Absolutely astonishing ultra-high resolution photographs of birds by Andrew Zuckerman. A decent overview can be found here, while Zuckerman’s site, here, showcases even more. Also check out his earlier project, Creature, featuring a wider spectrum of wildlife. The detail is breathtaking, and the depth of personality projecting from the animals is downright eerie.
For your pleasure, an oddly charming, earnest, hippy-dippy photo recreation of Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass from an old 1970 photography annual.
Gorgeous, elegant cover for Richard Avedon’s 1959 portrait book Observations. Rather than taking it in whole, it rewards a close scan so you can follow the way the letters slice, carve and cordon off patches of creamy white. Easy to appreciate, so hard to pull off.
A moment’s rest at the Rochester Institute of Technology, between two immense murals by Joseph Albers meant to evoke the equally brilliant Kodak logo. Aces.
Things the Ramones did want to do, things the Ramones did not want to do, things the Ramones did do, things the Ramones told you to do, things the Ramones warned you about doing, things the Ramones did not like, things the Ramones wondered about, and things the Ramones would do next time… over at Electra Luxx’s place, here.
Goodbye, and a hearty salute to Grafik Magazine, which folded a few days ago. This cover gallery, here, is a fitting testament to its accomplishment - a cavalcade of top notch design, and an ad-hoc primer to just about every style & mode in vogue since 2003.
The first trickle
of water down
a dry ditch stretches
like the paw
of a cat, slightly
tucked at the front,
unambiguous
about auguring
wet. It may sink
later but it hasn’t
yet.
– Kay Ryan, The Paw of a Cat
Who is the Daikaiju? Kabuki men deliver most high rocket music. Special reverb skill combo for full impact! Attention!! Super force of reverb action is rising, fast! Delivering of sound, most impressive, Daikaiju origin remains mystery. Identities of combo protected by masks. Maybe from ocean, like sounds of modern mutation. Beautiful radiation of hyper-dimensional springy sound, divine psychedelic wind for your special liking. Worship Psycho-surf band Daikaiju daily for good luck and health!
Fascinating, in depth article in the NY Times about John Updike’s meticulously curated personal archive. Rough drafts, insights into craft and technique, manifestos and declarations, legacy tending, and gossip abound… all of which adds to and underscores the utter giant-ness of the man and his work. Full article here.
This age needs [artists] who are filled with the strength of their cultures and do not transcend the limits of their age, but, working within the times, bring what is peculiar to the moment to glory. We need great artists who are willing to accept restrictions, and who love their environments with such vitality that they can produce an epic out of the Protestant ethic.
John Updike, 1951
So here’s a rad little rock curio - there was this really interesting period in 1981 when Brian Eno and Robert Fripp both moved to New York City, basically looking for creative inspiration. They quickly ensconced themselves in the artier wing of the punk/new wave scene. Eno essentially joined the Talkling Heads and produced the seminal No New York comp. Fripp, disgusted at industry shenanigans, genuinely intended to leave music altogether. One of the projects he flirted with was starring in a remake of Alphaville with Deborah Harry… nothing came of it, and little information exists other than script fragments and this awesome screen test shot. More from Fripp on this period, here.
The first installment of the sure to be riveting story of the scuttled Guided by Voices / Steve Albini recording sessions - by Jim Greer on his rad blog North of Onhava, here.
The beautiful graphic design of the Italian magazine Intelligence in Lifestyle, or LI, has been making the rounds lately, collecting deservedly breathless adulation. Let me add mine…. Holy Moly! Easily the most strikingly designed magazine in recent memory - simultaneously bold & detailed, classic & groundbreaking. Appreciations here, and here, and an amazing flickr pool of hi-res covers and interiors maintained by IL art director Francesco Franchi, here. Check it.
Reasons to be cheerful. (10th Street & Locust, Philadelphia)
Mesmerizing photos by Matt Logue of a depopulated Los Angeles. Striking in their own right as art, for me they also trigger a powerful nostalgia for a city I miss, in some way, almost every day. More photos & book, here at Empty LA.
