Travel Between The Pages

Year of the Mask

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

“Beyond Noh” by Patrick Smith is a mesmerizing trip through thousands of mask from around the world, including the now ubiquitous Covid-19 protective devices. The vivid images span dozens of cultures and time periods and shift from one to the next with the beat of a drum.

A life-long mask enthusiast, Smith photographed a majority of the works from museum archives, galleries, and his own collection, with the remaining segment submitted by people around the world.

“Beyond Noh” is screening at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Stuttgart Animation Festival, Florida Film Festival, and Mecal Barcelona Animation Festival. Watch an excerpt below, and stream the full film on Smith’s YouTube channel .

Posted in Africa, Animation, Art, Asia, Europe, Film, Museums, South America | Tagged Day of the Dead, Japan, Mexico | 1 Comment

Biblio-archeology

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Art, Books | Tagged Cartoons, Comics | 4 Comments

After Walter Crane

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

One of the many joys of publishing Travel Between The Pages has been the opportunity to connect with so many followers over the years and to be continually educated by them. A few days back, I posted some interesting historic bookplates that included one with the quote “nach Walter Crane” or after Walter Crane. While I paid little attention to that inscription, perspicacious reader Elaine B. from Ontario noted the significance and sent me a link to the 1882 book Household Stories From The Collection of The Bros. GRIMM: Translated by Lucy Crane and Illustrated by Walter Crane. She also pointed out that in her humble opinion Walter Crane was the finest British book illustrator of the late 19th century.

Posted in Art, Books, Europe | Tagged book illustration, Brothers Grimm, Fairy tale | 3 Comments

Here She Comes

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Books, Writing | Tagged Poetry, Spring | Leave a comment

Will the museum deserve an Oscar

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Film lovers won’t be able to visit in-person until the doors open to the public on September 30, 2021, but new the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures programming will soon be available online. The pre-opening program includes a screening of Y tu mamá también to a celebrate the partnership between cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and writer-director Alfonso Cuarón, as well as a screening of the groundbreaking coming-out story Pariah, with a discussion that includes writer/director Dee Rees. Other virtual conversations will feature Spike Lee, Oscar-winning musician and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, and one on the intersection between filmmaking and social change.

Not just a temple for cinema culture, the museum intends to directly address controversies like #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite. While film fans await the forthcoming Los Angeles institution—with a campus designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, that includes a restoration of the historic Saban Building along with a spherical 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater addition—the online experiences (which start April 22nd with an all-women panel titled Breaking the Oscars Ceiling) will lay further foundation of expectation. See more at the Academy Museum website.

Posted in Animation, Architecture, Art, Film, History, Museums, Tourism, USA | Tagged California, Cinema, Los Angeles | 1 Comment

Rocky Mountain Highs

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

One of my favorite aspects of travel in mountainous regions such as the Colorado Rocky Mountains is the opportunity to see the glories of the night sky without light and air pollution. Naturally, I love the astonishing timelapse below created by filmmakers Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinović of Sun Chaser Pictures . The gorgeous timelapse was made of the brilliant night skies over Wet Mountain Valley in the south-central part of Colorado. The altitude of this area is just under 1½ miles. The location is part of the Dark Sky Project.

Imagine if you could see the Milky Way from your front porch? If you live in the Wet Mountain Valley of Colorado, you can. The valley is home to Westcliffe and Silver Cliff International Dark-Sky Association Dark Sky Communities, where night sky quality is shielded from excessive light pollution through various measures taken by the citizens and the local authorities. While Wet Mountain Valley is known for the spectacular snowy mountains many visit during the day, the views are even more stunning at night.

Posted in Film, Photography, Tourism, USA | Tagged Colorado, Rocky Mountains, Timelapse | Leave a comment

The Libraries Are Appreciated

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The Libraries Are Appreciated, Jacob Lawrence
From the Harlem series, No. 28
The Harlem Branch Library of the New York Public Library at 9 West 124th Street

Posted in Art, Libraries, USA | Tagged American artists, Harlem, Jacob Lawrence, New York City | Leave a comment

in America when the sun goes down

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Last Friday would have been Jack Kerouac’s 99th birthday. One of the online commemorations linked to this extraordinary clip from a 1959 television appearance on the Steve Allen Show. Kerouac reads from On the Road while Allen plays some bluesy jazz lines beneath him. The appearance was to promote an album that Kerouac and Allen had just released, called Poetry for the Beat Generation. It also seems to be one of the few film clips of the Beat icon reading his own work.

Posted in Books, Film, History, USA, Writing | Tagged Beats, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Steve Allen | Leave a comment

Ex-Libris

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

As a book seller and collector, I have always been ambivalent when it comes to bookplates. The artistry and clever design cannot be denied, however the glued in place bookplates permanently damage and deface the book.