MELISSALAND

This song brings tears to my eyes.

Untitled by Florian Maier-Aichen

There is a movie I can only vaguely remember seeing when I was a little kid, but images from it have stayed with me to this day (sometimes I wonder if it were instead a dream - which is more likely as I’ve yet to track down the movie)

What I remember of it is pretty hazy…..but the color red sunk into everything. A bright red stain covering the entire earth. It was beautiful.

Nothing I’ve seen or found has reminded me more of this dream/movie than these photographs by the German artist Florian Maier-Aichen. I found them online this morning and felt this strange bit of recognition - like passing a stranger on the street, only to have their face gnaw at you for the rest of the day. I know you.

The oddest things can feel so familiar sometimes. This dream/movie - whatever it was - somehow, definitely became apart of me. When I close my eyes and picture walking around its landscape I hear amazing sounds like this:

Alexander Turnquist - We Are Magnets mp3

This song is by local Hudson musician Alexander Turnquist. Alexander recently sent me a link to “The Silent Ballet Volume II” which includes his track ‘We Are Magnets‘ (they also use his photography for the albums’ artwork)

It is a great album (and free download!). As I type this it is playing in the gallery (one of my other favorite tracks off the album is #5 - ‘Watching it Unfold‘ by Australian musician Lawrence English. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.)

Anyway, it is beautiful out in Hudson today. I hope it is where you are too….

p.s. Alexander will be playing May 1st at 8pm at the Spotty Dog Bookstore here in Hudson

I am in love with this gold ring with a painted eye. It is from England (AD 1794), and made as a mourning ring for a woman named Mary Dean.

From the British Museum’s website:

It was thought that the ‘eye’ of the person depicted was always looking at the wearer of the ring, and subsequently these ‘painted eye’ rings were used as keepsakes or souvenirs, as well as items of mourning. The eye was generally cut from a painted portrait; in this instance the portrait must have been painted in Mary Dean’s youth.

The back is engraved with the inscription ‘Mary Dean Obt 27 Augt 1794 Aet 73′ (’Mary Dean died 27 August 1794 aged 73′). The customary form of a memorial inscription uses the Latin obit for ‘died’ and aetat for ‘aged’, is here abbreviated to obt and aet.

(here is another very unique eye piece)

A bit more research about these rings reveals:

Mourning rings are memorial rings to commemorate a deceased relative, close friend or an historical figure. Early accounts of its use date from the Roman Empire, around the time of the defeat at the battle of Cannae against Hannibal (216 BC). The Carthaginian general ordered the golden rings to be taken from all slain Romans which were then sent to Carthage as evidence of the many Roman noblemen who perished during the battle (only the elite in Roman society was granted the wear golden rings during the reign of the Caesars). In remembrance Romans would take off their golden rings and substituted them with iron ones in days of general mourning.In more recent history, mourning rings were identified from the 15th to the early 20th century with its zenith of wear in the 18th century.

I would love to fashion (or would love to have someone fashion) a ring for me when I die…..something like Mary Dean’s lovely ring. I have a ring I’ve never taken off for years now (and would most certainly feel a bit strange were I not wearing it) - there is something very soothing about familiar objects, and the ritual of putting on jewelry. My ring is made of bone and lapis lazuli (and is in need of a cleaning)

It’s worth nothing really, but I just love it.

How fun to sit imagining the lives of the people that once owned these rings. I wonder what Miss Mary Dean was like……

Further reading on the history of the finger-ring, including mourning rings, can be found here

(the title of this post comes from a story about Lady Jane Grey’s sister, Catherine, who passed on in 1568 - she presented to her husband while still living a ring engraved with a death’s head and inscribed, “While I Live Yours”)

…a random parade

…..taken this afternoon in front of the gallery.

I walked by this massive green tarp in one of the alleys on my way to the post office this morning

It looked like it was breathing

lots of doors on John Doe’s flea market lot

this was one hanging out in the middle of everything

not quite sure if the day started yet

A Wal-Mart associate here in Hudson, New York describes how Wal-Mart has affected our town and what issues she faces as an employee. It is a heart-breaking video.

My mother has held a job as a waitress at the same restaurant for the past 30 years. Thirthy years. That number still astounds me. Thirty years at a small neighborhood, mom-n-pop restaurant. It is the exact opposite of Wal-Mart. The management was, and still is, like family to my mother (and my mom is not the only one who pulls a 30 year employment record there)

I wish there were more businesses like the restaurant my mom works for - ones that treat their employees like family.

Seth Godin has a great post about using your voice to, as he says: “get what you promote”. If you dislike Wal-Mart for treating their employees like shit - say so. If you love the local coffee shop for remembering your name, and the drink you like, every time you walk in (Nolita!!) - say so.

Seth’s post explains:

It’s simple, I think. In a world where consumers have so much power, we now have two responsibilities:

• If you don’t like what an organization stands for, work actively to spread the word and force them to change

and

• If you will miss a product, a service, a book, a site or a professional when they close up shop, stand up, speak up and bring them masses of new business.

We get what we promote.

I can’t think of a better time than now to promote the great small businesses in our towns which are struggling to stay open. Support the places you love. Tell other people about them. Let them know they are appreciated.

to see more videos like one above check out: http://www.walmartspeakout.com/

(via: the 12534)

Trying to work on 3 different logos tonight and fonts seems to be all I can think about. Sweet, delicious fonts. Came across this. If I dream letters in my sleep, this will be why……

Flickermood 2.0 from Sebastian Lange on Vimeo.

(that music is great)

edit: (the is the poem the video plays with)

second edit: and this might just be my (new) most favorite poem ever.

Legend has it that a gentleman once approached Picasso on the street and criticized his paintings as distorting reality. Seeming to change the subject, the artist asked the gentleman if he had a girlfriend. He did, and produced a small picture of her from his wallet. “She’s beautiful,” replied Picasso, “but she’s so tiny.”

Tonight I came across this interesting story about one Fred and one Anne and their photo album of erased memories……..

http://www.squareamerica.com/es.htm

Love, love, love Richard Edelman’s series from “Beneath Canal’ - Gorgeous prints. Just started working with him at the gallery. I think I may have to buy one of them…..

…hard part is deciding which!

(It’s such an eerie, quiet New York, isn’t it?)

Richard Edelman is a graduate, in photography, of the Rochester Institute of Technology, with a graduate degree from Pratt Institute. He received fellowships from CAPS (NY Creative Artists Public Service Program) in 1982 and from the Center for Photography at Woodstock in 1985 & 2002.

Richard’s photographs are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal), Brooklyn Museum (NY), Polaroid International Collection (Offenbach), Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris) and Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY)

He was a member of the faculty at the New School and has also taught photography at the School of Visual Arts and International Center for Photography, all in New York City

See more work here