No, you are not looking at concrete versions of Japanese Mecha. These images are from the “Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria”, an architectural cubist wonder built in 1981 to commemorate the First Bulgarian Empire, established in 681 CE. This curiously strange monument was built in Shuman, a town located in northeast Bulgaria. More information (and source of pics) can be found here.
Mikhail Bulgakov’s political-satire-as-surrealist-fantasy novel, The Master and Margarita, has served as the inspiration for cover art nearly as inspired and brilliant as the book itself…
Gunta Stölzl was the only female of importance at iconographic design entity, the Bauhaus. She was a peer to Mies Van Der Rohe (and was in fact, nearly fired by Van Der Rohe), Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee. Stölzl was a textile artist who is credited with developing the Bauhaus’ weaving workshop; her designs incorporated Bauhaus principles (clean, modern lines) and today, rugs and tapestries are reproduced using these designs. Stölzl died in 1983 at age 86.
Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark is quite simply, the most technically impressive film in the history of cinema. This movie is a beautiful tour of the Hermitage museum (which was previously the Winter Palace during Czarist times, a running theme in Russian Ark) in St. Petersburg with a wistful ghost and a 19th Century French Marquis as your tour guides. The costumes and lighting are magnificent and the overall atmosphere is at once gorgeous, spooky, and mysterious, much like Mother Russia herself.
The entire movie is available on YouTube (albeit divided into ten or so clips, not the most ideal way of viewing Russian Ark). Here is Part 1, with the following Parts easily attainable…
Forget the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, and Vysehrad Castle—-Prague’s most impressive achievement exists below its famed architectural landmarks. Way below. The Prague Metro is a fifty-seven station, three-line subway system with most stations boasting a artistic theme (here,”theme” refers to a repeating pattern of motifs, not Disney-style reproductions). The Metro system began construction in the 1960′s under Communist rule and shares a similar ideological agenda as Moscow’s famed underground—to exalt the achievements of The People. Unlike typical Communist architecture and design, the Metro is colorful, sleek, visually stimulating, and a joy to behold:
Russian architect/designer Fydor Shekhtel completed the Ryabushinsky Mansion for businessman Stepan Ryabushinsky in 1900. As you can see from the following photos, the interior is as modern and stylish today as it was 110 years ago. Now a museum (usually referred to as the Gorky House due to Maxim Gorky’s brief residence there from 1931-1936), Ryabushinsky Mansion is one of the great examples in the world of Art Nouveau architecture. Surrealist swirls intermingle with clean lines, beautiful stained glass windows and mosaics display extraordinary details, and a fluid staircase appears to have a life of its own.
All images from Moscow Art Nouveau, Kathleen Burton Murrell, Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, 1997.
UPDATE: Congratulations to WordPress blogger kiwidutch, who correctly identified both the painting and album cover per contest rules (kudos for also mentioning Joy Division in your answer, kiwidutch) . The painting is “Basket of Roses” (1890) by Henri Jean Fantin-Latour and the artwork was slightly modified by Peter Saville for New Order’s second album, Power, Corruption & Lies (1983).
It’s time for TWIRFMR’s second contest give-a-way! The challenge this time around is simple (or is it?)—identify the famous painting below AND the landmark album that reproduced the painting as cover art. First to answer correctly wins a FREE PIZZA DELIVERY!!!* Submit your answer as a comment to this post. What in God’s name are you waiting for, a free pizza is riding on this! Hurry!
*Value of pizza delivery not to exceed $25 USD. Once a winner is declared, arrangements for reimbursement will be detailed via email.
The Representative from Corwood is now sixty-two albums into his thirty-two year career as “Jandek”, one of most mysterious and cryptic personalities in modern music history. Jandek’s album covers are as weirdly fascinating as his music and both go hand-in-hand towards the myths built around the enigmatic musician (the covers alone are studied more closely than Zapruder’s film). This post is as much as a tribute to those album covers as it is a praising of tisue.net, the most comprehensive, well-written Jandek website available. Jandek’s music is admittedly, not for everyone. However, it’s worth taking the time to investigate tisue.net‘s unbelievably thorough (a true feat, considering the artist we’re dealing with here) descriptions of Jandek’s discography, concerts, etc.
Immerse yourself in the esoteric wonder known as Jandek…
Click image to enlarge:
Ryan Mrozowski is a Brooklyn based painter with extraordinary skill and vision. Mrozowski’s style is a curious mixture of folk art, surrealism, and a touch of science fiction. The imagery is unique and unexpected and the artist’s colors are confoundedly both muted and vivd at the same time . Visit Ryan Mrozowski’s site to see more of his work.
Artist Cindy Sherman has been photographing herself in character for over thirty years. Sherman utilizes wigs, makeup, and even prosthetics to fully immerse herself in the part. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes grotesque, Sherman has portrayed a wide spectrum of women (and a few men). Her body of work can be divided into several phases:
From 1977 to 1980, Sherman created a series of black and white photographs influenced by late 50′s/early 60′s female archetypes. Called “Untitled Film Stills”, these pictures are considered by many to be Sherman’s most masterful collection.
“Rear Screen Projections” (1980-1981) found Sherman posing in front of projected backgrounds, creating a noir, almost surreal atmosphere :
Sherman’s next phase, “Disasters and Fairy Tales” (1985-1989) evoked a somewhat sinister tone. Sherman has said of her more disturbing images, “it prepares you psychically for the potential for violence in your own life. Or your own death. I think it’s also a way to be removed enough from it to even laugh at it. It just further prepares you for something that you don’t look forward to having to experience.”
In “History Portraits” (1988-1990), Sherman was inspired by the Great Masters (sometimes referencing specific works of art, but usually mixing general elements of iconic paintings).
Sherman’s “Sex Pictures” (1992) represented a radical departure for the artist; she does not appear in any of the pictures and is replaced by anatomically correct, crudely positioned mannequins.
1994-1996 are known as Sherman’s “Horror” phase. In 1997, Sherman continued her fascination with horror—she directed the film “Office Killer”, a bloody satire that was both a box office bomb and a critical failure.
From 2003-3004, Sherman utilized the clown motif, capturing the garish, often bizarre wigs, costumes, and make-up of clown culture.
Sherman’s most recent work, 2008′s series of photos featuring well-to-do women posing for the camera in upscale settings. This period was the artist’s return in front of the camera.
Cindy Sherman refuses to describe her photographs as “self-portraits”. Rightly so, as the images she creates are not reflections of herself so much as they cultural barometers. Her work has been described as feminist, misogynistic, superficial, complex, underrated, and overrated. To put it plainly, Sherman isn’t her own muse—you are.
