David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


08 November 2014

Skeletons Fighting Over a Pickled Herring - James Ensor, 1891

        
This recent Art Blart address to the jury of TAR - Theatre of the Actors of Regard - wickedly tickled our fancy :

review: ‘crossing paths with vivian maier’ at the centre for contemporary photography (ccp), fitzroy, melbourne

"There is also little mystery in her photographs which is probably why they don’t rise to that next level: look at the photograph of the two men staring at a length of hose on the ground on a rainy street in NY. The hose just sits there, the men are caught mid-gesture… and that’s it."

- full review here

       
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06 November 2014

Natasha Dusenjko

        
BABEL
Melbourne 2009
      



NEW FORMS
Counihan Gallery until 9 Nov ...
    


       
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03 November 2014

Primal. Screen. Therapy.


News and views from the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne
          

  
Integrate. Submit. Disappear.
       

     
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News and views from 
Fosterville Institute of Applied & Progressive Cultural Experience
            
    
              
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01 November 2014

bLOTTER de bLOGOS/HA HA

                   


This _____ is from our Rouen bureau.
What does it blot, this _____
                                      Blots of what?
Ceci n'est pas un buvard... 
Oh yes, of course. 
                                      Does this _____ absorb, or reflect perhaps, the excess of appearance?
    

        
How did the Rouen bureau acquire this_____?
One of them is a client of Guy, the master clothier.
Then this _____is an advertisement of sorts. 
                                      A rebus...
                                               And...
               

        
An ink blotter...
                                      A mind blotter!!!?
        

        
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30 October 2014

Signs for Signs Of Every Description

   
L'Enseigne de Gersaint, or "The Shop Sign of Gersaint", (1720-21) is a painting by Jean-Antoine Watteau, which is considered to be his last masterpiece. It was painted as a shop sign for the marchand-mercier, or art dealer, Edme François Gersaint. 
- Wikipedia : here


        
In 1985, your correspondent stayed a long while in front of this picture at the Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin.
        

    
As the packers box away a sign of the passing régime, a fashionable [ fickle ) young couple enter the Gersaint image store. Madame pauses at the grave but Monsieur stretches out his hand to hurry her to the new, un nu.


  
Fashionable friends are already there, closely examining une scène de nombreuses nus commended to them by an assistant of Gersaint.

M & Mme Gersaint are themselves showing another couple another well-presented something. Perhaps un intime nu for their private chambers, or a splendid mirror, even.


   
Outside, as we depart, a street dog bites at a flea. 

.  .  .  .

What brought the L'Enseigne de Gersaint to mind again was the recent acquisition, by one of our hot metal setters, of this large abbreviated enamel meta-sign for Signs Of Every Description.


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27 October 2014

stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion > stop > motion >


digital mini-cine 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 digital mini-cine 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 digital mini-cine 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 digital mini-cine 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0

Dean Kittelty  almost  Seals The Deal  
Yes, we are fans : yet another great Cyclic Existance production from Kittelty's Auction Rooms, Ballarat.
      
    
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someone looks at something ... 

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22 October 2014

History of Emotions Lecture 2014


Tonight at the University of Queensland University
    
History of Emotions Lecture 2014  
A Privileged Profession: Artists and Melancholia

Laurinda S. Dixon
Professor of Art History : Syracuse University, New York

            
Promotions for this lecture have featured a 1674 Double self-portrait by Carlo Dolci :
    

   
We were not aware of Carlo Dolci, but this
Double self-portrait  brought to mind the 1640 Salvatore Rosa self-portrait with text (Aut tace, Aut Loquere meliora silentio/ Do not speak unless your words are better than silence) in the National Gallery, London. A severe, favorite work.
         
A 1647 self-portrait by Rosa shows him (as Dolci will later picture himself, above) with pen in hand and another timely inscription :


After further research, we now believe this may be a later version of the 1647 painting. Possibly by Rosa or by one of his assistants. It may be better attributed as 'from the studio of Salvatore Rosa' or 'School of Salvatore Rosa'.
       
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