Phantasmaphile

Christine Ödlund

Christine Ödlund  "Plant Drumming"  2011

Christine Ödlund is an artist of many talents.  I was first introduced to her via her remarkable illustrations for Edda's rerelease of the 1871 Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton sci-fi occult romance novel, Vril: The Power of the Coming Race.  The drawings remind me a bit of Fantastic Planet, with their delicacy and pastel palette.  Her body of fine art focuses on themes such as plant spirits, bio-chemistry, theosophical thought-forms, and sound vibrations.  In addition to her beautiful watercolors like the one above (and do click on it to see its exquisite detail), she creates video installations and musical performances. 

Lucky NYCers up for some sponteneity can catch one such film by her this evening at 8pm, as part of the Swedish Energies festival of experimental art:

SWEDISH ENERGIES

Fri, November 30, 2012 - 8:00pm

Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk Street, NYC

The second annual Swedish Energies, presented by ISSUE Project Room, iDEAL, EMS, and the Consulate General of Sweden NYC, is a free two-night festival featuring a huge lineup of some of Sweden’s most exciting experimental musicians and artists. Performances include collaborations between U.S. and Swedish artists, as well as a cross-section of Sweden's most pre-eminent experimental groups.

SWEDISH ENERGIES SCHEDULE

FRIDAY NOV 30TH

7:30 pm doors open

8:15 pm Christine Ödlund FILM
9.00 pm Rolf Enström
9:45 pm Aki Onda & Lise-Lotte Norelius
10.30 pm Mats Lindström
11.15 pm Vinyl Terror & Horror w gues JG Thirlwell

SATURDAY DEC 1ST

7 pm doors open
7.30 pm Lars Siltberg FILM 
8.15 pm Erik Bünger
9.20 pm Hild Sofie Tafjord
10.00 pm The Gagmen
10.45 pm Trepaneringsritualen
11.30 pm Anastasia Ax

Curated by Lawrence Kumpf, Mats Lindström and Joachim Nordwall.

And Ödlund's write-up for the festival sounds incredibly intriguing:

CHRISTINE ÖDLUND

Sound- and visual artist Christine Ödlund is freely and comfortably travelling between different artistic expressions. Inspired by psychic Annie Besant’s thought forms, nature, ecological chemistry, the occult, the idea of parallell universes, extreme weather - Christine Ödlund is working with music composition, painting, drawing, video, intallations. Experiencing her stuff is like finding yourself in a mysterious, dreamlike state of mind. Her art is a place where things are allowed to collide and meet. New energies are born.

For some added trivia, she is married to one of my very favorite painters and Edda co-founder, Fredrik Söderberg.  Talk about a power couple.

Drawing Surrealism show!

Federico Castellón  "Her Eyes Trembled"

LACMA's current show, Drawing Surrealism, is self-explanatory enough, featuring works on paper by a staggering list of surrealist artists including Breton, Masson, Dali, and Ernst (and let's hope there are some ladies included as well, hmmmm?)  The show is up until January 6th, before moving onto NYC (YES!) at one of our jewelbox institutions, The Morgan Library, from January 25th to April 21st:

Drawing Surrealism explores the significance of drawing and works on paper to surrealist innovation. Long considered the medium of exploration and innovation, drawing was set free from its associations with other media and valued as a predominant means of expression and innovation with the advent of surrealism. Automatic drawings, exquisite cadavers, decalcomania, frottage, and collage, for example, are just a few of the processes invented by surrealists as means to tap into the subconscious realm.

The exhibition examines the impact of surrealist drawing on a global scale, with approximately 200 works representing 90 artists from 16 countries. Drawing today is in many ways indebted to the expansive and innovative approach to artistic creation and the primacy of drawing encouraged by surrealism. For contemporary artists, drawing is a process more than a medium; it functions as a metaphor for experimentation and innovation that defies any strict material definition. The inclusion of drawing-based projects by contemporary artists Alexandra Grant, Mark Licari, and Stas Orlovski, conceived specifically for the exhibition, aims to elucidate the diverse and enduring vestiges of surrealist drawing.

Deep thanks to Susan Aberth for alerting to me to this!

Jen Ray's "Ain't We Got Fun" monograph!

The impeccable Gestalten press is at it again, this time with an astonishingly beautiful monograph of Jen Ray's work, entitled Ain't We Got Fun.  The book as object is - unsurprisingly for Gestalten - a treasure: rainbow rich, foil stamped, designed with a bold and playful eye.  It starts with a terrific intro essay by curator Robert Roos, in which he writes the following:

"In [Jen Ray's] drawings, classical mythology meets Star Wars meets seventies glamrock meets art deco fashion design meets critical feminist thinking meets the burlesque of the thirties meets comic strips.

Forget Anakin.  Forget Luke Skywalker.  Enter Princess Leia Organa as the superhero-protagonist of an epic battle.  With Jen Ray at the helm of a fantasy ride - and not George Lucas - this change from supporting role to center stage for a female warrior is more than just an illusion.  In Ray's world, women rule the battlefield."

If that doesn't make you want to turn the page and see some work, I don't know what will.  Jen Ray's paintings are large-scale tableaux that feature, yes, loads of warrior women - but these are no ordinary Amazons.  Rather, they're dressed in costumes that are part shamanic, part Bjorkian.  These ladies fire confetti cannons, hold flaming sticks of dynamite, sit at lion-mouthed caves.  They are, in a word, fierce.  And they rule islands with topography as varied as crystalline mountains, violet amphitheaters, and giant chain-link spider webs.  These are lands born of a mind untethered in the best, most vivid way imaginable.  And Ray's are pictures that beg to be pored over, each detail and madly drawn line studied and sopped up with relish.  Lucky for us, the book includes plenty of close-up detail pages, so no striped mask or fluttering flag will go unnoticed.  Sure, these pieces must be impressive in person, but Gestalten does a fine job by proxy.

Ain't We Got Fun also includes photographs of Ray's rituals and live painting-reenactments, which I simply must witness one day.  And the book ends with an excellent interview with the artist herself and includes choice quotes such as this:

"I just want there to be that constant push-pull.  I want viewers to see the same dichotomy in the small details hidden amidst the opulence.  I want a dirty newspaper to be seen against a golden robe."

Indeed.  Many thanks to Gestalten for sending me this excellent monograph for review.

Daria Hlazatova

Daria Hlazatova  "By Starlight"

Egads!  I discovered Daria Hlazatova on Pinterest, but I can't seem to track down the original pinner.  Please let me know if it was you!  Regardless, I'm pretty entraced by her work.  It reminds me a bit of the Biba aesthetic: dark art nouveau by way of eastern Europe.  I love her ornate drawings of celestial beauties, and if you do, too, you can order some original work here.

Magickal Observatory Event Updates

A few quick updates re: Observatory events.  Mark Pilkington's talk will now be taking place tomorrow, offsite in Williamsburg (and please note, I did not produce this one, Joanna at Morbid Anatomy did.  I'm just incredibly excited for it!)  Also, there are still a few spots left for our Perfume Blending Workshop.  And my Nostradamus event has been rescheduled to next month, just in time for the end of the world!  Full info below:

NOTE DATE AND LOCATION CHANGE From the Akashic Jukebox: Magic and Music in Britain, 1888-1978: Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

 

Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press
Date: Tuesday, November 20
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
*** Now being held at Acme Studio, 63 N. 3rd St. Brooklyn, as the electricity is still out at Observatory

Magic and music are as old as humanity, but organised witchcraft–a British cultural export whose influence has been felt all over the world–is younger than jazz. In tonight’s talk, illustrated with images, music and rare recordings, Strange Attractor’s Mark Pilkington explores British occultism’s origins in the bohemian groves of late 19th century London, and charts its impact on popular music and some of its players, from the rock ‘n’ roll years through to the paradigm shift of punk. The emerging stories glow with transcendence, ripple with mystery, honk with absurdity and are all too often shadowed by tragedy.

Mark Pilkington is the author of two books - Mirage Men: An Adventure into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs and Far Out: 101 Strange Tales from Science’s Outer Edge and has written for Fortean Times, the Guardian, Sight & Sound, The Wire, Frieze, The Anomalist and a host of other magazines and journals. Mark also runs Strange Attractor Press, editing and publishing its occasional Journal, and organising events and exhibitions.

 

Natural Perfume Blending Workshop with Julianne Zaleta

 

Location: Observatory
Date: Sunday, December 2nd
Time: 1-4pm
Admission: $130
Presented by Phantasmaphile

***Very limited class size.  You must RSVP to phantasmaphile [at] gmail.com to attend.  You will then receive a payment request via Paypal***

Smell is the most neglected of our senses yet it has an instantaneous power to penetrate our consciousness, invoking memories and emotion. Odors are ethereal and elusive yet can strongly attract or repel.

As a concerned consumer, you are choosing organic food, seeking out sustainable products and opting for eco-friendly packaging. But what about the fragrance you wear? That signature scent is likely composed of synthetic materials (as most commercial fragrances are), mass-produced, packaged and shipped around the world in the millions of units. Natural perfumery is a much different process that uses only essential oils and precious absolutes that are extracted from plants. Like fine wine, subtle differences can be found from the same plant from year to year depending on soil conditions and climate meaning that it is not an exact science but a creative alchemical process.

In this sensory workshop we will examine the artisanal art of natural perfumery. Students will gain a basic understanding of the sense of smell, the history of perfume, the advent of synthetic ingredients and the return to naturals. Perfume ingredients and formulation will be explored, and each participant will leave with two bottles of their own bespoke perfume.

No prior knowledge of perfume making is required. Students should bring a notebook to class, all other materials will be provided.

Julianne Zaleta is a natural perfumer, aromatherapist and herbalist and has trained with Michael Scholes and Jeanne Rose. Owner and sole proprietor of her own company, Herbal Alchemy Apothecary, Julianne creates aromatic and therapeutic remedies and elixirs for a wide variety of ailments. As a perfumer she has trained with Mandy Aftel to create a line of all natural perfumes. Recently she has turned her attention to artisanal cocktails, which makes her work life quite enjoyable, as you can imagine.

 

Apocalypse Now? The Lure of Nostradamus in Modern Times

An Illustrated Lecture with Stéphane Gerson, Associate Professor of French Studies at NYU

Location: Observatory
Date: Thursday, December 13th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $10
Presented by Phantasmaphile

All of us are familiar with the name Nostradamus, but who was he really? Why did his predictions become so influential in the Renaissance and then persist for nearly five centuries? And what does Nostradamus’ endurance in the West say about us and our own world?  Alone among French prophets and astrologers, Nostradamus and his puzzling quatrains have resurfaced in one historical crisis after another.  Whenever we seem to enter a new era, whenever the premises of our worldview are questioned or imperiled, they offer certainty and solace.

NYU historian Stéphane Gerson grew interested in Nostradamus in the wake of 9/11 and then undertook extensive research in Europe and the U.S.  In this talk, he will situate Michel de Nostredame in his world and then trace the singular posterity of his prophecies until they became our modern Gospel of Doom.  He will explain why so many people have gravitated toward his quatrains and suggest that we reconsider Nostradamus as a creature of the modern West rather than some antidilluvian relic.  Ultimately, the Nostradamus phenomenon tells us more about our past and our present than it does about the future.

Stéphane Gerson is a cultural historian of modern France and the author of Nostradamus: How an Obscure Renaissance Astrologer Became the Modern Prophet of Doom (St. Martin’s Press, 2012).  He is also the editor of a new edition of Nostradamus’s Prophecies for Penguin Classics. An associate professor of French Studies at NYU, Gerson has won several awards, including the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History and the Laurence Wylie Prize in French Cultural Studies. Gerson lives in Manhattan and Woodstock, NY, with his family.

Hope to see you at some or all!

Jody Erickson

Jody Erickson  "Rock Meeting" 2011

Jody Erickson's paintings have a restrained, mysterious elegance to them.  I think it's because she's so good with placement, leaving plenty of space between the various elements of her curious tableaux.  It all feels almost reverentially measured; Pagan Zen, if you will.  The piece above of course makes me think of the sumptuous film Picnic at Hanging Rock, but the candles and ember-tinged sky add a ritualistic atmosphere making this gathering seem even more coven-esque. 

Viva la Arthur!

Arik Roper

Smashing good news: your favorite alt-periodical and mine, Arthur, is coming back from the dead.  In a stroke of numerological grace, it'll be issue 33 coming out on December 22, 2012, and if that's not an equation for resurrection than nothing is.  Here's what editor/cosmic overlord-in-chief, Jay Babcock, has to say about it:

After a four-year sabbatical (faked death?), your beloved revolutionary sweetheart Arthur returns to print, renewed, refreshed, reinvigorated and in a bold new format: pages as tall and wide as a daily newspaper, printed in color and black and white on compostable newsprint, with ads only on the back cover(s). Amazing!

In partnership with Portland, Oregon’s Floating World Comics, Arthur’s gang of goofs, know-it-alls and village explainers are back, from Bull Tonguers Byron Coley and Thurston Moore to radical ecologist Nance Klehm to trickster activists Center for Tactical Magic to gonzoid political commentator Dave Reeves to a host of new, fresh-faced troublemakers, edited by ol’ fool Jay Babcock. You want a peek at the contents? Sorry, compadre. That would be saying too much, too soon. Wait ’til Dec. 22, 2012: that’s right—THE DAY AFTER THE NON-END OF THE WORLD!

Please keep in mind… Arthur is no longer distributed for free anywhere. Those days are (sadly) long gone. Now you gotta buy Arthur or you won’t see it. Our price: Five bucks cheeeeeep!

Arthur No. 33

Broadsheet newspaper, 15″ x 22.75″

Available Dec. 22, 2012

NOW YOU MAY PRE-ORDER ARTHUR NO. 33 HERE.

Retailers: Contact us for the information you require on ordering mass quantities.

I have already pre-ordered my copy, and heartily suggest you do the same.  Welcome back, Arthur!  This is big, beautiful news indeed.

Wild Unknown Tarot

Speaking of tarot, I'm currently lusting after The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck.  It was made by Kim Krans, an artist whose sensitively rendered images of nature manage to feel stylish and sincere at once.  I can picture using these cards on a candle-lit blanket in the middle of a forest grove. 

Krans also happens to be one-half of Family Band, alongside Jonny Ollsin.  Their dreamy album Grace & Lies has become one of my very favorites of 2012, thanks to Jay Babcock over at Arthur.  And their video for Moonbeams slays me.  Skeletons in love!

Michael Brodka

Michael Brodka  "Nyx"

Michael Brodka creates mind-explodingly detailed etchings of mythical beings and mystic tropes.  The level of obsessiveness and devotion he brings to each piece is truly humbling.  His depictions of Greek goddesses such as Nyx of the night (above), and the Moirai feel timeless, yet are full of his own original touches (e.g. surrounding Nyx with a cloud of luna moths).  He is currently hard at work at his tarot series, and unsurprisingly considering his track record of hyper-commitment, he's decided to do all 78 cards, not just the major arcana as is typical of such artistic undertakings these days.  You can check out his current work here and order some of his prints here.

(And thanks to Samantha Levin for the heads up!)

Strange Attractor Invades NYC!

Julian House "Peacock Angels" from Strange Attractor 4

It's come to my attention that Mark Pilkington of the glorious Strange Attractor Press has made his way across the pond to infect NYC with his special brand of high weirdness.  He'll be involved with the following events, including one at our own Observatory, where I'll be in rapt attendance:

The Ullage Group Presents: Mark Pilkington

Jalopy - 315 Columbia St, Brooklyn
Sunday, November 11
Show starts at 2:00pm
$10 cover
BUY TICKETS

Mark Pilkington, an old friend of the Ullage Group, will talk about his book "Mirage Men: An Adventure into Paranoia, Espionage, Psychological Warfare, and UFOs." 2:00PM Sunday, Nov. 11. Admission is $10, which will be given to hurricane relief. For more info, see ullagegroup.com

About the Ullage Group

Ullage has several meanings: deficiency, lack, the air at the top of a bottle, the sediment after the bottle is emptied, the fumes in an engine. The Ullage Group takes it as an emblem of the other part: the contrarian, paradoxical, lost, unpopular, and forgotten.

Visit     The Ullage Group's website

 

A CATHODE RAY SEANCE:  THE HAUNTED WORLDS OF NIGEL KNEALE

 

WHEN: Saturday 17 November 2012, midday-9pm
WHERE: Michelson Theater, Room 648, 721 Broadway, New York
[at Broadway and Washington Place] [map]

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

SCHEDULE
Midday: Introduction (by Sukhdev Sandhu)
12:15: Screening: The Stone Tape (1972, 90 min) (introduced by Dave Tompkins)
2:00 – Screening: Murrain (1975, 60 min) (introduced by Bilge Ebiri)
3:30 – Panel Discussion including Mark Pilkington and Will Fowler
4:45 – Screening: ‘Baby’, from Beasts (1976, 60 min)
6:00 – Screening: Quatermass and The Pit (1967, 97 min) (introduced by David Pike)
8:15 – Musical Performance: The Road (1963) – reading / live synthesiser and percussion soundtrack by Rose Kallal, Micki Pellerano and Mark Pilkington of a long-lost Kneale TV play

Nigel Kneale (1922-2004) was a visionary dramatist, a pioneering screenwriter-auteur, one of the most important British science fiction writers of the 20th century. In works such as the Quatermass trilogy (watched by one third of UK television owners), The Year of the Sex Olympics and The Stone Tape, Kneale forged singularly visceral and unforgettable fusions of horror, spooked thriller and Cold War-era weirdness that have captured the imaginations of artists and intellectuals as diverse as Pink Floyd, Monty Python, Greil Marcus, psychogeographer Patrick Keiller and novelist China Mieville. The radical sound designs these dramas deployed (often courtesy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), allied to their prescient explorations of the eldritch fringes of auditory Albion, have attracted the attention of theorists such as Mark Fisher and the Ghost Box record label.

A Cathode Ray Séance is a day-long celebration of this hauntological icon whose work, even though it paved the way for well-known series such as Doctor Who, is less familiar to American than to British audiences. Staged by the New York-based Colloquium for Unpopular Culture (Kiss Me Again: The Life and Legacy of Arthur Russell; Leaving The Factory: Wang Bing’s Tie Xi Qu – West of the Tracks) in collaboration with London’s Strange Attractor (, it will include rare screenings, talks by Kneale admirers, and a special musical interpretation by Mark Pilkington, Rose Kallal and Micki Pellerano of Kneale’s legendary-but-lost 1963 drama The Road.

To mark A Cathode Ray Séance, there will be available for sale copies of a very limited-edition book designed by Rob Carmichael (John Cale, LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective ‘Crack Box’)and featuring contributions by a wide range of musicians, artists, curators and cultural theorists including Sophia Al-Maria, Bilge Ebiri, Mark Fisher, Will Fowler, Ken Hollings, Paolo Javier, Roger Luckhurst, China Mieville, Drew Mulholland, David Pike, Mark Pilkington, Joanna Ruocco, Dave Tompkins, Michael Vazquez, and Evan Calder Williams.

Initial copies will come with Restligeists, a tape of specially-recorded Knealiana by The Asterism & Xylitol, Emma Hammond & Robin The Fog, Hong Kong In The 60s, Listening Center, Mordant Music, and The Real Tuesday Weld.

SCHEDULE
Midday: Introduction (by Sukhdev Sandhu)
12:15: Screening: The Stone Tape (1972, 90 min) (introduced by Dave Tompkins)
2:00 – Screening: Murrain (1975, 60 min) (introduced by Bilge Ebiri)
3:30 – Panel Discussion including Mark Pilkington and Will Fowler
4:45 – Screening: ‘Baby’, from Beasts (1976, 60 min)
6:00 – Screening: Quatermass and The Pit (1967, 97 min) (introduced by David Pike)
8:15 – Musical Performance: The Road (1963) – reading/ live synth and percussion soundtrack by Rose Kallal, Micki Pellerano and Mark Pilkington of a long-lost Kneale TV play

 

From the Akashic Jukebox: Magic and Music in Britain, 1888-1978: Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

 

Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

Where: Observatory
Date: Monday, November 19
Time: 8:00pm
Admission: $10
Produced by Morbid Anatomy

Magic and music are as old as humanity, but organised witchcraft–a British cultural export whose influence has been felt all over the world–is younger than jazz. In tonight’s talk, illustrated with images, music and rare recordings, Strange Attractor’s Mark Pilkington explores British occultism’s origins in the bohemian groves of late 19th century London, and charts its impact on popular music and some of its players, from the rock ‘n’ roll years through to the paradigm shift of punk. The emerging stories glow with transcendence, ripple with mystery, honk with absurdity and are all too often shadowed by tragedy.

Mark Pilkington is the author of two books - Mirage Men: An Adventure into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs and Far Out: 101 Strange Tales from Science’s Outer Edge and has written for Fortean Times, the Guardian, Sight & Sound, The Wire, Frieze, The Anomalist and a host of other magazines and journals. Mark also runs Strange Attractor Press, editing and publishing its occasional Journal, and organising events and exhibitions.

On a related note, Strange Attractor will be publishing a "lavishly-illustrated" anthology by our dear friend and Observatory cohort, Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy.  You simply must support its Kickstarter, as the prizes are luscious and the people involved are the creme de la creme of the alterna-verse.  The book will be a marvel, no doubt.

Yuanyuan Yang

Yuanyuan Yang  "Splendid"

Both the image and the title of this painting by Yuanyuan Yang accurately represent how I'm feeling today about not having my reproductive rights jeopardized for the next 4 years and beyond.  I'm beyond thrilled we re-elected President Obama, and overjoyed that so many females won their Congressional races as well.  And same-sex marriage being supported in the 4 states it was voted on?!  So much YES.

Anyhow, you can see more of Yang's exuberant and odd works now in NYC via her show "Refracted Beings" up at Fuse Gallery through the 21st of the month. 

Via

Fatima Ronquillo

Fatima Ronquillo  "The Runaways" 2012

I find myself rather obsessed with Fatima Ronquillo's work.  Her paintings are evocative of the old masters, by way of Botero, with some Kahlo thrown in for good measure.  There are so many elements here which drive me wild with delight: woodland creatures, lovers' eyes, arrows, gauzy gowns, and on and on and on.  Sumptuously strange.

Via