Happy Halloween! I thought I would celebrate by showing you some really awesome photography. Haunted Air is a brand new book (released in the last few days) of Halloween photos taken between 1875 and 1955. I don’t own this (yet!), so I can’t say too much about it, but I will say the photos I have seen immediately reminded me of the old school creepy masks found in some of Diane Arbus’ work. The book is appropriately introduced by none other than David Lynch.
Archive for October, 2011
Haunted Air: Halloween Photos 1875-1955
Posted in Photography with tags 1875-1955, black and white, costumes, david lynch, halloween, halloween photos, haunted air, masks, old, ossian brown, past on October 31, 2011 by elgraysoPlague Doctors
Posted in Death, Science with tags beak, bird mask, black death, bubonic plague, plague, plague doctor on October 20, 2011 by elgraysoA plague doctor was a special medical physician who saw those who had the bubonic plague. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some doctors wore a beak-like mask which was filled with aromatic items. The masks were designed to protect them from putrid air, which (according to the miasmatic theory of disease) was seen as the cause of infection. The protective suit consisted of a heavy fabric overcoat that was waxed. A wooden cane pointer was used to help examine the patient without touching. [from Wikipedia]
Nick Blinko
Posted in Art, Death, Music with tags nick blinko, outsider art, rudimentary peni, schizophrenia, the magits, the primal screamer on October 18, 2011 by elgraysoNot only was Nick Blinko the musical drive behind the brilliantly twisted Rudimentary Peni, he was an amazing artist. Blinko’s works are very recognizable by their extreme amount of detail, dark subject matter and disregard of formal composition. He is considered as an “outside artist” as he suffers from schizophrenia and supposedly once believed himself to be the Pope. Many of his nightmarishly detailed drawings focus on religion and death. Unfortunately, nobody has published a book of his art, which is so painstakingly detailed that Google images do not do them justice. So far, the only way to obtain his art is by buying the Rudimentary Peni albums (as well as his earlier band, the Magits) and his book, The Primal Screamer, which contains a few illustrations.
*this is an improved version of an early post that I felt was lacking in content.
William Basso
Posted in Art, Satan with tags art, halloween, william basso on October 8, 2011 by elgraysoThe Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
Posted in Death, Dolls with tags detective, diarama, dollhouse, Frances Glessner Lee, murder, the nutshell studies of unexplained death on October 6, 2011 by elgraysoIn the mid twentieth century, a woman named Frances Glessner Lee made intricate dollhouses that cost thousands of dollars to create. They depicted unsolved murders and contained an intense level of detail to help detectives solve crimes. They were called The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.
For more information on the Nutshell Studies, visit this blog. Also, I must thank my friend Phoebe for telling me about these.