“Beyond the Techno-Cave”
Harold Jaffe, in his latest book “Beyond the Techno-Cave,” expands his critical commentary to include artist’s role in an anesthetized society and does so in style that has a rich, evocative clarity. The writing, purposefully lacking of fashionable literary pyrotechnics, makes up by employing a very particular rhythm, language and provocative narrative. Fourteen brutally honest texts, full of acute observations and calculated speculations, transmit Mr. Jaffe’s own brand of social anthropology. He calls these texts “docufictions.”
“C’etait un rendez-vous”
A short film by Claude Lelouch, made in 1976
John Cage’s 4’33
Weekend Reading…and Listening
Andy Goldsworthy – Rivers and Tides
A beautifully shot documentary on Andy Goldsworthy and his ephemeral works.
(This post is inspired by Alek’s wine cistern photos)
Netflix has the DVD.
Alma
Istvan Orosz
Locus Novus – January Update
Just a sneaky but a short post to let everyone know that Locus Novus has been updated with three new works:
“O, P” by Janis Butler Holm
“Suu Kyi / Giacometti” by Harold Jaffe
“Pure” by Forrest Roth
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Photographs
Another Instruction Manual
No instructions for unpacking it, but the user’s manual is well-written.
Link
Global Incident Map
James Fee
James Fee, whose photographs of abandoned factories, lonesome highways and disjointed human figures express his sense of loss for what he remembered as better times for this country, died on September 4, 2006. He was 56.
Terry Eagleton blows a fuse…
“Dawkins on God is rather like those right-wing Cambridge dons who filed eagerly into the Senate House some years ago to non-placet Jacques Derrida for an honorary degree.”
Guitar Sounds 1
Django Reinhardt and His Gang playing J’attendrai :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6jkgvyAkw
Sixty years later Andreas Oberg covers Django’s compostion, Nuages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8dRv8fAvZ4
Then Stochelo Rosenberg does a finger-breaking solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa5PDQTwhhI
And finally Roland Dyens takes the stage and plays Tango en Skai:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJwZYjh4bY
Simon Yorke and His Turntable
One thing’s for sure: if the development of audio continues on its current path, unchecked, hi-fi as such will disappear. The very concept of ‘high fidelity’ will obsolesce. Those of us left behind in the stampede for technological solutions to our collective apathy will be dismissed as mere ‘cranks’ or ‘nostalgia buffs’. The sheep will continue to graze, unaware that the grass they are eating no longer tastes of grass and gives them neither nourishment nor pleasure. But they will continue to graze – as the addict continues to drink. Blindly. Stupidly.
Obscure French Surrealist Discovered by Norman Lock
‘Cirque du Calder’ – Jules Cuiff’s Reminiscence of Alexander Calder’s ‘Circus’ – Published in Lock’s English Translation by Rogue Literary Society
Black-and-White Illustrations and Accompanying Electronic Presentation on CD by Faruk Ulay
Afterword by Gordon Lish
Pascal’s Pensees
Some wise words by Pascal, accompanied by hard-hitting bebop sounds: http://www.ulaydesign.com/pensees/
