Meanwhile #205
No solos; no decoration; when the words run out, it stops.
Listen If You Ever Tell … by Ed Ruscha, 2007. Although I’m scared that one day my mouse will slip and I’ll accidentally hit the PURCHASE button, I love a morning scroll through Artsy, especially when it throws up an unfamiliar piece from a favourite artist.
I’ve finally started le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which I bought mostly for David Pearson/Nick Asbury cover (one of five designs from Penguin in the past six years – any other titles with this kind of creative turnover?). A particularly strange reading experience. I’ve attempted to watch Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 film several times, and although it’s clearly brilliant, I always end up falling asleep – so it’s like reading a transcript of some half-forgotten dream.
I’ve been treated a glimpse at Freya Gowrley’s forthcoming book Fragmentary Forms: A New History of Collage – “an illustrated global history of collage from the origins of paper to today” – and by jove it looks good. Was not expecting to see the cover of an Argos catalogue in there.
Thought Bubble, the UK’s largest comic art convention, returns to Harrogate on 16–17 November. The video here really does reflect the happy, inclusive and all round wonderful atmosphere of the event. Cannot wait.
Other substacks are available! Recent treats:
‘s latest artist resources we love post contained a link to Ron Doucet’s astonishing 1300-page Character Design Crash Course; looks at the use of sound in Jon McNaught’s Kingdom; and traces the art school lineage of post-punk heroes Wire.Related to that last one – and I know I’ve shared this before – I love this quote from Wilson Neate’s 33 1/3 book on Wire’s Pink Flag (via Austin Kleon’s blog):
Wire’s aesthetic was built on subtraction, a consistent withdrawal of superfluous elements. “The reduction of ideas, the reduction of things down to the minimal framework—it just seemed completely natural,” explains Colin Newman. “By closing down possibilities, you very often open up possibilities. You have infinite possibilities of simplicity and subtlety within a frame.” Natural minimalists, Wire pursued a negative sensibility, defining themselves in terms of what they were not …
“The only things we could agree on were the things we didn’t like,” observes Bruce Gilbert. “That’s what held it together and made life much simpler.” Recalling some unofficial Wire rules, Graham Lewis summarizes this negative self-definition: “No solos; no decoration; when the words run out, it stops; we don’t chorus out; no rocking out; keep it to the point; no Americanisms.”
You Can’t Go Home Again, in which photographer Stephen Joyce documents the “stillness, contemplation, melancholy, and unease” of his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pat Benatar may take exception to it, but Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman’s ten rules for loving and being loved well is … lovely.
I have an unseemly amount of time for both Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane, so Nathan Silver’s new film Between the Temples is very much on my to-watch list.
Google Street View robot finding itself in mirrors.
And finally, a little bit of an affiliate link. What a treat! I’ve used FreeAgent for all of my accounting for years now, and can heartily recommend it to other handsome freelancers. Sign up for a free trial and save 10% if you subscribe.
That is all.
Thanks very much for the shout-out!
I feel like I see a new cover for 1984 every other week but maybe that's just people having some fun.