I don’t know about you, but I don’t miss my old typewriters at all. Still, I was intrigued by this video typewriter-centric performance. The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a nostalgic combo that engages in rhythmic typewriter manipulation combined with elements of performance, comedy and satire. “Selectric Funeral” is their entry for this year’s NPR Tiny Desk Contest and their first piece to include an electric typewriter. It’s catchy, but I won’t be downloading the entire album.
I want to get up early one more morning, before sunrise. Before the birds, even. I want to throw cold water on my face and be at my work table when the sky lightens and smoke begins to rise from the chimneys of the other houses. I want to see the waves break on this rocky beach, not just hear them break as I did all night in my sleep. I want to see again the ships that pass through the Strait from every seafaring country in the world— old, dirty freighters just barely moving along, and the swift new cargo vessels painted every color under the sun that cut the water as they pass. I want to keep an eye out for them. And for the little boat that plies the water between the ships and the pilot station near the lighthouse. I want to see them take a man off the ship and put another up on board. I want to spend the day watching this happen and reach my own conclusions. I hate to seem greedy—I have so much to be thankful for already. But I want to get up early one more morning, at least. And go to my place with some coffee and wait. Just wait, to see what’s going to happen. from Where Water Comes Together with Other Water (Vintage, 1985)
Perelandra Bookshop, Fort Collins, Colo., is offering a reader-in-residence program that, unlike more traditional artist-in-residence or writer-in-residence programs, does not require anything “except show up to the bookstore a couple of times per week and read,” the Coloradoan reported.
“I think the residence paralleled my own personal concerns about the extent to which we focus ourselves on production,” said Joe Braun, principal book buyer and creator of the position. “In focusing on production, foregrounding content creation, what we do is necessarily create a consumer in the process. The idea is: produce, consume, produce, consume.
“Having gone through undergrad and grad school–even though they were great experiences–there was that constant drive to show that you understand. To make something of your understanding. I’m like, you know what, we kind of just need understanding. We don’t always need proof of it.”
The reader-in-residence gets a small stipend for their three-month stint–$50 per month for books, and another $50 per month for coffee. They also have access to Perelandra’s wholesale book catalog. The Coloradoan noted that the “overt goal of the residency is to foster a space for people to experience literature more thoughtfully. The underlying goal is to make them want to smash their phones with a sledgehammer.”
“We do so much reading now, but it’s mostly reading for information at best. At best. At worst it’s like a pure little shot of dopamine before moving to the next post,” said Steven Shafer, Perelandra’s current reader-in-residence. “It is almost the exact opposite of what I’ve gotten to experience here.”
I never thought that the English novelist Jane Austen was a revolutionary, but what do I know. In the video below, Evan Puschak explains, with examples, what free indirect speech is, why Austen employed it, and why it was so revolutionary and influential when wielded by Austen.
To understand why Austen’s narration is so distinct, the method and style of narration in which she wrote must be understood. Austen wrote in a little-known and not-often-used method of third-person narration called free indirect speech. Free Indirect Speech (FIS) is a distinct kind of third-person narration which seamlessly slips in and out of a character’s consciousness while still being presented by the third-person narrator.
The famous Parisian department store Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche is hosting two gigantic figures that celebrate the joy of reading and books. The celebrated editor Sarah Andelman, of Just an Idea Books, and artist Jean Jullien teamed up to create the cheeky booklovers. Mise En Page is a lighthearted literary exhibition and pop-up shop that sees Jullien’s Paper People series spring to life. The two enormous figures preside over the multi-story department store on Paris’s left bank, reminding shoppers of the joy of reading.
Mise En Page includes a library of the artist’s monographs designed in his singular two-dimensional style, alongside kiosks from reader-favorite bookstores like The Strand and Pillow-Cat Books in New York City, and Book/Shop in Oakland.
I don’t care what some critics had to say about Francis Ford Coppala’s 1992 version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Guigol meets Expressionist take on the iconic vampire tale. Sadly, I missed the 2022 theatrical re-release for the 30th anniversary. But now we have this delightfully wacky bastardized version on YouTube (see below). Mitch Benn’s short film called Gilbert & Sullivan’s Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a treat.
I was intrigued by the wonderful collage animation (below) created by Stacey Steers. The 20 minute film presents a unique approach to collage animation by combining backgrounds, objects and creatures taken from engraved illustrations with characters lifted from early cinema.
“Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor, seamlessly appropriated from their early silent films, are cast into a surreal epic with an upending of the Frankenstein story and a contemporary undercurrent of hive collapse. In this handmade film, Stacey Steers selects sequences from early cinematic sources, prints the frames and re-contextualizes the action, allowing the ‘story’ assembled from appropriated images to evolve over time. She inserts her actors into newly imagined collage environments, built by hand from fragments of 19th century illustrations and engravings. Steers’ labor-intensive project took five years to complete. The construction process is intuitive and organic: she Edge of Al engravings and illustrations. Edge of Alchemy is the third film in a trilogy examining women’s inner worlds. Music and sound by the Polish composer Lech Jankowski (Brothers Quay).
“Edge of Alchemy is the epitome of Stacey Steers’ unique vision of collaged re-examination animations, an uncanny way to carry on in the great tradition of surrealist cinema. Max Ernst would refer to Lautréamont’s sewing machine and umbrella to define the structure of the surrealist painting as ‘a linking of two realities that by all appearances have nothing to link them, in a setting that by all appearances does not fit them.’ I would add, making it all feel so seamlessly inevitable and inexplicably right…the ‘feeling of form’, as Suzanne K. Langer might have put it…” (Phil Solomon)
Steers’ labor-intensive project took five years to complete. The construction process is intuitive and organic: she selects motion sequences from early cinematic sources, prints the frames and re-contextualizes the action, allowing the ‘story’ assembled from appropriated images to evolve over time. She inserts her actors into newly imagined collage environments, built by hand from fragments of 19th century engravings and illustrations and then photographed with 35mm film stock.”
Regular visitors to this blog will be well aware that the entire crew here at Travel Between The Pages world HQ have great admiration for Japanese woodblock printing. We especially enjoy the well known style called ukiyo-e.
I recently stumbled on the charming film (below) from 1955 that shows the process of design and print making by the master Hasui Kawase who sadly died not long after the film was produced. Don’t be put off by the 50s film production, it’s a wonderful lesson in the art of traditional woodblock printing.
“Regarded as a major Japanese landscape artist of the 20th century, Hasui Kawase’s prints are characterized by their serenity of mood and flawless composition. Born Bunjiro Kawase in Tokyo, Hasui Kawase was the son of a silk braid merchant. He began his artistic career studying Japanese-style painting with Kiyokata, as well as Western-style at the Hakubakai. His talent was clear, exhibiting in the Tatsumi Exhibition of Painting at age 19. However, soon after seeing Shinsui’s series Eight Views of Lake Biwa, Hasui turned his attention to woodblock printing in 1919. Shozaburo Watanabe was the first to recognize his artistic genius and Hasui Kawase soon became the most popular artist working for this prestigious publisher. Hasui traveled widely in Japan and his subjects consisted mostly of his surroundings. These Japanese landscape prints are based upon small, quick sketches and watercolors taken from nature. Unfortunately, during the earthquake of 1923, all of his woodblocks and over 200 sketches were destroyed. The works that predate this event are extremely scarce and in great demand today. Undaunted, Hasui continued to produce his landscape prints. In 1956, the Japanese government’s Committee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage designated Hasui’s Zojo Temple in Snow and the documentation of its production as Intangible Cultural Treasures, the greatest artistic honor in postwar Japan. All of Hasui Kawase Japanese landscape artwork prints are signed “Hasui” usually with a variety of red seals reading “sui.” Though Watanabe published the majority of Hasui Kawase’s prints, Doi, Kawaguchi, Sakai and others published some designs as well.”
NB: If the video fails to open in your browser, please click HERE.
Travel Between The Pages 