Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - Cunning thief

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - Cunning thief 18, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Click image for 784 x 671 size.

Woman's World, 1933

WomansWorld1933-10, originally uploaded by katinthecupboard.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - To avoid kitchen smells

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - To avoid kitchen smells b 17, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Emma Fordyce MacRae, Gloucester Garden

Emma Fordyce MacRae, Gloucester Garden, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Via Art Inconnu . Click image for 666 x 540 size.

Shanghai Portrait #15

Shanghai Portrait #15, originally uploaded by stevechasmar.

Emma Fordyce MacRae, The Dress

Emma Fordyce MacRae, The Dress, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Via Art Inconnu .

FRAZETTA'S GHOUL QUEEN

There's nothing coy or retiring about a Frazetta woman. Even simply standing with a pike, her hand on her hip, being admired by one of the undead, she announces her presence with every sensuous curve of her body.

Ghoul Queen is one of the few published Frazetta drawings that is so clearly rendered. It's like a blueprint for a Frazetta woman and an obvious choice for a sculptural interpretation. It was important to pare down the composition to its essentials. And having to decide what some of the ghoul pairs were doing behind her was something best left to the imagination.

As familiar as I was with Frank's work and this illustration in particular, it took a while for me to get out of my own way in order to see it Frank's way. I just couldn't seem to pull her proportions together. Then I realized -- it's the tummy. That's what makes the top and bottom halves of her work as a whole. I kept trying to slim her down. But once I gave into the belly, I knew I was on the right track.

The back view was all guess work. But if you look at a lot of Frazetta's work, you start to see certain patterns and motifs that appear repeatedly in his designs. The exposed spinal column on the skele-ghoul was just a little something to make the back view more interesting. (Not that her back view isn't interesting all by itself, mind you.) This piece really helped when it came time to sculpt my next Frazetta statue, Moon Maid.

George Hoyningen-Huene

George Hoyningen-Huene, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Via Fabulon. Click image for 598 x 787 size.

Lucia Patton, "Prayers for Little Children", 1937

Spring hat and birds flying, originally uploaded by katinthecupboard.

George Hoyningen-Huene, Lee Miller

George Hoyningen-Huene, Lee Miller, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Via Fabulon. Click image for 598 x 776 size.

Back of her hat

back of her hat, originally uploaded by Captain Geoffrey Spaulding.

George Hoyningen-Huene, Lee Miller

George Hoyningen-Huene, Lee Miller, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Via Fabulon. Click image for 595 x 797 size.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Over the next few weeks and months we'll be spotlighting our contributors. Each of them were generous with their time and experience. They also happen to be some of the most talented and down right nicest people we've ever met. Due to the constraints of limited pages, we had to leave some of their insights and advice on our editor's paragraph splattered floor. But here, on our blog, we'll be able to share some of those unset gems with you. So, stayed tuned. Hopefully, you'll be glad you did.

George Hoyningen-Huene

George Hoyningen-Huene, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Click image for 597 x 777 size.

George Hoyningen-Huene, 1900-1968

Via Fabulon

Amélia Rey Colaço, 1934

Amélia Rey Colaço, 1934, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", de Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 1083 x 1515 size.

Dress by António Amorim.

Building a Nest for Mary

building a nest 4 mary, originally uploaded by Confetta.

CONCEPT DESIGNS

Almost all statues and action figures start out the same way, with concept designs. Its 2D brainstorming, and nobody does it better than Ruben. Here are just a few of his concept designs for our Thor action figure. We narrowed our choices in considering the aesthetic and practical elements in bringing Thor into the 3D world.

Irene Isidro, 1930

Irene Isidro, 1930, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

From the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Dress by António Amorim.

Luísa Satanela, 1933

Luísa Satanela, 1933, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 632 x 1032 size.

Beatriz Costa, 1932

Beatriz Costa, 1932, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 672 x 1015 size.

Jorge Herold, Corina Freire, 1932

Jorge Herold, Corina Freire, 1932, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 654 x 926 size.

Puck Magazine Cover, I Propose Dinner

I Propose Dinner--Puck Magazine Cover--Deco Flapper, originally uploaded by finsbry.

Anne Anderson, Country Walk

Country Walk, originally uploaded by flamenconut.

António Amorim, Maria Benard, 1930

António Amorim, Maria Benard, 1930, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 644 x 921 size.

António Amorim (1898?-1964?), clothes design for stage.

Hermínia Silva, 1939

Hermínia Silva, 1939, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from the book "Passa por Mim no Rossio", by Filipe La Féria, 1991. Click image for 640 x 1348 size.

Portuguese singer and actress, born in 1913.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - Avarice Punished

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - Avarice Punished 36, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Click image for 780 x 490 size.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 37, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 38, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 39

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 39, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

The Way Things Go and Pass

Fischli and Weiss, Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go), video, 30', 1987


Honda Ad, 2003



OK Go - This Too Shall Pass, 2009

I remember the choreographer João Fiadeiro once showing Fischli & Weiss's work during some seminar or workshop and talking about what in his mind made it so impressive: necessity. Although it might seem like anything can happen, what happens is exactly what needs to happen. A tautology that evolves in time? But isn't any proof precisely that - a dynamic tautology?
So is it because it's a proof that it's so appealing?
A proof of what?
Of how things go, we are tempted to say.
Which, of course, is just silly talk. It's precisely because things don't go this way that we enjoy it so much. It's because the unexpected becomes necessary.

What about this "evolution"? The work of art turned into a commercial turned into a music video. Don't expect any moral judgement on that. Actually, I enjoyed all three videos.
We could discuss the question of authorship. But we won't. (Fischli & Weiss threatened to sue Honda).
Here's what I've been pondering on: what exactly are the differences?
Because, once you've accepted that they're all in the same category (actually, this type of inventions is called either Heath Robinson contraptions (UK), or (more commonly) Rube Goldberg Machines (US) and have been in popular culture at least since the beginning of the 20th century), you can see into how very different they are.
So what makes it an art project, a commercial, a music video?
If we turn the volume off, what changes?
If we put music, or switch it from one video to another?
The timing, the materials, the way things go and pass.
What sort of universe appears in each of them?
Yes, that's precious: they each have their own universe. They are entities. You can easily find yourself around them, with their texture, their dynamics, their smell...
One more thing: aren't they each hiding in their specific ways this very basic urge for things to make sense?
If that is so, it's beyond necessity or discovery. It's the comfort of order. The sense that somewhere beyond the frame, things are just waiting to come into action, to move into view. And their potential is already in perfect harmony with the moment when they will become what they are meant to be. The best of possible worlds.
It shouldn't come as a surprize that these delicately balancing certainties remind us of childhood.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 40, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934

Almanaque Bertrand, 1934 - 41, originally uploaded by Gatochy.