Crate of Curios part 54

Autumn is here with its promising, yet betraying weather – short-sleeve warm during daytime, suddenly-chilly after sundown – it’s the in-between period where it’s possible to see people wearing anything from shorts and T-shirts all the way to puffy winter jackets. Some unnamed tree is apparently blossoming or doing something that spreads the most obnoxious sweetish smell. But I digress. After a short period of floating it seems that Sunday night is after all the best time for publishing the Crate. So let’s get to it without further ado.

  1. “I have learned through Picasso that the really good art lies in the ability of not knowing how to do something. And the journey of trying to articulate something you don’t know how to do is where the art is.” Jenny Saville has followed her artistic journey by observing and painting the nude body in all its reality. (The triptych on the right is ‘Strategy’ from 1994)

2. What is the relation between productivity and creativity? Willa Cather gave it a lot of thought. (via The Marginalian)

3. Find the British system of measurements confusing? You’re not the only one, so here’s a handy little chart.

4. Can spirituality or religiosity help against depression?

5. What’s the furthest city from yours? Find out here.

6. And to finish off for this week, here’s a little friendly reminder from good ol’ Clippy (by Redpenblackpen)


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 50

Autumn keeps approaching and twilight embraces the city already before 9 o’clock, cafes and eateries are full of people and finally finally this weekend saw us through the much-missed comics festival, illustration festival and Athens Art Book festival. Evenings are still warm and still quiet, parks are open and besides the ubiquitous face masks life seems more or less back to normal. Which brings us to yet another Monday evening and yet another Crate, so let’s get to opening it without further ado.

  1. Two weeks ago I wrote about the legendarily productive Mexican illustrator Ernesto Garcia Cabral who left behind between 25 and 30,000 drawings and sketches. At that time this seemed like a whole lot. However, when it comes to arts, South America is the land of plenty, as J. Carlos (José Carlos de Brito e Cunha) from Rio de Janeiro is estimated to have produced about 100,000 drawings during his 50-year-long career. In 1922, he started working as art director at a magazine called ‘Para Todos’ and from 1926-1930 drew all of its covers, producing some of the most stunning examples of Brazilian Art Deco illustration.

2. We speak about ‘mind’s eye‘, but what if your mind happens to be blind?

3. Something we probably never think about, but… how was it to be a vegetarian in the Soviet Union?

4. London and Tokyo are both big cities, right? Well… it depends how you look at them.

5. A really important secret to productivity? Disagreement.

6. And to finish off for this week, here’s some poetry spamming from Federico Garcia Lorca from the beginning of 1920’s.

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.