New art by Natalie Shau
Three Graces with a Knife by Natalie Shau
23-year-old Lithuanian digital artist Natalie Shau has created a new set of images influenced by Greek Mythology.
This piece above is called “Three Graces with a Knife.” According to Shau, illness the women in the image are Alecto the Implacable, advice Megaera The Jealous One and Tisiphone, tadalafil the avenger Murder. In Greek Mythology, these three sisters were known as Erinyes (or in Roman, the Furies), and they were the female personification of vengeance.
Bad News, early spoof rockumentary
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Aired on UK’s Channel 4 at the height of the NWOBHM movement, Bad News follows the misadventures of the identically named fictional band of rock star n00bs (played by the cast of the UK cult TV show The Young Ones) as they’re documented by an irritable film crew.
Released the year before This Is Spinal Tap caused an international sensation, this gem has been forgotten in most quarters having been dwarfed by the success of Spinal Tap.
Admittedly, Bad News is totally amateur next to This Is Spinal Tap but if you abstain from drawing comparisons you’ll find high entertainment value in this humble TV effort.
50 years since our beloved Laika’s flight
I still don’t understand who I am: the first human or the last dog in space. – Yuri Gagarin
It was on November 3, 1957 – fifty years ago today that Laika took flight. Her ship circled the Earth 2,570 times, burning upon re-entering the atmosphere on April 14, 1958. She didn’t see the stars or the moon, as Sputnik 2 was not equipped with windows but she felt, if only briefly, what humanity had longed for so desperately.
Today, I want you to take a moment and think of her out there; stray mutt picked off the streets of Moscow, in her little capsule. Paving the way for us all.
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Poison Ivy: actually pretty good
The cross makes me think of death, but the ivy is life. Sort of the tragic and hopeful, you know.
Ah, Poison Ivy. It had it all – big hair, teen lesbian lust, daddy complexes, public sex, irreparable emotional trauma and even death.
The players
Sylvie Cooper: A pre-Goth introverted high school student [Sarah Gilbert ]
Ivy: miniskirt-wearing, tattooed, broken doll-faced Lolita of a girl [Drew Barrymore]
Darryl Cooper: Sylvie ‘s father, a wealthy lonely man [Tom Skerritt] with a wilted rose as his dying wife [Cheryl Ladd]
The plot
Sylvie meets & swoons over wild Ivy and invites her into her home along with disaster. She can only look on in horror and confusion as Ivy slowly takes over her life.
What reads like a recipe for generic Hollywood fodder, instead focuses on acute loneliness, obsession and despair as much as on Barrymore’s physique and is actually a strangely moving and beautiful film. The acting is just ok, but Barrymore’s portrayal of a love starved teenage desperado is involving and bouncy, and the cinematography is great, with most of the particularly dramatic moments are shot in twilight rain. This movie probably did some goth-o-fying to herds of restless teenage girls in the 90s. Shakespearean high drama, Freudian tension and Fellinian perversion – I can’t help but love it all!
Goth-Themed Images in Italian Vogue
Vogue Italia October 2007
Photo: Richard Burbidge
Model: Alana Zimmer
See the rest on: foto_decadent
I used to get furious when I saw gothic-inspired shoots in magazines like Vogue. In my mind, the designers were capitalizing on a scene that was not theirs to own, tauntingly improving on certain fronts with their $70-a-yard fabric while raking in the cash for their soulless, safe interpretations while the real designers starved. Of course you had your occasional unique voice such as Vivienne Westwood, but for the most part what I saw looked like pure thievery. These days, I can enjoy an image like this without such malice. In today’s high-visibility networking culture, the most talented alt designers are fully capable of producing such high-fashion images on their own and getting published; just check out these impressive press pages from alt designers Atsuko Kudo and Cyberoptix.
And the ripoff factor? Well, there are a lot of anecdotes about how Jean-Paul Gaultier used to frequent London’s fetish clubs and stalk around Camden Market to subsequently fill the runway with directly-inspired, uncredited designs in the 90s. But when he turns around and comes up with something like this or this, is all not forgiven? A whole new generation of alt designers now finds inspiration in Gaultier’s work, completing the cycle. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that’s healthier today then it’s ever been.
Previously:
Divine gluttony: adventures in Tokyo’s themed dining
Tokyo’s theme restaurants have been attracting tourists and locals for quite some time. There’s a selection suitable for every mood, kink and outfit – just take a look at this partial list!
- The Vampire Cafe
- Alice in Wonderland
- Christon Cafe – yes, it’s Jesus-themed
- Princess Heart – Snow White + Cinderella theme
- Opera – Phantom of the Opera
- The LockUp
Naturally, on our Japan-o-dventure our curiosity and appetites were piqued so we paid some of these fantasy eateries a visit.
The Vampire Cafe is a maze of red velvet and layers of candle wax. Waitresses in tarted up maid uniforms solemnly lead patrons trough crimson corridors across a blood red floor, literally. This floor, likely my favorite part of the decor, is composed of glowing backlit tiles depicting enlarged photographs of blood cells. Customers can choose a banquet table or private curtained booths, maid bells provided. I tried to wish myself back there yesterday – it would be stupendous for a Halloween dinner; appetizers arranged into the shape of crucifixes, rose petals sprinkled across plates, the main course served in, yes, a tiny black casket. And all this triumphantly crowned with a chocolate skull inside my parfait, no less.
Dreaming the Industrial Body
Every time I reach into the Magic Bucket o’ Reader Submissions, I discover something I’ve never seen before. I want to thank everyone who’s sent something in (except for you, submitter of furry porn – you almost got me fired at work). We’re never at a loss for new art and weirdness to cover, and it’s thanks to you guys!
DestroyX of the industrial duo Angelspit sends along a page is called Dreaming the Industrial Body, which features drawings from 20’s and 30’s of various bodily processes represented in terms of industrial society by artist Fritz Kahn. The drawings illustrate the inner workings of our bodies in terms of conveyor belts, telephone wires, electric projectors, locomotives, engines, refineries and switchboards manned by busy workers. It’s uber, ja!
The Dreaming the Industrial Body online exhibit is part of a series called Dream Anatomy, hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. There are many interesting sections – some other ones I enjoyed were Dissection Scenes and Fancies, Show-off Cadavers and Anatomical Primitives. The entire site is a must-see for any student of anatomy or fan of body horror.
Victorian Bat
victorianbatcostume, treatment originally uploaded by carbonated.
What are you dressed up as?