Call to Order: the subordination of the matter to the light of the form
"The French poet and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau, is usually given the credit for the title by which the neoclassical revival of the 1920′s and early 1930′s is known. Le Rappel a l’ordre or the Call to Order summoned the civilized world to its senses. These were the very organs, you will recall, that had been ripped away by a shell fragment in Dix’s Skin Graft.
This 'call to order' actually had its roots in French wartime propaganda. The virtues of France’s Latin-based civilization were ranged against the Teutonic brutalism of the Germans. Before the war, néoclassicisme had languished like a discarded stage prop. In 1918, with the 'Huns' surging for a second time toward the gates of Paris, Cocteau and others summoned the cultural icons of Greece and Rome to join the Allied ranks. That year, Cocteau published a book, Le Coq et l’Arlequin, which he revised and renamed in 1924 as Le Rappel a l’ordre. The message was the same, without the 'us versus them' jingoism of the war: civilization must look to its ancient past to regain its bearings and enhance its vitality.
Cocteau’s thesis found an appreciative audience in many circles, including the United States. According to French writer Jacques Maritain, 'what makes the purity of the true classic is … a subordination of the matter to the light of the form.' The discipline and dedication of the artist would admit only the essential elements of art into the work being created, excluding anything that would 'debauch' the senses of the viewer."
(Ed Voves, 4 October 2010)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Machines replace humans: heavy metal robot 3-piece
"I'm impressed with Compressorhead - the three-piece robot band (three and a half if you count the little robot who drives one of the cymbals). I went to their website to see if I could discern the origins of the project, DIY, corporate, academic, or whatever and couldn't really find anything on the makers. Then I tracked down the drummer. Stickboy was created by Robocross Machines and a whimsical roboticist named Frank Barnes. ... Reminds me of the Survival Research Labs robot machines, built for public performance and disturbance."
(Maxwell Schnurer, 5 January 2013, Life of refinement)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Tuning In: A Film About Karlheinz Stockhausen
"Karlheinz Stockhausen (August 22, 1928 - December 5, 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his ground-breaking work in electronic music, aleatory (controlled chance) in serial composition, and musical spatialization. ... Similar Artists: Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, Morton Feldman, Olivier Messiaen, Arnold Schönberg"
(last.fm)
Fig.1 Omnibus (1981). "Tuning In: A Film About Karlheinz Stockhausen", television documentary, BBC1 [published on 13 May 2012 by Thiago Carvalho Fernandes, YouTube].
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Bibliopoly: search antiquarian booksellers
"Bibliopoly has been developed by Bernard Quaritch Ltd... an antiquarian bookshop established in London over one hundred and fifty years ago by a German-born bookseller. Quaritch... is proud to be a member of the British (ABA), the French (SLAM), and the German (Verband Deutscher Antiquare) trade associations affiliated to ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers).
Bibliopoly is designed to list the stock of participating antiquarian booksellers in a way that meets the specialized needs of those interested in antiquarian books, and is effective in five languages - English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish."
(Bernard Quaritch Ltd.)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
John Heartfield
[Short extract from America's Ovation TV on pioneering photomontage activist John Heartfield.]
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
