Tall, Dark and Krampus

Come walk with me my helpless one...

'Conjure in the rose garden' by darla teagarden.

Take Current...

Australian artist, Helen Pynor




Not Waving but Drowning
BY STEVIE SMITH
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.


via street anatomy

Neville's Glass

A Scottish adventurer, inventor, and photographer named Neville Colmore claimed to have constructed a device capable of "...parting the veil of Faery...". The device, which he called the "Spectobarathrum", produced beautiful photo graphic plates he called "fatagravures", through a now lost process. The original "Spectobarathrum" along with all of the images he claimed to have made were believed destroyed in a fire.

Because of my background in anthropology, archaeology, digital imaging, art, Scottish history and as board member of the Traprock Society, I have been asked to examine these materials. I am fortunate enough to have received permission to share some of my preliminary findings here. The current caretaker of these treasures wishes to remain anonymous.

These astonishing images should not be confused with the later, more familiar, Cottingley garden fairy photos on which the 1998 film "Fairy Tale - A True Story" was based. The Cottingley photographs were published around 1918. His were first made public in the 1890's. They were presented in scientific lectures and by and large ignored. The Cottingley girls had a literary champion in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and they were cute little English girls. He was a cantankerous Scots scientist with a thick Border accent and was consider quite mad by the majority of his peers in the United Kingdom. Colmore was very bitter about the attention they received.

He was convinced that the Cottingley images were hoaxes and felt they received far more attention than they warranted due to the fame of A. Conan Doyle and the cloying sweetness of the girls. However, when the popularity of the Cottingley images surged, he did manage to enlist his own literary and scientific champion, the famed American explorer and author, Walter Traprock. He was best known for the popular accounts of his scientific expeditions published in the 1920's, Cruise of the Kawa, Sarah of the Sahara and My Northern Exposure.

Traprock had connections with George Chapell and through him the Algonquin Roundtable. Colmore had high hopes for wide exposure and lecture tours in America. Where he would not face the real or perceived snubbing that greeted his presentations in Britain. Dr. Traprock predicted that "...all New York will be mad for fairies! " They hoped to publish a book on elucidating his research and scientific theories about the existence of the world of Faery and presenting his astounding fatagravures in published form for the very first time.

Tragically the fire that was believed to have destroyed all of his materials occured before their collaboration came to any fruition. However, I believe that some of the material that I have been asked to examine may have been part of Traprock's estate that was never published due to the controversies and accusations of fakery that arose around Traprock's earlier books. Prior to his death, Colmore did not give any public indication that he knew of anything surviving the fire.

SEE The Colmore Fatagravures HERE
Via Form Is Void

Deep in the wonderful odd...

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.

Mano a Mano

Ghost at will ...

Japan
Edo period, around AD 1844

From a tenth-century legend

Princess Takiyasha was the daughter of the provincial warlord Taira no Masakado who tried to set up an 'Eastern Court' in Shimōsa Province in competition with the emperor in Kyoto. However, his rebellion was put down in AD 939 and Masakado was killed. After his death, Princess Takiyasha continued living in the ruined palace of Sōma.

This print shows the episode from the legend when the emperor's official, ōya no Mitsukuni, comes to search for surviving conspirators. The princess is reciting a spell written on a handscroll. She summons up a giant skeleton which comes rearing out of a terrifying black void, crashing its way through the tattered palace blinds with its bony fingers to menace Mitsukuni and his companion.

Kuniyoshi, the artist, probably referred to an illustration in his collection of western prints to produce this grinning skeleton in all its accuracy of detail.

The legend was also the theme of a Kabuki play. At the time that this print was made the Tempō Reforms had made it illegal to depict Kabuki actors and theatre scenes in woodblock prints, so Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) may have produced this 'historical' version of the story in order to get round the law. Kuniyoshi often used the triptych format (three prints forming a single composition) to dramatic effect, spreading large forms across all three sheets.

L. Smith, V. Harris and T. Clark, Japanese art: masterpieces in (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)
via http://www.britishmuseum.org/