The Wit of the Staircase

Chimney Sweeping

"After nursing her dying father, patient Bertha Pappenheim suffered debilitating psychological problems then classified as 'severe hysteria.' Eminent psychoanalyst Josef Breuer treated Pappenheim in Vienna from 1880-1882, documented her case, and made it known to Sigmund Freud, who referred to her in his own writings as 'Anna O.'

Her symptoms (paralysis, hallucinations, inability to eat and drink, and suicidal tendencies), were relieved through hypnosis and explication of her memories, therapy that Pappenheim referred to as 'chimney sweeping' and 'talking cure.' Eventually trained by Breuer to treat herself, Pappenheim was hailed by a later commentator as the real discoverer of the 'cathartic method'...

With the help of concerned relatives, Pappenheim cultivated her growing interest in social justice, and in Frankfurt she was attracted to German feminism, particularly influenced by the work of activists like Helen Lange. In 1890, under the pseudonym of Paul Berthold, Pappenheim expressed her concern for children and the poor in a book of short stories entitled In the Second Hand Shop. Pappenheim committed herself to integrating her new passion for feminism with her concerns for social justice and her identity as a Jew."

Link: Encyclopedia Project.

Lunar Voyage

Travelling in the early part of today on Los Angeles Lunar Society Library book buying business.

We will be posting again this evening.

Shapeshifters

"Some shape-shifters are able to change form only if they have some item, usually an article of clothing. Most of these are innocuous creatures — even if they are werewolves. In Bisclaveret by Marie de France, a werewolf cannot regain human form without his clothing, but in wolf form does no harm to anyone.

Another such creature is the selkie, which needs its sealskin to regain its form. In The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry the (male) selkie seduces a human woman but does no further harm.

The commonest use of this motif, however, is in tales where a man steals the article and forces the shape-shifter, trapped in human form, to become his bride. This lasts until she discovers where he has hidden the article, and she can flee. Selkies feature in these tales. Others include swan maidens and the Japanese Tennin.

Various forms of fairytale fantasy have taken up these creatures and incorporated them into modern day works. Jane Yolen took up the notion of selkie in Greyling and transformed it into a foundling tale..."

Link: Shapeshifting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Only A God Or A Woman Can Wear It With Impunity

"The Koh-i-Noor diamond was mined in India in around 1100 and probably originated from Golconda in the southern region of Andhra Pradesh. The shape and size of a small hen's egg, the diamond attained a sinister mystique.

The 186-carat gem, whose name means Mountain of Light in Persian and was described by one Mughal emperor as being 'worth half the daily expense of the whole world', carried with it a curse and a 750-year bloodstained history of murder, megalomania and treachery.

It is probably not entirely coincidental that the Koh-i-Noor is reserved for use in crowns used by a female member of the British Royal Family. A Hindu text from the time of Koh-i-Noor's first authenticated appearance in 1306 states that the stone carries a curse lethal to male owners. It read: 'Only God or a woman can wear it with impunity'."

Link: Independent Online Edition > This Britain.

Via: Professor Hex.

That They're Not Getting Married Today At A Registry Office Is Clear

"But as Kate boarded her flight from Heathrow on Wednesday, there was no sign of her supposed fiance Pete.

That they're not getting married today in a registry office in Fulham - as reported - is clear.

But it seems Pete is keen to join his lady in Thailand, only he has to check in with a probation officer once a week, so the long-haul trip is not ideal.

But a friend told The Sun: 'Pete is desperate to make it to Thailand to bring in the New Year with Kate.'

They have been on and off a lot recently but patched things up properly leading up to Christmas."

Kate has flown to Thailand and was trying to organise a flight for Pete before she left."

Link: Sky Showbiz - Kate's New Year Date .

Agnes Martin's Fantastic Mistakes

"Of all the pitfalls in our paths and the tremendous delays and wanderings off the track I want to say that they are not what they seem to be. I want to say that all that seems like fantastic mistakes are not mistakes, all that seems like error is not error; and it all has to be done. That which seems like a false step is the next step."

--Agnes Martin, Writings

Link: Agnes Martin.
via.

The Keen Beauty Of Her

"She is wearing a pussycat-bow blouse, sipping lapsang souchong, her eyes tilted down demurely over her china cup. Poised in all her silken finery, the figure once described by Rolling Stone magazine as 'the most controversial woman in the history of rock' is barely recognisable.

As much as we think we know who Courtney Love is, nothing prepares you for the sprawling intelligence or the keen beauty of her. Love is not like most female celebrities. She is bigger than that. Her hands are meaty and her eyes enormous, her bosom has been surgically enhanced and her lips swollen with collagen. She looks as if someone has coloured her in and strayed beyond the lines."

Link: Love me do | Rock | Guardian Unlimited Music.

Nothing So Lovely As A Tree: The Woods And Us As Ancient Partners

WOODLANDS
by Oliver Rackham
Collins £25 pp623

"In the foreword to Woodlands Rackham lays out his credo — that trees are not 'merely part of the theatre of landscape in which human history is played out, or the passive recipients of whatever destiny humanity foists on them . . . (they are) actors in the play', with multiple interactions with time, and all other organisms, including people —

Rackham is a Renaissance man, an ecological Sherlock Holmes. He is also a national treasure. No other scientific writer has so lucidly demonstrated that humans and woods are ancient partners of linked origins, and could be so again..."

Link: Nothing so lovely as a tree - Sunday Times - Times Online.

Of all the creatures in The Lord Of The Rings, Wit found the tree-being Ents the most fascinating as a lass.

The Crest Of A Tiny Empire: "This Is NOT A Call For Fewer Ads"

From Village Voice art critic Jerry Saltz's year end comments on ArtNet.

"Postscript: This postscript is a question about the art market -- it has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Artforum, its advertising, editorial policies or content. But consider this statistic, a telling one about the U.S. art world, taken from the pages of that magazine. Ten years ago today Artforum had a total of 112 pages. This month there are almost twice that many pages of ads, alone. There’s nothing wrong with advertising. I like ads. Ads are the porn of art magazines. They are the reason art magazines can afford to exist. This is NOT a call for fewer ads.

But you tell me what this much advertising means and how it may be affecting everything we do. Are we liking certain things because we know that other people are liking them? How is the market affecting the ways we see art? How does it affect the way curators and editors see art? Does the market create a competitive atmosphere that drives artists to produce better work or does it foster empty product? Do art fairs make artists make better, worse, or only more art? No one knows.

We don’t have a way to talk about the market. There is no effective 'Theory of the Market' that isn’t just a rehash of Marxist ideology. There’s no new philosophy to help us address the problem of the way the market is affecting the production and presentation of art, although people are trying. The good, maybe great news is that the market is unpredictable. Therefore it is a force of chaos, and chaos is always good for art. It’s just not clear yet how or even if this chaos is being used."

Link: The 2006 Revue - artnet Magazine.

There must be more thoughtful consideration of the art market than he claims. I just I bet it's not in Artforum or the Village Voice.

Myomancy

myomancy [mye-uh-man-see]:

divination by the movements of mice. Modern scientists probably study the movements of mice as much or more than the ancient myomancers did, and for ends that are not dissimilar.

Link: OUPblog: Who is Erin McKean?.

Via Dirty Beloved.