beyond the grave

Noel Coward

Blithe Spirit

1945



Federico Fellini

Guglietta Degli Spiriti

1965

Not like blades of grass, grains of rice, peas in a pod

But

like leaves in a forest, all dissimilar in their similarity

On Women As Mediums

There seem to be an abundance of images of women in the midst of Ectoplasm 'episodes'. Some are quite eerie, and haunting, almost grotesque, others are sexual, and yet others are almost comedic (and some are all these things). Overall I find them if anything arresting...at the very least they are inspiring in an unsettling way (or unsettling in an inspiring way). They seem to offer an in; their ephemeral aura projecting a sort of loose reality (or loose fantasy).

The word ectoplasm itself conjures up a very corporeal experience; secretions, oozings...plasma! The nature of the materialization that occurs mirrors women as portals, vessels, et al for life (and in this case for the dead, the undead, or the physical manifestation of messages from beyond the grave).

This summer I started going through a bank of saved images I had collected over the years on mediums, hauntings, etc etc. I think every teenage girl at some point delves into these 'occult' things (who doesn't love magic), these interests of course are transient like the very subject matter itself. I came accross the Book Vanishing Women: Magic, Film and Feminism. But... I haven't ordered it online or come across it at any bookstore. From the previews the images are quite nice and I like the tone of the passages I read..

perriand wants

1. Bloc Bahut, Perriand, 1959


2. Wall Mounted Bookshelves, Perriand, 1950


3. Mexique Bookshelf, Perriand and Prouve, 1952


4. Kitchen Cabinet, Perriand and Le Corbusier, 1947


5. Living Space, Perriand and Le Corbusier


6. Chaise Longue, Perriand, 1928 (Charlotte on her famous chair)




Charlotte Perriand made beautiful things I wish I could fill my apartment with. She was also a bit of a rebel rouser which I always appreciate and find endearing.

Eileen Screen

I was feeling antsy about my move into an apartment in which the large living room will also be my bedroom. Antsyness turned into worry given the lack of of desirable room dividers, then I remembered the swinging transcendent sheen of Eileen Gray's Block Screen, 1922...(now I just need the $7000 or someone itching to make one with me). To give the blocks of wood that luxurious shimmering blackness she uses a Japanese lacquering technique she first became interested in Soho and later studied for years in Paris. Gray is also responsible for that fantastic unabashed romantic gesture that is E-1027,...but that's for another day.

RIP

Sky Saxon died today. This song gives me shivers.

birchbark canoe

After watching this awkward little film, I am in love with the birchbark canoe.

It's a beautiful construction, and the stitching (Watan Sewn Gunwales) which follows the mid-section and wraps around the top edges of the canoe, really got me. The method for building the canoe calls for using materials available in the forest (basically all that's used is a birch tree, the thread are spruce roots, some binding goo made by boiling spruce resin) and the tools are minimal: an axe. I wasn't aware of the unique properties of birch to split into these thin flexible 'sheets' of wood. I am a little blown away by the whole process of production and the finished product.

The Algonquin tribe are responsible for the creation of the birchbark canoe, being nomadic peoples their livelihood was dependent on the quality of their transportation; necessity, as such, lead to the development of these beautiful high caliber objects.