Bought several books: Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings (Descartes), The Sexual Life of Catherine M (Millet), The Long Goodbye (Raymond Chandler), Fear and Trembling (Soren Kierkegaard), Art by Film Directors (Karl French).
Currently browsing the latter, which features visuals by Cocteau, Fellini, Jean-Jacque Beineix, Kurosawa and others. Derek Jarman's paintings 'Drop Dead' and 'Dead Sexy' recall Pollock, an aesthetic befitting the desperation of his condition (Jarman succumbed to AIDS in 1994). The urgent discharge of paint, spattered in contained frenzy is not without humour. I adore his films from 'The Last Of England' onwards, where narrative is drawn with the looseness of such brushstrokes. On the subject, Jarman's 'Kicking The Pricks' is a recommended read.
Also in this book are Kurosawa's various homages to Van Gogh. Plus there's work by Takeshi Kitano and the neurotic geometry of Peter Greenaway.
Check also: Jan Svankmajer's Bilderlexicon cycle.
1 comment:
Hiya,
Read your entry for the Cheshire Literature prize, though it was excellent! I especially liked the first section - the way the definite articles are dropped gives a nice ambiguity to bed, rag etc, as it simultaneously encourages you to consider them as abstract archetypes rather than specific instances, and also as proper nouns. Makes the piece seem like both a specific narrative, and also a description of the general dynamics of 'abuse of power' relationships.
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