There Will Come Soft Rains is a Soviet era animation made by Uzbekfilm and based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury story of post-apocalyptic desolation.A fully-automated household is shown going through the motions of a daily routine in the year 2026. Service robots, with “faces” vaguely reminiscent of gas masks [or Storm Trooper helmets], prepare breakfast and declare wake up time as usual to the ashen remains of their masters.
One of those visceral experiences that has stayed with me until today, this beautiful vignette portrays the aftermath of senseless atomic destruction and human impermanence almost as well as the story it’s based on. Though the loneliness of the Ray Bradbury piece doesn’t quite come across as acutely, this animation never, ever failed to make me cry and substantially furthered that childhood Bradbury addiction. Edit: if by some chance you haven’t already, might we recommend reading the original story prior to watching the animation? You can do so by clicking here.
Andre Perkowski, YouTube’s mixologist of camp and horror, presents Silent Shadow of the Batman, a new classic in two parts. Borrowing scenes from such beloved silent films as The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, The Bat and The Man Who Laughs, he’s cobbled together a chilling exquisite corpse. Watch the first part, in which Bruce Wayne’s fate is cemented by the murder of his parents and his decision to become something truly horrible to the simple, superstitious minds of all criminals is made.
Silent Shadow of the Batman, Part 2 can be seen here. Other shorts by Perkowski can be viewed on his YouTube profile page.
As we recharge and make our way through hundreds of party photos, allow me to draw your attention to a few worthwhile endeavors worldwide. Art, music and costumes galore await!
A night at Dr. Sketchy’s, as envisioned by Molly Crabapple
An international whirlwind of glitter, booze, babes and art can only mean one thing: Molly Crabapple has taken Dr. Sketchy’s on the road. Tonight’s festivities take place in Edinburgh at And The Devil May Drag You Under. On Wednesday, our London readership can welcome this juggernaut of a lady to Madame JoJo’s. You’ll be treated to salacious burlesque, an opportunity to draw expertly [un]dressed cabaret beauties and even prizes! Hosted by comedy heartthrob Dusty Limits and Molly herself, this is sure to be a spectacular night. Next up – Berlin and Helsinki! More information about the cabaret-meets-art phenomenon here.
DoV denizens
Certainly you’ve noticed our weakness for beautiful men in makeup, flamboyancy of Rococo fashion and high tales of adventure. Even my blackened heart goes pitter-patter at the rustle of a masterfully layered crinoline. Throw in a dress-up picnic and we’re in heaven. If you’re in or traveling to New York this month you can expect just that. Dances of Vice has cooked up a truly decadent spread for August 22 through 24. A nuclear blast to the senses, this event’s lineup boasts live music, fencing, theater inspired by time travel, Münchhausen and Marquis de Sade, art exhibited and performed, absinthe, and, god yes, a picnic at the New York Botanical garden. Damn right I’ll be there, taking part in the fashion extravaganza. If you’re an undercover dandy, courtesan or just a filthy strumpet in search of a good time, this is the ultimate place to be in two weeks.
On a completely different note, as the Olympics rage on in Beijing, my Flickr stream is being flooded with new photos from Kris Krug. He’s been on location for a while now, uploading huge batches of wonderful images, some of which I have a feeling you’ll enjoy.
Return from exile, 1994. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev.
Literature transmits incontrovertible condensed experience from generation to generation. In this way literature becomes the living memory of a nation. – Solzhenitsyn
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize winner and Russia’s voice against Stalinist regime’s brutality, has died at 89. The caustic prose of Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich exposed his fellow countrymen to the truth about inhuman suffering in secret slave labor camps, stirred the nation and ultimately cost him his citizenship.
After 20 years spent in exile, Solzhenitsyn was living and working in Moscow again, remaining vocal about his strong political views well into old age. In his recent years he briefly had his own TV show and wrote several political works condemning communism, Russia’s rampant nationalism and war as a whole.
Solzhenitsyn’s death is a tremendous loss and his work deserves special attention here at some point. Until then I suggest you pick up all 3 volumes of this and tell us what you think.
Video of Putin awarding Solzhenitsyn an award last year; a rather strange event as even the reporter points out.
A short autobiography written for Le Prix Nobel books.
..is what I would say if this concept design for a fingernail timepiece were to actually make it into our daily lives. From the 2154: The Future of Time Design website:
TX54 is a disposable timepiece that is worn on the user’s thumbnail. While its translucency makes it blend seamlessly with the hand, a selection of text color options and a glow feature that activates on command make it easy to read.
Now, forget the finger. Wouldn’t you prefer to simply know the time, without having to think about it? On second thought, that might be a little maddening, especially for those as obsessed with the passage of time as your truly. In any case, here it is:
Sublimex is worn on the eye like a contact lens where it periodically flashes the time so quickly that the brain isn’t conscious of how it got the information. The user seems to simply know the time, raising a host of possibilities about how the nature of clockwatching would change.
But you see, we live in a time where designers make drooling lechers of us all. They flaunt their charts, mock-ups, concept art and shiny 3-D models without concrete promise of these ideas ever making it into our homes, laps, nails, etc. But I always come back for more, grateful to them for bringing this Future For The Home we dream of just a little closer.
Saturday night marked the opening reception of the Fantastic Contraption exhibit I’ve been blustering about. Curated by Device Gallery owners Greg and Amy Brotherton, this show focuses on man, machine and the fusion of the two.
A very happy Greg Brotherton with his work.You may have seen Greg on Coilhouse before – read Nadya’s writeup here.
Device is nestled comfortably among dozens of galleries near the ocean. The touristy neighborhood is full of art, boutiques and eateries but there’s nothing quite like Device here! The gallery has plenty going for it besides its location, too – its spacious interior is overflowing with art I’d only dreamed of seeing in one place. Where else can you see H.R. Giger hanging alongside the huge canvases of Eduard Anikonov, wander beneath the shadow of Brotherton‘s Mercury 5000 and hover over the several enhanced insects on display before getting lost in Halleux’s menagerie of characters! I even spied work by Kazuhiko Nakamura of Mechanical Mirage – one of my earliest mentions here on Coilhouse. The exhibit has a distinct zeitgeist feel, this much I tell you with complete certainty.
Sculpture by Stephane Halleux
After some time spent exploring I had the pleasure of chatting with Greg and Amy along with Nemo Gould and Stephane Halleux, whose work is approximately 98% more impressive in person. I also took tons of photos some of which are below the jump while the rest are being uploaded here, as time allows.
It will be interesting to see how a space like this does among galleries specializing in friendly still life, idyllic beach scenes and the like. Considering Saturday’s turnout, my prognosis is “just fine”. Fantastic Contraption is Device Gallery’s inaugural show and runs through September 2. Go now.
Intellectual property is an ever-raging discussion here in The Age of The Internet. Often the lines between inspiration and imitation are blurred but today I give you an interesting case. You decide!
Long-time mad scientist Doctor Steel has, over the course of many years, made himself an infectious image. To do this he’s combined vintage war propaganda aesthetics, catchy tunes and an image of an asylum escapee who plots away in a secret lab and seeks to improve Earth with toys and total world domination. Through his website he’s pulled together an entire army of fans called Toy Soldiers, who organize events and distribute various Dr. Steel propaganda.
Left: Doctor Steel. Right: Doctor Horrible
Now there’s come along a Doctor Horrible. Produced by Joss Whedon and starring Neil Parick Harris, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is a website dedicated to video blogs starring a 30-something mad scientist who sings and wants to take over the world. In the site’s Master Plan, Whedon invites fans to spread the word, offers propaganda-style banners and promises a DVD release later.
Similarities beyond the singing mad doctor character include aforementioned propaganda-inspired banners, shiny gloves, goggles and an “Ask Dr. Horrible” segment – not unlike these “Ask Doctor Steel” videos. There is also the matter of the title itself : “Sing-Along Blog” is reminiscent of Doctor Steel’s Read-A-Long album.
Doctor Steel feels slighted by this endeavor and is rallying his troops in retaliation. Now that you’ve seen the evidence it’s time to cast your votes. Personally I’d like to see a bit of Doctor on Doctor boxing, shiny gloves and all.
Viktor Koen is a Greek-born artist specializing in digital illustration. He’s a professor at Parsons in New York and has his work regularly published in Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Money and Forbes among others.
The body of Viktor’s work is huge, but my favorite of his series remains Transmigrations.
“Transmigrations, Cases of Corporate Reincarnation” is 24 portraits of high executive title holders that return to life as insects. It’s a series that combines theories and research on social insects, traditional and contemporary corporate structures, job descriptions and reincarnation scriptures (more specifically the controversial teachings of Pythagoras on transmigration of souls). They personify symbols and weapons of their trades in a number of levels, some instantly visible and other hidden, avoiding the obvious and the expected.
Beyond the Kafka aspect of this project I love the actual shapes these creatures take on in their transformed states. Imagine these human-sized insects buzzing among the rest of us, brandishing their tools and being very, very busy.
I, all three of us, we’ve been reading your introductions, and we owe you all a big , squishy, electrified Thank You. When we asked you to tell us about yourselves we were certainly hoping to lure some of you from the shadows, if only for a moment, but we did not expect this. One hundred forty three [143] replies and counting. A few of those are ours but the bulk is you, in all your international, multi-faceted splendor.
So thank you for shedding your veils of anonymity and taking the time to tell us and each other a bit about you. I’ll be here, gleaming with pride and reading away. And if you’re reading this and have yet to participate, do! Nudes OK.
This news is a few days old at this point, but I feel compelled to ruminate for a moment on the following: Ian Curtis, the late singer of Joy Division, has been robbed. The tombstone decorating his final resting place, inscribed with “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, was taken from the grave on July 3 – just a few days ago. The obelisk had graced the grounds of a Macclesfield cemetery for over 28 years.
After the initial shock comes confusion. I find myself tormented, waking in the night and screeching a question to the blackened skies: why? With no one to answer, I am forced to speculate. What can be done with a tombstone, one that, as the drummer pleads, can’t be sold on eBay? Is there a black market for stolen tombstones? If so, what would the price be for such a rare artifact?
Perhaps the thieves wanted the stone for their garden? It could be fashioned into a bench near a reflecting pool, for late night contemplation. It is also possible to build the tombstone into a wall of a house, use it as a centerpiece at a banquet or a slightly morbid headboard that keeps nagging lovers in check. One could even use the tombstone to anchor their boat or stop pets from entering certain rooms.
Come to think of it, the possibilities are endless here – I can really see the appeal of dredging up a priceless memento for personal use now that I examine its true potential. What do you suppose has been done with the Ian Curtis tombstone? We’d love to hear your ideas. And if you’re reading this, thief, I hope you’re as imaginative as us. Or on your way to return the stone, which would make you a lot less of a scumbag.
