{ feuilleton }

Weekend links 34

Halloween in Austin, Texas this year will look and sound like this.

• “Blade Runner will prove invincible“: Philip K Dick’s letter of praise to the film’s producers. Related: one of the Blade Runner designers, Syd Mead, has recently styled New York’s Bar Basque and Foodparc.

• “I decided to go into fields where mathematicians would never go because the problems were badly stated…I have played a strange role that none of my students dare to take.” RIP Benoît Mandelbrot.

• Science and poetry: “a richly vexed topic badly in need of rethinking”. Related: Why the Singularity isn’t going to happen.

• In case you missed this week’s earlier announcement, a reminder that I was interviewed at Coilhouse. My vanity: it knows no bounds.

• Franklin Booth’s illustrations for The Flying Islands of the Night (1913) by James Whitcomb Riley.

• On the Verge (1950) by Maurice Sandoz, illustrated by Salvador Dalí. Also this and this.

Bowie Sphinx, 1969. Photo by Brian Ward.

• The Laughing Gnostic: David Bowie and the Occult.

• “Moonlighting as a Conjurer of Chemicals“: Isaac Newton’s alchemical interests.

• “A sense of otherness that goes right back“: Alan Garner at Alderley Edge.

• Jimmy’s End—Alan Moore’s new feature film and spin-off TV series.

• A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain by Owen Hatherley.

• The It Gets Better Project now has a dedicated website.

• Quicksand (1971) by David Bowie.

Forbidden volumes

Forbidden in the sense that these books can’t be bought or borrowed from any library other than Borges’ Library of Babel. The designs are by Julian House and can be seen along with other work “exploring memory as trace and fragment” at the Architect’s Gallery, Teddington, UK, until 20th November. Via Belbury Parish Magazine.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The book covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Strange Attractions
• Strange Attractor Salon
• The Séance at Hobs Lane
• Ghost Box

Laurie Hassold: new sculptures

Fury (2010).

Two new pieces of work by American artist Laurie Hassold which could be abstractions or could be…something else. There’s more at Bert Green Fine Art in Los Angeles, and for now all the pieces are for sale.

Reading the Bones: Post Extinction Fossil Grotto (2010).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Laurie Hassold

Charles Robinson’s King Longbeard

For proof that it’s worth persevering with the eccentric tagging or non-labelling at the Internet Archive, look no further than this tremendous edition of King Longbeard (1898) by Barrington MacGregor which features some astonishing illustrations by Charles Robinson. The illustrator’s name isn’t attached to the book files, I found this by cross-referencing, something I’ve been doing a lot of in order to find other books about design history. I’ve written about Robinson’s work before but I was still taken aback by some of these drawings, a handful of which verge on outright Surrealism. The two monkeys peering at a giant head is one I’ve seen reproduced elsewhere, although I couldn’t say where, so it’s good to be able to find the source at last. I haven’t read through any of the stories so the explanation of that scene remains a mystery. If you want the solution then the book files are here (click the “All files: HTTP” link for the full set).

Continue reading “Charles Robinson’s King Longbeard”

Pavomania

Colour me Mr Popular as I’m interviewed once again, the venue on this occasion being Coilhouse which is a fine place to be featured. My thanks to S. Elizabeth for the indulgence. In the course of our discussion I mentioned The Peacock Obsession, and by coincidence these pages have been receiving links recently from Peacock’s Garden, a site devoted to that ubiquitous fowl. These two pieces can be found there with the Vogue cover being a new one to me. The artist is the great J. Allen St John, better known for his Edgar Rice Burroughs illustrations and distinctive title designs; Golden Age Comic Book Stories has many examples of his work.

This splendid Art Nouveau poster is by Gisbert Combaz (1869–1941) and those who’ve seen my Dodgem Logic cover may recognise the peacock whose outline I rather shamelessly swiped. Combaz’s poster turns up regularly in Art Nouveau histories but his other work is less visible which is a shame, he has a very bold graphic style and I’d love to see more. Lastly, I’ve linked to this before but it’s worth mentioning again, Seasons of the Peacock at Animalarium which also has Combaz’s poster.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The Art Nouveau dance goes on forever
• Dodgem Logic #4