Bouncing Bettie

I just finished all my exams and with that done and over with I wanted to post a link to my website project. Unfortunately it’s in Danish, but it’s about about Antoine Watteau and his painting L’Embarquement pour l’île de Cythère and it was the final part of a two-part project, first part consisting of an oral presentation of this subject and the second part was this website and an oral presentation of. It’s the first website I’ve ever made from scratch so I’m very happy!

I’ve started taking screenshots of my favorite outfits in the Sex and the City series and will be collecting them on my Flickr. It will take some time to collect them all, but now I’ve started it and it was about time, because I often use these as a reference when dressing and often have to go through many episodes to find out exactly which one featured my favorite dress. I had a particularly difficult time finding this dress, but it is also particularly amazing in that lovely chocolate color with that big cream colored horse print:

Speaking of dressup, I have just received notice that these lovely vintage shoes will be mine very soon!:

Piazza Armerina, a Roman Villa. Floor mosaic of girls doing physical exercise, probably on their way to the baths. Early fourth century.

Aren’t they just darling?

In my Antoine Watteau craze I remembered this amazing little piece of info on the staples of 18th century cosmetics: rouge and beauty marks! 

“One might go on at length about the women of the Rococo. Let it suffice for the present to say that in appearance woman had herself to be an approximation to a work of art. The Rococo extends even to the art of applying cosmetics and the disposition of beauty spots. The manner of using rouge was a matter of great discretion since it was supposed to be expressive of your self as well as your social position. Thus there was rouge de cour, rouge de femme de qualité, rouge de bourgeoise, and rouge de courtisane. The beauty spots were even more eloquent and promising of delight: in the corner of the eye it was called assassin, on the forehead it denoted majesty, in the fold of the smile it denoted playfulness, on the cheek it announced the bearer to be galante, while near the lips the bearer might be said to be either naughty, precious, or coquette.”

Rémy G. Saisselin: “The Rococo as a Dream of Happiness”, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism vol. 19, no. 2 (Winter, 1960)

Antoine Watteau: Study of two women (1715)

This is so precious that I simply had to share.

Read the full article here.

Whenever I’m riding my bike here and there in my city (Copenhagen), I notice a whole lot of art on walls and signs that I really like. Of course, there’s plenty of old fashioned, ugly graffiti, but there are also people who are doing very good work. A couple of weeks I decided to start taking pictures of the things I passed, since they are, by their very nature, evanescent. And since I had the pictures, it would be a crying shame not to commit them to internet! I would love to hear about other people’s opinions on street art, and especially to see galleries of what other people like in their streets.

This is going to be an ongoing feature, and initially I’ll stick with just one artist. Today, that is Driving-Beats-Walking, as I have opted to call him/her/it. I have no idea what DBW’s real name is, I got this one from one of his pieces (which has since been eradicated, and which I regrettably have no pictures of), to follow shortly Kissmama. Generally speaking, Kissmama-pieces seem to disappear really quickly, so see them while they’re there!

I Spin, You Lie
This was the first Kissmama-piece I ever saw, and both the copies I know of have been destroyed. Here is half of one of them. The other half is a bemused-looking man on whom is written “You Spin, I Lie”.

You can see the original here. (Google Earth)

I Hate My Wife Because I’m Boring
This is the newest piece I have found by this artist, and here I also got a picture of the surroundings. Especially when it comes to street art I find these interesting. This one is right next to a restaurant where you can get “smørrebrød” and “klipfisk”.

Close-up:

Perspective:
The original can be seen here. (Google Earth)

Online Poker Took My Wife
This isn’t the latest piece I’ve found by the artist, but considering the amount of details, I believe this to be the newest of the three. What a development, eh? Also notice how it is placed in a narrow, claustrophobic, overcrowded alley.

Close-up:

Perspective:
The original can be seen here. (Google Earth)

That’s it for the first installment. If you’re walking around Copenhagen and spots the piece by this artist called Driving Beats Walking Kissmama, I’d really love to get a picture of it. And of course, it would be great to hear what YOU like to see on your street.

Next time I’ll put up some pictures by Stangtennis, or Stangtennisone, as he might also be known… If you look carefully, you’ll see that he’s also represented in the last photo!

EDIT: The artists name is actually Kissmama, and the post has been updated to reflect this. All credit goes to the artist, of course.

Some very amazing items I stumbled upon. They speak for themselves.

Click on the pictures to go to the site where you can read about these sweeties and also order them.

Honeycomb Lampshade

:

D’light Huggable

Little Joseph Candle Holder

Book of Lights

Trophy Hangers

Phonofone II

Park Planters

Buddy Throw

I’m so very excited about this new output from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. “Moonland” is addictive, and Cave whispering “I’m not your favourite lover” drives me mad. Cave’s spectrum is broad: No More Shall We Part, the Grinderman project, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, music to match my every mood.

Silly Seeds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ7oizdQ0KY (this one including a bit of Nick Cave bondage - hot!)

Grinderman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuDP7c3Zd8I

After going to an excellent Eels concert this saturday, I realized that even though I can hear that Mark Everett makes some damn fine music, it simply does not touch me, it does not strike a note with me, so to say. It lacks something, and to point to this something, I had to consider the kind contemporary of music that I do love: Nick Cave, Tori Amos, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits… All these artists have a mythological aspect, an ability to create characters within their music, an ability to create mythologies. There is a mystery to them, and this mystery holds my attention and I can hear their music over and over and over again. I can hear the same song on repeat forever.

To share my obsession, go to http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com, but beware, these guys are addictive.

Le Dejeuner by François Boucher (1739, Louvre)

“Place one tablet of chocolate for each cup of water in a coffee pot and bring it slowly to the boil; when ready to serve, add one egg yolk for every four cups and stir with the baton over a slow fire, without boiling. It is better if made in the evening for the next day. Those who drink it every day save a leaven for the next day’s pot. Instead of an egg yolk, a whipped egg white can be used after removing the first froth; blend it with a little chocolate taken from the coffee pot, then put it in the pot and finish off as with a yolk.”

Excerpt from “Les Soupers de la Cour ou l’Art de travailler toutes sortes d’aliments pour servir les meilleurs tables suivant les quatre saisons”, by Menon, 1755 (BN, V.26995, tome IV, p.331)

I stumbled upon a blog about 18th century cuisine, written by a woman named Carolyn Smith-Kizer. Especially this post about chocolate was very interesting and informative, perfectly supplementing the excerpt above. Among other things, she offers a recipe for chocolate tablets, the ingredients being chocolate, cinnamon, anise seeds, almonds, hazelnuts and vanilla. Mmmm!

http://18thccuisine.blogspot.com/2005/02/chocolat-chaud.html