A global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

 Click the image to open the interactive maps:

Andrew Braunberger - "Clear Seeing with Residue"

 

    

24" x 36" Mixed media on canvas

Inquires: Andrew Braunberger on facebook, click HERE 

Captain Beefheart - "Big Eyed Beans from Venus"

 

Lyrics:

Distant cousins, there's a limited supply.

And we're down to the dozens, and this is why:

Big Eyed Beans from Venus! Oh my, oh my.

 

Boys and girls,

Earth people around the circle,

Mixtures of man alive.

Big eyed beans from Venus,

Don't let anything get in between us.

 

Beam in on me baby,

and we'll beam together

I know we always been together,

but there's more.

 

Mister Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note,

and let it float.

 

Men let your wallets flop out,

and women open your purses,

Cause a man or a woman without a big eyed bean from Venus

Is suffering with the worstest of curses

Yeah, you're suffering, with the worstest of curses.

 

Put 'em out in the sun, and when the night come

You don't have to go out and get 'em

They'll glow with you

They'll go with you

They'll show with you

Ain't no losers

Cause they're on the right track

Cause they're on the right track

You can be on the right track, woman,

Of course, of course

 

Ain't no SNAFU, no fol-de-rol

 

Check these out, Big eyed beans from Venus

Oh, let a few out, let 'em pass in between us

 

Distant cousins, there's a limited supply.

And we're down to the dozens, and this is why...

 

Don't let anything get in between us!

Big eyed beans from Venus

Big eyed beans from Venus.

 

                  - Don Van Vliet

I take it the song is proclaiming the importance of strong loving relationships. Compare Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach."

Alien Image

(Getty/Science Photo Libra)

More fine arts representations of monsters from popular culture: anthropology, mimesis, receptivity...

Cthulhu, artist unknown

Gamera by Attack Peter (Peter Santa-Maria)

Swashbuckling

This is highbrow?!  And the moral is?!

Consider:

Scotland in the 18th century was a rough place. Indeed, we were rough, so get used to it. And for goodness' sake don't listen to professional "moralists" who claim they are in a position to tell us anything. Or, more simply, history tells us everything we need to know about the Human Condition, if we have the wisdom to listen.

A portrait of Godzilla attributed to Giotto

Artist unknown

Under Construction: The Grand Egyptian Museum

Grand Egyptian Museum

Feb. 24, 1959: Atlas D assembly line

Through swells and ripping tides

Quirky

Photo by Andrew Darlington

Haiku Exemplar

This line is the first

Suspension, now, wait for it

The end is written

Exteriorization of Dialogic Supposition in Quasi-Brutalist Kitch Japanese Architectural Monument, 1970s

Tamura Electric Works, Tokyo  -  Photograph: Harald Sund

Recreation

A long title, sensational subject, science, and poetry

 

"ARKP Su-15-98 while passing the front of the occlusions of a two-centre pressure depression in the evening at M = 1.9"

Painting by Vladimir Beketov, Russian sculptor and former fighter pilot

Click HERE to view the source and read about flying the Su-15 during the Cold War.

Max Ernst - Bird from Overseas (1954)

Online Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) Simulator

AGC was the main computer system of the Apollo program that successfully landed 12 astronauts on Moon. There was one AGC on each of the Apollo Command Modules and another one on each Lunar Module. There was also a second backup computer system called Abort Guidance System (AGS) on the Lunar Modules, which is simulated by Virtual AGC, but not the current version of Moonjs.

Astronauts interacted with AGC by using DSKY, a combination of 7-segment numerical displays, indicator lights and a simple keypad,

Click HERE to enter data and toggle the controls.

Emanations 11 Call for Submissions

International Authors and the editors of Emanations are happy to announce a Call for Submissions:

Emanations 11

Emanations is an anthology series featuring fiction, poetry, fine arts, and essays. The emphasis is on alternative narrative structures, new epistemologies, peculiar settings, esoteric themes, sharp breaks from reality, ecstatic revelations, and vivid and abundant hallucinations.

The editors are interested in literary material. We seek fiction and poetry that present unworldly ways of seeing, feeling, and describing. Recognizable genres—science fiction, fantasy, horror, political dystopia, satire, mystery, local color, romance, realism, surrealism, and postmodernism—are fine, but the chief idea is to make something new, and along these lines the illusion of something new can be just as important.

In Emanations 11 we seek to emphasize graphics and visual pieces. We are especially interested in asemic writing and images, visual poetry, formalist experiments in prose, bricolage, new experiments in graphic representation, and visual narratives. Artists are invited to prepare “compressed” portfolios (5-20 images) with an “artist's statement.” Please bear in mind that the production will be in black and white.

If an image, story or poem makes someone say, “Yes, it is good, but what is it?” then it is right for Emanations.

Essays should be exuberant, daring, and free of pedantry. Accounts of unusual travels are especially welcome. Length is a consideration in making publication decisions, but in keeping with the spirit of the project contributors should consider length to be “open.”

Our editorial vision is evolving. Contributors should see themselves as actively shaping the “vision” of Emanations.

Email files with brief cover note to: 

iasubmissions@hotmail.com 

The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2024

Contributors should place their name in the subject heading, and they should include their name and contact information in the submitted file.

Emanations is a not-for-profit literary project and contributors cannot be compensated at this time. All proceeds from the sale of Emanations will support the efforts of International Authors to publish new voices from around the world. Contributors receive a copy upon publication. Only one complimentary copy will be sent to each contributor; the fortunes of the mail, particularly international mail, is beyond the control of International Authors.

The project is a collaborative effort, and as we share ideas the “vision” transforms, evolves, and grows. When we write stories and poems we hope to bring to bear the entire battery of modern and postmodern literary devices. More simply: we like good, strong writing. Our essays are incisive, precise, keen, challenging, and driven by the writer’s desire to advance an intelligent audience’s understanding of exotic and important subjects. In addition to travel writing, memoirs reflecting upon professional experiences—law, medicine, education, architecture, filmmaking—are very welcome.

The Fine Print:

1 Submit files as follows: Microsoft Word, Times New Roman size #11. Set Tabs for .2” and set spacing at 15. Remove extra lines between paragraphs. Use smart quotes. This will help reduce the workload as the editors format the book for publication

2 No simultaneous submissions (contributors should get fairly quick feedback anyway, especially if their submission meets our needs). Material that is obviously pulled from a file and has nothing to do with the goals of the anthology won’t get any feedback beyond the initial acknowledgement.

3 Word count/line count? See details above. We’re flexible, but contributors should be sensible when considering what they send in. A novella? Well, maybe, and so on... Rules of thumb: a) Stories: very short to 20-30 pages. b) Poems: send in 5-10 pages. c) Essays: 5-10-30 pages.

4 Published as hard copy only—Emanations will be available on Amazon. Participants who make a substantial contribution of material, editorial work, or art will get a copy. It can take some time to get copies to contributors outside of North America. In the case of our first anthology, for example, it took forty-five days to get a copy to a contributor in to Nepal. As described above, only one copy will be sent to each contributor; the fate of the mail, particularly international mail, is beyond the control of International Authors.

5 International Authors is a consortium, and as such every contributor is a “member” of our community, and contributors are encouraged to help promote the anthology by sending review copies to newspapers, journals and relevant Web sites.

6 Copyright “reverts” to contributors upon publication. That is, after an accepted piece appears in Emanations, the contributor can publish their piece elsewhere. Contributors should understand that Emanations could remain for sale on Amazon indefinitely. All materials appearing in Emanations are under the exclusive copyright of the contributing writers and artists.

7 Note to poets: Please do not send poems as individual files. All poetry submissions should be sent as a SINGLE Mircosoft Word file formatted in Times New Roman, size 11. Please submit three to ten pages.

8 Please DO NOT submit AI writing or art. 

Contributors submitting work to Emanations agree to these points.

 

Published by International Authors

Subtle Symmetries

John Schoenherr illustration for Analog Magazine (December,1962)

New Measures of Contextual Understanding: #758 Nascent confrontation between a stratospheric conceptualization of abstruse geopolitical realities and one of the many young avatars of contemporary paleo-liberal optimism

Artists in 2-D and 3-D and Video at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center

 International Show

Artists in 2-D and 3-D and Video

 

Curated by Yuko Nii & Assisted by Germania Reyes  

 

May 18 - June 22, 2024

OPENING RECEPTION:

 

Saturday, May 18, 3-5 PM

Featured Artists:

 

Ricardo Arango (Colombia), Greg Geffner (USA), Glen Goodenough (USA), Drew Maillard (USA), Tairan Hao (China), Sato Masaaki (Japan), Larry Scaturro (USA), Oxana Kovalchuk (Russia), Rhea Marmentini (Spain), Eloa Jane Pereira (Brazil), Yupin Pramotepipop (Thailand), Cheryl Safren (USA), SUPRINA (USA) and Natsuki Takauji (Japan)

Curator's Statement:

Dear Friends,                                                                   Most artists tend to concentrate on their one chosen medium either in 2-D works such as painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, or in 3-D works, sculpture, ceramic, glass work, etc. - one or the other but not both. This particular show is of work by artists who pursue both 2-D and 3-D works and also Video. It will be interesting to see how these artists have expanded their creativity not limited to one medium only, but working 2-D, 3-D, or Video.  “Recently we have experienced a darkest period in our life, first with the deadly coronavirus pandemic followed by another horrifying social pandemic both of which have spread not only all over the USA but also worldwide like a tsunami, and nothing seemed to help lift our spirits in hope for humanity.” –Yuko Nii The long-lasting coronavirus pandemic and social pandemic have resulted in today's fragmented world as if we've lost any solution to make the world united and working together. The fact is that throughout human history, the world has never experienced total peace. As long as we are human beings embedded with the animal instinct, we fight for survival. Our strong innate emotion takes over the intellect and war seem inevitable.   While we are seeing/experiencing the horrifying scenes in every part of the world, I think of my own small life, feeling how blessed I am because my life is gratifyingly directly connected with creative art-making projects, which is far from fighting for or against something, but rather struggling within ourselves to find something satisfying and getting pleasure as result of what we have created.   The mission of the WAH Center is based upon my "Bridge Concept.” which is encapsulated in the word “WAH” which means in Japanese written in with Chinese characters, "Peace" or "Harmony" or 'Unity."   The WAH Center connects internationally, so we have quite a few international artists who have exhibited in our shows in the past.   When I began thinking of the future show, I thought this time would be fitting to have an international show. So, I came up with the idea of bringing together the multi-talented artists from our local community of American artists and some international artists who have exhibited at the WAH Center in the past. I am happy to say that both the American artists and the international artists have been continuously pursuing their artists' careers actively in New York City.    And this show is very special to bring the artists who pursue 2-D and 3-D, but also Video. And interestingly enough one cannot help noticing each distinctively unique heritages and cultures they have in their native countries, which reveals itself in each artist’s work. I am very pleased to present the special visions of the following 14 participants in the show including 7 male and 7 female artists from different countries, Brazil, Columbia, China, Japan, Russia, Spain, Thailand and of course from the USA!   Ricardo Arango (Colombia), Greg Geffner (USA), Glen Goodenough (USA), Drew Maillard (USA), Tairan Hao (China), Sato Masaaki (Japan), Larry Scaturro (USA), Oxana Kovalchuk (Russia), Rhea Marmentini (Spain), Eloa Jane Pereira (Brazil), Yupin Pramotepipop (Thailand), Cheryl Safren (USA), SUPRINA (USA) and Natsuki Takauji (Japan).   Looking forward to seeing you there!   Yuko Nii

New Measures of Contextual Understanding: #189 Valorization of a routine ingress: grand, inclusive, soon forgotten

Key data points in middlebrow consciousness, a 1966 case study; cf. "poshlost" (по́шлость); cf. American television culture as a typology of burgeoning conjectural boredom in the banal midwestern suburb of an April evening looking for an "out", or back when even Hollywood seemed glamorous to us bumpkins, and more's the pity

Klemens Brosch - "Lokomotive" (1926)

Alternative archeology and the persistence of an early twentieth century myth: a droll celebration of multi-valent science-fantasy enthusiasm; but would Lovecraft approve?

Inscrutable Packaging Conundrum

I don't know what to make of it. A prohibition against adult participation, grotesque biological renderings of (evidently) sentient beings, the image of a stressed child, multiple labels--the object has no definite name, except perhaps the cryptic "MONSTERS" scrawled in some horrific font across the top of the package...

 

An innocuous package, or something else?

What does "#139" mean?

On-demand dementia, or something worse?

What are their pronouns?

Do they appear angry and confused?

The child appears stressed: PTSD, ADHD, schizophrenia, or some combination?

Yet another product title.  What is it?

On the surface of the object the designation reads "Space Orb." And mark that curious eye!