TheHead / hand-drawn animated short from parquerama on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
27.2.10
17.9.09
That relentless sobbing? It's the parcel numbered seven squared.
In this scene from Thomas Pynchon's 1965 novel The Crying of Lot 49, our hero, Oedipa Maas, has had a bad time of it and decides to go to her shrink, Dr. Hilarius, who had previously attempted to convince her to take part in an experimental program to dose suburban housewives with LSD and other psychedelic drugs. Dr. Hilarius, an eccentric but seemingly harmless man, has apparently succumbed to a fit of paranoia and is wielding a WWII rifle, having shot at six people; Oedipa is locked in his office with him, he has admitted to performing (and attempting to atone for) experiments designed to produce "experimentally-induced insanity" on Jews in Buchenwald, and hapless police have just arrived to take Dr. Hilarius into custody.
Then she saw that Hilarius had left the Gewehr on his desk and was across the room ostensibly trying to open a file cabinet. She picked the rifle up, pointed it at him, and said, "I ought to kill you." She knew he had wanted her to get the weapon.
"Isn't that what you've been sent to do?" He crossed and uncrossed his eyes at her; stuck out his tongue tentatively.
"I came," she said, "hoping you could talk me out of a fantasy."
"Cherish it!" cried Hilarius, fiercely. "What else do any of you have? Hold it tightly by its little tentacle, don't let the Freudians coax it away or the pharmacists poison it out of you. Whatever it is, hold it dear, for when you lose it you go over by that much to the others. You begin to cease to be."
*
Discuss.
12.8.09
Perseus
Perseus Eurymedon, as you may know, was a mythic Greek hero who rescued Andromeda from the sea monster and cut of Medusa's head. For this and other heroic feats, Perseus's name has been ascribed to many things, including an online database of art, archaeology, and translations. He has been represented in painting and sculpture by such notable artists as Dali and Cellini. There are multiple operas celebrating his feats, and authors have been inspired by his myth as well; Melville in Moby Dick calls him the original whaler, and Sylvia Plath has a poem about him.
Perseus was one of the main heroes of Greek myth, and as such is often associated with a saving force of good, sky, or light, and an animating masculine character. The monsters he defeated are dark and of the earth, and often represent the "mysterious" character of female-ness which myth-makers of all eras seemed to have such a hard time dealing with. (In my opinion, there is no more reason to associate females with darkness, the moon, or the earth any more than with donut holes or strappy sandals, but then again my opinion doesn't count since I'm a woman. Har har har.)
Of course, many of us know Perseus through the constellation which bears his name. Its brightest star, Mirfak, is 62 times more luminous than our sun; the best-known star, Algol (from al Ghul, the "ghoul" or "demon star") represents the gorgon Medusa's eye, which was said to turn mortals to stone. The famous Perseid meteor shower takes its name from this constellation, and although the shower peaked early this morning, you can still see meteors streaking through the sky tonight and for the next few nights.
For best viewing, get away from the ambient light of your cities for once. The best times to view the showers will be between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. For those of us here in the East, Perseus will be visible in the northeast and continue to rise to the north as the night progresses.
Get your outdoors gear in order and go! There's no reason whatsoever for you to miss this. How many more meteor showers will you see in your life? Probably not as many as you'd like to think. And, since neither of us have any clue as to whether or not you'll be able to view meteor showers after you die, it's about time that you decided to carpe noctem and go view this dazzling display (which is actually just very shiny, glorified debris hitching a ride in the tail of the comet Swift-Tuttle). Meanwhile, I'm really digging this painting, "Perseus and Andromeda - A Role Inversion" by Christina Neofotistou, and I think you will, too (click for bigger).
Art, stars, monsters and myths. As always, I strive to remain,
Mz. Your-One-Stop-Shop-For-Things-Not-Of-This-Earth
Perseus was one of the main heroes of Greek myth, and as such is often associated with a saving force of good, sky, or light, and an animating masculine character. The monsters he defeated are dark and of the earth, and often represent the "mysterious" character of female-ness which myth-makers of all eras seemed to have such a hard time dealing with. (In my opinion, there is no more reason to associate females with darkness, the moon, or the earth any more than with donut holes or strappy sandals, but then again my opinion doesn't count since I'm a woman. Har har har.)
Of course, many of us know Perseus through the constellation which bears his name. Its brightest star, Mirfak, is 62 times more luminous than our sun; the best-known star, Algol (from al Ghul, the "ghoul" or "demon star") represents the gorgon Medusa's eye, which was said to turn mortals to stone. The famous Perseid meteor shower takes its name from this constellation, and although the shower peaked early this morning, you can still see meteors streaking through the sky tonight and for the next few nights.
For best viewing, get away from the ambient light of your cities for once. The best times to view the showers will be between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. For those of us here in the East, Perseus will be visible in the northeast and continue to rise to the north as the night progresses.
Get your outdoors gear in order and go! There's no reason whatsoever for you to miss this. How many more meteor showers will you see in your life? Probably not as many as you'd like to think. And, since neither of us have any clue as to whether or not you'll be able to view meteor showers after you die, it's about time that you decided to carpe noctem and go view this dazzling display (which is actually just very shiny, glorified debris hitching a ride in the tail of the comet Swift-Tuttle). Meanwhile, I'm really digging this painting, "Perseus and Andromeda - A Role Inversion" by Christina Neofotistou, and I think you will, too (click for bigger).
Art, stars, monsters and myths. As always, I strive to remain,
Mz. Your-One-Stop-Shop-For-Things-Not-Of-This-Earth
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