K.A. Laity's Blog, page 2

Irreverent Tarot 13: Flip Through

Irreverent Tarot, the podcast, returns with a flip-through video of The Art of Drawing Cards and The Tarot. By popular demand of the Tarot History group, who want a proper nosy before they commit to buying anything even if they do get a thanks in the postscript! Take a look through yourself. Find out the... Read More

UConn Medieval Plays

UConn officially killed the Medieval Studies program from which I received my MA and PhD. They had been strangling it for years, so in a way this was an expected yet no less painful a blow. The same neoliberalism that has been turning education into a pipeline for industry — a funnel to the capitalist... Read More

Out Now: The Art of Drawing Cards and The Tarot

The Art of Drawing Cards and The Tarot Aldegonde Perenna, The Polish Sibyl There’s nothing quite like this tarot book. The editors of this curious 1826 volume threw in every method they could find for reading and playing cards. Cartomancy in nineteenth century France was not a world without rules, but one with too many!... Read More

Blue

I have a piece in the latest American Museum of Paramusicology journal. I saw at the last minute Matt Marble’s call for pieces on the theme of blue and had just the thing. If you subscribe, you can get not only this journal but so much more: The American Museum of Paramusicology (AMP) is home to... Read More

Recent Reads

I have been diving into eighteenth century France for some reason (…circumspice) and my reading has veering into the historical, albeit through fiction. No surprise: I learned most of my history from fiction — books, television, films — because Americans are not generally taught history so much as a narrative of Manifest Destiny. Which is... Read More

Out Now: Hope Magic

MEANS MAGAZINE 3 Hope Magic Join a global array of grassroots and experimental writers, musicians and artists as they explore tactics for finding hope in a hopeless world. This issue includes: Amy Jackson: Twitter / Pocket ConjurationsLala Lotos: The Soul of Stones (art-making in war-torn Ukraine)Klaus Von Mork: Sigils, Manifestation, and Chaos Magic in Art... Read More

Ithell @ Tate

I usually manage to get a snap of the poster for an exhibition and somehow I managed to miss doing that. It was probably the decision to stop at the White Swan and have a nice burger and a pint of Guinness. I even watched the cricket (my sweetie would approve). Another hot day in... Read More

Recent Reads

ZOFLOYA, OR THE MOOR (1806) – I am sure this was bookmarked due to something or someone (if not Sam herself) over at Romancing the Gothic; while a poor reproduction, this is the version I read with that Fromentin painting (peak orientalism, yes–which is rather the point). I have been dipping into unusual gothics of... Read More

Matinee: Quiet Please, Murder (1942)

Among the more obscure of films noir: George Sanders (although too little of him), Gail Patrick as the femme fatale she’s always meant to be, and Richard Denning with some well floppy hair. A winner because it’s set in the stolen/forged book racket and mostly in a library. Some library! Not only does it have... Read More

Leigh Bowery @ Tate Mod

Some photos from the Leigh Bowery exhibition at the Tate Modern; I decided that it needed the multimedia presentation to give you a sense of the immersive nature of the show. Soundtrack by Aural Lint with the brand new track ‘Duet with Bin Men for Leigh’. The digression into MES images is entirely predictable. Enjoy.