Eight recent photos from Itacorubi, Florianópolis

Next, I shall try to get photos of some of the people round here.

Moth: tableau and materials

The mask has been worked on slightly to include further modelling of eyes and lips.

Some of the Moths have had slight additions, though they are waiting to fully dry before they recieve the main trasformative element- the addition of antennae, which will be made from the materials seen below:



This tableau ia about 60 cm across: I shall gradually work on additional elements so the final tableau is about 1.5 metres in length.

Inglourious Basterds (2009): review- 7/10

Peculiar film that alternates between sadistic revenge fantasy and spoof. Much of the drama derives from extreme proximity of enemies.

Very leisurely: Pitt's acting is, as usual, utterly flat and unenjoyable: the Nazis are much more fun.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1999): review- 7/10

Middle-class high school students play truant, visiting a glorious Chicago; all the while they are pursued by the school Dean of Students.

Though often very funny, the film too neatly resolves the questions it raises and is therefore less interesting than it might be.

Adam (2009): review- 6/10

Beautifully filmed movie about an engineer with Asberger's Syndrome who pursues a romance with his neighbour, a children's book author.

Occasionally syrupy and somewhat obvious, the film is well acted and lends insights into Asberger's that make it worthwhile.

Precious (2009): review- 3/10

Obese, black Precious is abused in various ways by her poor, morally cretinous family until she is saved by a pretty social worker.

Along the way she steals a huge bucket of fried chicken and fantasises about a male nurse. Oh, and of course she has a baby too... from her own father, who raped her!

Ethically dubious poverty exploitation porn for those who enjoy feeling pity, horror and disgust.

Moth, revisited

Moth as Christ, Christ as Moth

Though I shall work a little more on these pieces, I shall probably not paint them instead leaving them in a less defined state.

"Moth" is a recurring theme for me: I attempted to tackle the theme in monotype two years ago but was not satisfied with the results, then more recently visited it with paper cutouts. The results with the cutouts were nice, but they did not convey the utter horror that these creatures bring me, they were much too cartoonish. This time I intend to combine the moths with other items to make a grand, gothic tableau.

I have picked up from somewhere the idea that moths are Christ symbols: but there seems little evidence to support this as a traditional iconography. I found this, however: http://truthmarche.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/blinded-by-the-light-the-parable-of-the-moth/

I quote:

"Are we, like the huge Cecropia moth, blundering on in the darkness, oblivious to the universe which is all around us? Are we ignorant to the realities that present themselves in our everyday lives, simply because we aren’t really paying attention to what is going on around us? "

There is also, of course, Thomas Harris's magnificent "The Silence of the Lambs" (one of the cases where the film is greater than the book) where the moth is seen as a symbol of transformation through life, and between sexual conditions. These notions have a pagan ring to me, bringing to mind the Green Man, so beautifully represented in Rosslyn Chapel, Penicuik, near Edinburgh.