This is torture, you bastards
I've been passed a digital chain letter by ampersandduck.Right, let's roll up the sleeves and get on with it...You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be saved?Probably a picture book, but I couldn’t say which one. Culture waxes and wanes if there is somebody around they will eventualy repeat anything now existant or something close to it. Word books survive in the context of their cultures so preserving them may be of no use or perhaps not of the use we assume.
I have a box of books that I have collected to give some teenage child. Books that fit my thinking as a teenager, focussed clarified amussed confirmed shifted and so on. They didn’t lead to each other or in some cases conect either and it was probably through external conversations as much as these texts I made any head way.(Books like F451, Catcher in the rye, to kill a mocking bird, catch22, the power of one and tandia{ after which I never read anything by bryce again}, jonothonlivingstoneseagull, something about motorcyclemechanics, and so on).They give me the shivers some of them but I think it would be interesting to see how(if) these may be of use to another.Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?Do the characters in erotica and porn count? Actually I have always tended toward characters as part of the whole, just another element in the authors fictional space. The last book you bought was...?Vaughn Bode’s DEADBONE. It’s a graphic novel after a fashion, and I bought it because Bode played a big role in the counter culture of my choice and I thought I ought give him a look as the oportunity arose. I never really was a fan of NY graff old school or otherwise and should have taken my cues from this.The last book you read was...?Somebody left a copy of Invible Cities by Italo Calvino around and so I read it. Pleasant stuff, I think I may come back to it, I cansee fragments of use in conextualizing the actions of street art action.What are you currently reading?Okay these are the books and book like things who havent made it back to their shelves today, be they read for pleasure, distraction or reference.
PICTURE BOOKS;
The Nikopol Trilogy, Enki Bilal Switzerland 2004. –graphic novel. Egyptian gods in 2023.
Tartans, Brenda Ralph Lewis London 2004. –as the title suggests, however it fails to contain a definition of a tartan actually is and focusses on scottish history instead.
Fresh FRUITS London 2005. –A new collection of images taken from Shoichi Aoki’s street fashion magazine of 1997-2002.
Legends of the dreamtime Ainslie Roberts/ Charles P. Mountford Aus 1975. – White guys telling, one writing one painting, dreamtime stories.
CHROMOPHILE Ragner USA 2003.- computer generated poster/callender/ corporate xmass card work.
The Art of HELLBOY Mike Mignola USA 2004.- posters covers unpublished sketches.
THE ART OF REBELION world of street art compiled by C100 USA 2004.- by internet invitation survey of contemporary street action, carelessly edited.
MUCHA O.B.Duane Great Britain 1996.- Art Nouveau goodness, number of images referranced in text not shown bad.
IZASTIKUP BO130, the Don and Microbo Rome Italy 2005.- Another invitational, this time focused on stickers and properly edited and credited.
SWAG Rock Posters of the 90’s Spencer Drate USA 2003.- Invitational poster book, particaluarly evedent in mixed quality of reproductions and bios.
Swallow vol1 iss.1 Ashley Wood USA 2005.- Visual actioners collected by messer Wood’s.
STRAIGHT LINES a ten year graffiti art dialog ecb/ Reso Germany 2004.- ecb is at the high end of the scene, tight high caliber often complex always huge and outdoors. The kind of work that you see and think of stopping cause hes got it all covered. Now we need Satone to publish a book.
Insects of Australia George Hangay & Pavel German AUS 2000.- good selection of matis pictures.
ZINES AND STREET PRESS;
VAPOURS all city magazine Issue 24 USA 2004.- articles on Norm & Reyas AWR MSK.
GRAFIK journal of the best in international graphic design OCT 2003.
Disruptive issue 2 Sept 03 NZ.- Hand styles Buff profiles Shows its all good.
Out for Fame Issue 31 & 32 Melbourne 2005.- Crappy street press which sometimes accidently publishes tasty Graff and street art.
Down Rocks No.2 Spain April 2002.- Feature on the Montana Technitians ,sponsored writers from a visually acute cultural background.
Juxtapoz #44 2003 and 2005 spring special USA.- Robert Williams mouth piece and their stable of selected artists, always preview in the shop to make sure you get at least six(of 40ish) good pages and inclued adverts of quality.#44 has a Chaz Bojorquez article and several good sf western paintings. The special has a pushead article & blacknwhite focus.
Empty Issues 1,2,3 Aus 2004-05.- from the people that charged you to bring Semi-Permanent (the kind of conference you have when you don’t have a conference but want to charge like you do).Internet based design community zine. Nothing new, just hard copies.
Cyclic Defrost 10 or 11? Aus 2005.- Current issue of streetpress electro glitch et al mucic zine. Always a featured Visual producer somehow well connected to the music scene and great package reviews.
WORDIER STUFF;
The Adventure of English Melvin Bragg Breat Britain 2004.- I like words and this seems a readable acount of some.
The day of the Triffids John Wyndham London 1951.- Found this old copy and thought it could be a pleasant read, so far it is. Very much of its time though I especially like that everyone could jump in a lorry and drive it well enough. I can’t quite picture many auto drivers managing that now.
The island of the colour-blind Oliver Sacks USA 1996.- from the author who brought us the man who mistook his wife for a hat and other stories of brains at play and work.
Five books you would take to a desert island...I have never properly comprended this; for a while for ever with only never in contact again etc etc. so forever and alone somewhere australasian looking forward(for the most part)...
NorthQueensland Ethnography Walter E Roth, BA, MRCS Etc Brisbane 1901-10.- seems usful to have some referance to Plants animals crafts lifestyles preperation techniques etc.I have fragments but the closest ive come to a complete copy was only six of the ten sections for $600.
A blank notebook.- typically I favour 100x150x15mm hardbacked 80gsm stock, but for this kind of adventure I might scale up somewhat maybe a 300x300x40 hardcover.
Now it gets harder…
Is it Baudalirs Poetics of space.- cause I have never been still enough to focus properly on that text and suspect the opportunity comes.I have tried several times but it elluedes me.
Anything else that comes to mind seems better fit to an urban situation. Like it might be fun to take the collected works of Charles bukawski, but his life was persued in the heavy shadow of industrialization and against a larger population.these I think would resonate less in an environment void of such.
Seeing as youre asking and this gives me warning perhaps I have time to bind a collection of images. A selection of styles and thinking, a varriety of ways to enguage ones surroundings. Picasso’s sketches for gaticca(the anti war thing), snarls two colour throw ups(letter styles). Some Mr Jago sketches or flyers, some HNT productions(altra stylized figures),some erosie bikes(for his manipulation of perspective) and pieces(letter styles again),SuperKitch for his linework and sense of pattern, KRSN(though its all figurative which will soon be limiting, his linework and tonal form aluding), a couple of Flying fortress bears (to contrast shepardfairies weaker use of repitition in my memory), some SOL crew productions for their wit and beauty, same for a sam flores anything, might as well inclued a couple of Sat one productions especailly with tumor (bring a little colour and abstraction along), Maybe a graphotism style section of selected pieces by ecb,aero,anie,the NT, the MD, mine, cmp, video, viagraphiks crew,swoon,silo, esher, kaim77, puzle, bust and diuse etc. A few images from andy goldsworthy udo-nils and chistopher somethingor other. A couple of anthony Gormley photos(you can’t look at his work as isolated pieces).some matiss and modigiliano girls. Ah I don’t know a collection of well able draftsmen and some pretty colour pictures for fun.Who are you passing this stick on to and why?
http://takeyourbreath.blospot.com, because this seems a suitably random act for Placebo Jones
