to induce surrealist dreams...

i picked up a 1975 issue of art news at the flea market on sunday for a buck, mainly because it featured a small article on richard smith; but the real discovery was an ad for a max ernst edition pictured above, called the "cage-bed with screen."

the bed and screen were made in an edition of 99, published by modern art associations, and was exhibited at leonard hutton galleries from february to march of 1975. the edition included: the bedcover (made of mink fur), the sculpted "cage" bed frame, and the screen which contained 2 signed lithos.

i haven't done much research on this, but until this morning, it was an ernst endeavor i'd never come across. i believe it is one of the few environments he created in the latter part of his career - somewhat hokey and kind of related to some of the environmental and furniture pieces that dali editioned late in his own career, although not nearly as lame.

while it would be easy to sneer at ernst's attempt to bring some of his most ernstian imagery into a weirdly victorian installation context, i find myself thinking it is actually pretty interesting - not because it resonates any stronger than his paintings or collages (it definitely doesn't), but because it is pretty darn interesting that someone who worked with dream imagery for much of his career, would create a sleeping environment that could be purchased and installed in anyone's home (anyone who had the dough and the room of course...)

when lobsters go a courtin...

lobster went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
lobster went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
lobster went a courtin' and he did ride
two strange cherubs by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

He crawled into the lady's oval sky, uh-huh
He crawled into the lady's oval sky, uh-huh
He crawled into the lady's oval sky
with a big black tux and a small bowtie, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

said the lady "that's a mighty ring", uh-huh
said the lady "that's a mighty ring", uh-huh
said the lady "that's a mighty ring"
the stone so big it makes me sing, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

one little angel with angel wings, uh-huh
one little angel with angel wings,, uh-huh
one little angel with angel wings,
in a stupor he stands and forgets to sing, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the other little angel has a peg for a leg, uh-huh
the other little angel has a peg for a leg, uh-huh
the other little angel has a peg for a leg,
he holds a crown and begins to beg, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

his head all wrapped and walks on canes, uh-huh
his head all wrapped and walks on canes, uh-huh
his head all wrapped and walks on canes
his diaper too big and he seems insane, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lobster holds the ring while the lady sighs, uh-huh
the lobster holds the ring while the lady sighs, uh-huh
the lobster holds the ring while the lady sighs
"you've got antennas instead of eyes", uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

"sweet mr. lobster i have a hunch", uh-huh
"sweet mr. lobster i have a hunch", uh-huh
"sweet mr. lobster i have a hunch"
"that you would make a fine fine lunch", uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

so he dropped the ring and crawled away, uh-huh
so he dropped the ring and crawled away, uh-huh
so he dropped the ring and crawled away
to perhaps be eaten on another day, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

then the hungry lady ate the ring, uh-huh
then the hungry lady ate the ring, uh-huh
then the hungry lady ate the ring
it glowed inside her and made her sing, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the cherubs heard the song and began to swoon, uh-huh
the cherubs heard the song and began to swoon, uh-huh
the cherubs heard the song and began to swoon
the lobster climbed the sky to live on the moon, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lady was sad and felt lonely, uh-huh
the lady was sad and felt lonely, uh-huh
the lady was sad and felt lonely
so she placed each cherub on a different knee, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the three sang a song to the lobster moon, uh-huh
the three sang a song to the lobster moon, uh-huh
the three sang a song to the lobster moon
they all danced a jig and hummed a tune, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lobster drifted down on their serenade, uh-huh
the lobster drifted down on their serenade, uh-huh
the lobster drifted down on their serenade
he crept kind of close but was still afraid, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lady made a burp and the ring fell out, uh-huh
the lady made a burp and the ring fell out, uh-huh
the lady made a burp and the ring fell out
and the lobster he began to shout, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

"now little lady will you mary me?", uh-huh
"now little lady will you mary me?", uh-huh
"now little lady will you mary me?"
we can all live together now beneath the sea, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lady and the cherubs and the big gold ring, uh-huh
the lady and the cherubs and the big gold ring, uh-huh
the lady and the cherubs and the big gold ring
couldn't breathe underwater so they started drowning, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

the lobster laughed in an evil way, uh-huh
the lobster laughed in an evil way, uh-huh
the lobster laughed in an evil way
and the lady and the cherubs and the ring turned grey, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

as the four finally did so lose their breath, uh-huh
as the four finally did so lose their breath, uh-huh
as the four finally did so lose their breath
the lobster laughed himself to death, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

(found this drawing on sunday... circa 1900... pretty darn strange... not sure of the story, don't know the artist, and not sure what the cherubs are either... i'm wondering if it might be from a hans christian andersen or lewis carroll story... or just a little outsider drawing...)

when 2 of my favorite recent finds suggest joseph cornell

banjo player: cdv circa 1880; piano player: rppc circa 1900... if you click on the piano player you can see her larger...

a poem from max jacob...

moon poem

there are three mushrooms on the night and they are the moon. once a month at midnight they change their position as suddenly as the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock pops out to sing. in the garden there are rare flowers, which are little men lying down, a hundred of them, reflections in a mirror. in the darkness of my bedroom there's a luminous shuttle wobbling menacingly to and fro, then another... phosphorescent blimps, reflections in a mirror. in my head there's a bee talking.

max jacob, the dice cup, atlas press

strange world...

some kind of homespun parade float from an early 1900's RPPC from switzerland. they'd have the whole world in their hands if they had any...

this is not a dream...

"this scenario is not the story of a dream and does not profess to be such; and i shall not try to justify its incoherence by the simple device of labelling it a dream." (antonin artaud, preface to the shell and the clergyman, 1930)

one of the strangest RPPCs i own. it looks a bit like two hillbillies in an early surrealist film still. the strange white lines seem like visible liquid electricity. the white glows, connected to early spirit photographs. the scenario, some pagan ritual in a dumpy urban apartment - film noir meets michaux and artaud's darkness. it certainly has the hallucinatory feel of a dream state. i have no idea what the hell is going on here...

before the surrealists...

two images from the beautiful 1897 book "new astronomy" by professor david p. todd...

the top image (which looks a bit like a johannes itten bauhaus exercise) shows how to find "true north" using a desk and the path of the sun moving through morning and afternoon.

the bottom image (which reminds me of a magritte painting as well as this one by max ernst) shows how to find "accurate time", again using the sun; but also a few plumb lines and a "strong box" wedged into an open window frame.

there are so many amazing images in this book that i'm certain to post more in the future...

when bauhauses collide...

i was digging through a box of my "childhood" 45's, and found one of the oddest things in the 4AD catalog. it's a 7" collaboration between bauhaus the band (actually bassist david jay) and surrealist poet/painter renee halkett who studied at bauhaus the school (in the 1920's).

halkett seems to be somewhat forgotten, as most of the online references to him are connected to this record; but i did find some images of early paintings here.

halkett lived in java following world war one, and then ended up in weimar at the bauhaus where he studied with oskar schlemmer, moholy-nagy, and walter gropius. he writes alot about the the dessau bauhaus contradicting the intentions of the experimental weimar school; and laments the fact that it was the beginning of what are now known as official schools of art and design (think MFA program...). despite his connection to early avant garde histories, he seems more connected to the beats in terms of wandering and irreverence.

in spite of the band name, i believe this was the only actual collaboration between a member of the school and a member of the band. i bought the 7" when it came out in 1981, just a few years before halkett's death in march of 1983.

the two tracks are not great, but totally worth a listen (particularly if you like drum machines and that early 80's post punk, right before the batcave thing started, type of sound). armour is somehwat hampered by jay's distracting music; but nothing is pretty darn good... with jay adding a subtler bed beneath halkett's fragile, yet slightly manic, delivery. halkett's voice is the thing here; and it kind of reminds me some of the things burroughs did (the voice... not the words...). i'm pretty sure this is the only released recording of him reading his own works; and it's a nice document of an artist who seems somewhat forgotten. i don't think this has been re-issued on cd, so i've posted both sides. take a listen... armour & nothing.