aphex twin

everything i don't like on on music doco format vid but, nevertheless, as a reminder to listen to aphex twin, it hits the mark. the music, for sure, is not for everyone and (heresy) the quality can be patchy but i still love it on its day and aphex twin's attitude to production was and is a major influence for me in terms of creativity (and i'm waaaay more twitchy about selling things! lol)

 

*i think pretty much everything he's ever recorded is online. a good way to spend a rainy afternoon!

motivating for reading

 not my favourite podcast but a regular listen when i'm in the gym. some solid advice here, esp the bit about reading something every day 

heilung

new music from heilung is always something to get excited about (even if i heard about this via the guardian, the cultural equivalent of heat death) and it appears this time they've thrown their historical net a bit wider than previous

away from the british press the ever enthusiastic charismatic voice does a lovely reaction video 

vegvisir, futhorc and the like

 not so very long ago i had a conversation the vegvisir and its appearance as a tattoo. this video is useful - don't know the guy but he seems to be well thought of 

kirstie behrens

 

i first came across kirstie behrens' work at the watermill in aberfeldy so it was great to come across again (and more of it!) in pittenweem. her prints seem to encompass places and pieces of landscape i'm very familiar with yet capture something of the intangibles that keep me going back

alan faulds

 another artist i came across recently was alan faulds. i've been looking at his work around lower largo for years but knew nothing about who it was or what it was about. what a joy then to get to visit his garden and see a bunch of his work in situ. it reminded me very much of little sparta which, for me, is never going to be a bad thing!

reinhard behrens

 

also fabulous this week was coming across reinhard behrens who, for some bizarre reason, was unknown to me prior. the scope of what he's about with naboland is just breathtaking. but that's not to mention it's very specific quirkiness, detail and humour. a privilege to see!

jill macleod

i was out the other day and came across jill macleod and a bunch of her work. they're so different from anything i would've even thought of doing, her use of colour and geometry was so bold - i was blown away!

catrin finch and seckou keita

 if you only listen to one kora/harp duet today.... 

miriam cahn

 miriam cahn being passionate, transgressive and just generally thought provoking. this video isn't one you're likely going to want to be watching at work. that fact is one her points in the video. i was also struck (inasmuch as i watch any tv these days) about just how rare it is to see an older woman afforded even the opportunity to hold forth like this let alone being alowed to do so.

plus (and i should state i've seen a number of births, an experience i found transcendental and life changing) given just how much male gaze/naked chick art there is how come there's so little about the act of birth itself?

anyway, check this out. louisiana channel well worth a browse also.

historically accurate fantasy clothing

someone who can set out the parameters of their argument first. if this woman was my daughter i would dance a jig! i would massively recommend watching her videos where she redraws the covers of historical romances with period accurate clothing. be warned tho, if you go down this path it can ruin your tv and  movie watching!

while i'm at it, i noticed in the comments someone telling a story about re-enactors who couldn't make black dye in northern europe and thus speculated that the night watch must have had access to black sheep. which, while he may have a point, neglects the fact that northern europe really did have black dye. check out some trials here - i've made ink in a not dissimilar manner. it wasn't nice. perhaps i should've looked up the first ever dyeing book - so niche it doesn't even have a wikipedia page!

akan proverbs

a while back i learned a bit of twi off the back of working with a colleague from ghana. there's a bunch more people from africa at work now and, for various reasons, i thought it'd be a laugh if i could surprise them by actually saying hello in a language from back home. and in doing so i find many things i don't know!

currently igbo is a stone i stub my toe on, shona is lovely, and zambia, i find, is a place to get linguistically lost in. but, until recently, no twi speakers. but off the back of that i found this gem (and from that the realm of the proverb battle, but that's a whole other thing!)

*i wasn't going to but i'll mention in passing that another part of the reason i started doing this was the staggering amounts of racism i'm seeing at work now, all of which seems to have been somehow normalised. and that upon a historical bed of racism. with regard to african linguistics try ordering some books and see how far you get. very saddening.

do it yourself - anthotypes, cyanotypes etc

 i've been mucking about with anthotypes and the like this summer but, now we're into august, and today my sunny cycle appears anything but, i'm aware that the days of being able to put plates outside and developing an image in a couple of hours, are running out quickly.

the solution - a lightbox! you could buy one for quite some amount of money. or you could just make one. like this. easy!