A journal by artist and designer John Coulthart.
The Arthur schedule is definitely back on course with a new number following promptly on the heels of the last. The Brothers Mael make the cover of this issue and there’s lots more goodness inside. Go thou here for free downloads or a subscription to the paper version.
Pas de Deux (1968).
News of a theatre piece celebrating the creativity of Norman McLaren, the pioneering Scots (and gay) animator and film-maker, had me searching YouTube again for his work. His short film Neighbours (1952) is very well-known, oft-cited and imitated for its pixillated character movement. No surprise to see it there, then, along with other works such as Boogie Doodle (1941), Fiddle Dee Dee (1947), A Phantasy (1952), Blinkety Blank (1955) and several others.
Less well-known is a favourite film of mine which hadn’t been YouTubed last time I looked but which is now there in two parts, Pas de Deux (1968). This is a black and white film of a simple ballet performance transformed by its presentation to yield something that could only exist on film. Careful lighting, an atmospheric score, judicious use of slow motion and the stunning application of optical printing to multiply and mirror the figures makes one of the best ballet films I’ve ever seen; it was also one of McLaren’s personal favourites among his many films. He used slow motion again for two more dance works, Ballet Adagio (1972) and Narcissus (1983), one of his final films which impresses for its overt homoerotics but is less striking than its predecessor. The only version of the latter on YouTube is this scratch version with the visuals set to more recent music.
Narcissus (1983).
The best way to see McLaren’s incredible films is at a decent resolution, of course, and the National Film Board of Canada have made them available on a seven-DVD box set.
The theatre work mentioned above is Norman by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon which is at Macrobert, Stirling, from 17–19 April, 2008 then the Theatre Royal, Brighton from 6–10 May, 2008.
In an improbable act of theatrical alchemy, dancer/choreographer Peter Trosztmer literally inhabits McLaren’s cinematic universe. He dances, weaves, converses and interacts with the animator’s pulsing images and leaping figures, set loose in a riotous ballet of line, light and movement.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Reflections of Narcissus
Myths of the World (1930).
Boris Artzybasheff’s humorous illustrations of anthropomorphic machines have received a lot of attention from Boing Boing recently. But Artzybasheff was a very versatile artist, not a one-trick pony, and his book and other magazine illustration is worth a look as well. These examples are from the indispensable VTS. Some of his early magazine covers brought to light here have a distinct Hannes Bok flavour.
Seven Simeons (1937).
See also:
• Artzybasheff’s Neurotica
• Artzybasheff’s Machinalia
• Another page of illustrations
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive
There’s calligraphy and then there’s fraktur extravaganzas such as this….
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Post one thousand
• Ghubar
• Calligraphy by Mouneer Al-Shaárani
• The Journal of Ottoman Calligraphy
• Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East
Valery photographed by Paul Roberts, discovered following some random browsing at deviantART. More of a direct Flandrin pose than some of the entries posted earlier in this series. Valery is a very cute model and there’s lots more photos of him from this session.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The recurrent pose archive