Das Eckhaus

Das Eckhaus. The corner house. Ludwig Meidner painted the Villa Kochmann in Dresden in 1913. The house, as if made of cards, gives the viewer the impression that it's moving, that it's alive.Bathed in a Van Gogh green light and blue shadows of a cloudy afternoon, the house stretches and swells the contorted lines of its façade like wrinkles on an old face. Through the windows, behind the eyelid curtains, there is a reflected darkness of private space and hidden lives. The cellar windows transform into gaping mouths with a mouldy breath exchanging vows with the dark green shadows of the garden overgrowth creeping in from the sides. Vows that will eventually be broken.

The owners of the house seem to have belonged to the family of Franz Kochmann who later on, in the twenties, established a photographic equipment company in Dresden manufacturing folder-cameras, such as the Enolde in 1924 and the Korelle in 1930. However one of Kochmann's most innovating designs was the Reflex Korelle which was launched in 1934-35. In 1938, Franz Kochmann decided to emigrate and his company was totally destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in 1945. Nothing was ever heard of him.

It is not clear who lived in the villa Kochmann from 1938 to 1945. One could imagine a forgotten butler, like Firs in the play "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chechov, taking care of the house, keeping things in minimal order while awaiting the return of the Master of das Eckhaus who would never return.

The villa Kochmann did not survive the bombing of Dresden which took place between the 13th and 15th of February 1945 and destroyed 90% of the baroque capital of the German state of Saxony. But das Eckhaus of 1913 still lives on in the Meidner painting. In the painting it is only late afternoon…

Peter Lorre, the scene stealer

It was 1924-1925. Peter Lorre in his early years on the stage had very quickly earned the reputation of a scene stealer. Hilde Wall, the later wife of Max Ophüls, remembered sharing the stage with Peter Lorre who in that particular performance played the insignificant role of a servant. His little bit was to come in and announce that Frau Schultz was here to see her. That's all he had to do, just come in, say those words and go out. Lorre came in and sat down. "Of course, you know Frau Schultz," he said. "Yes, of course I know her," Wall said, simply trying to follow along. Lorre pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and looked up. "She's been here quite a few times lately, hasn't she?" "Yes, of course, she's a friend of mine." Lorre drew long drafts, puffing the moment into something greater, stubbed out his cigarette, and then got up. "Well, Frau Schultz is here to see you." he said, finally delivering his one and only line. On that, he exited and the audience applauded.

Taken from the newly published biography of Peter Lorre "The Lost One" by Stephen D. Youngkin.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

It is called “The arrival” and you could call it a silent movie graphic novel. I guess you could also call it a comic but that would be quite insufficient a characterization considering the artistic achievement of Shaun Tan’s work. Immigration, the voyage from the familiar to the foreign and the unknown. What you leave behind and what you carry with you. A family torn apart and reunited.

The photorealistic drawing precision of the known, devoid of any identification, is in constant interaction with the imaginative plane of the new and the strange. They playfully mix into landscapes of the mind where history and the future blend effortlessly and everyday objects are enveloped with the magical aura of an archetype nostalgia and an imprecise shape of things to come. If nevertheless, this is a measure of the things to come from Shaun Tan, then we are in for some pleasant surprises in the future.

From Brussels with Love

Compiling music is an art. The vast majority of rock and pop music compilations fall normally under the category of dispensable product. Leaving aside the financial and legal constraints of bringing together licenced songs owned by diverse record companies, people who normally put together compilations do so not for the love of music but mainly for commercial reasons. In most cases it is quite clear that the "compiler" has a very superficial knowledge of the music genre he/she is trying to represent objectively in 60 to 70 minutes. Most compilations use the commercial formula of including two, three well known songs and the rest filler with no particular attention given to the order of the songs as they are played. People are attracted by the decoy songs and buy the album.

In the time of the vinyl and the cassette, you were more likely to listen to an album from start to finish simply because to change from song to song meant to either get up, lift and place the needle or go through the hassle of pressing the forward wind button on the cassette deck. Today with the automatic zapping of music offered by the CD, the order of the songs is not important anymore. Concept albums are a thing of the past. But I think there are things that we have lost in the technological fire…

The order of the songs in a compilation is an essential element in defining the journey, the mood, the importance, the point or the link you are trying to make. You see, to compile is to make a statement. A song is also defined by its neighbouring songs. You can kill a good song and you can also "create" a masterpiece out of a mediocre song by placing it after a certain type of music that happens to be different.

And then the main mistake people make when compiling songs is that they don't think of the compilation as something more than a simple collection of individual tunes or songs. But the real art of compiling music is actually creating something more than the simple addition or collection of its parts/tracks. The fact that I like all the tracks compiled does not make a good compilation. Each track could be placed to lead effortlessly to the next one or the succession could bring the element of surprise without cancelling the flow. Does it all sound Greek to you?

Here is what I mean…

"From Brussels With Love" was an eclectic compilation released in an initial edition of 1000 copies on 20 November 1980. At the time it took the form of a deluxe cassette together with a book in a plastic wallet. It featured 22 exclusive tracks from the front rank of the international avant-garde and new wave, as well as several artists from the feted Factory Records stable in Manchester and Belgian label "Les Disques du Crepuscule". The collaboration between the two labels started after the organisation of the Joy Division concerts at Plan K venue in Brussels (21 rue de Manchester) on 16 October 1979 and 17 January 1980, and was cemented when A Certain Ratio, Durutti Column and Section 25 performed at Plan K on 26 April. In addition, Brussels band The Names joined the Factory roster.

Besides Factory, another crucial influence on From Brussels With Love was radio producer and new music composer Wim Mertens, whose book American Minimal Music had just been published by Kahn & Averill. The featured interview with Brian Eno had been recorded by Wim in New York in June 1979, as was the recording by Phill Niblock. It's therefore hardly surprising that Michael Nyman and Gavin Bryars also agreed to contribute tracks. Mertens would make his own debut on Crepuscule (initially as Soft Verdict) the following year. Eno's Obscure label was another key influence on early Crepuscule.

The compilation which included interviews with Brian Eno and Jeanne Moreau was purposefully international in scope, with France (Radio Romance), Belgium (The Names), Germany (Der Plan) and even Scotland (Richard Jobson) all represented, as well as the more familiar British and American contingents. The design, too, was seductively Continental, with text printed in a variety of languages, and copious line/cartoon illustrations by Jean-Francois Octave which reflected the Belgian and French obsession with bande dessinee.

The remastered CD (2006) version of the tape features all tracks included on the 1980 cassette version, with the exception of Felch (live) by A Certain Ratio. These are:

CD tracklist:

John Foxx - A Jingle *1
Thomas Dolby - Airwaves
Repetition - Stranger
Harold Budd - Children On The Hill
Durutti Column - Sleep Will Come
Martin Hannett - The Music Room
The Names - Cat
Michael Nyman - A Walk Through H
Brian Eno - Interview
Phill Niblock - A Third Trombone
Jeanne Moreau - Interview
Richard Jobson - Armoury Show
Bill Nelson - The Shadow Garden
Durutti Column - Piece For An Ideal
Kevin Hewick & New Order - Haystack
Radio Romance - Etrange Affinite
Gavin Bryars - White's Ss
Der Plan - Meine Freunde
B.C. Gilbert & Graham Lewis - Twist Up
John Foxx - A Jingle *2

Source: Read the article of James Nice at http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5881&Itemid=90

Simon Leys

Simon Leys, de son vrai nom Pierre Ryckmans, né le 28 septembre 1935 à Bruxelles, est un écrivain, essayiste, critique littéraire et sinologue belge, de langue française et anglaise. Le livre "Le bonheur des petits poissons" contient une anthologie de observations, des aphorismes, des idées et des chroniques que Simon Leys a publié dans divers magazines. C'est un livre à ne pas manquer.

Voici un extrait:

[…Ce que je voulais souligner est simplement ceci: notre équilibre intérieur est toujours précaire et menacé, car nous sommes constamment en butte aux épreuves et agressions de la réalité quotidienne; l'issue des luttes de l'existence demeure à jamais incertaine, et finalement c'est peut-être un personnage de Mario Vargas Llosa qui a donné la meilleure description de notre commune condition: "La vie est une tornade de merde, dans laquelle l'art est notre seul parapluie."]

The Night of the Hunter

"…
- Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of Right-hand, Left-hand? The story of good and evil.

H-A-T-E.

It was with this left hand that old Brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low.

L-O-V-E.

See these fingers, dear hearts? They has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends. The hand of love. Now watch and I'll show you the story of life.

These fingers is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t'other.
Now watch 'em. Old Brother Left-hand. Left-hand hates a-fighting. And it looks like Love's a goner.

But wait a minute!

Hot dog! Love's a-winning. Yes, sirree. It's Love that won.
And old Left-hand Hate is down for the count.…"

In 1955 the film "Night of the Hunter" hit the cinema screens in the United States. It was to be the only film in which Charles Laughton would stand behind the camera as a director and not in front of the camera as an actor. Robert Mitchum was perfectly cast in the role of the sinister "Reverend" Harry Powell.

In many films Mitchum comes across as someone difficult to decipher. You're not sure if he is a flawed good guy or a sympathetic bad guy. In "Night of the Hunter" this ambiguity is still there, at least in the beginning of the film. But something is seriously wrong. Appearances seem completely deceptive and as the story unfolds you feel trapped in this black and white idyllic tale that transforms into a nightmare. The film is remarkable because it has this certain dream feel quality to it. The expressionistic angles, the light and the studio confined artificiality of the scenes, contribute to create archetype landscapes and situations such as those found in some sinister fairytale which had scared us when we were young and innocent.

The glorious black and white photography was the work of Stanley Cortez who had shot Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons in 1942 and later was responsible for the cinematography of Samuel Fuller's Shock Corridor.

When the film came out it left critics puzzled and was completely ignored by the public. Today, "Night of the Hunter" is rightly acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of 50s American cinema. So if its not entirely clear in your mind, press play and let Robert Mitchum explain to you the difference between Ying and Yang. Love and hate. Good film, bad film.

Nijinsky's last jump

VASLAV NIJINSKY, the world-renowned dancer and choreographer of the Ballets Russes, suffered a nervous breakdown in 1919 and his career effectively ended. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and taken to Switzerland by his wife. He was to spend the rest of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals and asylums. By the late 40s his mental and physical condition had worsened and he was reduced to a robot like state as if in a living coma. In an effort to revive him, his wife, Romola, decided to try one last thing that she thought could breathe some life in him. With the consent of psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler, she brought to the asylum a dancer dressed exactly like Nijinsky was dressed when he performed his famous ballet for "L'après-midi d'un faune" (The Afternoon of a Faun). The idea was that this dancer would re-enact in front of a seated Nijinsky the exact choreography of the master to help him maybe remember. The year was 1945.

Nijinsky had danced for the last time on the evening of Jan. 19, 1919. That same afternoon he also had began writing his famous diary. His last public performance, was a disturbing solo recital, ''Marriage With God,'' at a hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where he and his family had taken up wartime residence. For the next 45 days, sometimes all night, the 29-year-old Nijinsky wrote feverishly in four leather-bound school exercise books. He stopped abruptly on March 4, when his wife, Romola, and her family, took him to Zurich to see the noted psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. The verdict: schizophrenia, a diagnostic term Bleuler had recently coined.

Fast forward, 26 years later. Nijinsky is brought into a large room of the asylum and is seated on a chair. He is wearing a suit with the jacket buttoned. Dr Bleuler, Romola and a photographer are also present. The door opens and the dancer dressed as Nijinsky dances in front of the man himself. Nijinsky stares. He turns his head. He smiles. He stares again intensely at the dancer…and then…he jumps in the air. It is a glorious jump for which Nijinsky was famous. And the camera shutter clicks. And he is captured as if floating in the air with his jacket buttoned. Immediately after, he resumes his position sitting on his chair and darkness descends once again to envelope his mind forever. But for that fleeting moment in time the power of art and his explosive talent managed to brake the confining walls of madness. Darkness was illuminated for an instance. Alas, the light flickered and was extinguished again.

This incredible moment of magic is captured on a black and white photograph which now belongs in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Nijinsky died of renal failure on April 8, 1950, in London.

It all started with the damn firecracker

Imagine the very first meeting of the human race with beings from outer space. And let us suppose that the extraterrestrials are fluent in English. What would they discuss? In Ed Wood's sublimely bad B movie "Plan 9 from outer space", we get a taste of this first encounter of humanity with a civilisation from outer space.

In the following scene the extraterrestrial EROS who has come all the way to earth to tell us that we are stupid, has to provide some more explanations after being confronted by two humans…He goes on to explain the sinister role of the firecracker…

"…JEFF
You fiend!

EROS
I? A fiend? I am a soldier of our planet! I? A fiend? We did not come here as enemies. We came only with friendly intentions. To talk. To ask your aid.

COL. EDWARDS
Our aid?

EROS
Yes. Your aid for the whole universe. But your governments of Earth refused even to accept our existence. Even though you've seen us, heard our messages, you still refused to accept us.

COL. EDWARDS
Why is it so important that you want to contact the governments of our Earth?

EROS
Because of death. Because all you of Earth are idiots!

JEFF
Now you just hold on, Buster.

EROS
No you hold on. First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade. They began to kill your own people a few at a time. Then the bomb, then a larger bomb. Many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb. Split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself. Now you want to bring on the destruction of the entire universe, served by our sun. The only explosion left is the solaronite."

COL. EDWARDS
Why there's no such thing.

EROS
Perhaps to you. But we've known it for centuries. Your scientists will stumble upon it as they have all the others. But the juvenile minds you possess will not comprehend its strength, until it's too late.

COL. EDWARDS
You're way above our heads.

EROS
The solaronite is a way to explode the actual particles of sunlight.

COL. EDWARDS
Why that's impossible.

EROS
Even now, your scientists are working on a way to harness the sun's rays. The rays of sunlight are minute particles. Is it so far from your imagination they cannot do as I have suggested?

COL. EDWARDS
Why a particle of sunlight can't even be seen or measured.

EROS
Can you see or measure an atom? Yet you can explode one. A ray of sunlight is made up many atoms.

JEFF
So what if we do developed this solaronite bomb? We'd be even a stronger nation than now.

EROS
Stronger. You see? You see? Your stupid minds...stupid! Stupid!!

JEFF
That's all I'm taking from you!

[JEFF LEAPS AT EROS]…

In the punch up that ensued, EROS found out that the human fist is a weapon far superior to the solaronite bomb. It was time to board on to the string pulled flying saucers and head back home. As Bela Lugosi said in another Ed Wood masterpiece: "Pull tha strink, pull tha strink".

Karen Dalton's "Ribbon Bow"

"Ribbon Bow" is a song that can be found in Karen Dalton's first album which was called "It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best". I first heard of Karen Dalton from my good friend John Sortix. He made me listen to her second album "In my own time" and in particular the song "Something on your mind". You cannot resist Karen Dalton. She has a capacity to deconstruct a song until it is being held up only by a few threads. And she then takes these few threads and weaves a completely new emotional palette. Few singers can achieve the emotional commitment that she puts in every interpretation. Tim Buckley, Billy Holiday, Flery Dantonaki, Nick Drake and Tim Hardin come to mind.

The song "Ribbon bow" is a traditional folk song written sometime in the 30s by Huey Prince and Louis C Singer. It is about the aching plaint of a poor country girl who lacks the alluring fineries of her big-city rivals. But with Karen Dalton it becomes a brooding song of ethereal beauty and longing. All traditional elements of the song have been shed in favor of a style that resembles a kind of transparent musical tapestry. A summing up. The crystal quality of the guitar parts interacting with the haunting voice achieve a fragile balance that disarms the listener. Karen Dalton uses her voice as an instrument. It is devoid of embellishments such as the vibrato of Billy Holiday even though the phrasing is quite similar. She lived a troubled life and never pursued commercial success, fame or recognition. Even without a ribbon bow, her talent still managed to shine through in the end.

Bayt Al-Suhaymi: The secret jewel of Fatimid Cairo

Hidden in a backstreets close to the famous Khan El Khalili market in Old Cairo, lies El Suhaymi house. Tourists that go to Cairo normally will spend a couple of hectic days running around in the sweltering heat, impossible traffic, noise and pollution and will basically visit the golden triangle of Cairo attractions. Giza pyramids, Cairo Museum and the Khan El Khalili bazaar. But there is more to Cairo. Much more.




Built in the 17th century, Bayt Al-Suhaymi represents the pinnacle of islamic art in Egypt. It is a house. It is an oasis. It is also a labyrinth. With 115 halls and high ceiling rooms, the real ingenuity of the design lies in the way the traditional spatial configuration and design (based on social patterns and islamic family values) was adapted to climactic conditions.



The open courtyard with its small garden(or sahn in arabic) functions as a temperature regulator, diffusing cool air which it retained from the night into the rooms of the house during the day. The spatial areas that look onto it have varying temperatures during the day, depending on their orientation to the sun. The takhtabush provides a cool sitting area in the morning; the maq'ad, which always faces north to catch the prevailing wind, is the favorite entertainment area in the evening. The qa'a is an indoor space which can be conveniently heated in the winter. The domed opening in the roof of the central part of the qa'a, which acts as an outlet for hot air, along with high ceilings, a water fountain below the domed opening, thick walls, marble surfaces, and the mashrabiyya screens keep the interior of the qa'a cool in the summer. Finally, cold air is conducted to the inner parts of the house through a malqaf or wind catcher. Climatic adaptations transcend the typical utilitarian designations of the various rooms and activities are shifted from one part of the house to the other according to the hours of the day and the seasons.






Walking from room to room in this 2000 square meters five floor house, you can easily loose your way. With small staircases going up or down, and corridors that can lead to halls or to walls, one feels as if in a M.C. Escher designed house. But then every area in the house invites you to sit down and relax. You sit on a comfortable pillow and look through the latticed windows to the streets below. The cool breeze in the dark room suddenly makes you lie down and let the faraway hustle and bustle of Cairo transform into a sweet lullaby as your eyes close.




If you compare this Egyptian home of the 17th century with the building frenzy and destructive and careless housing that has taken place presently in an effort to accommodate the 20 or so million people of modern Cairo, you can only ask yourself on the meaning of progress. In terms of quality of life, the 17th century has a lot to teach the 21st.




I would like to thank our close friend and professional guide Fayiz Ali for revealing this hidden wonder (among many others) to us. You can visit Fayiz's site at http://www.theegyptian.org/. If you are thinking of ever really visiting Egypt do yourself a favour and contact somebody that has real knowledge and a passion for history and Egypt. Far from the maddening commercial tourist trail you will experience the authentic and the local.

Sources

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/baytsuhaymi.htm
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=3332