Weekend links 278

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El Hotel Satina (2006) by Oscar Sanmartin.

Andrew Kötting’s By Our Selves is “a melancholy, maverick film” says David Jays. With Toby Jones following in the footsteps of poet John Clare, Iain Sinclair in a goat mask, and Alan Moore warning about the “vision sump” of Northampton.

• “Shunga means ‘spring pictures’. They depict sometimes spectacular sexual contortions and come imbued with the power of taboo. For years they have largely been out of sight—until now.” Related: shunga prints at Ukiyoe Gallery.

• “Who else could link Smokey Robinson and JG Ballard, Iggy Pop and Josephine Baker, James Bond and Stephen Sondheim, Gary Numan and Johnny Cash, Tricky and Tom Moulton…” Grace Jones is the best, says Joe Muggs.

Ballardian space – what he called “inner space” to differentiate it from the science fiction that concerned itself with distant planets and space rockets – is in fact a fusion of inner and outer space. There is no “out there” totally separate from his characters; just as there is no exclusively private, isolated inner life. His most psychologically fulfilled characters look to transcend their physical surroundings, however hostile, by embracing them.

Chris Hall on High-Rise by JG Ballard

• “In March 1984, Jorge Luis Borges began a series of radio ‘dialogues’ with the Argentinian poet and essayist Osvaldo Ferrari, which have now been translated into English for the first time.”

• “I came up with a couple of tunes, literally in my bedroom. People think of bedroom recordings as a modern, laptop invention. It wasn’t.” Daniel Miller on the accidental success of Mute Records.

• “It was in Prague that I first awoke.” Strange Flowers on Gustav Meyrink’s life in Prague.

• At 50 Watts: Stencilled ornament and illustration by William Addison Dwiggins.

• Mix of the week: The Ivy-Strangled Path Vol. X by David Colohan.

Wyrd Daze, Lvl2 Issue 4, is free and brimming with the weird.

Mythology, a new series of drawings by Howard Hardiman.

Spike Jones is the best, says MetaFilter.

Peacocks at National Geographic.

Warm Leatherette (1980) by Grace Jones | Warm Leatherette (1998) by Chicks On Speed | Warm Leatherette (2013) by Foetus

Stone Glory, a film by Jirí Lehovec

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It’s that city again. Stone Glory (1938) is a 10-minute documentary by Jirí Lehovec that’s like a cinematic equivalent of the photos of Karel Plicka. Lehovec shows many of the same streets and buildings as Plicka but has the advantage of motion, and there are several shots taken with the camera mounted on a vehicle driving through the narrow lanes. Glimpses near the end of marching soldiers are an ominous reminder that the Second World War was only a few months away.

Previously on { feuilleton }
The Face of Prague
Josef Sudek
Karel Plicka’s views of Prague

The Face of Prague

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More from the city of the alchemists. I downloaded The Face of Prague (1951 or 59) several years ago but never posted anything here since many of the photos are lacking Karel Plicka’s skill at framing an architectural view. But here’s a selection of shots anyway. The book has text in English and French by Jiri Körber, while the photographs are credited to M. Kucera. As usual with this kind of photography, I favour the moodier images and enclosed spaces.

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Continue reading “The Face of Prague”

Josef Sudek

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Untitled (1967).

A post at MetaFilter about Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896–1976) led to these pictures. After linking to another post about Sudek five years ago I’d subsequently forgotten about him so it was good to be reminded of his work, not least for the views of Prague. Sudek is featured on this page with his contemporary, Karel Plicka, still my favourite of the photographers of that magical city.

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St Vitus Cathedral, Prague (1928).

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Seashell (1953).

Previously on { feuilleton }
Karel Plicka’s views of Prague

The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer, a film by the Brothers Quay

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A busy week here (for a change) so this is a bit of a lazy choice but there is a Wunderkammer present. The Quays made this in 1984 for a Svankmajer documentary, and it’s still one of my favourites: Svankmajer as subject, lots of Prague references, and wonderful music (borrowed from Svankmajer’s own films) by Zdenek Liska. This is also one of the few films you’ll see with animated characters demonstrating some film animation of their own. Watch it here.

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Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The Quay Brothers archive