workshops.  Every time I listen to this record, the strange combination of poetry and disjointed folktronics sends a shiver down my spine.  In parts, the music is intensely melancholic, bleak, darkly disjointed and very much at odds with the twisted surreal poetry of Ronald Duncan and Derek Bowskill.  What the early stage, school children thought of it, is anyone's guess.  Personally, I love this record and listen to it on a regular basis, which must make me, erm, an oddball of sorts.  You decide.

For a more indepth discussion on this obscure and elusive recording, please head over to our comrades at 'Unmann-Wittering'.

Radiophonic Month

Radiophonic Workshop.  The very name suggests a deep, dark, subter-ranean concrete bunker, built during the cold war era, populated by scientists conducting experiments designed to harness the power of sound in the service of mankind. This month, three blogs across the globe, team up,with the sole purpose of delving into this sound world.   'Toys And Techniques' and 'Unmann Wittering' are two of my favourite blogs and I'm delighted to announce this partnership.  I hope you enjoy our endeavours.