And, we’re back… thought these spare diagrams of basic baton technique were fitting after this latest hiatus – a swelling of the orchestra, a fanfare for posts un-posted – among them the long delayed celebration of Eve Babitz, the fine art of Las Vegas, the pop art sculptures of Tom Pfannerstill, the crusade to free beloved Barbisol from the clutches of it’s god-bothering corporate minders… Andrew Sarris’ lonely appreciation of What’s New Pussycat, a contrarian take-down of Blow-Up by Pauline Kael, the construction of pedestals to the magnificence of Paula Prentiss and Ann Magnuson, a survey of illustrated flyers for Joe McGinity’s fab review Losers Lounge, my sure-to-fail storming of the walls of Google, an amazing collection of vintage clothing irons on display at the Philadelphia Airport, and the art rock obsession with Donna Summer’s I Feel Love…
Oh, and these baton diagrams – gorgeous in their own right too, no? They read almost spacially, rather than as flat patterns or steps, which gives them a real stature, a presence. Diagram no. 6 is particularly captivating. The arrows dance, joined at the ends of dotted arms, bending elegantly across their lengths – arcing & tracking together as they inscribe measures of time.
From the 1928 edition of The Technic of the Baton, by Albert Stossel, which I found at W. Somers Bookseller in Schenectady this past weekend. Should you find yourself nearby, surely worth a visit…