Of course mindless violence is never an alternative, but sometimes you just want to kick some smarmy asshole in the nuts. Like a Trump supporter for example, or that moron that you never met who keeps commenting on your Facebook posts. Still, I’m deeply ashamed to have gotten so many laughs from the new Mindless Violence Colouring Book. Brought to you by the folks behind Modern Toss comics, who deftly skewer contemporary culture, this “adult” coloring book strikes a deep cord on many levels. Not the least—what’s up with all of these “adult” coloring books?
You can purchase your very own Mindless Violence Colouring Book on the Modern Toss website. Even if you can’t abide this coloring book craze, check out their other titles.
The British Library has just released over 300 literary treasures relating to 20th century writers available online for the first time. The amazing collection includes literary drafts, rare first editions, notebooks, letters, diaries, newspapers and photographs from James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Ted Hughes, George Orwell, and Angela Carter among others. These items, which relate to some of the 20th century’s greatest writers, are available through the Discovering Literature website.
Some highlights include:
• Virginia Woolf’s manuscript draft of Mrs Dalloway and an early travel notebook in which she begins to explore her ‘stream of consciousness’ technique • George Orwell’s notebook in which he lists ideas for what would become Nineteen Eighty-Four, including “newspeak”, “doublethink” and “two minutes of hate” • Ted Hughes’s manuscript drafts of Birthday Letters • Sylvia Plath’s draft manuscripts of The Bell Jar and extracts from her diary • Angela Carter’s manuscript drafts of Wise Children and The Bloody Chamber • J G Ballard’s manuscript drafts of High-Rise, Crash and Empire of the Sun • A letter from Virginia Woolf to James Joyce’s patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver, declining to print Ulysses • A letter from TS Eliot declining to publish George Orwell’s Animal Farm • A poem in which James Joyce attacks contemporary Irish writers • A letter from Bernard Shaw to Sylvia Beach in which he gives his opinion of Joyce’s Ulysses: “It is a revolting record of a disgusting phase of civilization; but it is a truthful one” • A review by Angela Carter of J G Ballard’s Empire of the Sun
Discovering Literature: 20th Century was created to bring the work of some of the period’s most illustrious writers to life. It also offers over 300 digitized items from the Library collections and over 90 essays written by writers and academics helping to place the works of the 20th century writers in context. The collection on Discovering Literature: 20th Century demonstrates the ways in which important writers of the 20th century rejected inherited traditions and experimented with new forms and themes. Through their notebooks and first drafts, we see their creative processes, innovation, self-doubt, rejection, rebellion and the risks they took on their journey to becoming the literary greats we know today.
Ásmundarsalur is a small art museum often overlooked by visitors to Reykjavik even though it’s literally in the shadow of the Hallgrimskirkja the city’s number one tourist attraction. The building was purpose-built as an art gallery in 1933 by sculptor Asmundur Sveinsson. The artist’s heirs sold the museum to the Icelandic Confederation of Labor, which has operated the museum for nearly forty years. But now the ASI wants to offload the entire building (minus the art collection) for just 80 million ISK ( about $650,000).
Unfortunately, since the museum was built in 1933 it’s not covered by historic preservation laws, so the new owner can do whatever they like with the building. The gallery is probably to small to be converted into a hotel, although you could fill it with bunks and turn it into a hostel on the cheap. Or, with the Airbnb boom in Reykjavik, it could be subdivided into 5 or 6 apartments and rented weekly. It’s more likely that the museum would just be a knockdown and the site used for a home.
Local residents in the Reykjavik 101 district have already signed a petition in the hundreds to try and convince the municipal and national governments to buy the building to insure that it remains an art space for Icelandic creatives.
Still, I’d love to buy it and have this view out of my window. Maybe we could get 100 travel bloggers to chip in and turn it into a time share?
London-based Swiss photographer Kim Leuenberger has created an ongoing series called “Traveling Cars Adventures”. Try not to smile when viewing this charming photo series.
all images © Kim Leuenberger
This fascinating video from the Crandall Historical Printing Museum in Provo, Utah, demonstrates their rare functioning Gutenberg press.
As someone with horrible penmanship, I sometimes struggle to even interpret my own notes, but I can’t quibble with the notion that handwriting can allow one to think more thoroughly about information. This neat infographic from Pens.com explains why we should still value physical writing in the digital age.
The newest travel guide from the media brand Monocle is devoted entirely to Austria’s grand capital of Vienna. Much like the previous eleven editions in the travel guide series, this book is divided into nine sections focusing on the usual travel categories. For the Vienna guide, Monocle wisely partnered with local photographers Arnold Pöschl and Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek. While far from comprehensive, the guidebooks in this series always provide enough insider knowledge to make them worthwhile.
Actor/performance artist Shia LaBeouf, along with traveling companions Nastja Rönkkö and Luke Turner are hoping to harness the power of social media for a road trip in the name of “art”. From May23rd through June 23rd, the collective are hitchhiking, starting in Boulder, Colorado, and inviting anyone to pick them up and take them anywhere the driver chooses. The group is tweeting their coordinates using the hashtag #TAKEMEANYWHERE. They are documenting their trip in real time online.
LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner’s request, #TAKEMEANYWHERE, aims to examine the nature of human decency, naivety and iniquity on social media. Using of the virtual world to dictate their journey IRL around the country, they hope to uncover truths of human interaction in the digital age.
The “trip” was commissioned by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Finnish Institute. You can learn more (if you care) right here.
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