Juniper&Scribe

This one hadn’t been on the “to read” shelf for too long, but I picked it up when I had to suddenly fly back to my sister’s place last month. I knew I would need something to read in transit & once I was there & I knew I wanted a piece of fiction. Always enjoyed the work of @jon_mcgregor & as my family was dealing with sudden struggles & tragedies, it was strangely comforting to read about another family going through very different struggles & tragedies. I just loaned this to a friend, so I don’t want to give too much away, but it begins in Antarctica, shifts to Chile, & finally to Cambridge, England. It’s beautiful & uses language in interesting ways, especially when language is very much failing one of the main characters. Cover design by @nlcaputo , interior by Wah-Ming Chang. #bookcoverdesign #bookdesign #graphicdesign #writing #fiction #reading #literature #contemporaryliterature #typography (at Antarctica) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqRVUohrmP8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Students had their #library #research presentation. Afterwards I browsed around & explored the bound #magazine #collection . Original @voguemagazine issues from 1933. #magazinedesign #graphicdesign #typography #foundtype #layout #illustration (at Fashion Institute of Technology Library) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cod58vRuDLY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Just received my new @supportbravehood hoodie with @nickcaveofficial lyrics. All net proceeds go to support @unicef “to provide children in #Ukraine with emergency shelter, healthcare, pscyho-social support” etc. There’s a bunch of artists participating, so check out their stuff. #bravehood #nickcaveandthebadseeds #nickcave #music #humanitarianaid (at Bedford-Stuyvesant) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoNOLGSL2Sn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Picked this up at the @fotografiska.newyork last spring during their #moholynagy exhibition. @larsmullerpublishers has reproduced the 1925 #designs but with English translations of the #bauhausbucher series of books. They were initiated by Moholy-Nagy & #waltergropius to promote the #newdesign philosophies coming out of the #bauhaus . While the #book is called #painting #photography #film , it’s very apparent in the essays & the visual content that László was much more interested in the latter two. Fascinating as an #arthistorical record and as documentation of some experimental projects that were never fully realized – there’s a great visual “script” at the very end to a film that never was produced. #artbook #typography #graphicdesign #bookdesign #avantgarde #arthistory #designhistory (at Fotografiska New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn-MFajuyrf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Picked this up over thanksgiving #read over the Xmas break. My first #shirleyjackson #novel – (The Haunting of Hill House might be her most famous work). We Have Always Lived in the Castle is about an odd family of three who are survivors of an event that took out the rest of their once large family. They now are ostracized from the rest of the New England community in which they reside. Delightfully #dark . Recommended if you’ve just completed Wednesday and are looking for something in a similar vein (the 18yo narrator, Merricat, bears some similarities to that show’s titular character). Also reminded me of Iain Banks’s Wasp Factory. #cover & #endpapers by @paul.buckley . #bookstagram #bookdesign #typography #bookcoverdesign #graphicdesign #gothic #gothicnovel #darkfiction (at Bedford-Stuyvesant) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnhqnxVOX8J/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Posting some #books I’ve read over the past few months. This one I picked up at the @sacredbones anniversary show @knockdowncenter back last spring, but didn’t get around to #reading it until the fall. First off, flat out GORGEOUS book. Worth the price for the #endpapers alone by @lucylordcampana , who also writes a lovely preface & endnote. Likewise, there are two excellent #historical & #arthistorical #essays by Mitch Horowitz & Dr Victoria Ferentinou (there’s also a 3rd essay that name checks Terrence McKenna, which if you didn’t read McKenna as teenager as I did, in nutshell he believed all of his psychoactive trips & hallucinations were real – so that’s nice for him). So beyond that what is this book? It was a turn of the century #occult book produced by a group called The Theosophical Society, who believed that thoughts (& music) created forms that were visual by #mediums – though no names or event documentation is given. This book reverberated in the #art community & apparently was influential in the #abstractart movement. And once again the images are stunning! But having read it cover to cover, the original text is pure #hokum . Now on its face with what we know about the human brain & #synesthesia the content contained wouldn’t be to far fetched. But see above about zero documentation or testing methodologies. It reads like something that isn’t scientific, but they’re throwing just enough terminology in there to make it seem scientific (see Scientology, astrology, homeopathy, etc). Btw, believe what you want – we just collectively celebrated the birth of a man that supposedly rose from the dead 2K years ago, so [shrug]. Regardless, beautiful book, fantastic art historical document, so glad Sacred Bones took the time & care to reproduce it properly. Take everything else the original authors claim with a giant shovelful of salt. #arthistory #design #typography #art #bookdesign (at Bedford-Stuyvesant) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfA1eAuQJB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Going through the phone & found a few photos from this #godspeedyoublackemperor show back in November. First time seeing them ever. Cool step up with multiple #film #projectors producing overlapping imagery. Musically did not disappoint. I remember being like a 2 hour set. I’m now old enough to admit without shame that when they come back around, I hope they book a sit down theatre. #livemusic #postrock #indierock #orchestral #cinematic #brooklyn #nyc (at Elsewhere) https://www.instagram.com/p/CncGfEsOd5I/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

From the week between Xmas & New Years. Went to the @gdtreal exhibit at the MoMA for his new #stopmotion #animation #film #pinocchio . Beautiful #sets and #models on display. See the #movie first – which is beautiful – & then hit this; it’ll give you a greater appreciation. We waited 30 min in line, but it did not disappoint – but I would suggest seeing it in the middle of a week, during the day, & after all the NYE tourists have gone home & before the spring breakers roll in. #exhibition #exhibit #museum #art #craft #filmmaking #movie (at MoMA The Museum of Modern Art) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnHd3heOqs5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Despite having lived in the #NYC area since ‘02 (w/ a UK break in there), I’ve seen a pathetically small amount of #theatre . Just grew up more of a live music guy (& the entertainment price point is incomparable when it comes to theatre). Also, I’m just not into musicals. But this year I saw three #plays : Cosmicomics from The New Stage, This Beautiful Future at Cherry Lane, and last night I scored some ‘day of’ tix for Topdog|Underdog on #Broadway . A two-hander starring Corey Hawkins (Dr Dre in Straight Outta Compton) & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Cal Abar/Dr Manhattan in the Watchmen series). If you’re looking for something beyond song & dance & just want to watch two #actors just crush it on #stage , can’t recommend this enough … but I’m also not a theatre person, so take that rec with a grain of salt. Anyways, going to try & take in more plays next year. (at Golden Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmwofRJrzRq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Went with @clever_swine & @goldensofa to #dykerheights again this year. It was cold, but we were warmed by the #holidayspirit & copious amounts of wine. (at Dyker Heights Brooklyn, Ny) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKZk_ayBj6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Been a busy couple of weeks – this was from when I went to #Dallas for Thanksgiving weekend and we went as a family to the @dhhrm_org . An amazing #museum on a lot of levels – #content + #design. Our visit seemed timely with is going on with the misinformation being spread by various folks in the pop culture & sports landscape and the rise of online conspiracies. Thanks to my sister @srvaughn76 for organizing this. #holocaust #humanrights #exhibition #museumdesign #exhibitdesign #wwii #history #historymuseum #jewishhistory #graphicdesign (at Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl_UfVIODPB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Been a busy early 1st 1/2 of the week. A few shots from Saturday. @oceanatorband at @thebroadwaynyc . 1st time seeing a show here. Nice big bar w/ food & pool tables on the 1st flr, intimate 100 person live space on the 2nd. Oceanator – bk band w/ big loud guitars & super catchy songs (for fans of Hüsker Dü/Sugar, Superchunk, Throwing Muses, etc) – really dig their new album. #livemusic #indierock #brooklyn #nyc #supportlocalmusic (at The Broadway) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClSf65muvPf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Good day #biking with @goldensofa on the #oldcrotonaqueducttrail . Only got up to Hastings-On-Hudson – got distracted by food & beers. But we did have a nice stop off at the @untermyergardens . Beyond the path being a bit wet from all the rain, it was a perfect #autumn day for a ride. (at Old Croton Aqueduct Trail) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck4mQR_uHBr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Something I picked up during my #Amsterdam trip this summer. A #zine put out by the #stedelijkmuseum on its origins and connection to Dutch colonialism & the slave trade. Fascinating read & let me just say, I can not imagine MoMA, Guggenheim, The Met, etc publishing a self-critical piece like this that really digs into where the money comes from for their respective institutions (seriously, probably best not to dig too deep into the last names of the board of directors of your favorite #museum ). And it’s not just a piece of #criticism concerning its history; the 2nd 1/2 is a discussion between the director and the curator-at-large where they lay out definitive steps forward for the institution in terms of diversity & representation. #design by Eva Heisterkamp. #art #artistbook #artmuseum #print #bookdesign #typography #graphicdesign (at Stedelijk Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck1pQBfruw1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

From last night’s @kenmodenoise show. So excited to see these folks live. Super dope noise rock from Winnepeg. LOVE the addition of Kathryn Kerr on sax. Gives them a LES, NYC sound – back when SWANS & John Zorn were 0 steps removed from each other. (at Saint Vitus Bar) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkpHyi0LUUF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Went to see #nosferatu at St John the Divine. Most of my photos from the #marchoftheghouls didn’t come out, but I really liked this one. #halloween #ghoul #cathedral (at Cathedral of Saint John the Divine) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkTIRcdrCVL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

From Sunday’s @alkcm show at the lovely Sultan Room. So cool to catch him at such an intimate space. One of my favorite current live performers & songwriters. If you’re unfamiliar with him, recommended for fans of Bryan Ferry, “Tunnel of Love” era Springsteen, & maybe a bit of Lloyd Cole, but his songs are all about the time & characters (mostly dirt bags) that surround us in the very much now times. (at The Sultan Room) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkIqrZNutqa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=