At breath’s end

Jean Seberg as Patricia Franchini in Breathless (1960), directed by Godard
 

Surrealism and mannequins as Objets d’Art

Os artistas surrealistas tinham um interesse especial em manequins. Eles mantêm vivo Pigmaleão, o mito de Ovídio sobre um escultor que entalha a mulher perfeita, apaixona-se por ela e pede a Vênus que lhe dê vida.

O artista dadaista Raoul Hausmann já havia criado, em 1919, uma cabeça mecânica de papel machê decorada chamada “The Spirit of Our Age”. Dessa forma, o objeto comum perdeu sua função e transformou-se em um conceito artístico. Hausmann fez parte da primeira exposição internacional sobre o Dadaísmo – movimento precedente ao Surrealismo – que aconteceu em Berlim em 1920, além do escultor e fotógrafo Hans Bellmer, que trabalhou com manequins desde o início dos anos 30 e emigrou para Paris em 1938.

Nesse mesmo ano, o escritor André Breton (1896-1966) e o poeta Paul Éluard (1895-1952) organizaram a “Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme” na Galerie Beaux-Arts em Paris. Quinze artistas receberam manequins e foram instruídos a utilizá-los como telas para suas criações.

Em 2011, uma exposição chamada “Surreal Things” na Schirn Art Gallery em Frankfurt mostrou as fotografias desses manequins tiradas pelo pintor, escultor e fotógrafo francês Raoul Ubac, ao lado de esculturas e objetos de artistas como Miró, Dalí e Man Ray. De acordo com a galeria, os objetos confirmam a “paixão dos surrealistas pela iconografia do manequim e refletem o desejo de sexualizar o corpo através de métodos surrealistas como o ato de cobrir e expor”.

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The surrealist artists had a special interest in mannequins. With these mannequins the art myth of Ovid’s Pygmalion, a sculptor who carved the perfect woman, fell in love with her and then asked Venus to awaken her to life, is kept alive.

The dadaist artist Raoul Hausmann had already created, in 1919, a decorated mechanical head made of papier-mâché named “The Spirit of Our Age”. Thus, the everyday item lost its common function and experienced a transformation into an artistic concept. Hausmann was involved in the first international Dada exhibition – the movement preceded Surrealism – which took place in 1920 in Berlin. The sculptor and photographer Hans Bellmer, who emigrated to Paris in 1938, was also a participant of the exhibition. He had been experimenting with mannequins since the beginning of the 1930s.

In 1938, the writer André Breton (1896-1966) and poet Paul Éluard (1895-1952) organized the “Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme” at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris. Each of fifteen artists were given a dressmaker’s mannequin as their canvas and encouraged to transform the figure in any way they desired.

In 2011 an exhibition called “Surreal Things” in the Schirn Art Gallery in Frankfurt showcased photographs of these mannequins, taken by the French painter, sculptor, engraver and photographer Raoul Ubac, along sculptures and objects from artists such as Miró, Dalí and Man Ray. According to the Schirn art gallery, the objects testify to “the passion of the Surrealists for the iconography of the mannequin and reflect the desire to sexualise the body by means of surrealistic methods, such as combinatorics, veiling and exposure”.

Mannequin by Maurice Henry

Mannequin by Man Ray

Mannequin by Marcel Duchamp

Mannequin by Miró

Mannequin by Salvador Dalí

Mannequin by Sonia Mosse

“Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol”

Jonas Mekas é um director de cinema lituano, conhecido como “o avô do cinema avant-garde americano”. Em 1949, aos 27 anos, após estudar filosofia na Alemanha ele se mudou para os Estados Unidos, onde começou a filmar momentos de sua vida com uma câmera 16mm, e a exibir seus filmes quatro anos depois.

Envolvido com artistas como Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, John Lennon e Salvador Dalí, Mekas gravou o primeiro show do Velvet Underground com Nico, em 1966, que é a cena inicial de “Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol”, filme composto dos filmes-diário de Mekas com o líder do movimento pop art entre os anos de 1965-1982.

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Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian filmmaker, known as “the godfather of American avant-garde cinema.”. In 1949, at 27 years old, after studying philosophy in Germany he moved to the U.S., where two weeks later he began to record moments of his life with a 16-mm camera, and to screen his own films four years later.

Heavily involved with artists such as Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Salvador Dalí, Mekas recorded Velvet Underground’s first public public performance with Nico, in 1966, which is the opening segment of “Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol“, a film made up of Mekas’ film diaries related to Andy Warhol from the years 1965-1982.

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1982), directed by Jonas Mekas

“On the Road: Jack Kerouac’s Manuscript Scroll” at the British Library

This manuscript is on loan from the collection of James S. Irsay © Estate of Anthony G. Sampatacacus and the Estate of Jan Kerouac. Photograph courtesy of Christie’s, New York

Escrito em um período de três semanas em abril de 1951, Jack Kerouac datilografou o manuscrito para seu livro mais famoso em rolos de papel vegetal, que inteiro iria alcançar 37 metros. O manuscrito estará exposto pela primeira vez, em Londres, ao lado de materiais impressos e de som pertencentes à coleção da livraria. Uma série de eventos paralelos, que levam o nome do título do livro, ‘On the Road’, incluem a leitura de poemas pelo poeta de jazz Amiri Baraka.

On the Road: Jack Kerouac’s Manuscript Scroll pode ser visitada até 27 de dezembro na British Library.
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Written over a period of three weeks in April 1951, Jack Kerouac typed the manuscript for his most famous book on rolls of tracing paper, which he taped together into a scroll that would eventually reach 120 feet. For the first time ever, this goes on display in London, where it will be shown in a display in a specially constructed case, along with sound and printed materials from the Library’s collection. A series of accompanying ‘On the Road’ events includes legendary jazz poet Amiri Baraka performing poems and readings.

On the Road: Jack Kerouac’s Manuscript Scroll runs until Thu, Dec 27 at the Folio Society Gallery, British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London, NW1 2DB.

The past is what bonds us,
The future leads us.

(Maison Martin Margiela)