the secret life of plants - melancholia - satantango

new items found and in the process of clarification.
or, relationships between abstract art, literature, cinema and drone music.

1. anselm kiefer monograph "the secret life of plants" by heiner bastian/schirmer/mosel verlag munchen 2003.





2. bruges-la-morte by georges rodenbach dedalus books.
written in 1892, concerns the fate of a widower who has turned to the melancholy, decaying city of bruges as the ideal location in which to mourn his wife and as a suitable haven for narcissistic perambulations of his inexorably disturbed spirit. it is the ultimate evocation of rodenbach's lifelong love affair with the enduring mystery and haunting mortuary atmosphere of bruges.


3. the green face by gustav meyrink dedalus books
in an amsterdam that very much resembles the prague of the golem, a stranger, hauberisser, enters by chance a magician's shop. the name on the shop, he believes, is chidher green; inside, among several strange customers, he hears an old man, who says his name is green, explain that, like the wandering jew, he has been on earth 'ever since the moon has been circling the heaven.' when hauberisser catches sight of the old man's face, it makes him sick with horror. the face haunts him. the rest of the novel chronicles hauberisser's quest for the elusive and horrible old man.


4. satantango, a film by bela tarr
3 dvd by artificial eye. includes sound by gyorgy kovacs, cinematogrphy by gabor medvigy, music by mihaly vig and screenplay by novelist laszlo krasznahorkai.
bells, cows, the distruction of old furniture, dipsomania, rain, dogs, and many other beautiful things, and an overwhelming drone soundtrack.
for more information, see: "bela tarr" published in 2001 by filmunio hungary, budapest and the museum of modern art new york.




5. lithographs of jean dubuffet- department of prints, philadephia museum of art
1964-1965
catalogue has many examples of dubuffet's abstract "phenomena" series.
for more information see: l'oeuvre grave et les livres illustres par jean dubuffet. 2 vols. paris: baudoin lebon editeur, 1991.






other items to consider:

-rainer stach- kafka: the decisive years
anything not strange is invisible- paul valery cahiers

-the dedalus book of french horror: the 19th century
"what strange phenomena we find in a great city, all we need to do is stroll about with our eyes open. life swarms with innocent monsters.... lord, have pity on madmen and madwomen! oh creator! can monsters exist in the sight of Him who alone knows how they were invented, how they invented themselves, and how they might not have invented themselves?" c. baudelaire

-preston sturges- the filmmaker collection
includes the great mcginty, christmas in july, the lady eve, sullivan's travels, the palm beach story, the great moment, hail the conquering hero.


-edvard munch- the cinema of peter watkins
1976, norway, shot on 16mm.
the devastation of experience, emotion, expression and art.
beautiful ellipses and displacements in time, poetic editing that suggests rather than explains, odd uses of music and sound, and other strange qualities.
ends with the beautiful statement:
i felt as if there were invisible threads between us, i felt as if invisible threads from her hair still twisted themselves around me, and when she completely disappeared there over the ocean, then i felt still how it hurt where my heart bleed, because the threads could not be broken.




-children of men, a film by alfonso cuaron, 2006
includes 2 beautifully choreographed long takes that are truly stunning and mysterious. the first has a camera moving in and around a moving car; a headscratcher, and the second has a mistake of blood on a lens, and violence made pretty.

-mystery sea label in brussels, night-ocean drones
including: spiracle, hum, aalfang mit pferdekopf, exit in grey and many others. truly amazing cds and graphic design.
http://www.mysterysea.net/


-lustmord- the place where the black stars hang
metastatic resonance derived from recordings made with adi newton at anterior research station 1990/1993 and reissued 2006 by soleilmoon recordings

-bernhard gunter/ heribert friedl- trans
field recording of a group of three small power transformers, amplified hackbrett, electric cellotar, bamboo flute, harmonicas.
http://www.nonvisualobjects.com/