Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Bronze Room


These are a few pics I took of the bronze collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Many of the artifacts in this room are credited to Andrea Briosco - nicknamed Riccio (meaning 'curly') for his hair - and his peers in northern Italy, and are believed to have been made between the late 15th and the mid 16th century.

The time and location puts them squarely in the era when 'grotesque' art was all the rage, and this influence can be seen in the mixture of functional objects with human, animal and plant parts.





Inkwell:


Oil lamps:











Incense burner:



A few closer details (notice how the 'feet' are actually heads? The more you look, the more you see):


Quill holder:


Inkwell with three compartments (also with heads for feet, and a classic 'grotesque' human/plant figure across the side):



One half of a pair of andirons:


Details:







A covered bowl, possibly a perfume burner:





Satyr with inkwell (the vase) AND lamp (the shell):



These objects make you realise just how pervasive the 'grotesque' aesthetic was (at least, for people who could afford this stuff in their house), as well as how it intersected with depictions of mythological creatures such as sea monsters and satyrs.

All My Words are Belong to Thesis

but you can have this musical rendition of Conan's life cycle.




Nice.

Also, I will eventually post pictures of my Supanova loot. The light in my grotto/office (where I spend every waking moment) is really bad in winter so the first lot turned out dodgy. I will have another go. Maybe go outside... *skin bursts into flames*... or not.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Supanova


A few pics from Perth's Supanova Pop Culture Expo. I felt it was my duty to attend. For research purposes, of course.

The baby stormtrooper got very excited by the Dalek and put his helmet on backwards.


The plush microbe toys were tempting. I've always dreamed of giving someone rabies.


Lots of opportunities for gaming.









Dr Who club.


All the good stuff.








The even gooder stuff.




Star Wars backpacks.




Delicious noodle soup keyrings.



Wrestling.






The Twilight stall was a wasteland.




Poor Edward wasn't getting any love. "I can't believe they'd try and sell that stuff here" said one girl with great contempt.




No idea what this is, but I like it.




There were quite a few celebrities there. I saw Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau from a distance. Didn't pony up for the autographs this time though, have to save something for next year. Also, they spent the whole day getting stared at. I don't like being ogled, and it felt a bit wrong to be an ogler.

In comparison, the writers and artists present were so badly signposted you couldn't tell who they were half the time. Typical.

I may have purchased some loot on the way out. For RESEARCH PURPOSES. *ahem* Might upload pics of the booty later, if anyone is interested.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Friday is...

time to rock out with your frock out. And always fight back!



Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill (official video)


I STRONGLY suspect that Gorillaz have been playing BioShock.




Even the music sounds like the game! Not that I'm complaining.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thursday is...

about the issues. It's past the halfway point now; the pressure is on to do everything you said you'd do this week before tomorrow, which officially becomes 'the weekend' at 3pm.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wednesday is...

the middle of the week, obviously. Also a day for miracles, as I'm on tender-hooks regarding a writing related development from yesterday. Just waiting to hear now. Fingers and toes still crossed.



Yes I realise this blog has abruptly turned into some kind of low budget interpretive dance studio. *sigh*

I promise to post something really grotesque soon.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tuesday is...

for having high hopes. I may have something big in the works: fingers and toes crossed!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Monday is...

for being inspired by this guy:

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Shoot the Freak


Busy writing this week. As I will continue to be for approximately lots of months. To stop this blog dying a sad death via neglect, I'm going to go ahead and share a few more of my America pics. Today's topic: Coney Island.

Be warned that many of these photos have half naked lobster/people in them. They were impossible to avoid.






Plastic tree. Purpose: unknown.











"Sure, the apartment smells like urine and the windows are broken. But just look at that view!"
































Behold: a life sized model of a woman with gastro. Liquid squirts out of her from both ends at regular intervals, accompanied by realistic retching sounds. Makes me think of Prosh for some reason.












It was a pretty dodgy place, now I think about it. Can't wait to visit again.