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Yves Zurstrassen – Free

Mercator Fonds

A name like Yves Zurstrassen, at least the correct pronunciation might not roll easily off your Anglo-Saxon tongue and it might be an artist that has not crossed your path so far.

I have to admit that I was not too terribly familiar with his oeuvre either and was therefore quite delighted to be able to acquaint myself intimately with how he traverses from the expressionistic abstract to lyrical abstraction or the other way around. The common denominator of Zurstrassen’s art his idiosyncratic approach to go far beyond temporality by playing with principles of collages, differently textured papers, the removal of paint, cut-outs and meticulous layering of colours and shades.

In essence, it really has to be seen to understand and fully appreciate how the layering of pigments interact with the underlying canvases and his calibration of application and withdrawals create a musicality that is accentuated by the often floral and wavy patterns he applies – a feat that is reminiscent at times of Matisse and Stuart Davies.

In many aspects, the way Zurstrassen channels his alchemy reminds one of the painted equivalent to jazz.

Zurstrassen is an artist who has created his own realm, independent from mainstream constraints, labels and categorical confines and given that, the tome could hardly have been titled better than “Free”.

Henry Darger

Prestel Publishing

“Outsider art” is an interesting term as it can pertain to art outside the confines of the well-trodden path of mainstream art and autodidactic artists that add another enriching facet dimension to the culturally sanctioned world of art as well as a questionable justification for less works that lack merit.

Henry Darger can be firmly placed in the first category and this opulently illustrated tome does not only portray his oeuvre but also elevated him to be a major protagonist of the current art scene.

Stating that Darger’s works are rooted in his own, characteristically peculiar fantasy world would be an understatement par excellence as it has become his trademark and anyone remotely familiar with some of his painting would be able to identify them as his from a long way off.

The book does justice to the at times disturbing scenarios that Darger creates, some of which are displayed in all their glory via foldout illustrations and gatefold. The works being embedded in essays that have been carefully curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Darger’s uniqueness is highlighted even further and light is shed on his use of religiously tinted agendas, the importance of his idiosyncratic use of abstract compositions and the frequent use of what has become his trademark duality between violence and innocence as well as the materials his used.

The book is nicely balanced and informed by an objective approach that does not lack welcome delicate criticism.

Having been a fan of Darger for the longest time, I was quite pleased to hold a book in my hands, which accentuated the artworks with the precision printing and colour palate and does justice to a man that is often misinterpreted and whose allure has always been heightened by being an enigma.

A gorgeous and solid compendium that should not be missed from any halfway decent art book agglomeration and one that not only signs the praises of the artist but put his work into perspective and contextualises it both historically as well as the art world.

January - Part 2: Sex, Chubs, and Bloc & Roll

Let's jump into some of the stuff that kicked off my new year. A couple of albums came at the helm of my wife. She's been getting into White Reaper lately after their newest album, You Deserve Love. Many car rides have been accompanied by this record. It's a really catchy form of Garage-Rock. When we weren't listening to White Reaper, it was usually Courtney Barnett. I'm already familiar with her two albums and her collaboration with Kurt Vile, but neither of us had listened to her earliest work. In anticipation of seeing her in February, I decided to check out A Sea of Split Peas, which is composed of her first two EPs. While it's got some good tracks, there's no denying she got better with each release.

The start of the year tends to be a little light on new albums, but there were a few I gave a listen to. Amongst them was Chubby & the Gang's debut album, Speed Kills. If you're unfamiliar, Chubby & the Gang are a raucous London based, Pub-Rock group. It's fast, it's loud, and it's fun to listen to! While we're on the subject of London Punk bands, so, up until this year, I had never actually listened to Nevermind the Bollocks. I've been so overexposed to "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen" that my interest in actually listening to the entire album had become pretty tenuous. I decided to finally dive in when my wife and I were driving home from a day trip to the mountains. The track that stood out the most to me was "No Feelings." It was basically the Sex Pistols channeling New York Dolls, which from my understanding was the point, and they nailed it. I probably would have loved this album in my teens, but listening to it now, I'm kind of lukewarm. It's not an album I'll find myself returning to often.

One of my favorite releases from last year was Better Oblivion Community Center's album, and I really enjoyed boygenius' EP in 2018. I hadn't actually listened to any of Phoebe Bridgers' solo stuff other than "Motion Sickness" though. With a little encouragement from a friend of mine I gave Stranger in the Alps a listen, and I figured I should check out Julien Baker's, Turn Out the Lights while I'm at it. Both are beautiful albums, but damn did Baker's make me feel short of breath and cornered. An amazing album, but one I have got to be in the right mood for.

To offset the suffocating nature of Turn Out the Lights, I went to the opposite side of the spectrum with Rammstein, Emperor, and Imperial Triumphant's, Vile Luxury, which is a blend of Black Metal and Jazz... somehow. It's pretty much an hour of chaos. I didn't include any metal tracks for this playlist because frankly, there wasn't a way to not make it jarring, haha. I'm sure I'll have a spurt of Metal intrigue one of these months that will result in a more Metal oriented list.

So yeah, that's just a few of the albums I've listened to for January. if you're curious about what else was coming out of my speakers, just check out the playlist:

January - Part 1: An Introduction

Hiya folks!

Welcome to my new Search/Play/Repeat blog. One of the ideas and influences I got for this blog began when I started to see articles that suggest people stop discovering new music by around the age of 30. This caused a bout of introspection. Why? Well, because I was coming up on 30 and realized I was fitting into that statistic way more than I was comfortable with.

Listening to and discovering music has always been a huge part of who I am. It's one of the reasons why I'm writing for SPB to begin with, but over time, day-to-day life becomes exhausting. You start to realize you have less and less time to do the things that you enjoy, and you start to feel like you're losing a piece of yourself. It's something that was taking a toll on me and having an effect on my contributions to Scene Point Blank.

Another point of influence came when a forum I frequent proposed a challenge to listen to 50 albums that you haven't heard before. It seemed like a good start to helping me break my routine. Music is more easily accessible now than it's ever been before. Technology makes it incredibly easy to discover new music as well as venture into the past and listen to the albums you may not have actually had much interest in if it weren't so accessible. From the "classics" to the new or obscure. I mean, we live in a time where you can listen to most of, if not all, 100-something Frank Zappa albums at will. It's as simple as searching for what you want, pressing the "play" button, and repeating the process. And that's what I'm going to do.

Over the course of the year, I'm going to listen to and discover as much music as I can find the time to do. I'm going to try and listen to some "critically-acclaimed" albums I never got to growing up.  I'm going to try and listen to some new 2020 releases. I'm going to try and fill in the gaps from artists I already like and hopefully find some new ones along the way. At the end of each month, I'll share a playlist of my favorite/notable songs from some of those albums and maybe sneak in some new singles that grab my attention. I may even chime in from time to time in the middle of the month to talk about what I've been listening to. In the end, I hope you find something new that you like as well.

TL:DR Version: I listen to albums I haven't to before and then make a playlist. Head to Part 2 for January's playlist.

What’s Sumatra with You? East Forged

As I travel this earthround, more often than not on more exotic territory, I find myself reminded of Abraham Lincoln musing that if what I am proffered is supposed to be coffee, I’d rather have tea and if it is supposed to be tea, I would like some coffee instead.

There are many concoctions these days, especially when it comes to experimental novelties and few of them stand the test of time. As a matter of fact, especially when it comes to coffee, I find myself drawn back to the basics and my favourite these days is a simple double espresso.

A more interesting version of tea recently crossed my path, i.e. one of the cold brew nitro-infused variety. The underlying concept is that pure tea leaves are cold-brewed, infused with carbonation, refined by the adage of real fruits and finally made bubbly and sparkling by utilizing nitrogen, with the ultimate aim to create a drink that has the DNA of coffee and brings the refreshment of a draught beer. If you think about, the use of nitrogen is not as outlandish as it first sounds as the smoothness of e.g. Guinness can almost exclusively be attributed to its use as opposed as to CO2, which has a lemonier character.

East Forged recently launched its teas in three varieties, i.e. Black Tea & Yuzu (“yuzu” as in lemon-like citrus and much less astringent than other black tees on the market), White Tea & Calamansi (kumquat-like citrus meets white tea from China’s Fujian province resulting in a flavour that is an example par excellence for juiciness) and Post-Fermented Green Tea & Pitaya (the production of which is similar to that of Sake and kombucha without the resulting funk and a characteristic dragon fruit note that places it in a category that quite a few ice teas try to accomplish).

Now, while all of them are interesting in term of flavour profiles, the Black and White Tea variants proved to be my favourite, with the Green one not being a too distant third and being a sparkling water aficionado, the fizzy bit made them instantaneously a welcome alternative to the occasional energy drink I sometimes retreat to when things go overtime – especially since East Forged does not add any sugar.

Tea in recyclable aluminium cans might not be the most traditional way to proffer tea but it both reduces the impact on the environment and is convenient when one stacks them up to take on the road.

An interesting alternative that should appease tea aficionados as well as those into energy drinks and beers.

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photo from company website