Bright Futures

A slim doorway between Tattoos and The Devil’s Spoke opens to the Institute Library, just off the green in New Haven. The closing event for FORECAST was a blast and a great chance to explore the library as well as get a good last look at the wonders of the exhibition. You can read about…

L’Affaire des Poisons (1955)

Content caution for apparently genuine harm of toads, alas. Alas, despite an early appearance by the Tarot deck Marseille there is no more sign of them, but there is pin-sticking magic and black masses, oh yeah. This seems surprisingly dark for the time and in such a lush production. Well, partly: costumes and sets for…

Swedenborg House: Elective Affinities

SWEDENBORG HOUSE, LONDON Taking inspiration from the term coined in early chemistry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1809 novel, and a celebrated painting by RenĂ© Magritte, Elective Affinities explores the mysterious connection between objects, ideas and inner experience. At its core lies the thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), whose philosophy of correspondences proposed a resonance between objects, places…

Mold, Moss, and Fungus

I am always grateful when Carol Borden of The Cultural Gutter tells me I should check something out. She knows my tastes pretty well and when she said I had to see Rabbit Trap, I knew I would need to do so (see her write up at the link). It hits a lot of my…

Forecast Review!

MIDBROW 30 Artists Explore Divination Nadine Nelson’s installation for Forecast: Reading the Signs â€” running now in the upper gallery at the Institute Library through March 28 — is a sunny nook in the middle of the art show: two cozy chairs in the window, a snug table filled with intriguing objects, among them a deck of…

Forecast: Opening Day!

Today’s the day! Forecast opens at the Gallery Upstairs at The Institute Library. reception from 5-7pm. Fabulous art about divination and magic. Alas, I will not be able to be there due to the latest arctic blast, illness, and various Belle Ombre misfortunes (if you’re thinking about buying a 200+ year old house, consider carefully…

Dundee, Palestine, Crows, and the Tay

Begin as you mean to go on, as we always say, but it’s often easier said than done. As I listen to Jim Reid sing of ‘Grizzel Jaffray’ from his Emfae Dundee CD it’s easy to feel too far from the comforts of Scotland. It doesn’t help that it remains arctic in New York with…

Forecast: Art Show

I could not be more pleased to be part of FORECAST: READING THE SIGNS at the Gallery Upstairs at the Institute Library in New Haven. What a great theme — you know how much I love systems of divination! It will feature terrific works by gal pals Stephanie Johnson AKA The Queen of Everything, Jennifer…

Shenanigans, Generally

19 January 1596: Walter Hay, a goldsmith, brought up on charges per the Elgin Kirk sessions for playing bowls and golf (obviously an athletic enthusiast) on a Sunday when he should have been attending to the sermons in the kirk. Five pounds and a promise never to do it again. The eldership of the church…

Ten Years Already

I had forgotten all about this piece at Pulp Metal Magazine (hi Jason) until a chance reminder yesterday. Clearly remember that day, waking up here in Dundee and hearing/seeing the news. I am amused by the theory that we have been in an alternate reality since, but it does not change what we must do…