Folk Photography

The arrival of odd things through the post seems to be a common contextual link for this blog and “Folk Photography” by Luc Sante is no exception. This book serves as a fascinating survey of a marginalised and neglected form of early twentieth photography. The phenomena of real-photo postcards dates back to around 1903, when Kodak introduced the No 3A Folding Pocket Kodak, which allowed the public to take photographs and have them printed as individual postcards. Printed in local makeshift darkrooms, often in towns where the local newspaper was unable to reproduce half tone images, these photographs communicated the localised stories, pains, joys and tragedies of rural America. This book beautifully reproduces a selection of these images, which have been gathered together by the author, Luc Sante, who describes himself as a ‘marginal consumer’ sifting through the dusty detritus of flea markets and junk shops in search of visual treasure. Many of these images are blunt, raw and unmediated by pictorial convention, created by self taught practitioners and local entrepreneurs eager to turn a dollar. Many are author less. The postcards depict a vast range of subject matter, cataloguing the everyday to the downright bizarre. A few of the images are singularly personal, many depict local newsworthy events, all have a static, otherworldly quality, exposing a vanished world suspended in unsmiling, ritualistic solemnity. This book is a wonderful resource, constantly illuminating, informative and a must for anyone interested in non academic art. 

I am deeply indebted to the publishers, Verse Chorus Press, for supporting the blog by generously sending a review copy.

Colori Della Luce

Emil Ruder

High Society

History is oddly predictable, like a vast catalogue, oscillating between the extraordinary peaks of human existence and the seamier, squalid, pestiferous decline into the gutter. Like the man said, some days are good, some days are bad, life's highs and life's lows. From our humble morning coffee, to the exotic betel nut quids produced in south east Asia, drugs are inexplicably woven into the warp and weft of all evolving societies. "High Society, Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture" is an absorbing and detailed account of the cultural pursuit of 'getting high', the quest to alter our minds in significant but controllable ways. This fascinating survey examines and traces the development of substances utilized to change our perception and consciousness, forming a comprehensive study of the historical and cultural impact of drugs within society.  The book examines the medical, recreational, spiritual, religious and economic use of drugs and chronicles the progressive discovery and development of  each mind expanding 'pharmaceutical'.  Tracing a lineage from the Ebers Papyrus [the oldest known Egyptian medical text, which described the 'analgesic' properties of the roots, seeds and head of the poppy] to the development of a global drug trade, this beautifully illustrated book elucidates the history of intoxicants with layer upon layer of meticulously researched material. What is particularly striking about the book is its ordinariness, its lack of moralizing and the authors ability to tread a scholarly path through the hallucinatory discourse of oppositional arguments for and against drug use.  Highly informative, always engaging, Mike Jay has produced a wonderfully detailed book which offers exquisite observations on a difficult and controversial subject.

I am deeply indebted to the publishers, Thames & Hudson, for supporting the blog by generously sending a review copy.

Liquid Loops

Floris Neusüss

Wounded Galaxies Tap At The Window

As mentioned previously, strange and curious items of mail have been landing on my doorstep and this limited edition release by Cyclobe is no exception. At the end of last month, I reviewed a most curious and extraordinary book of found photographs entitled "Haunted Air" by Ossian Brown. Unbeknown to me at the time of writing, Ossian also composes music in partnership with English musician and author, Stephen Thrower under the guise of Cyclobe. I was completely spellbound by Ossian's photographic oddities and found myself slightly apprehensive opening this particular package, fearing disappointment.

Fortunately, "Wounded Galaxies Tap at the Window" is an unexpected musical delight. The opening track, "How Acla Disappeared from Earth", shimmers in otherworldly unease and mournful loss, acting as a prescient foreshadowing of the musical journey to come. "The Woods Are Alive With The Smell Of His Coming" was originally performed in November 2009 as part of a one day symposium on "Magic, Modernism in British Art" at Tate, St Ives. This striking composition builds with insidious momentum, slowly evolving through a hobbled, mesmeric rhythm, lurching towards a venomous intensity to end in soporific repose. Layers of sound evolve; celestial shards of disembodied chorus beckon, eerie murmurs ripple and cantillate, spiteful creaks and baneful gnarls twist and scamper, while fragments of folk instrumentation weave in and drift out of consciousness. For an all too fleeting moment, this music performs an invocation, bringing the unknown and the unnameable into our collective midst in all its harrowing, compelling and resonant glory. In contrast, the second side of this release appears more restrained, the music starts with a short frenetic folk refrain which dissipates leaving a cold cavernous electronic wasteland. A chilling listlessness takes hold. A slight piano refrain enters, hovering halfway between Giallo underscore and Morton Feldman like minimalism. An androgynous voice starts to intone around a score fluctuating between intense luminosity and uncertain disquiet. This is indeed magical music, with light and dark expertly weaved and balanced. I was apprehensive when I started listening. I still am. This is a wonderful, fearful and magnificent release which I highly recommend.

"Wounded Galaxies Tap at the Window" is out now on Phantomcode. Front cover art by Fred Tomaselli.  

Fred Tomaselli

"Painting has traditionally been seen as a window onto another reality ….. I am interested in the relationship between this myth and the broader culture that contains it."

Precert

Soundtrack avant oddities abound on this new spectral collage by Anworth Kirk and Demdike Stare.

Samhain Slant Azimuth 1 by A Sound Awareness on Mixcloud

Dissolving In The Warmth Of The Sun

Malá Morská Víla

Watching "Malá Morská Víla", the Czechoslovakian film adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" is like being drowned in an intoxicating blend of sub aquatic loneliness and surreal bittersweet enchantment. The film has a dark eerie, dreamlike quality which is enhanced by the wonderful mixture of set design by Ester Krumbachová [who was responsible for much of the visual inventiveness of films such as "Daises" and "Valerie & Her Week Of Wonders"] and a beguiling orchestral/electronic score by composer Zdeněk Liška.  Much of the film is set underwater and there is an overwhelming undercurrent of sadness throughout, especially during the underwater scenes which  are often filmed with a limited colour palette and a haunting use of slow motion cinematography. Director, Karel Kachyňa achieved international recognition for his poetic films of the mid to late sixties but this film is an unsung masterpiece, a veritable treat for both the ears and the eyes.  The film score for "Malá Morská Víla" will be released by Finders Keepers some time in Winter 2010.

Daughters Of Air

The Englishman Who Posted Himself And Other Curious Objects

I like the odd bit of post, indeed, the odder the better. Over the last week or so, quite a few strange and curious items have arrived through my letterbox pertaining to the blog. One of the most interesting of these items, is a book published by Princeton Architectural Press about an eccentric Victorian Englishman who was responsible for sending over thirty two thousand postal curios through the mail in an attempt to challenge and perplex the postal authorities. “The Englishman Who Posted Himself And Other Curious Objects” is a delightful and playful book which documents the life of W. Reginald Bray, a mischievous prankster, who after reading the regulations published by Post Office in 1898 set about testing the limits, patience and problem solving skills of countless postal workers. The book lovingly details Bray’s endless passion for sending unusual and bizarre items through the post ranging from a bowler hat, a turnip, an old bicycle pump to a wide variety of oddly addressed postcards. The book is consistently engaging in both form and content and I was extremely impressed by the exquisite typography, layout and graphic presentation by designer Deb Wood. Throughout the book, Bray comes across like a playful, latter-day conceptual artist, constantly striving to out manoeuvre postal legislation through a consistent application of weird invention and eccentric wit. This is a superb book and highly recommended. My hat is doffed to researcher, John Tingey for writing and curating such a wonderful oddity. 

I am deeply indebted to the publishers, Princeton Architectural Press for supporting the blog by generously sending a review copy.

Rudolph De Harak

Bright White Underground

Varese-Edgard, Iannis Xenakis And Le Corbusier

Martin Bassett and Enzo Ragazzini

Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman

Georges Hugnet

Hippolyte Bayard

Hippolyte Bayard is a little known figure, marginalised by history. Bayard was responsible for the invention of photographic direct positive printing, a process which preceded that of Louis Daguerre. His process involved exposing silver chloride paper to a light source which turned the paper black. The paper was soaked in potassium iodide before being exposed in a camera. After the exposure, it was washed in a bath of hyposulfite of soda and dried. Francois Arago, a sponsor and friend of Louis Daguerre and president of the Academie des Sciences convinced Bayard not to reveal his discovery of the direct positive printing process. Daguerre was then able to present his findings to the public first, thereby gaining the prestige and fame that went along with that designation. Bayard created the first staged photograph entitled, Self Portrait as a Drowned Man. In this image, he pretends to have committed suicide, presumably protesting being written out of the history of photography by political machinations. Bayard wrote on the back of his most notable photograph:

The corpse which you see here is that of M. Bayard, inventor of the

process that has just been shown to you. As far as I know this indefatigable

experimenter has been occupied for about three years with his discovery.

The Government which has been only too generous to Monsieur Daguerre, has said

it can do nothing for Monsieur Bayard, and the poor wretch has drowned himself.

Oh the vagaries of human life....! ... He has been at the morgue for several

days, and no-one has recognized or claimed him. Ladies and gentlemen, you'd

better pass along for fear of offending your sense of smell, for as you can

observe, the face and hands of the gentleman are beginning to decay.