Associative versus Logical Thinking - A Desk, a Cabinet of Curios, Two Late C19 Coastal Sepik Figures, and The Huli

I glanced at a book on my desk this morning ('Paris in the Fifties' by Stanley Karnow) and ended up thinking about the Huli tribesmen of Papua New Guinea. And wondered how I got from one to the other. It's to do with the kind of thinking involved. Not logical but associative - where one idea or image leads to another, through some personal connection in your experience. And this train of thought is often not open to discovery by others.

But first I want to set this context a little more first.

In a moment of total financial insanity some years ago, I raised my hand that once too often at a fine furniture action and found myself the surprised owner of a C19 leather-topped mahogany campaign desk. I was a student at the time, with no income what-so-ever. And was obviously suffering from pre-examination hysteria. But I've never regretted this lapse, even for a second. What did Julie Andrews say about her favourite things?



Since then I've realised many desk tops tend to evolve and, like archaeological digs, reveal rather a lot about their owners:


And at certain times, they can be more maximal:


And at others more minimal:

Though it might be difficult to say which is which in my case!

So I was looking across this perhaps favourite topography round the house yesterday, and it occurred to me just how many tribal objects we'd amassed. And this inevitably lead me to think about another parallel moment of auction madness, this time a Sotheby's 'Aboriginal, African and Oceanic Art' auction.

The specific madness this time was in the form of two late C19 Coastal Sepic Figures. Each of these figures was carved after the death of a female ancestor, wrapped in cloth, placed in a leather bag and worn off the belt of decendants.


The figures are of wood, and stand on round wooden bases. 23 and 12 cms respectively. They still retain traces of red, yellow and white ochre decoration. Each is accompanied by an old brown label with the same inscription - 'Carved image or totem, Boram, New Guinea, presented by H. A. H., 23 / 3 / 1930'.



I wondered if there were any resonances between these wooden carved figures and tribal peoples and practices in New Guinea today.

As the sculptures were ochre-painted, I began to think about this in the context of face and body decoration.

And I remembered the Huli tribesmen (or Wigmen) who live near Tari city in the central highland of Papua New Guinea. As opposed to the the Coastal Sepik River people associated with my wooden figures.

The Huli's fame rests to a degree on their face painting, and the elaborate wigs they construct of human hair interlaced with brightly-coloured bird feathers.








Cos this piece was about associative versus logical thinking, I didn't want to engage in any out-moded historical anthropology about so-called 'primitive' peoples, and what their cultures and social practices may reveal about those of early man.

I wanted to let my sensous visual associations take me where they would. And I'm pleased just to be mesmerised by the visual qualities of all these images - from desk to Huli. To revel in the formal and colour values. And put my logic to rest.

Post Mardi Gras - Summer's Going out with a Bang not a Whimper

I was enticed out to the Mardi Gras party at the last moment - a friend (yes, that's you C. C.!) sweetly offered to get the tickets on the afternoon of the day.

Next day, another buddy sent me a bunch of photos of the pre-party Parade.

And, now that the squillions of Mardi Gras posts are over, I could consider a final one!

And, if I were going to post any of these photos, what would I start with but Parade People Highlights, such as the 'Priscilla Cast Duplicates' - Bernadette and the 'Chorus Fragment':



And follow that by:



Obviously a spontaneous moment, not posed in any way!

And then finish up with another classic (I know just how far I can push this particular post!):



But these fireworks continued, even after the Party:






Can't decide which is more spectacular: our parade efforts or those of the gods.

The Warren Cup (Roman, mid-1st century AD) - Antique Domestic Silver

The Warren Cup - Silver, Roman Mid-First Century BC (H:11 cm D: 9.9 cm) - British Museum

I confess I have a particularly strong feeling for ancient domestic objects, as opposed to 'great art'. The marble sculptures of the Parthenon are all very nice in their way (!), but, for me, there is something more effecting and intimate about objects such as The Warren Cup, a Roman silver cup in a Hellentistic (Greek) style. And of course part of its attraction must be its gay subject.

The cup takes it name from its first modern owner, the art collector Edward Perry Warren (1860-1928). And has only been in the public arena since the 1980's, when it was acquired by the British Museum.

It is said to have been found in Bittir (ancient Bethther), near Jerusalem. Questions immediately arise. How did it get to the Middle East? Or was it locally made? What kind of people owned it? What were their lives like? Did they lead an openly gay life, given this piece of their dinnerware? Or was the cup something only privately used? Or was it only for display? Was it part of a larger silver service and what would the other pieces have been like? Do they still survive somewhere, as yet undiscovered? And these questions simply don't arise for 'great art'. Well, not many at least.

What is particularly beautiful about this object is the presentation of its erotic scenes.

One 'side' of the cup (above and below, including two more detailed photographs) shows two beautiful men reclining on a couch. There is a younger beardless man (the passive eromenos or 'beloved') lying back against the head and chest of an older bearded man (the active erastes).

They are intimately and lovingly entwined. The youth gently rests his hand on that of the older man. And drapes his right leg over that of the other, so his bare butt naturally fits into the other's crotch. Though it's difficult to see, I think the youth is being fucked. But to indicate the loving quality of the sex , the older man nestles his laurel-wreathed head into the hollow of the youth's back, between his shoulder blades.


The two even more detailed views:

The beautiful diaphanous Hellenic (Greek) draperies add to the sensation of langorous gentleness. Draped over the younger guy's outstretched left arm and the older's left shoulder, the textiles are so organised so as not to obscure their bodies too much. The Hellenistic motives are repeated in the lyre (kithara) resting on a chest, and the pipes (auloi) suspended over the cloth over the wall.

Another side of the cup (below) shows an even younger man lying on his stomach on a draped couch, with an older lifting the youth's leg, to show his cock. And threading his own leg in-between, up to the butt crack. Preparing to fuck. Or has it already begun? Don't know.


Here, all seems to be done in a gentle even caring way. The young man looks relaxed - his hands tensionlessly folded. He almost seems unaware of what is about to happen. His head slightly turned to the left and up, perhaps watching what the first couple are doing.

There is a third figure in the initial scene, someone I haven't mentioned. It's a man, who peers round a door he's just opened to watch the initial couple in sex. As does the younger man in the second scene. The Peeping Tom smiles at what he sees - he is amused, but there is nothing sleazy in his reaction:

So I guess what's special about this piece of ancient silver is that it shows that homosexual eroticism can be imagined in sweet, gentle and even loving terms. While still remaining sexually charged and arousing to the viewer. And I am in no way critical of rough and raunchy sex. Everything can depend on the mood, and the guy.

Artiface and Naturalism in Black and White Photography

Photographers have a range of vectors they can manipulate when creating a picture. There is the content (or choice of subject and setting), the formal organisation of the elements of the composition, the lighting and so on. In any shot, all or fewer of these can be brought into play, and will be 'organised' in some way. The only essential is the selection of subject and setting - even filming the most candid moment of 'real' life involves a decision with respect to this. And what's interesting is the degree to which any resultant photograph explicitly demonstrates the choices made in any of these areas.

But what is particularly fascinating to me is how the bringing into play and manipulation of any/all of these vectors position any resultant photograph somewhere on a cline (or gradient) from artiface/stylisation to naturalism.

So I started to wonder about this in the context of black and white male nudes.

One starting point is the figure itself. And how its form can be more or less 'natural'. Of the poses below, would I do any of them in my usual (or unusual!) daily activities? Going to the bathroom? Or in bed? Or any place where I'm naked?





I probably wouldn't manage a single one, unless I was feeling particularly mad that day. Though there are aspects in each that seem natural, such as the stretching yawn in the middle picture. But probably not usually done standing up with one leg elegantly bent! So the form choices here position the pics at the artiface end of the scale.

Part of the artiface of these pictures also involves another vector - setting. The choice of a neutral or minimal background leads to stylisation and away from life. Once the everyday world is added, as below, artiface is somewhat diminished, even when the figures are still formally posed:




There is, of course, an interesting tension now in these shots between the contrived poses and the ordinary everyday-ness of the settings.

Returning to the form of the figure, there is a kind of naturalness that can be introduced if the model is caught in a moment of an everyday activity, with understood actions before and after:




Though there is something in these particular works that tells you the photographer is probably yelling from the side 'Just a bit more to the right. Yes, that's it! Don't move'. Something in the self-consciousness of the subjects themselves. And their express awareness of the presence of the photographer, even when not gazing out of the frame at us.

Naturalism diminishes dramatically when the lens is being oggled:




Though, there will be shots where such a direct gaze can be 'real' or seemingly natural.

Lighting, as a vector, can obviously be crafted to position a work on the natural-stylisation cline. Here, decisions with respect to this element enhance artiface, as does the contrived stance of the model, and the neutral and minimal setting:


And content can be selected to place pictures variously on the spectrum. With everything else kept constant, a highly buffed and enamelled supermodel positions a pic more to one end, and a rough bloke (like me!) to the other:


Though a certain artiface creaps in with his rapturous contemplation of his own dick? Well, if I looked like this guy and had his dick, maybe I would quite naturally do this! And often!

And odd how rough is more natural - I guess we don't spontaneously identify with the fabulously good-looking model.

A final point. In relation to composition, the degree of close-up can intensify the artiface.

In the first photograph below, we are actually too close to easily 'understand' the scene. Or maybe it's not a scene at all but an 'artifical' composition, constructed from a number of subjects simply feeding in hands, arms, stomachs, whatever. Or perhaps a collage of some sort. It's hard to finally know.




Postscript. Of course black and white photography is in itself a choice. And these days, such a medium decision is the more unusual choice, with respect to colour. And puts any B and W photographs towards the art-artiface end of things.

John Amaechi - Principle and a US Basket Ball Player (Retired)

I was flicking around the channels on TV a couple of days ago and happened on an interview with ex-NBL player, John Amaechi. He was doing the rounds of the chat shows for his newly-published autobiography, 'Man in the Middle'.

There were two things that prompted me to do a post on this event. Well, three if you count the post-script.

Of course, the fact that he had come out as gay in the book was great.

But the thing that really caught my attention was his response to the interviewer's question about not taking up a multi-million dollar contract with the Lakers early in his career. And his decision to stay with the team he started out with for $600, 000 pa.

Amaechi said the choice was a matter of principle. His first team had taken a chance on him and he wanted them to share in the rewards when his career began to blossom. The interviewer pressed the point, asking if it was not a risky choice given that a less-than-absolutely-top team could impede his fame. Impressively, Amaechi replied that what mattered to him was acting on principle without reference to outcomes and surities, or the possibility of others not responding in kind.

Now cynics might say that what was lost on this Laker contract would be well-made up in sponsorships, advertising work, public appearances, and so on. But promising careers do not always fully materialise. Among other things, there is the real danger of career-ending injuries. And a multi-mill in your pocket is mighty tempting. Plus the not-inconsiderable kudos of being in the Lakers, a childhood dream of this player.

So bravo and all power to John Amaechi, a real hero!

As a postscript, there was a silly response to Amaehi's coming out from a fellow-retired player. Saying he didn't like being around gay poeple, that they shouldn't be in the world (now what does that mean!) and certainly not on his team. No need to say anything about someone just making a complete dill of himself. If you ignore someone like this long enough, then they simply cease to exist! What was that bigotted player's name? Just can't remember!

So it was John Amaechi's bigness of perspective here that caught my imagination. It gives me an alternative way of acting in situations like this. I find I can react too strongly and too directly. And I end up getting all riled up and not as effective in my necessary response - be it a letter, and email, a blog post, a chat with others, whatever.

So again, thanks John. A hero and a big man.

'Lady with an Ermine' (1482-5) and 'La Belle Ferroniere' (1490-96) - Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci painted only three portraits of women: 'La Belle Ferroniere', 'Lady with an Ermine' and ... what was the name of the other one ... ... oh yes, I remember, 'Mona Lisa'.

'La Belle Ferronierre' (c1490-96) by Leonardo da Vinci, Czartoryski Museum, Krawkow Poland

'Lady with an Ermine' (c1482-5) by Leonardo da Vinci, Le Louvre, Paris

The first portrait is of a lady whose identity is in doubt. She was most probably a noblewoman of the Milanese court.

The work was was initially catalogued in the French royal collection as 'La Belle Ferronière', when (mistakenly) thought to be of the mistress of the French king, Francis 1. The 'ferronierre' of the title also refers to a type of ornament (a jewel on a chain) that was worn by women in France and Italy in the C15 to cover syphillic leasions. And perhaps its inclusion warns of the dangers of extramarital sex.

I won't say much more about this portrait because it bears such a striking resemblance to the second in terms of its composition and features.

I unexpectedly saw this second portrait on a visit to the Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland. The work is of Cecilia Gallerani, the 17 year old mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan.

It was painted by Leonardo twenty years before 'Mona Lisa', and has been referred to as the first modern portait. First in the sense that it engages in a degree of individualisation and of psychological revelation, with respect to the sitter, that seems quite modern. As opposed to simply presenting her status in her world, her physical beauty, and so on.

There are a number of things that strike me as immediately beautiful about this portrait.

Firstly, its seemingly uncontrived triangular composition, in part constructed through the dramatic twisting round of the body towards the low light source on the right, so both shoulders slope more down as do the sides of the triangle.

Then there is the dramatic chiaroscuro or use of light and shadow. This effect has been unnaturally enhanced when the restorer darkened the background (see more below). And this simplifying actually adds, happily to me, to the focus on the sitter.

Finally, there is the delicious contrast of textures: her flesh, the different fabrics of her clothing and the fur of the ermine. In fact, the creature is a white ferret, though described as an ermine because the Latin for this more regal animal ('galee' or 'galay') pun's with the woman's family name (Gallerani).

X-rays reveal the work has been extensively over-painted in its restoration. The back ground has been darkened, removing, among other things, a door. The sitter's headgear has been painted the same colour as her hair, leading to the impression that these strands somehow tuck under her chin. The fingers (particularly the bottom two) have been coursened by the re-touching. And so on.

In 1933, Rouben Mamoulian directed Greta Garbo to simply stare into the distance in the famous final shot of 'Queen Christina':


He felt this allowed the audience to project emotion onto her blank face, universalising the expression with respect to the viewer.

There is something of the same effect in these two portraits by Leonardo. So much for the new represention of 'psychological revelation' claimed for Leonardo's work!