labyrinths – Page 5 – { feuilleton }

Penguin science fiction

The Drought, 1968; design by Richard Hollis, photography by Dr. J Comroe.

James Pardey contacted me earlier this week announcing his site devoted to Penguin Books’ science fiction covers. I posted some of my own dishevelled copies a while back and this news gives me an excuse to throw up another Ballard cover. Pardey’s site is just the kind of thing I enjoy seeing, with a comprehensive collection and detailed notes for each design. The front page is especially good since you can see immediately how the look of the titles evolved, from spare layouts and pictorial covers through to bold graphic design which culminates in David Pelham’s great run as designer during the 1970s. Creative Review posted a talk Pelham gave a couple of years ago which explores his work at Penguin and touches on the covers he did for Ballard. A shame they didn’t do a complete set of Ballard’s titles at the time, I’d have loved to see how he treated the other books.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The book covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Penguin Labyrinths and the Thief’s Journal
• Penguin Surrealism
• Penguin book covers

Junkopia

A curious short film over at Ubuweb by Chris Marker, John Chapman and Frank Simeone, depicting driftwood sculptures at the shore of San Francisco Bay which resemble the remnants of some Ballardian cargo cult. The film was made in 1981 and the sculptures look weathered and dated enough (rainbow stripes; what appears to be a lunar lander) to be products of the early 1970s. The atmospheric soundtrack is reminiscent of Max Eastley’s recordings, some of which use the force of sea-borne winds to generate their sounds.

And while we’re on the subject of Mr Marker, I hadn’t noticed this Marker-related blog before.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Max Eastley’s musical sculptures
• Penguin Labyrinths and the Thief’s Journal
• Short films by Walerian Borowczyk
• Monsieur Chat
• Sans Soleil

Alan Aldridge: The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes

I’ve never been all that keen on Alan Aldridge‘s brand of psychedelic art but it’s worth noting here the (London) Design Museum retrospective which runs from 10 October to 25 January, 2009. Aldridge’s work as a designer and illustrator for Penguin Books in the Sixties impresses me more than his subsequent illustrated Beatles lyrics and The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast (1973), a pair of books which seemed ubiquitous in the 1970s. Flickr has a decent selection of his book covers which included a run of sf paperbacks in 1967. Ballard’s The Wind from Nowhere is the very slight debut novel which the author prefers to forget. Where Ballard in Penguin is concerned, David Pelham’s work a few years later was a far more suitable match.

Seeing Aldridge honoured with a big retrospective make me wonder why Roger Dean hasn’t yet been given the same accolade. Dean for me is by far the better artist in terms of distinctive and memorable imagery; he’s also a better draughtsman and far more imaginative designer (not to mention having always been a speculative architect). I suspect Dean’s reputation is still blighted by his associations with Yes and the general antipathy which that band’s name generates in a certain middle-aged sector of Britain’s cultural commentariat. Ballard’s name was equally blighted in literary circles by his science fiction associations and it was Barcelona, not London, which honoured him with a major exhibition recently. There may be some home-grown reappraisals in the offing but I won’t hold my breath.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The book covers archive
• The illustrators archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Ballard in Barcelona
• The New Love Poetry
• Penguin Labyrinths and the Thief’s Journal
• Penguin designer David Pelham talks
• Barney Bubbles: artist and designer

Exterface

Situla—Fassbinder Homage.

Two samples from a Querelle-themed series based on Fassbinder’s film of Genet’s erotic fantasy. Exterface is Julien and Stéphane in Paris whose luscious, saturated tableaux make them seem a contemporary equivalent of James Bidgood, while the picture below may have been referring to the poster Andy Warhol produced for Querelle.

Via MiamiGlen.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Penguin Labyrinths and the Thief’s Journal
• James Bidgood
• Un Chant d’Amour by Jean Genet

The art of Michiko Hoshino

Library Recollection II (1993).

Artist Michiko Hoshino (born 1934) has produced a number of lithograph portfolios based on the work of Jorge Luis Borges. More inspirations than illustrations, which is no bad thing, with disembodied clock faces and—unsurprisingly—books among the melting textures.

Garden of Borges—Labyrinth (2001).

• A Japanese gallery page
• An American gallery page

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The etching and engraving archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Penguin Labyrinths and the Thief’s Journal