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.

Philips' Prospective 21e Siecle Records

I can still remember the thrill of discovering a couple of these records in a Parasian flea market almost two decades ago.  From the moment I saw the intricate foil sleeves, I knew there was another sound world waiting to be discovered.  Philips' Prospective 21e Siecle Records was launched in 1967, as a platform for the newly emerging musique concrete and electronic scene.  The covers were printed using polarized metallic inks and still look as futuristic as the day they were designed.  I've tied to research their author but found scant clues.  If you know who designed them, I'd love to know.

Who Is Sleeping On My Pillow

One of my favourite artists, Jockum Nordström, has a new exhibition opening at the David Zwirner gallery at the end of this month.  There's some absolutely stunning examples of his collage based work on show.  The exhibition runs from 29th April to June 12th.  If you're in the vicinity of New York during these dates, I recommend you pay the gallery a visit.

Oscillons

There's something incredibly beautiful about the abstract electronic art created by Benjamin Francis Laposky.  As early as 1947, Laposky used a cathode ray oscilloscope with sine wave generators and various other electrical and electronic circuits to create what he termed 'Electrical Compositions'.  The electrical vibrations shown on the screen of the oscilloscope were recorded using still photography to often startling results.

An Excuse & Three Interludes

I've been a bit busy over the past week, what with Glasgow International Festival Of Visual Art [more of that later], the primitive psycho dunt of the Wooden Shjips and the majestic showmanship of Chain from Chain & The Gang [undoubtedly the best exponent of 'Neo Marxist Diddleyesque Expressive Rock 'n' Roll' working today]. There's not been much time write up anything of note.  Hopefully you'll enjoy these few links.

Sculpture Sonores

This piece of music haunted me as child and I still find it eerie as an adult.  The music is entitled "Manache" by Lasry-Baschet.  It was used as the theme for an ITV children's educational programme which was aimed at five to eleven year olds.  Years later, after an internet trawl, I located a little 10" record of this music.  It's all very odd.  Even the instruments are odd.  Another reason I find this odd, is that one of the musicians is flying through the air.  Not very oddly, I've posted some images for you to enjoy.

Kulchur

As I'm going to spend the next four or five days soaking up some culture at The Glasgow International Festival Of Visual Art, I thought I'd post a different kind of Kulchur for the one or two readers of this blog.  Kulchur magazine formed a vibrant part of the 60's literary scene and was published from 1960 to 1965 for a total of 20 issues. Many of the covers have a stark, serious graphic aesthetic which still holds a strong visual currency.

The Museum Of Everything

From Primrose Hill, London to Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli in sunny Torino, the Museum Of Everything sure gets around.  This collection represents art produced outside the confines of the traditional art world by people not normally associated with the process of making art.  Outsider art was a term coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for 'art brut' (French:"raw art" or "rough art"), a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture.  Personally, I find the term 'outsider artist' misleading as it alludes to a division between those 'in' and those 'out' which by it's very nature has political implications.  This collection, showcases some wonderful examples of art which is both uplifting, intriguing, frustrating, poignant, enchanting, raw and honest made by people at the margins of society.