cephalopods – Page 8 – { feuilleton }

Strange Attractions

Giant Squid of the Newfoundland Banks. From a painting by Herbert B Judy.

Today’s Giant Squid comes to you courtesy of the University of Washington’s Digital Collection and their Freshwater and Marine Image Bank. This book plate is from Sea-shore Life; The Invertebrates of the New York Coast and the Adjacent Coast Region (1905) by Alfred Goldsborough Mayor, and the Internet Archive happens to have copies of the entire book.

Which facts have nothing whatsoever to do with Ken Hollings’ photos of the Strange Attractor Salon which is in its final week at Viktor Wynd Fine Art, London. I was pleased to see the picture above which shows my pieces on the same wall as work by Julian House whose covers for the Ghost Box CDs I’ve enthused over in the past. Strange Attractor curator Mark Pilkington has posted further photos on his Flickr pages as has artist Ali Hutchinson whose beautiful work is also featured there.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Strange Attractor Salon
• Readouts
• Welcome to Mars
• The Séance at Hobs Lane
• SAJ again
• Strange Attractor Journal Three
• Ghost Box
• The Major Arcana

Sinister silhouettes

One of a series of creepy children’s illustrations by Alexander Ovchinnikov which look like the work of pioneering animator Lotte Reiniger pushed into a darker world. Ovchinnikov’s Behance portfolio has a similar set mixing silhouettes with photography.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive

William Burroughs’s Stuff

Some of it, anyway. This bullet grasshopper was owned by William Burroughs and photographed by Peter Ross as part of a series presenting some of the writer’s possessions. No clues as to who constructed this but I like the way it combines two of Burroughs’ persistent interests, insects and weapons. Via Coudal.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Jewelled butterflies and cephalopods
• William S Burroughs: A Man Within
• Geoffrey Haberman’s brass insects
• Elizabeth Goluch’s precious metal insects
• Kelly McCallum’s insect art
• The art of Jo Whaley
• The art of Philippe Wolfers, 1858–1929
• Lalique’s dragonflies
• Lucien Gaillard

Jewelled butterflies and cephalopods

Above: gold, silver & enamel butterfly and squid, both by John Paul Miller. More at this Flickr page.

Below: Tintenfisch und Schmetterling (Octopus and Butterfly; 1900) by Wilhelm Lucas von Cranach, a master jeweller who liked his octopuses.

Tips by Chateau Thombeau and Fine & Dandy (NSFW).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Geoffrey Haberman’s brass insects
• Elizabeth Goluch’s precious metal insects
• Kelly McCallum’s insect art
• The art of Jo Whaley
• The art of Philippe Wolfers, 1858–1929
• Lalique’s dragonflies
• Lucien Gaillard

Fillmore sealife

Country Joe & the Fish by Wilfred Weisser (1968).

A pair of sea-themed psychedelic posters from a small collection here. Most of the examples are familiar faces but these two stood out for me, especially the octopus one by Wilfred Weisser which I hadn’t seen before. The figures in Bob Fried‘s poster below look like they may have been borrowed from Walter Crane or a later Victorian illustrator.

Update: For the record, Bob Fried’s figures are indeed by Crane, an illustration for Spenser’s Faerie Queene from The Studio magazine, 1896.

Canned Heat by Bob Fried (1967).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Max (The Birdman) Ernst
• Taking Woodstock
• Dutch psychedelia
• Family Dog postcards
• Octopulps