Tosh Berman's Blog, page 256
June 13, 2013
"la boutique obscure: 124 Dreams" by Georges Perec (translated by Daniel Levin Becker)
Dream diaries are usually only interesting between the person who is having that dream and their doctor. Beyond that when someone comes up to you and says "I have a dream and its..." Well, your first thought is to run away. But alas what we have here is a dream book by the great Georges Perec, and even though it is his dreams... it's still not that interesting.
The best and greatest dream book is Michel Leiris' "Nights as Day Days as Night." Actually one of my favorite all-time books and for god's sake it's a dream journal. But Leiris maybe a more twisted character than Perec, and not as conceptual. So "la boutique obscure: 124 Dreams" starts in 1968 and ends in 1972, probably the most fruitful of his writing years. I imagine that he started this project with a beginning and an ending -perhaps taking over the role of an actual everyday journal. But i am just guessing here; what we do have is little narratives by Perec, which shows his dream world is very straight forward in a sense. At least one gets the sense that there is a beginning, middle part and then end. Like Godard, not always in that order, but there is a sense of some sort of organization within the Perec dream world. Leiris on the other hand is more sexual (and there is sex in the Perec dream world) and a tad wilder. Also his imagery is more poetic and seductive of sorts. Perec is sort of listing his dreams for maybe a future analysis.
But the best part of the book for me is the end index, where he list categories like "Staircases" and the color "Red" for instance - and he mentions how many times he had a dream with the color red in it and so forth. Which comes to mind on my own writing project, which is not about dreams, but I am writing something that is very systematic, and I realize that some of that came from Perec and his work. So, yeah its interesting but mostly for the writing process than anything else.
June 11, 2013
"Revolt Into Style: The Pop Arts" by George Melly
It took me forever to locate "Revolt Into Style" and finally I found a copy at my neighborhood record store. I couldn't even find it via the Internet - so hooray for the neighborhood store (Rockaway Records by the way.)
But now that I have located the book by the legendary blues singing Surrealist bi-sexual dandy George Melly - I find it slightly boring. The hint for it was more exciting than reading the book. But saying that it is still an unique look by a crazed Soho figure on the British pop world of the '60s. So it's very much a period piece of that decade. He write most of the book in 1969, and therefore the subject matter was still happening while he wrote this book.
For a gent that was born during the '20s his attitude to the '60s generation is pretty hip, but you still get traces of his jazz past. The book is divided by music, films/theater, fashion, and literature. The problem with the book is that Melly didn't go far enough with his personality regarding his subject matter. I suspect he was paid by a paper for most of these observations. But still a collectible and a must for a Mod obsessive reader.
June 10, 2013
"Jeff Koons" by Hans Ulrich Obrist (The Conversation Series No 22)
Part of a fascinating series of books of interviews by Hans Ulrich Obrist, where this is number 22 and its subject is the artist Jeff Koons. An artist i never think about. In fact in a darker mood I can actually hate his work. But about six months ago I saw a documentary of him working in his studio with his assistants and it was fascinating. And he himself came off extremely charming and smart.
This book continues the charming aspect of this artist's personality but i still have difficulty with his work for some reason. Maybe because it's too obvious to me, or I just don't like the way he plays with kitsch subject matter. But I truly believe he is beyond the kitsch level, but also it is interesting that one of his favorite artists or one that is important to him is Dali, which makes perfect sense, looking at Koon's work. They both love the surface, and both have a mythology of sorts that they deal with. Obrist and his partner-in-crime the architect Rem Koolhaas asks the right questions, as well as being very straight forward as well.
Jeff Koons is a man of taste, and he's super aware of all the aesthetic aspects of art, and I think he's more into art than say art economics. So if one likes his work, I can totally understand that.
"Imaginary Paris Vol. 1" in Le Bathyscaphe
Not exactly a great photo reproduction of my article in the latest issue of Le Barthyscaphe but nevertheless a remarkable publication out of Montreal. The newspaper journal is bi-lingual, but this issue features my first column for the paper: "Imaginary Paris." The subject matter is Michel Legrand.
Read more about Le Bathyscaphe here: http://lebathyscaphe.blogspot.com/
Le Bathyscaphe : 2.1 - CHARLES PLYMELL avec Mauro Pezzente from LE BATHYSCAPHE on Vimeo.Benefit reading for Le Bathyscaphe with poet Charles Plymell.
Le Bathyscaphe : 2 - CHARLES PLYMELL avec Pam Plymell from LE BATHYSCAPHE on Vimeo.Charles Plymell with Pam Plymell
June 7, 2013
"The Trouble With Being Born" by E.M. Cioran
The king of despair? No, actually he's very funny and witty in his own way. This collection of aphorisms are single bite-fulls of wit, smartness, and for me a sense of beauty or understanding of the world out there. In his point of view it is not facing death that's the problem, but the fact one is born in this world -well, that's the problem.
For me this is the ultimate book to read before a nap or outside on the patio - watching trees sway or traffic go by and then reading bits and pieces of "The Trouble with Being Born," well, its paradise of sorts.
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