Welcome to My World

Discovered this guy's blog, which consists of scans of his drawings done during his subway commutes. Apparently it's pretty well known, and rightfully so--it definitely captures the NYC subways as I know them. I wonder if he was inspired by the subway portraits of Walker Evans?

www.amiunderground.blogspot.com

Oh Jasper

There is a new Jasper Johns exhibit at the Met, so I thought it would be appropriate to dig up this interview published in the December 2007 Vanity Fair. Regardless of what you think of his art, it is a totally great interview...below are some of the highlights.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
I am not strong on perfection
What is your greatest extravagance?
a frugality that seems to confuse people who work with me
What is your current state of mind?
something like very slow panic
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
desire for approval
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
the tendency toward self-description
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
virtue itself
What is your most marked characteristic?
never knowing whether to expand or contract
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
what I imagine to be the general effect
On what occasion do you lie?
when I think it is useful
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
no one, no thing
Which talent would you most like to have?
the ability to remember or forget at will
If you could change one thing about your family,what would it be?
no one thing would do the trick
What is your most treasured possession?
my refrigerator
What is it that you most dislike?
seeing fish with silver skin marinating in cream
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
unlikely
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
must I decide before I die
How would you like to die?
effortlessly
What is your greatest regret?
an absence of clarity
What is your motto?
I have none

my very own doppleganger

okay here's some weirdness. Basically, my parents named me after a little Australian girl called Marieke. I found her on the internet, and it turns out she's kind of a celebrity in Australia now--former child actress, now reporter and some kind of personality. She seems pretty opinionated, and generally alright. We look nothing alike, but I already have a twin, so that might just cross the line. A little off topic, but considering that this blog is actually called doppleganger, I thought it was appropriate

lumière sombre

I found this website with a published collection of Autochromes. Autochrome is a early 20th century photographic technique, and the first one to record color. I really like the eerie light and muted colors that the technique produces.
http://users.pandora.be/autochromes/

oddities and savages

"A DANGEROUS BEAUTY IN SULLEN MOOD
She has stood, until weary of attracting attention, by a wall in Biskra, this geisha of the Sahara, with her hard-won dowry of gold and silver adorning her person. She can sing Arab love-songs, play flute, hautboy, and zither, and dance more seductively than girls of any other tribe. Her skill in making cigarettes and coffee is famous, and all her charms and accomplishments are for hire."

PROUD MASCULINE MOTHER OF FIGHTING MEN
Poised in her doorway in festival attire, this masterful woman of the once forbidden Somali city of Harrar is a blend of warlike invaders. Somalis and Gallas, Beduins, with Egyptians and Abyssinians, fought and mingled. An old slander runs that at times, when meat is unobtainable, the Harrar woman will eat children

I found this amazing book online called The Secret Museum of Mankind. Published in 1935, it lacks author, credits, and copyright, and has been scanned and posted on the internet under the creative commons act. It's mainly just pictures, with minimal information, just some sensationalist commentary--totally racist, and often pretty sexual, but also kind of hilarious.

http://ian.macky.net/secretmuseum/front_cover.html

Andrew Bird's "Imitosis"

This is the cutest music video I have seen in a long time.

c'est un circus

Holy crap so i have discovered a set of scans of french papercraft sheets, circus and westerns, etc. You can find them at this address, "http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffeta/sets/72157601156433867/" and even more on this blog: http://bibigreycat.blogspot.com/