Poem: "Paper trail"

Paper trail

More cuts on
my fingers than words
on my tongue. Look,
they line up, neat,
flapping like gills.
Press under
water to breathe.

A yellow leaf I found,
crisp, in the jungled basil
this evening. Crumpled
discard, paper
from a maple's summer
brainstorm. I brush
the leaf away, shuffle,
across the deck. That color
cannot be, not yet.

See the arrows,
the cut paper
signs my finger
prints pointing,
leave behind.

(Always, I am thinking
of ways to avoid detectives).



                    - JVH

Film: Antonioni's "L'Avventura" (1960)

This film is fantastic, every shot brilliantly composed, every scene filled with mysteries forgotten and unsolved amidst characters filled with privileged, bored, and repressed passion. Antonioni's exterior shots are what carry the narrative, but I chose this interior scene to share for three reasons.

1.) The reframing of Claudia (Monica Vitti) in the window, looking out at nature, an echo of her earlier in the film, on the island.
2.) The positioning of the artist's studio within the film (pandering, privilege, male gaze, etc).
3.) The nervous, terrifying desperation of Giulia (Dominique Blanchar)...

And thus I have found a new favorite exchange in cinema:

Giulia: What more do I need to do now to be left alone?
Claudia: Nothing, you just need to shut the door, Giulia.

New Work: "Sage Advice, in a Timely Manner" (2010)

Julia V. Hendrickson, Sage Advice, in a Timely Manner (2010)

Collage with graphite on grey paper, 15 x 22"

This is a collage/ drawing that I've had on the back burner for a while, and finally finished a few days ago, just in time to be included in an upcoming show this fall. This photograph doesn't quite do justice to the intense colors of the food. I completed the collage part months ago, but I set it aside because it wasn't standing on its own. I added the Ben-Day dots by hand to pull everything together, a time-consuming application which turned into an exercise in meditation.

While nowhere as crisp and methodical, it's a little nod to one of my favorite Lichtenstein pieces: an early drawing of his, titled Alka Seltzer (1966), which is at the Art Institute in the department of Prints & Drawings (for more info see here).

Roy Lichtenstein, Alka Seltzer (1966)

Graphite and lithographic rubbing crayon pochoir, with scraping, on cream wove paper, fixed, 22 x 30"

© Estate of Roy Lichtenstein 

Music: Newfound Jazz Treasures from 1936-1940

A treasure trove of rare and unique live jazz recordings have recently become publicly accessible; audio engineer William Savory recorded over 100 hours of live music played for the radio in the late 1930s, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem now holds his formerly private collection (which came from Savoy's son, about an hour and a half west of Chicago). The Nation Jazz Museum in Harlem has some sound clips on their website here.

First heard the story on NPR (Aug. 20th story here), but the New York Times had the story before that (Aug. 16th full story here). Below is a little background video from the New York Times.



More sound clips, with informative short descriptions can be found on the NYT website here. Definitely listen to Blues Jam, the last one on the page, for an incredible 3 minutes of Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, and Jack Teagarden: a truly joyful improvisation.

The Ups'n the Downs: "Sugar Town" (1966) & Born To Be Blue (1965)

Nancy really means it.



Chet does, too.

Vocals: Chet Baker; Piano: Bobby Scott; Guitar: Kenny Burrell.
Words and music by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, 1946.

Neat NPR profile on Tormé here (he was from Chicago!).

Raising Chicago (Lilli Carré)

I bet you'll chuckle at this four page comic spread (and history lesson) by Chicago artist Lilli Carré  published in the August 2010 issue of Chicago Magazine.

Lilli Carré is a very talented woman and artist whose work I respect very much. She recently finished up a residency at Spudnik Press, for which she created a beautiful series of handmade artist books (see here) and small silkscreened prints. The books are marvelous, and I wish they could be published as children's books. The prints from the residency are quite sweet, flat and simple in a way that recalls Grecian pottery decoration.

I love the way she plays with the use of transparency in the ink application; she's using it to create new color, as well as a ghostly layering of imagery.

Lilli's website is here, and her blog is here at Kettle of Fish.

See-Saw ("Never Let Me Go" & "Winter's Bone")

See:
Looking forward to seeing Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro...



...although, if I'm remembering correctly from a few years back, the book didn't quite live up to expectations. Hopefully this isn't another Knightley doe-eyed flop.

Saw:
AND, good heavens, if you have the stomach for it, go see Winter's Bone. 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner. Probably many more prizes in its future.



Directed by Debra Granik (great A.V. Club interview with her here).

Every shot is frosty, blue-grey with cold and Ozark secrets. Jennifer Lawrence (lead) is really powerful (although she has got some lips on her that are far too reminiscent of Zellweger's in Cold Mountain, which is not a connection that I think the director intended). John Hawkes (who I loved in Deadwood) is harsh, wiry, and savage in pleasantly surprising ways. Highly recommended, with very powerful place and character studies.

Look: Library of Congress early color photographs (1939-43)

Rare color photographs from the Depression, taken by photographers who worked for the Farm Security Administration/ Office of War Information (seen here via the Denver Post). Below are some of my favorites. The human studies taken during the Depression are always powerful, but I really love just seeing the vibrant color, text, advertisements, and patterns that pop so vividly in many of these photographs, stark contrasts to how we normally envision life in crisis.

The photographers below include Russell Lee (1903–1986), Jack Delano (1914–1997), and John Vachon (1914–1975).

School children singing. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

At the Vermont state fair. Rutland, Vermont, September 1941. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Jack Whinery, homesteader, and his family. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Women workers employed as wipers in the roundhouse having lunch in their rest room, Chicago and Northwest Railway Company. Clinton, Iowa, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Grand Grocery Company. Lincoln, Nebraska, 1942. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

 Barker at the grounds at the state fair. Rutland, Vermont, September 1941. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Rural school children. San Augustine County, Texas, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. 

Photo by John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Watch: Music Videos by the DANIELS

The Hundred in the Hands - Pigeons (Music Video) from DANIELS on Vimeo.

Really diggin' the DANIELS' most recent work right now. Found via this brief Pitchfork interview.


Underwear by FM Belfast (Music Video) from Daniel Scheinert on Vimeo.

Listen: "Rope & Summit" (Junip)

I could listen to the voice of Swedish/ Argentinian musician José González all day, every day. This is from the Swedish band Junip's 2010 Rope & Summit EP. González is the lead, along with Tobias Winterkorn (keys), and Elias Araya (drums). They're playing in Chicago at Lincoln Hall on November 6th, 2010 at 10pm.



 González covering Heartbeats, by The Knife.

Poem/ Illustration: Follow It To Me

Work I made for issue 3 of Dirty Dirt Magazine.