Notre-Dame-des-Fleurs

Divine's garret, perched above Cimitère Montparnasse.

Elsewhere

I am starting a new online publication called "Elsewhere" that is still a work in progress. The basis of the magazine is to offer accessible escapism (via art and literature) to anyone seeking a moment of respite from the tedium of everyday life. It's really wonderful how the internet enables us to forget our immediate surroundings, if only for an instant, by granting us access to art from around the world.

Mail your submissions to magazine.elsewhere@gmail.com by February 15th, 2011!

Click here to view the flyer in hi-res.

Aurélia ou le Rêve et la Vie

Le Rêve est une seconde vie. Je n'ai pu percer sans frémir ces portes d'ivoire ou de corne qui nous séparent du monde invisible. Les premiers instants du sommeil sont l'image de la mort; un engourdissement nébuleux saisit notre pensée, et nous ne pouvons déterminer l'instant précis où le moi, sous une autre forme continue l'œuvre de l'existence. C'est un souterrain vague qui s'éclaire peu à peu et où se dégagent de l'ombre et de la nuit les pâles figures gravement immobiles qui habitent le séjour des limbes. Puis le tableau se forme, une clarté nouvelle illumine et fait jouer ces apparitions bizarres; - le monde des Esprits s'ouvre pour nous.

While sauntering through the Tuileries Garden this past weekend, I stumbled upon this particular statue and was immediately struck by its elegant contrapposto. Just kidding, I hate you forever, Art History. Rather, I was standing in such a position that the sun shone directly behind the statue and illuminated its contours. It was such an ethereal image that I felt obliged to capture the memory on film. Unfortunately I’m not the best photographer and my memories always seem to be more idyllic than the actual photos…but I’m ok with that. I just really love it when I see something that distinctly reminds me of literature. I could go on about why this is so, but I will spare myself the embarrassment and you the time. Well, this moment happened to be one of those instances.

Aurélia is such an elusive figure that you can’t help but doubt her existence. Nerval fixates on a self-created image of a woman he hardly knows and transforms her into a sort of empyrean being as a result of mental malady. There is a Pygmalion tinge to the whole delusion of falling in love that is especially prevalent throughout the book. In keeping with this vague concept, I tried to portray Nerval’s deification of Aurélia through 1) the statue and 2) an angle that dwarfs the spectator and accentuates the grandeur of the object at hand. I included the two-toned triangle to emphasize Nerval’s ascension to the realm of dreams and mystical phantasmagoria. Overall, I hope I did the book justice because it is utterly breathtaking and worth reading.

Paris film photos will be posted sometime soon. Thanks Gris Souris, you da best.