remnants from paradise
music - favourites of 2008- asher & ubeboet - cell memory - wind measure recordings- aidan baker - fragile movements in slow motion - universal tongue- aidan baker - book of nods - beta-lactam ring records- william basinski - the river - 2062- william basinski & richard chartier - untitled 1 - 3 - line- christopher bissonnette - in between words - kranky- james blackshaw - litany of echoes -
he lived in fear that the state of illumination with which he was blest - or with which he was afflicted - might be untimely withdrawn
one night i dreamt that i had made a pact with the devil: he was my servant, and anticipated my every wish... i found myself handing him my violin to see if he might manage some pretty tunes; but imagine my astonishment when i heard a sonata so unusual and so beautiful, performed with such mastery and intelligence, on a level i had never before conceived was possible! i was so overcome that i
Quasi una fantasia
There is music from the nineteenth century, which is so unbearably solemn that it can only be used to introduce waltzes. If it were left as it is, people listening to it would fall into a despair beside which every other musical emotion would pale. All the feeling of great tragedy would surely overwhelm them and they would have to veil their heads with gestures that have fallen out of use since
through naked branches
winter tree, carte postale yes - we are.are simply hereand filled by a slow songwe knew existedthat no ear has ever heard,but that was here before roots took holdand before day emerged from its skin.text by tarjei vesaas, from ved neste skar (the next pass) in lykka for ferdesmenn (wanderer's happiness), 1949title from through naked branches - selected poems of tarjei vesaas, princeton university
signatures, in the regular edition, is now available
invisible birds is deeply honoured to release the very fine disc by mr. colin andrew sheffield entitled signatures, in the regular edition.here, we have posted a nice review:seattle’s colin andrew sheffield has been quietly destroying sound since the late 1990’s. beginning with 1998’s side one/side two, on his own elevator bath imprint – also home to recordings from adam pacione and rick reed,
where love illuminates (and leaves materialism in remnants)
otar iosseliani, aprili (april), 1961lights illuminate, water pours, while footsteps amidst tables and chairs bewilder and confuse, musicians play, doors open and close, only to leave materialism in ruin, and return to one's love.
the voiceless downpour of the stars
...they eloquently proceeded with their task, took up again the lost human cause, and pleaded before the indifferent tribunal of stars, now set in a sky on which the shapes of the instruments floated like water signs or fragments of keys, unfinished lyres or swans, an imitory, thoughtless starry commentary on the margin of music.- text by bruno schulz, from spring - sanatorium under the sign of
thirty-fifth one flew
errol morris - vernon, florida - 1982cinematography by ned burgesslisten to that sound.hear that sound?getting in and out of trees?
of visible secret visions
study for camino real, gouache on paper(blueprint graph), 1967line involvement v, lithograph, 1964enmeshed I, lithograph, 1963... our pounding heart drives us down, deep down to the source of all.what springs from this source, whatever it may be called, dream, idea or phantasy - must be taken seriously only if it unites with the proper creative means to form a work of art.then those dreams
at sea
this invisible art of memory - magic hour number 1 - 2007by matthew swiezynskiplaying at the san francisco cinemathequesunday, december 14 at 7:30pmlocation - yerba buena center for the arts, san francisco(at sea by peter hutton also playing)701 mission street (corner of third)
(broken light) an early appearance heard in the evening
colin andrew sheffield - signatures special edition - invisible birds
tissu léger et transparent
photographs by bolesław okoniewski, "discovered" by him on his 1960s trip to paris france.his three most inspiring art discoveries there (besides the city itself): marcel duchamp, victor hugo, and henri michaux.okoniewski is rumoured to have whispered to his newfound love there "gaze, tissu léger et transparent, de soie, de lin ou de laine, à armure complexe, à fils sinueux. étoffe, robe de gaze
ciaccona, the musical thought
nathan milstein playing the ciacconavarious recordings of j.s. bach's chaconnefrom sonaten und partiten für violine solo (bwv 1004)aka les sonates et partites pour violon seulsonatas and partitas for solo violinsonate e partite per violino solocompleted in cöthen, 1720- nathan milstein - angel records/emi - 1954-1956- joseph szigeti - vanguard classics - (recorded) 1955, (edited) 1962- arthur
a wavering gleam of pointed light
greene & greenefrom a new and native beauty: the art and craft of greene & greeneviewed at the huntington library, art collections, and botanical gardens
a glimmer of vivid light
greene & greene - watercolourfrom a new and native beauty: the art and craft of greene & greeneviewed at the huntington library, art collections, and botanical gardens
transparency, invisible
new acquisitions from arthur de eriomém & gossamerbooks- max ernst collages: the invention of the surrealist universe by werner spies - abrams - 1988- caspar david friedrich: line and transparency - centre culturel du marais j. et m.c./rizzoli - 1985- gego: 1957-1988 - hatje cantz - 2006- gego: between transparency and the invisible - the museum of fine arts, houston - 2007- winslow homer:
movements of a score of leaves & of many sleepers
gemälde der organischen natur in ihrer verbreitung auf der erdehand-coloured lithograph by joseph päringerbased on original work by ferdinand august von ritgen& johann bernhard wilbrandgieson: c.g. müller, 1821several observations and considerations about the nature of cork(mimosa sensitiva, bottom detail)copperplate engraving in micrographiarobert hook, 1665tree of life - transmutation notebook
in honour of olivier messiaen's 100 birthday
colin andrew sheffield's signatures due december 10thin honour of olivier messiaen's 100th birthdayin collaboration with invisiblebirds.org, the art of memory is pleased to announce a new release by colin andrew sheffieldlimited to an edition of 60 examples,which includes a bonus 3 inch cd broken light, a booklet with abstracted photography by tarrl lightowler and text by richard inwards f.r.a.s
with the gentle embrace
dom hans van der laan (dutch monastic architect)schemi per tuniche represe da abiti orientali che testimoniano l'attitudinefrom dom hans van der laan: le opere, gli scritti - electa - 2000for diane
spheres of resonance
there is an ancient indian folk story about the bird called musikar or dipak-lotus which had a beak of seven apertures. through each of these openings the bird was supposed to have been able to blow a different note, and at different seasons of the year it combined these notes into harmony to produce ragas with an "ethos" particular to the hour of the day and season of the year. an egg was
other's face reflected
train abstractions fromakira kurosawa's high and low - 1963cinematography by asakazu nakai & takao saito
later times
Fate had elected him for a special deed.But he then made sure that later times lost all memory of him.- Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March
take me to your cinema
michael powell - peeping tom - 1960cinematography by otto heller("take me to your cinema" a great influence on the young arthur de eriomém, finally revisited as a codger)
those living waves, die one after another, monotonously, but they make no foaming sound
magic-hour & darkness (plus day-for-night) inl'armée des l'ombres - jean-pierre melville - 1969cinematography by pierre lhommethe bird of passage rests on the waves, then abandons himself to their movements, full of proud grace, until the bones of his wings have recovered their accustomed strength and he can continue his aerial pilgrimage..... i want to die lulled by the waves of the stormy
falling the evening of people blurrs cats
images:cat people - val lewton & jacques tourneur - 1942&curse of the cat people - val lewton, gunther von fritsch, robert wise - 1944((for colin & holly))
Labels:
cats,
darkness,
film,
val lewton
enneigé - covered with snow
jean-pierre melville - l'armée des ombres - 1969cinematography - pierre lhommeactor - lino venturafirst post in a series looking at the difference betweenmagic-hour/night-time photography and day-for-nightin melville's l'armée des ombresbased on an amateur's (lover's) view-point(enneigé images - memories of winter nights in harlem, nyc by young gossamer)
berkeley - polish night music
(music found at various libraries around berkeley during a cat-sitting adventure with young gossamer, and other places)- afro cuban all-stars - a toda cuba le gusta - nonesuch - 1997- john adams - shaker loops: II. hymning slews from shaker loops light over water - new albion records - 1994- j.s. bach (philippe herreweghe) - bach: cantatas & masses - emi classics - 2004- ludwig van beethoven (
classify all risks
claude sautet - classe tous risques - 1960novel - josé giovannicinematography - ghislain cloquet
glimpse of the city through glass walls
gustave doré, view after thousands of years(london destroyed)woodcut, 1872 champs-elysées, jardin d'hiversection through the nave, showing fountainca. 1850thierry, lithograph, champs-elysées, jardin d'hiver, ca. 1850victoria regia house, berlin-schönebergengraving (built 1882, destroyed 1907)joseph paxton, engraving of interior regia houseat the great conservatory, 1849(paxton's daughter is shown
un coup de dés
photos taken by the near-unknown polish photographer bolesław okoniewski, taken in the 1950s in the great kraków conservatory of flowers,all images taken of the floor while walking through the space, making sure not to look through the viewfinder, but to be occupied by the plants and flowers instead, and to pay little or no attention to focus and exposure issues. okoniewski certainly deserves
gift of simplicity
all images from documentarythe shakers: hands to work, hearts to god, 1984 *more images here *
monochrome music
listening, new and not new - studies in abstractionnew -- aix em klemm - s/t - kranky - 2000 (via gossamer)collaboration between bobby donne of labradford and adam wiltzie of stars of the lid- asher - instability - leerraum [ ] - 2008....leaves blowing through a snowy landscape, not quite visible....- johann sebastian bach / john holloway - the sonatas and partitas for violin solo - ecm - 2006-
invisible birds research
à la recherche des oiseaux invisiblesby the 19th century french ornithologist m von toufes-moles***the beginnings of a bird section now visible on invisiblebirds.orga growing list of artists pursuing birds,specifically in painting, photography, music, literature, poetry and film,compiled by gossamer & arthur de eriomém
often coupled with land, to express the idea of the whole surface of the earth
riccardo morandiconstruction photo of bridge over lake maracaibo, venezuelafrom - the concrete architecture of riccardo morandi by giorgio boaga & benito boni - praeger - 1966
not quite silence but stillness, in spite of trains (invisible birds)
classic drone series (number 3)2:00 pm (october 22, 1999)sandhill cranes gabbling high aboveinvisible in autumn's blue depthsa pair of crows shout at each otheracross the open fieldsnapping red-winged grasshoppers describea series of brief arcs, from there to theretheir smaller kin lie hiddendiscreetly hissing in the black gramathe lanky stalks tremble and sigha dozen piñon jays stir the
univers du western - the furies
anthony mann - the furies - 1950(landscape photography)cinematography by victor milner *(number 8 of 500 detailing westerns)
and then everything receded from him (invisible birds)
and the sound of the wind died away and then like the murmur of a lullaby or pealing bells rose up again from the depths of ravines and tips of fir trees and a faint reddishness climbed into the deep blue and small clouds drifted by on silver wings and all the mountain peaks, sharp and firm, glinted and gleamed far across the countryside, he would feel something tearing at his chest, he would
flowers appear (invisible birds)
unir ton système nerveaux au mien dans la nuit profonde de la connaissance, 1936the swan is very peaceful, 1920shoot the moon, 1972illustration from répétitions, paul éluard, 1922kleist, brentano, arnim:caspar david friedrich, seelandschaft mit kapuziner1972loplop, supérieur des oiseaux, 1928paramythes, 1967les diamants conjugaux, 1925quelques animaux dont un illettré, 1973l'oiseau dans la forêt,
edrnia plmnei
los angeles, time, castration, infidelity, darkness, humour, violence, poland, rabbits, prostitution, mercenaries, glistening eyes, alleys, distant melodies, death, penderecki, nonsense, trainsounds, scratching, surface sounds, evil, 47, hollywood & vine, blurring, afterimages, liminality
rounds
richard serra - out-of-round VII - 1999(paintstick on hiromi paper)from richard serra: drawings, work comes out of workkunsthaus bregenz - 2008
he was almost forgotten, in fact, within a few years of his death
lake lugano - 1885 + two detailsfrom edward lear as a landscape draughtsman by philip hoferthe belknap press of harvard university - 1967
Labels:
abstraction,
art,
darkness,
edward lear,
trees,
water
irretrievable & irrepeatable
What conclusion can we draw?To invite the gods ruins our relationship with thembut sets history in motion.A life in which the gods are not invited isn't worth living.It will be quieter, but there won't be any stories.And you could suppose that these dangerous invitationswere in fact contrived by the gods themselves,because the gods get bored with men who have no stories.- Roberto Calasso, The
invisible birds (mocking bird)
it is where the great magnolia shoots up its majestic trunk, crowned with evergreen leaves, and decorated with a thousand beautiful flowers, that perfume the air around; where the forests and fields are adorned with blossoms of every hue; where the golden orange ornaments with gardens and groves; where bignonias of various kinds interlace their climbing stems around the white-flowered stuartia,
univers du western - brokeback mountain
ang lee - brokeback mountain - 2005cinematography by rodrigo prieto *(21 grams, amores perros)screenplay - larry mcmurtry and diana ossanamusic - gustavo santaolalla + willie nelson - he was a friend of mine (bob dylan)with:heath ledgerjake gyllenhaalrandy quaid(number 7 of 500 detailing westerns)
the walls are excellent & high & upon an horizontal line
in 1795, when shirley, massachusettes, was a community of 200 shakers living on three thousand acres, an outside observer recorded, "the walls are excellent & high & upon an horizontal line, & as straight as they can be laid."inspired by visionary experiences, the gift drawings bridge the heavenly and the earthly spheres....imaging heaven as a perfectly balanced array of circles, squares, and
Labels:
abstraction,
architecture,
art,
birds,
book collecting,
books,
cosmos,
darkness,
drawing,
dreams,
earth,
invisible birds,
moon,
painting,
religion,
shaker,
trees
the air in the sand
(listening to, new and old)- asher (some works)- bass communion - ghosts on magnetic tape - headphone dust - 2004- eugene carchesio & leighton craig - leaves - naturestrip - 2006 (via gossamer)- loren chasse - the air in the sand - naturestrip - 2005- jonathan coleclough (works)- yannick dauby (works)- miles davis - the miles davis quintet, 1965-68: the complete columbia studio- miles davis - the
a bit like a music of music boxes; stemlets and flowerets
images from the making of the pré by francis pongeuniversity of missouri press - 1979translated by lee fahnestockimage 1 - from book jacketfrom three prints of grasses - buc'hozimage 2 & 3 - a bit like a music of music boxes; stemlets and flowerets - harpsichord cadenza - johann sebastian bachimage 4 - 13 july evening (night of 13 to 14) 3image 5 - first typing, 19 january 1961image 6 - like the
le silence au fond de l’abîme
classic drone (number 2):the work of thomas köner(discography)- *untitled - die stadt - 2007(ds104, john duncan / kontakt der jünglinge / c.m. von hausswolff, includes track montreal solution 1 as kontakt der junglinge, thomas köner & asmus tietchens)- nuuk - mille plateaux - 2004 (cd+dvd)(originally released by big cat as part of driftworks in 1997)(includes roland kentrup & roland spekle -
When I die, the world is in my room.
In November 1966, a day before his 72. birthday, composer, translator and wanderer Juergen von der Wense died in Goettingen, Germany, in an attic filled with 10.000 pages of writings on science, poetry, philosophy and music.Few splinters from it ever reached the public.He lived for his work, always alone, with no academic or artistic consolations, in poverty supported by a few friends and
no. 406296
il disegno del primo brevetto del ferrocementoimage from pier luigi nervi:dai primi brevetti al palazzo delle esposizioni di torino 1917-1948quart verlag - 2008
paris et le daguerréotype
classic books (number 5):paris et le daguerréotype - paris musées - 1989la seine, le quai des orfèvres et notre-dameanonyme - vers 1840-1843fontaine, place de la concordeanonyme - vers 1845toits de parisjean bernard leon foucault - vers 1844
invisible birds (tiny feet extending)
what birds plunge through is not the intimate space in which you see all forms intensified. (out in the open, you would be denied your self, would disappear into that vastness.)space reaches from us and construes the world: to know a tree, in its true element, throw inner space around it, from that pure abundance in you. surround it with restraint. it has no limits. not till it is held in
25 great circles
images from buckminster fuller: starting with the universe -yale university press/whitney museum of american art - 2008(25 great circles & 2 geodesic drawings from the 1960s)
la ville des anges
roseclematis (double)clematislunariathe floral stereoradiographs of albert g. richards *at the museum of jurassic technologyfound while wandering the city of angels with young gossamer
nothing in return
The fulcrum of America is the Plains, half sea half land, a high sun as metal and obdurate as the iron horizon, and a man's job to square the circle.Some men ride on such space, others have to fasten themselves like a tent stake to survive.As I see it Poe dug in and Melville mounted. They are the alternatives.In Moby-Dick, when Ishmael has said all he can say about Ahab, he admits that the larger
univers du western - there will be blood - the influence of marfa on cinema, part 2
landscape images frompaul thomas anderson - there will be blood - 2007cinematography by robert elswit(number 6 of 500 detailing westerns)
an ornament of radiating petals
images from encyclopédie des formes fruitières, "les modes de conduite": un métier, un art, une passion by jacques beccaletto - écoles nationale supérieure du paysage/actes sud - 2001(that resemble the leaflets of a palm - palmette)
univers du western - winchester '73
anthony mann - winchester '73 - 1950james stewart * - lin mcadammillard mitchell * - high spadedan duryea * - waco johnnie deanjay c. flippen * - sgt. wilkesjohn mcintire * - joe lamontwill geer * - wyatt earpcinematography - william h. danielscinematography by william h. daniels *editing by edward curtiss *(number 4 of 500 detailing westerns)((number 5 of 500, anthony mann's the tin star,
before the descent of complete darkness (invisible birds)
törless was still gazing out into the garden. he thought he could hear the rustling of the withered leaves being blown into drifts by the wind. then came the moment of utter stillness which always occurs a little before the descent of complete darkness. the shape of things, which had been sinking ever more deeply into the dusk, and the blurring, dissolving colours of things--for an instant it
invisible birds (the lost estate)
sometimes, for a few steps, my feet are resting on a bank of fine sand. and in the silence, i can hear a bird: i think it's a nightingale, but i must be wrong because they only sing in the evenings... this bird is relentlessly repeating the same phrase: voice of the morning, a recital in the shade, a delicious invitation to a journey between the elms. invisible and obstinate, it seems to be
invisible birds (trees as moons)
behind the quivering reeds stirs the couch of birds-the green is near to black, the silver slightly blue. the tree-trunks are like old wall-stones, the leaves about like shadows(via gossamer)
univers du western (trains in cinema) - night passage
jay c. flippendan duryeajames neilson - night passage - 1957cinematography by william h. daniels *music by dimitri tiomkin *with:james stewart *dan duryea *jay c. flippen *robert j. wilke *jack elam *olive carey *includes some beautiful technicolor photography by william h. daniels(not really a great film, but worth it for the muted, near monochromatic tones)(number 3 of 500 detailing westerns)
four forward drifting down
al reinhart - for all mankind - 1989when the sunlight shines through the blackness of space it's black, but i was in sunlight, and i was able to look at this blackness. i mean, what are you looking at? call it the universe, but it's the infinity of space and the infinity of time. i'm looking at something called space, that has no end, and at time, that has no meaning. you really can focus on
univers du western - 3 godfathers
john ford - 3 godfathers, 1948john wayne - robert marmaduke hightowerpedro armendáriz - pedro 'pete' roca fuerte (as pedro armendariz)harry carey jr. - william kearney (the abilene kid)ward bond - perley 'buck' sweetjane darwell - miss florieguy kibbee - judgeben johnson - posse man #1 (center, both stills)charles halton - oliver lathamhank worden - deputy curlyjack pennick - luke (the conductor)
univers du western - red river
howard hawks - red river, 1948john wayne - thomas dunsonmontgomery clift - matthew garthwalter brennan - 'groot' nadinejohn ireland - cherry valancenoah beery jr. - buster mcgeehank worden - simms reeveschief yowlachie - quoharry carey jr. - dan latimerharry carey - mr. melville(rain)(century trees)cinematography - russell harlan(other films shot by russell harlan)- to kill a mockingbird, 1962 (d
birds, vinyl, drone and graceful degradations
- alio die & saffron wood - corteggiando le messi - hic sunt leones, 2006 (via gossamer)have been listening to many of these alio die discs lately, with gossamer, verging of many types of music: classical, (world & new age), drone and especially the non-music (his trademark water sounds, birds and nature sounds), with elements just barely at the threshold of visibility- asher: intervals - the
Labels:
abstraction,
birds,
drone,
music
paper animals
But in formulating his wish he made an allowance of which even he was barely aware, so that all would not be lost if the sign did not come again: he gave the Lord advance permission not to give a second sign, and even if he did not, that would not mean anything bad.Hugo von Hofmannsthal - Military Story
war is always
The more we get used to being killed, the better we like it.- Private Wilbur Fisk of Vermont
finding pictures in search of sounds
- images from finding pictures in search of sounds, stephen vitiello, limited edition monograph from the museum 52, london exhibitionother notable works by stephen vitiello:- 17:48 from the texas gallery, texas gallery, 2001 (with pauline oliveros)- bright and dusty things, new albion records, 2001 (with pauline oliveros, david tronzo)- buffalo bass delay, hallwalls, 2005 (echoes, trains,
invisible birds (forthcoming)
eugène atgetjosef sudekhenry fox talbotrichard longas if you were the voice that moves up and down the rungs of the world, between earth and sky, never beyond, always in the infinite globe, free but inside it, over there, close at hand, where the silver branches fork, awaiting nothing, fleeing nothing, traveller whom a second's joy, for no reason at all, steals from the journey's movement and
second addendum to the essential cinema
- lindsay anderson: o lucky man!, 1973- paul thomas anderson: there will be blood, 2007- robert benton: the late show, 1977- ingmar bergman: virgin spring, 1960- claude berri: le vieil homme et l'enfant (the two of us), 1967- mary ellen bute: rhythm in light, 1934- nuri bilge ceylan: uzak (distant), 2002- coen brothers: no country for old men, 2007- joseph cornell: carousel animal opera, 1930-
hope
"Mahler is matter-of-fact even in the supreme metaphysical sense, in that he jettisoned the aesthetic illusion of meaningful totality which no longer existed, if indeed it ever did. Mahler, whose uncompromising spirituality separated him from the hedonism of his age, from Debussy and from Strauss and whose mind selflessly strove to conceive of something that goes beyond mere existence - Mahler
heads
More tears are shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.- St. Teresa of Avila Guest entry by Anne Gibbs of THE LOST SOCIETY OF COLLECTORShttp://lostsocietyofcollectors.blogspot.com/
a dream dismissed, as shapeless night, orphaned by immensity
she said, 'the moon is up; and see -how in the height the smoke-shaft gleamsand the shadow glides, uncaught beneath ! -our life resembles, not the smoke,but the shadow flying to its death.'fyodor tyutchev, versions from fyodor tyutchev, oxford university press, 1960the moon, who is caprice itself, looked in through your window as you lay asleep in your cradle, and said: 'this child pleases me.'
trains in cinema, part 4
- woody allen: zelig, 1983- pt anderson: there will be blood, 2007- wes anderson: darjeeling limited, 2007- james benning: rr (railroad), 2007 *- claude berri: le vieil homme et l'enfant (the two of us), 1967- robert bresson: un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou le vent souffle où il veut (man escaped), 1956- robert bresson: pickpocket, 1959- frank capra: mr. smith goes to washington, 1939- frank
friendship
"Friendship cannot be separated from reality any more than the beautiful. It is a miracle, like the beautiful. And the miracle consists simply in the fact that it exists.""The essence of created things is to be intermediaries. They are intermediaries leading from one to the other, and there is no end to this.""…It is necessary to be dead in order to see things in their nakedness."Simone Weil,
marfa, and the west texas landscape in american cinema
images from the coen brother's no country for old men, 2007cinematography by roger deakinsnew series of posts on marfa's influence on american cinemafound here
saints
Josephine's road, however, must go downhill. The time will soon come when her last notes sound and die into silence. She is a small episode in the eternal history of our people, and the people will get over the loss of her. Not that it will be easy for us; how can our gatherings take place in utter silence? Still, were they not silent even when Josephine was present? Was her actual piping notably
blurred layers of sound
classic drone (number 1):colin andrew sheffield, first thus, elevator bath, 2005first thus: the first edition published in the present form. often used to denote a book that was published previously by a different publisher.i'm not sure how i ever let this one escape me the past couple of years. i've always enjoyed colin's previous projects, which are also available on his own fine label,
our house, like a solo performance, proudly resounds amongst the confusion and clamor of the disproportionate piers of the capital
melnikov and his wife next to their future house in moscow, late 1920'sfrom architecture of konstantin melnikov: 1920's-1930's, toto, 2002
between transparency and the invisible - shapes floating weightless upon a grainy surface
untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1961untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1961Untitled (Tamarind 961), gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude
darkness moves
(detail)(detail)m swiezynski - drawings 2006 (mont blanc chopin + water colour)(front & back + 2 details)
les arbres en tout ce ciel part - the trees in all this sky leaves - les arbres dans tout ce ciel laisse - trees in all that heaven allows
douglas sirk: all that heaven allows, 1955
ponies
The midnight, the morning, or the middle of day, Is the same to the miner who labors away. Where the demons of death often come by surprise,One fall of the slate and you're buried alive.Merle Travis - Dark as a dungeon (additional stanza, rarely performed...)
closing doors
Eilidh, Eilidh, Eilidh, heart of me, dear and sweetIn dreams I am hearing the whisper, the sound of your running feetthat like the sea-hoofs beat a music by day and night, Eilidh,On the sands of my heart, my sweet.O sands, of my heart, what wind moans low along thy shadowy shore?Is that the deep seaheart I hear with the dying sob at its core?Each dim lost wave that lapses is like a closing door:'
"...and love, though in a sense it may be admitted to be stronger than death, is by no means so universal and so sure. In fact, love is rare - the love of men. of things, of ideas, the love of perfected skill. For love is the enemy of haste; it takes count of passing days, of men who pass away, of fine art matured slowly in the course of years and doomed in a short time to pass away, too, and be
edvard munch, the flaming sky, like blood
red images from:peter watkins: edvard munch, 1974 (long version)cinematography by odd-geir sætheri saw the flaming skylike blood, like a sword over the fjord and the town (image 35)also, see earlier entry on munch, ending with:i felt as if there were invisible threads between us,i felt as if invisible threads from her hair still twisted themselves around me,and when she completely disappeared
bell-derived drones which resonate peacefully even as they twist and turn
tarrl lightowler: l'eau de vie (forthcoming film)beyond the horizon of visible things - little tunes amid the sound of wind or water, feelings flickering through people.(from robert musil: 5 women)new books & musicmusic:- °sone: passerelle, and/oar, 2008a site-specific sound installation / performance by yannick dauby, christophe havard & hughes germain.if i were forced to bring 10 cds with me to
the perfect mediocrity, no better, no worse
stanley kubrick, the killing, 1956cinematography by lucien ballardwith kola kwariani and sterling hayden
overcome
Nothing, for us, can fill the place of undiminished brightness except the unconscious dark, nothing that of what once we might have been, except the dream that we had never been born.- Adorno, Minima Moralia
m swiezynski - films 2007
new dvd availablerecent films of m swiezynski(includes)1. which he distorted by decorating with images2. intended to be used for making inscriptions in memory3. this invisible art of memory - magic hour number 14. the secret of shadows5. an occult memory systemmusic by a broken consort6. mysterious and invisible - magic hour part 2music by asher7. fludd's memory system8. images of heaven - magic
substitutes
At first sight I really believed that the only reminders in the Piana graveyard of the nature which, we have always hoped, will endure long after our own end, were the artificial purple, mauve, and pink flowers, obviously pressed upon their customers by French undertakers, made of silk or nylon chiffon, of brightly painted porcelain, wire, and metal appearing not so much a sign of enduring
The cuckoo
The cuckoo is a merry bird, she sings as she flies,She brings us good tidings and tells us no lies;She sucks the sweet flowers to make her sing clear,And she never sings "cuckoo" till summer is near.O meeting is a pleasure, but parting a grief,An inconstant lover is worse than a thief;For a thief will but rob you and swear to be true,And the very next moment they'll bring you to the grave.The
toys
"All children talk to their toys. The toys become actors in the great drama of life, reduced in size by the camera obscura of their little brains. The child twists and turns his toy, scratches it, shakes it, bumps it against the walls, throws it on the ground. From time to time he makes it restart its mechanical motions, sometimes in the opposite direction. Its marvelous life comes to a stop. The
robert bresson, olivier messiaen, i listen to my films as i make them
the composer olivier messiaen comes to mind as the closest parallel to bresson in the other arts. a devout catholic, the organist of the trinité in paris, messiaen has always been a radical modernist and a seminal figure in the evolution of modern music (in addition to his compositions, he deserves the credit of teaching stockhausen and boulez). nevertheless, the material of messiaen's art,
robert bresson, murder sequence from l'argent
robert bresson, l'argent, 1983cinematography by pasqualino de santis and emmanuel machuelediting by jean-françois naudonfirst and last frame of each shot from bresson's murder sequence.shot 1.1.16.28 - 1.16.58shot 21.16.59 - 1.17.14shot 31.17.15 - 1.17.25shot 41.17.26 - 1.17.36shot 51.17.37 - 1.17.43shot 61.17.44 - 1.17.45shot 71.17.46 - 1.17.47shot 81.17.48 - 1.17.49shot 91.17.49 - 1.17.56shot
robert bresson, given by the eyes of john cage
radically suppress intentions in your models.*not to use two violins when one is enough.*no intellectual or cerebral mechanism. simply a mechanism.*hide the ideas, but so that people find them. the most importantwill be the most hidden.*all those effects you can get from repitition (of an image, of a sound).*practice the precept: find without seeking.*to translate the invisible wind by the
robert bresson, ingmar bergman, free from all impurities
coffee in mouchettei felt a strong affinity with bernanos' and bresson's mouchette. it's a film i would have liked to have made myself, but which i didn't understand. in mouchette the motif is expressed clearly and explicitly, free from all impurities. the girl in mouchette and the girl in the devil's wanton are sisters, sisters in two similar worlds.but while the devil's wanton is full of
robert bresson, the unsayable
journal d'un curé de campagne 1951, photographed by léonce-henri burelthe domain of cinematography is the domain of the unsayable**(robert bresson from le monde, march 14, 1967 found in robert bresson: a spiritual style in film by joseph cunneen, 2003)
robert bresson, léonce-henri burel, cinematographer
robert bresson, procès de jeanne d'arc 1962opening sequence (single shot, 1 minute 15 seconds)cinematography by léonce-henri burel (1892-1977) *burel worked with directors including abel gance, jacques feyder, jean renoir, and robert bresson.robert bresson & léonce-henri burel:-journal d'un curé de campagne 1951-un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou le vent souffle où il veut 1956-pickpocket 1959-
robert bresson, francis ponge, a correspondingly particular sound
ciment: do you like poets like francis ponge? your films remind one of him, and his le parti pris des choses.bresson: yes. i no longer see ponge, unfortunately, as he has moved to the south. he wrote me some remarkable letters about my films and about cinema. i like his fondness for objects, for inanimate things.*rainin the courtyard where i watch it fallthe rain is coming down in widely varied
robert bresson, and sound
about his use of sound in l'argent, the director thinks that "while music flattens a surface, makes it into an image," sound, on the contrary, "lends space, relief. it arrives and the screen deepens, thus bringing on the third dimension".* the idea is that one must never duplicate an image with a sound ("a sound must never come to the aid of an image, nor an image to the aid of a sound....the
robert bresson, samuel fuller, jean-pierre melville & trains in cinema
train travel in:-samuel fuller's pickup on south street, 1953 (aka pickpocket)-robert bresson's pickpocket, 1959-jean-pierre melville's le samouraï, 1967(all films comprise a certain criminal activity in the underground)abstractions from samuel fuller's pick-up on south street, 1953(dp. joseph macdonald *)moments from robert bresson's pickpocket, 1959(dp. léonce-henri burel)abstractions from
robert bresson, andrei tarkovsky, very few means of expression
while doing roublev i forced myself to be very hard and very dry, tending towards a sort of olympic calm that, for me, is the major quality of the art of directing a film. so i might as well as tell you that i'm very fond of bresson. page 30in paris, i have asked to meet bresson. we have nothing in common, but he's one of the best directors i know. i want to see him, to see his face, to see how
robert bresson, filmography
une femme douce 1969(including cinematography, music and writing)-journal d'un curé de campagne 1951cinematography by léonce-henri burelmusic by jean-jacques grünenwaldfrom the novel by georges bernanos (journal d'un curé de campagne, 1936)screenplay by robert bresson-un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou le vent souffle où il veut 1956cinematography by léonce-henri burelmusic by wolfgang amadeus
robert bresson, léonce-henri burel, jacques becker, ghislain cloquet, sans personnes
robert bresson, un condamné à mort s'est échappé, 1956(kiefer)(beuys)jacques becker, le trou, 1960two prison escape films,(moments without human presence)-robert bresson, un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou le vent souffle où il veut (aka a man escaped), 1956 (dp. léonce-henri burel)-jacques becker, le trou, 1960 (dp. ghislain cloquet, bresson's cinematographer for au hasard balthazar 1966,
robert bresson, pickpocket, our hero through glass
robert bresson, pickpocket, 1959 ("about people standing behind glass doors and looking in" jonas mekas)
robert bresson, jonas mekas, about unfinished playing records
..... a film about diagonals. diagonal angels, diagonal glances. about eyes that never really meet. a film without a single frontal shot. a film about three-quarter spaces. about the sound of closing doors. about the sound of footsteps. about the sound of things. about the sound of water. about shy glances. about unfinished glances. about the sound of glass. about death in our midst. about light
robert bresson, anatomy of a crime (in the manner of a pickpocket)
(lessons in the cafe)(our hero and his accessory)(our hero pickpocketing a watch)(trainstation segment)from robert bresson's pickpocket, 1959"bresson distilled the motion picture narrative down to a particular essence. bresson's movies are looks and gestures and precisely arranged sounds" j hoberman frontispiece from the memoirs of george barrington, 1790see alsor. s. lambert, prince of
robert bresson, georges bernanos, nouvelle histoire de mouchette
the dark west wind, the sea wind, was already scattering the voices in the darkness. it toyed with them a moment and then lifted them all together, dispersing them with an angry roar. the voice which mouchette had just heard hovered in the air a long time, like a dead leaf floating interminably.her secret was not one which could be shared, for it was connected with so many different things. it
the good wound
Among the great tragedies of childhood, De Quincey included that of the little boy's lips forever separated from his sister's kisses. Men with no sisters also share in this tragedy. Gloomy, incessant death of the sister in Munch's paintings. (Without a dead sister, abandoned lifeless at the foot of a distant staircase, a man cannot rediscover in the dark his sister's lips, the good wound happy to
robert bresson, the eye solicited alone makes the ear impatient, the ear solicited alone, makes the eye impatient
(some books related to robert bresson):-robert bresson by rené briot, editions de cerf, 1957-bresson by jean semolue, editions universitaires, 1959-the early work of robert bresson by richard roud, found in film culture, no. 20, 1959-robert bresson by michel estève (#8 in the cinema d'aujourd'hui series), editions sehers, 1962-the films of robert bresson edited by ian cameron, praeger, 1969-the
robert bresson, ghislain cloquet, de l'autre côté du miroir
through glass, au hasard balthazar 1966though glass, mouchette (or, little fly), 1967au hasard, balthazar & mouchette, through glass.cinematography by ghislain cloquet (1924 - 1981), the belgian-born french cinematographer.cloquet studied film at école national de photographie et cinématographie, and idhec (l'institut des hautes études cinématographiques)."for au hasard, balthazar, bresson would
"a place far beneath a man's upper earth"
notecards from charles olson's 1930's master’s thesis, the growth of herman melville, prose writer and poetic thinker, completed in 1933.these cards mainly dealt with melville's reading and marginalia and the "lost five hundred" (melville's books sold to a brooklyn dealer in 1892 by his widow, pursued by olson)."as a young scholar, olson was indefatigable in his research; when he located a volume
in air clear and unseen
henwar rodakiewicz, portrait of a young man: movement 1, 1931etienne-jules marey, studies of air movements, 1901etienne-jules marey, plan incliné, angle de 60 degrés, quatrième et dernière version de la machine à fumée, équipée de 57 canaux (cinémathèque française), 1901etienne-jules marey, from scientific american, 1902etienne-jules mareyfrom notice sur les titres et travaux scientifiques du
asleep in scotland
The Cotard delusion, also known as nihilistic or negation delusion, is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs.Rarely, it can include delusions of immortality.It is named after Jules Cotard (1840–1889), a French neurologist who first described the condition,
then be called ten times a donkey, and a mule, and an ass, and begone, or i’ll clear the world of thee!
classic books (number 4):moby-dick; or, the whale by herman melville, 1851(compiled with great assistance from the famed german librarian, herr t light)such dreary streets! blocks of blackness, not houses, on either hand, and here and there a candle, like a candle moving about in a tomb. at this hour of the night, of the last day of the week, that quarter of the town proved all but deserted. but
all point to that which is now
josef sudek: rembrances series, 1959 josef sudek: sunday afternoon on kolin island, 1924-26there they were, dignified, invisible,moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,in the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,and the bird called, in response tothe unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,and the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roseshad the look of flowers that are looked at.there they were
le magasin de ventre citroën à paris
le magasin de ventre citroën à paris, 1927-29 avec léon émile bazin(détruit 1954)albert laprade: architecte, jardinier, urbaniste,dessinateur, serviteur du patrimoine,norma editions, 2007d'autres livres d'intérêt:-le jardin et la maison arabes au maroc, editions albert levy, 1926-l'exposition de paris, librairie des arts décoratif, 1937-architectures de france à travers les croquis,
where fuzzy edges and hues of color can lead one to wander...
luna-3 soviet moon images, october 7, 1959'it seemed i was observing the earth from the outside. i was in great empty space and saw the planets rolling quietly.'františek kupka*quote from four possible landscapes liner notes, steve roden'i am in the middle of a mass of thousands of very small particles that are brilliantly lit up like they are luminescent. they are bright yellowish green, about
indian melancholia & a knock on the window pane
ali akbar khan(melancholia since 01/2008)(music):-sundaram balachander: magic music of india, 1963 (indian veena player)-sundaram balachander: sounds of the veena, 1967-sundaram balachander: man from madras, 1968-pandit vishwa mohan bhatt: saltanah (with simon shaheen), 1997 (hindustani guitar player [guitar is modified with the addition of several drone strings and eight sympathetic strings and
drifting upward due to a slight increase in the magnetic field
spiraling electronfrom an atlas of typical expansion chamber photographs, 1954by wolfgang gentner, heinzmaier-leibnitz and walther bothefound in the book objectivity, 2007 by lorraine daston and peter galison
it was a scarcely human presence-rather that of a peculiar bat fluttering here in the twilight that rose over the earth
julien gracq: balcony in the forest,1958 (librarie jose corti) & 1959 (george braziller, inc.)jacket design by william and caroline harrishalf dozing already, he listened calmly to the forest growing.(page 106)there was a subtle silence in the blockhouse now, the silence of keen eyes, which weighs less than that of straining ears - it was the silence of a workroom absorbed in delicate needlework.
there is something going on in the sky like a decomposition, like a corruption of the air, which remains as still as ever
john ford: the long voyage home, 1940(dp: gregg toland)the only spot of light in the ship at night was that of the compass-lamps, lighting up the faces of the succeeding helmsmen; for the rest we were lost in the darkness, i walking the poop and the men lying about the decks. they were all so reduced by sickness that no watches could be kept. those who were able to walk remained all the time on
the sea: void, darkness, mysterious, not a sound
the bay of arcachon and lighthouse on cape ferret, 1871seascape by moonlight, 1873-76 (both images from manet and the sea, by juliet wilson-bareau and david degeneryale university press 2003)after sunset i came out on deck again to meet only a still void. the thin, featureless crust of the coast could not be distinguished. the darkness had risen around the ship like a mysterious emanation from
Why were you born when the snow was falling? You should have come to the cuckoo's calling Or when grapes are green in the cluster, Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster For their far off flying From summer dying. Why did you die when the lambs were cropping? You should have died at the apples' dropping, When the grasshopper comes to trouble, And the wheat-fields are sodden
of bees, bells, and glass skies
františek vláčil: údolí včel (valley of the bees), 1967a few fragments from a film where the visuals are easily the most breathtaking elements and moments of sound seem to echo bell tones, reminding me somehow of the beautiful percussive drones found in the work of zürich-based sound artist, jason kahn......and a humbly recorded bell tone excerpt (looped) from this film can be downloaded here.((
coordinates what is heard and what is seen
leighton pierce: my person in the water, 2006pierce was a musician before he was a filmmaker. he made musique concrete and became attracted to film in part because "there was this problem with musique concrete; once you've constructed this music electronically on tape, what do you do at a concert? it's very awkward sitting in an auditorium listening to a tape". once he began to work with
waters are black and swirling.....
around me: i stand on the shorethe waters are black and swirling.....our eyes so fixedthat the darkness surrounds usunnoticedand we are drowned by the loss of lightunnoticeddavid tibet......he suffers this anguish and abandonment inthe horror of the night.....blaise pascal, penseeswhat shadows we are, and what shadows we pursueedmund burke, 1780(from the sleeve notes of the inmost light by
14 words whose enunciation lasted 5 seconds
classic books (number 3):exercises de style by raymond queneau, editions gallimard 1947 (1958 translation by barbara wright)in a bus of the s-line, 10 metres long, 3 wide, 6 high, at 3 km. 600 m. from its starting point, loaded with 48 people, at 12.17 pm., a person of the masculine sex aged 27 years 3 months and 8 days, 1 m. 72 cm. tall and weight 65 kg. and wearing a hat 35 cm. in height round
a bird falls, the grass grows dark
john james audubon, snowy owlwhat sustains it, half-open, the clarity of nightfall, the light let loose in the gardens?all the branches, conquered by the weight of birds, lean toward the darkness.pure, self-absorbed moments still gleam on the fences.receiving night, the groves become hushed fountains.a bird falls, the grass grows dark, edges blur, lime is black, the world is less credible.octavio
we live, as we dream - alone...
victor hugo, the vision ship 1864-65(images contributed by gossamer)we penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. it was very quiet there. at night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day.the offing was barred by a black bank of clouds,
for some men live in darkness
closing sequence fromgeorg wilhelm pabst's the three penny opera, 1931music by kurt weill from the play by bertolt brechtcinematography by fritz arno wagnerrelated business:(cds):-lotte lenya sings kurt weill's the seven deadly sins & berlin theatre songs(lenya's 1957 recordings of sins and 1955 recording sings berlin theatre songs)-lotte lenya sings weill, the american theatre songs (recorded in
a deep grave surely
"The stillness was that of a deep grave, save for the raindrops, falling light as thistledown, with a faint, monotonous sound like a whisper that dies and begins again and dies there behind the wet, glistening trunks."~J. P. Jacobsen, Marie Grubbe, 1876
angelic language has nothing in common with human language,
classic books (number 2):imagining language: an anthology, edited by jed jasula and steve mccaffery, mit press 1998includes:-richard head and francis kirkman: canting vocabulary, 1665 (compact lexicon of rogue idiolect)-robert desnos: rrose sélavy, etc., 1923-john dee and edward kelley: enochian table, 1581-1589 & the enocian call, 1581-1589-emanuel swedenborg: the angelic language, 1768 (blog
...songs are sung
some new items:-edvard munch: the complete graphic works by gerd woll (harry n. abrams 2001)-joseph cornell and the ballet by sandra leonard starr (castelli feigen corcoran 1983)-joseph cornell by diane waldman (george braziller 1977)-george de la tour by jacques thuillier and fabia claris (flammarion 1993)-anni albers: pictorial weavings (mit 1959)-austerlitz by w.g. sebald-the shadow-line: a
it does not permit itself to be read (interval of a glance)
david lean: oliver twist, 1948, dp: guy greenas the night deepened, so deepened to me the interest of the scene; for not only did the general character of the crowd materially alter (its gentler features retiring in the gradual withdrawal of the more orderly portion of the people, and its harsher ones coming out into bolder relief, as the late hour brought forth every species of infamy from its
Darwin, who was born into a large family that for two generations had been scientists, engineers, industrialists, and well-to-do landowners, and yet who, despite his genius, was a sufferer of neuroses, constant illnesses (he vomited every afternoon at four), a kind of hysteria that took the form of gasping and palpitation, and seizures of depression in which he wept uncontrollably.- Guy
normalcaffeineLSDmescaline1)"Nourished on the blood of a schizophrenic, a spider weaves crazy webs."-Guido Ceronetti, The Silence of the Body2)During the 1950s, a swiss pharmacologist named Peter Witt conducted a set of experiments in spider doping. He found that the spiders spun uniquely cockeyed webs depending on which substance they had ingested.-images and Peter Witt information from the
there amid murmurs, insinuations, visual thunder
stéphane mallarmé, photograph by félix nadarit seemed to me that i was looking at the form and patterns of a thought, placed for the first time in finite space. here space itself truly spoke, dreamed, and gave birth to temporal forms. expectancy, doubt, consternation, all were visible things.... there amid murmurs, insinuations, visual thunder, a whole spiritual tempest carried page by page to
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