Month: March 2022

Crate of Curios part 74

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Again a few glimpses of spring in between cold spells, sore throat, runny nose, sleep, sleep, sleep, and suddenly the virus is gone and I feel ready for spring and sun. Until the sun reclaims its steady spot in the sky, let’s get to opening this (rather late) Crate without further ado.

  1. “I would like to blur the firm borders that we human beings, cocksure as we are, are inclined to erect around everything that is accessible to us.” Hannah Höch, one of the inventors of photomontage (or collage as we now call it), was one of the few women in the Berlin Dada movement and the only woman artist to exhibit her works at the First International Dada Fair in 1920.

2. Our time worships speed… but slowing down can have considerable benefits.

3. Which are the innocent debates dividing the European countries? This map will enlighten you.

4. We know the New York brownstone buildings from countless series and other pop culture images. However, you might not have known their timeline of styles until now.

5. A short poem by the Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky from his “Deaf republic” published in 2019.

6. And to finish off for this week – a cinematic painting (that looks very much like a comic) on how to make a perfect Martini by Guy Buffet.

And that’s it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!
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If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.

Crate of Curios part 73

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The sun is starting to appear more and more often and the mornings, instead of being dark leftovers of the night are becoming lighter and lighter. Today is the Clean Monday, the first day of the Orthodox Lent fast and the asceticism of the 40-day denial of earthly pleasures seems to fit well with the current bleakness of our time. Should one choose distraction or immersion? Is there some kind of balance between the two? Erring on the side of distraction, let’s start with opening this week’s Crate.

  1. “The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless, I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.” Hilma af Klint is still a somewhat controversial artistic figure. Was she the first abstract artist or an eccentric outsider?

2. The mythological harpies are half-human half-birds – and they inspired the name of the harpy eagle.

3. If you didn’t know what’s the most popular book of all European countries, it’s time to find out.

4. Why do we have a tendency to trust authority?

5. The most beautiful quote about rain comes from Ray Bradbury.

6. And to finish off for this week, a little comic on the use of OK by Tommy Siegel.

And that’s it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!
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If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.

Crate of Curios part 72 – Ukraine special

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It is odd to imagine that just a week ago the world was a rather different place – living in interesting times really doesn’t live up to the hype. It’s only the fourth special edition Crate and with the exception of Siblings, the other two – Isolation and Afghanistan – were inspired by the external events, the second lockdown and the Taliban takeover. Which means that for obvious reasons, now it’s time for a special edition Crate about Ukraine. Let’s get to it with no further ado.

  1.  “Once, as a young girl, I was tending a gaggle of geese. When I got with them to a sandy beach, on the bank of the river, after crossing a field dotted with wild flowers, I began to draw real and imaginary flowers with a stick on the sand… Later, I decided to paint the walls of my house using natural pigments. After that I’ve never stopped drawing and painting.” – Maria Pryimachenko (Ukrainian: Приймаченко Марія Оксентіївна), a peasant woman and self-taught painter is considered to be one of the most outstanding representatives of naive art.

2. Not sure about Ukrainian geography? The Visual Capitalist has got you covered.

3. The founder of Suprematism, Kazimir Malevich, also counts Kyiv as his birthplace.

4. If instead of dry geographical data, we look at the local dishes – the map of Ukraine gets considerably more colourful.

5. Before Christianity, the Kievan Rus are thought to have worshipped the primordial Slavic gods, one of whom was Mokosh – the Mother Moist Earth.

6. Considering the effort of the Ukrainian national dance hopak demands, Sergei Polunin’s ballet moves start looking very natural.

7. And to finish off this special edition, a little comic by Itchy Feet.

And that’s it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!
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If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.