RIP Beverly Garland (1926 – 2008)
Beverly Garland in It Conquered the World (1956) by Roger Corman
Beverly Garland (October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American film and television actress, businesswoman, and hotel owner. She is known to international cult audiences for her roles in the Roger Corman films It Conquered the World, Swamp Women, and Not of This Earth.
I am the Dying Gaul
This is my death scene, I was not given a deathbed. I do not represent the most famous death scene. I am outdeathed by Jesus Christ who died on the cross and Jean-Paul Marat , both after me.
I seem to have been born in a culture of death, yet I was not given any last words. This fascination with death in Western culture. Why? Why so pervasive?
Why did Jane write A Death-Scene?
Why this fasicnation with crime scenes?
Why did Andy Warhol produce The Death and Disaster paintings?
And why is every sensationalist corner of video-libraries around the world filled with copies of Faces of Death?
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5GDcs8i2ng&]
Why do we enjoy the slow motion death of Bonnie and Clyde and countles other movie death scenes?
Aristotle, had I known him, would have answered me:
Forrest J Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan. Ackerman was influential to the wider cultural acceptance of science fiction as a literary, art and film genre. To a general audience, Ackerman is best remembered as the editor-writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, as the producer of Vampirella, and as literary agent.
Vampirella magazine (France, 01/1970), published by Publicness
image sourced here.
Most of us have a passing interest in horror. In his Ways of Hearing book presentation, David Toop revealed that he discovered the Price, Corman and Poe-connection (the connection between 19th century literary horror to 20th century cinematic horror) via Famous Monsters of Filmland.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini @410
Pushing against Pluto’s face Proserpina‘s hand creases his skin,
while his fingers sink into the flesh of his victim.
Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680) was a Italian sculptor and architect of 17th century Rome, best-known for his marble sculptures the Ecstasy of St Theresa[1] and the Beata Ludovica Albertoni[2].
Update: The Rape of Proserpina, the Ecstasy of St Theresa[1] and the Beata Ludovica Albertoni[2] are Icons of erotic art #35, 36 and 37.
The Book of the Courtier (1528) – Baldassare Castiglione
Baldassare Castiglione (1478 – 1529) was an Italian diplomat and author, best-known for his book on etiquette, The Book of the Courtier, which came to play a role in the 20th century aesthetics of cool* by having defined the concept of sprezzatura, “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it”. To this day, the Book of the Courtier remains the definitive account of Renaissance court life.
The Works of Aretino by Samuel Putnam, illustrations by Franz von Bayros
Pietro Aretino‘s (1492 – 1556) La cortigiana is a parody of The Book of the Courtier. Like in so many of Aretino’s books, it gives center stage to a woman rather than a man (courtier is the male form of cortigiana, cortigiana entered French as courtesan and was later appropriated by the English language).
From a Jahsonic point of view La cortigiana deserves just as much attention as The Book of the Courtier.
Le notti peccaminose di Pietro l’Aretino
La cortigiana focuses on the romantic and erotic aspects of Renaissance life, a sensibility explored in the 1970s in the Italian film genre decamerotico, a subgenre of the commedia erotica all’italiana. Notable in this respect is Pasolini’s Trilogy of Life (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights); but more so with regards to Aretino the Italian film Le notti peccaminose di Pietro l’Aretino[1], starring Adriana Asti and Elena Veronese.
While researching La cortegiana, I came across this sublime photo [2] of a female with an hourglass shaped body.
Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude (2000) – Dick Pountain, David Robins [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
*”The aesthetics of cool were most successfully documented” in Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude. –Sholem Stein
RIP Jim Cawthorn (1929 – 2008) (via John Coulthart [1])
The Metal Monster (1962) by Jim Cawthorn
Jim Cawthorn (1929 – 2008) was a British illustrator, comics artist and fantasy historian. Cawthorn was the first illustrator employed by Savoy Books in the early 1980s. Cawthorn was Michael Moorcock’s illustrator of choice for many years and was involved with the Moorcock-edited run of New Worlds right from the start with his cover illustrating J. G. Ballard’s “Equinox” story. He also provided reviews for New Worlds, and edited Fantasy: The 100 Best Books[1] with Moorcock.
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9s2Gy9lydk&]
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child“
Odetta Holmes, (December 31, 1930 – December 2 2008), known as Odetta, was an African-American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement.” Her musical repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and ’60s, she was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin.
She was known for her renditions of songs such as “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child“[1] and “Pastures of Plenty“.
[Youtube=http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=k7VzWitgeU4]
Diesel ad “Pete the Meat Puppet“
Since very young, I have been an advertising junkie. So much creativity can be found in the medium, and it is not hampered by the egos and pretentions usually found in the art or music worlds. That is probably why I focused on the applied arts between my twenties and thirties.
I’ve featured Diesel previously twice on this blog. A ‘minotaur‘ street ad here[1] and very fun film SFW porn film from earlier this year here[2].
The unkown artist is probably a fan of Zappa and The Residents.
![[2]](http://i31.tinypic.com/2yoe9h5.jpg){kind=link}
![[1]](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/x0/x2893.jpg){kind=link}