Glad midsommar!

 Midsummer images from here.

Glad midsommar! (Happy Midsummer!).


"In modern Sweden, Midsummer's Eve and Midsummer's Day (Midsommarafton and Midsommardagen) [...] is arguably the most important holiday of the year, and one of the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated, even if it has been influenced by other countries long ago.

The main celebrations take place on the Friday, and the traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. One typical dance is the frog dance. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to cover the entire pole.

Raising and dancing around a maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) is an activity that attracts families and many others. People dancing around the pole listen to traditional music and many wear traditional folk costumes. The year's first potatoes, pickled herring, sour cream, and possibly the first strawberries of the season are on the menu. Drinking songs are also important at this feast, and many drink heavily.

Because Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest, it was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse. In the past it was believed that herbs picked at Midsummer were highly potent, and water from springs could bring good health. Greenery placed over houses and barns were supposed to bring good fortune and health to people and livestock; this old tradition of decorating with greens continues, even though most don't take it seriously."

To learn more about the Swedish Midsummer traditions continue reading here or here for example.

Leap Toward Yourself.

Leap Toward Yourself. By Sharon Ya'ari. Steidl and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2013. 264 pp., illustrated throughout, 8,5x10,5".

Book description:

" 'I like being able to observe something over a long period of time, unselfconsciously admiring the complex circumstances by which it had come into being.
The images have a story, usually one related to existence and near-extinction'.
- Sharon Ya’ari.

This book presents photographs spanning Sharon Ya’ari’s entire creative career, focusing on his recent works. It is published in conjunction with a major exhibition of Ya’ari’s work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, featuring a comprehensive selection of his photographs.

Sharon Ya’ari does not seek unusual moments, special places or unique subjects. His photographs offer an intimate look at the commonplace and familiar, making the viewer take pause and observe closely. He does not depict climactic moments; rather, he stops and photographs things that appear to him along the way, thereby conferring permanence on a particular time and place.

Ya’ari’s images summon a multilayered reading, combining local, historical references on the one hand and conceptual references to the medium of photography and to the history of art on the other."


Published to coincide with the 2013-2014 Tel Aviv Museum of Art Exhibition 'Sharon Ya’ari: Leap Toward Yourself'.

"Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud"

Maya Angelou (source for image).

Rest in peace Maya Angelou. You've done so much for all of us, you will be missed.
More, more, more, more.


Previous.

Happy (Swedish) Friday!

Syrener (syringas).

Space Conquerers!

Space Conquerers! Amc2 Journal Issue 6. Edited by AMC, Cristina de Middel and Thomas Mailaender. AMC Books, 2013. 32 pp., illustrated throughout, 30x37cm. Images from here. 

Book description:

"The first Earth-born creature to enter space was Laika, a stray dog from Moscow that blasted off aboard Sputnik 2 on 3 November 1957, heralding the beginning of the space race and an associated propaganda war between the two superpowers of the era, the Soviet Union and the United States.

Edited by the Archive of Modern Conflict together with Christina de Middel and Thomas Mailander, this issue of Amc2 journal contains a cross-section of some of the space-race related images held by the Archive."


I've previously also featured issue 1 of Amc2 journal.

Birds Have Wings.

Birds Have Wings. One Picture Book #77. By Carol E. Richards. Nazraeli Press, 2013. 16 pp., illustrated throughout, 5,5x7,25". With one original print. Images from here.

One Picture Book is an ongoing series of limited edition artists' books published by Nazraeli Press, which I've previously written about here, here and here for example.

The artist is asked to create a book based on one image or series of connected images, from their previous work. The hardcover edition is limited to 500 and contains an original print by the artist.


Book description:

"Having difficulty identifying a particular species of bird through her spotting scope, Carol E. Richards took a photograph through the lens to assist with her research.

The resulting picture turned out to be far more than a tool for verification. It had a mood and visual content the artist was drawn to, and led to the creation of a series of beautiful, dream-like vignettes."

Rest in Peace Malik Bendjelloul

Best of Malik - special on SVT Kobra (culture program) - view here.

Maybe it's growing up with him on Ebba & Didrik, maybe it's truly loving the work he did on the culture show Kobra, maybe it's the honesty that came across during the award circus for Searching for Sugar Man, I'm not really sure, what I do know is that I've been really affected by the death of Malik Bendjelloul.

It does indeed feel like a bright and truthful light has gone too soon. Rest in peace.


Searching for Sugar Man will show as a tribute at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. SVT (Swedish State TV) will also show the film on Sunday, at 12.55.

Kobra showed a tribute last night (link above and here).

Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse

Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse - in collaboration with Tate Modern.

It would be impossible to not love Iris Apfel!

Iris Apfel dresses for Matisse - in collaboration with Tate Modern.
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is on at Tate Modern (London) until September 7.

1st of May

May Day demonstrations in Stockholm (1950, 1940s, 1944). Images from Stockholmskällan.

For peace and unity between people (för fred och samarbete mellan folken).

Wilderness.

Wilderness. By Debra Bloomfield, text by Terry Tempest Williams. University Of New Mexico Press, 2014. 128 pp., illustrated throughout, 10,3x12,3". With two maps and an audio CD. Images from here.

Book description:

"Debra Bloomfield engaged for five years on a photographic project in the wilderness.

After photographing the desert in 'Four Corners' and the ocean in Still, she has moved on in this new book to the forest.

Her photographs do not describe a particular place. She does not catalog the elements that add up to wilderness. She does not show each detail she observed or convey all the information she learned while she was there.

Instead, her photographs and soundscapes bring us to the experience of wilderness. A CD is an integral part of this book, allowing the reader to share the photographer’s journey of hearing the call of birds overhead, the crunch of snow underfoot, and the hum of a ferry’s engine."

Happy Easter

Vintage Easter cards via pinterest.

Glad påsk and Happy Easter!

Rest in Peace Gabriel García Márquez

Very saddened to hear that the great writer Gabriel García Márquez has passed away. His work has changed my life profoundly - as so many others'. Rest in peace.

More, more, more, more.

Crossing Over. [last day/this too shall pass]

Crossing Over. By Yanina Shevchenko. The Velvet Cell, 2013. 24 pp., illustrated throughout, 16,5x24cm. Limited edition of 300 copies. Images from here.

Book description:

"In March 2012 Yanina Shevchenko travelled from one end of Russia to the other and back again on the trans-siberian railway in a bid to discover for herself the true nature of her homeland.

In the space of two weeks she spent a total of twelve days onboard, mingling with her fellow travellers and watching the Russian landscape unfold itself from her carriage window.

Born in Volgograd of Russian-Belorussian descent, Yanina was motivated to unearth what 'Russianess' meant and whether it existed as a single entity from one end of the motherland to the other. What she encountered and discovered about Russia, and thus about herself, is documented in her book of writings and photography 'Crossing Over'."

Mandala. [today is joy]

Mandala. By Bill Armstrong, introduction by Katherine Ware. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2008. 44 pp., illustrated throughout, 9x9". Images from here.

Book description:

" 'The Mandalas are meant to be meditative pieces - glimpses into a space of pure color, beyond our focus, beyond our ken. Their essential purpose is to create a sense of transcendence, of radiance, of pure joy', Bill Armstrong writes about this series. 'Through abstraction, simplification and blur, I hope to create a context for the exploration of broad spiritual themes that, rather than relying on a codified system, remains open and invites the viewer’s personal interpretation'.

Like other portfolios in his series Infinity, Armstrong’s mandalas are made from collages he creates and then photographs with the camera’s focusing ring set on infinity. He then creates chromogenic prints from the resultant negatives.

By taking an out-of-focus photograph, the artist concentrates not on detailed form and subject but on the rich, saturated colors that shift and pulsate in relation to one another, inviting an inquiry into the interconnectedness of all things.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Photo Mandalas: Bill Armstrong and Milan Fano Blatny. Curated by Kathrine Ware. Julien Levy Gallery, Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 6, 2008 - January, 2009."

Me with the silence in your home after you passed away (Odengatan, Stockholm, Sweden).

Me with the silence in your home after you passed away (Odengatan, Stockholm, Sweden).

MoMA’s Share Your Silence sound map.

MoMA: Share Your Silence on soundcloud.

MoMA: There Will Never Be Silence: Scoring John Cage’s 4’33”
Exhibition: October 12, 2013 - June 22, 2014.

Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Hiroshi Sugimoto. By Hiroshi Sugimoto. Essays by David Elliott, Kerry Brougher and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Hatje Cantz, 2005. 368 pp., illustrated throughout, 26,5x27,8cm. Images from here.

Book description:

"The spectacular series by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto (*1948 in Tokyo) are characterized by matchless clarity and presence.

His works are always an absolute embodiment of his chosen visual motif, reduced to its essence.

Our exquisite monograph is the first to feature works selected from all of the series produced to date - including, of course, his most famous: Sugimoto's celebrated portraits of wax figures seem to face up to their living audiences; his 'Seascapes' show us nothing less than a person's first conscious view of the ocean; the extremely long exposures of 'Theaters' elevate the white, luminescent cinema screen, transforming it into a magical image of an altar; and the fascinating 'Dioramas' - photographs of scientific display cases - allow us to travel with the artist far into the past to observe extinct animal species or the daily life of early man."

Rest in peace Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Heartbreaking. And such a great, great loss of talent. (read, read)

Driven Snow.

Driven Snow. By Andy Mattern. Andy Mattern, 2013. 50 pp., illustrated throughout, 5,25x8,25". Edition of 100 copies.

Book description:

"During the Minnesota winter, grit and snow gradually accumulate in the wheel wells of moving cars. Layer upon layer, these materials fuse into icy formations, conforming to the contours of the host vehicle.

Regular snowfall and the persistent cold encourage these parasitic travelers to grow so dense and large that they interfere with steering. But as the season wears on, they inevitably dislodge or are kicked off vehicles into streets, driveways, and parking lots where they are crushed or eventually melted.

These photographs represent a collection of 22 of these objects found in the winter of 2010-2011, the fifth snowiest on record."

Today

© SE.

Today (strange happenings out the window).

Between the Shell.

Between the Shell. By Paul Salveson. MACK, 2013. 76 pp., illustrated throughout, 19x26cm. Images from here.

Book description:

"Paul Salveson’s photographs were born in New York and Virginia between 2006 and 2011.

Constructing images in domestic environments from items found in arm’s reach, the results are absurdist constructions in which commonplace objects are jocosely rendered in polychromatic puzzles.

Salveson describes his photographic process as 'unfolding like a private performance in an empty house, or after everyone falls asleep... my engagement emerges from a perspective that precedes familiarity, disregarding the functions and cultural associations that objects are assigned. I try to process my surroundings with an alien mind.' "