You Hum It

A few scores from avant-garde composer Cornelius Cardew. His dates are 1936 to 1981, and he was an experimenter, communist and possessor of a fantastic name. These are pages from his Treatise, a 193-page graphic score. I have no clue how you are supposed to play this music, I gather you can more or less interpret it as you like. I heard a Cardew piece on the radio the other day and it sounded like someone reading out physics problems over the Swanee-Kazoo round of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Make of that what you will.

Bibliodyssey have a great entry on "The Visual Context of Music", featuring Cardew and more neat-looking scores.

EnthuZINEasm

Unbelievably, Tim and I actually managed to pull a zine together, as threatened. It's called Enthusiasm, you may view the cover of Issue 1 below.


Tim sums up the ethos of the zine thus:

"This ‘zine was conceptualized during drunken conversations (like most worthwhile ideas) between Susie and I in various locations around Portland, OR and Norwich, UK. These discussions would usually go along the lines of “What do we really like?”; to which the answer would usually be, “lots… [list ensues]”. However, on one sunny, or possibly wet, day we sat down and made ‘serious’ plans during a moment of sobriety. Why have a zine about just one thing, when we can simply include everything we like? Everything we’re ‘enthusiastic’ about?"

So there you have it. Enthusiasm is full of zippy articles about the topics close to our hearts, with contributions from Tim and I and several of our intelligent and devastatingly attractive friends. Subjects covered include Japanese history, being pretentious in coffee houses, Byron, Foucault, Rolf Harris, Doomsday and Facebook. It was so much fun to put together!

Page 8

Which conveniently brings us to Enthusiasm issue 2. We would love contributions of all kinds, so long as, you know, it's something you're enthusiastic about. (No negativity here. America taught Tim and I, god help us, to be proactive.)

The deadline for submissions for issue 2 is September 10th. Send Tim and I whatever you come up with, let us know what you're thinking of writing about along the way.

Word limit is fairly fluid; I can work around most lengths, but I may have to cut your baby down, so bear that in mind. I am a harsh but fair editor. Here are some rough guides, bearing in mind each page is A5.

One page: 375 words
Two pages: 750 words
Three pages: 1000 words

Something like that. Be inventive, list format always works well, or not, please include a drawing if you wish, let me know if you have any layout ideas for me. No angsty poetry please.

If you don't have a copy of issue one yet, gasp! why don't you? Let me know, I will send one to you post-haste.

Distribution of issue one has been a little patchy, what with the summer dispersion of peeps, but issue 2 is going to be flung far and wide for the reading pleasure of the masses. And, *ahem*, if anyone wants to help with photocopying...

Questions? Comments?

I Think You're Just So Pleasant

I have previously posted on She & Him and their therapeutic effect. What a band.

Whatcha Drawing?

God I love Moleskines. Well, we all do. They are so handy to carry around, they feel so nice in your hand, you can pin down within any loose artistic notion that happens to waft through your brain at any time of day. The sketchbooks are sturdy enough to lug about all the time, and the paper takes all but the heaviest ink/paint with no trouble. (Plus you can buy them everywhere now; they are totes ubiquitous.)

Man, Jazz Ba

Flickr has a number of pools for people's moleskine pages, with literally thousands of people scanning in their best efforts. Most of their best efforts, I have to say, are crap. However, I have thoughtfully sifted through literally hundreds of pages of rubbish doodlings to find some really nifty work, I think.

What I like about these pages, and sketchbook stuff in general, is that they allow you a glimpse of the process, the in-progress thought processes, unfiltered ideas. They also obviously allow for more off-the-cuff, experimental work. Man, every time I notice someone has a sketchbook/notebook on them, moleskine or otherwise, I just want to go riffling through it, see if I can find out what makes them tick. I do of course have a couple of moleskines myself, but you don't want to see those. I do love having them around though, for those rare and precious moments when I have an Idea.

July 14 2008, Hollis Brown Thornton

Sketchbook, Give Me Your Sharpies

Powell's, Portland, ??

The Rain Came Crashing Down, Andrea Joseph

Moleskine 3, Nikola Tesla

Mind Reader, Ghostschool

??, Big Gay Dragon

Up, Chensio

See You Around..., ??

Bicycle Ride, Susan Rudat

Caffe Sole 2, VicandWilliam

Patience, Andrea Joseph

Un Ramo De Tiempo, Erika Kuhn

Piece of crap [her title not mine], Andrea Joseph

April 22 2008, Hollis Brown Thornton

Here are a couple of engraved sketchbooks from Modofly. Personally I would be afraid of drawing in these, but nonetheless they are gorgeous and desirable.

Mechanism, Modofly

Wild Flower, Modofly and Moth to a Flame

Fun-Sized Exciting Misshapen Variety Pack: Part II

Rue De Cascades, Bell Ola

Some more assorted images from far and wide, all very miscellaneous. Yes, I spend hours trawling through the internets, reading books and scanning, just to accumulate this scattered mess here. It's so strenuous.

Screens and Spokes 2008, ??

Rule Corehaz I, Luo Wei, etching

Lamppost, The Warm Sun, courtesy of Ffffound!

Stormy Seas, ??

Blue Street, Snake, ??

The Journal Comic, Cover, Drew Weing

1971, ??

Schwaben im Jahre 1863

Cameras, Julia Rothman

Microcosm picture, Cristy Road, 2001

Mr. Wrong, Nina Paley

Onze Kunst, Voortzetting Vande Vlaamscheschool 1903, (courtesy of Bibliodyssey)

??, Imagen Onirica and Clara Mazzani, etching and aquatint

Nederlandsche Almanak 1903 (courtesy of Bibliodyssey)

Birdfish, Briony Morrow-Cribs

(??, courtesy of Ffffound!)

Wonder Woman, ??

(??, courtesy of Ffffound!)

Moments on the Road, Goto Fumiko

Texteschreibe, Ferdinand Kriwet

Street Scene With Bicycle, Mikael Kihlman, Drypoint (!)

A Moment in Life I, Goto Fumiko

Moment, Selma Eelma

??, Christian Montenegro

Dome Home, Jonathan Zimmerman Sigler