Keramic Studio

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A recent addition to the Internet Archive, Keramic Studio was a monthly American ceramics magazine whose first number dates from May, 1899. If you’re like I am these days, and always looking out for new sources of period design, this is a useful title for the large number of decoration templates. The examples here from the first bound collection are designs based on older decorative styles by Adelaide Alsop-Robineau and Ann B. Leonard. Almost all the contributors to the early issues are women, ceramics (and decorative art in general) being one of the few areas in 1900 where women were allowed to indulge their creativity. Collections of the magazine up to the year 1918 may be browsed or downloaded here.

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Light Leaks

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A scattered array of fifty mirror balls reflect light from three projectors, filling a room completely with small reflections, casting patterns that fill the visitor’s peripheral vision. Creating a curious space that alternates between a meditative state, and an uneasy imbalance. An experiment in combining a found object with computer vision to create a profound and unusual experience.

I’ve always liked mirror balls so Kyle McDonald’s combination of the traditional mirror-ball effect (multiplied fifty times) with three-dimensional computer mapping has an obvious appeal. The pictures here link to a small promo video. I’d love to see this in situ; I also wonder what it might look like in a mirrored room like those created by Yayoi Kusama. There’s more at Wired where McDonald discusses the technical aspects.

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Previously on { feuilleton }
Infinite reflections

Design as virus 17: Boris and Roger Dean

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The compact disc for Flood (2000) by Boris.

The music of Japanese heavy rock trio Boris has been soundtracking the past few days hence this addition to an occasional series which has already seen the band mentioned once before. It’s common for rock groups at the heavier end of the spectrum to find a visual identity which is maintained across all releases. Boris have never been interested in this kind of consistency; not only do the band vary their appearance for group shots but their music, and the packaging which attends it, explores a variety of different styles. The album cover which featured in an earlier post was a careful copy of the sleeve for Nick Drake’s second album Bryter Layter. All the releases featured here play with Roger Dean’s graphic style of the early 1970s. All art and design credits are given to the band’s own label, Fangs Anal Satan, so we’ll have to assume that it’s a member of the band responsible for the design and illustration.

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Logo for rock group Budgie by Roger Dean, 1973.

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Flood CD insert.

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A label design from 2006 based on Roger Dean’s first Virgin Records logo.

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Virgin Records label by Roger Dean, 1973.

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Walrus/Groon (2007).

The most elaborate Roger Dean pastiche is this 12-inch single, a collaboration with Japanese noise man Merzbow. On the A-side the band play a version of I Am The Walrus while Merzbow makes noises in the background; the B-side is named after a King Crimson track but the racket everyone makes sounds little like the original. The sleeve is a gatefold affair based on Dean’s design for Close To The Edge (1972) by Yes, complete with handwritten credits and Dean-like painting in the interior. The vinyl disc came in a variety of coloured formats and used the imitation Virgin label. In all, a very collectable item.

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Previously on { feuilleton }
Design as virus 16: Prisms
Design as virus 15: David Pelham’s Clockwork Orange
Design as virus 14: Curse of the Dead
Design as virus 13: Tsunehisa Kimura
Design as virus 12: Barney’s faces
Roger Dean: artist and designer
Design as virus 11: Burne Hogarth
Design as virus 10: Victor Moscoso
Design as virus 9: Mondrian fashions
Design as virus 8: Keep Calm and Carry On
Design as virus 7: eyes and triangles
Design as virus 6: Cassandre
Design as virus 5: Gideon Glaser
Design as virus 4: Metamorphoses
Design as virus 3: the sincerest form of flattery
Design as virus 2: album covers
Design as virus 1: Victorian borders

Mati Klarwein book covers

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The World’s Desire (1972) by H. Rider Haggard & Andrew Lang. Painting: Astral Body Asleep (1968).

The use of Mati Klarwein’s paintings on album covers is well documented, the official Klarwein site has a small section devoted to some of the covers. Less well-known are these book covers which were evidently the product of a brief enthusiasm for Klarwein’s work in the Ballantine Books’ art department. As with many of the album covers, these are all pre-existing paintings which have been cropped for use as cover art.

The most surprising example is the cover for The Alien Condition with its detail from Annunciation, a painting better known for its appearance on Abraxas (1970), a very successful Santana album. Given how visible that cover art would have been in 1973 you have to suspect that the painting’s use as a book cover was a deliberate bid to attract a youthful readership. All these titles are works of science fiction or fantasy; I don’t recall having seen a Klarwein cover for any non-genre titles. If anyone knows of an example then please leave a comment. (Thanks to Jay for the tip!)

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With a Finger in My I (1972) by David Gerrold. Painting: Blessing (1965).

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The Alien Condition (1973) edited by Stephen Goldin. Painting: Annunciation (1961).

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Two Views of Wonder (1973) edited by Thomas N. Scortia & Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Painting: Unknown.

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Arrive at Easterwine: The Autobiography of a Ktistec Machine (1973) by RA Lafferty. Painting: Nativity (1961).

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The book covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
The art of Mati Klarwein, 1932–2002