What can Georges Perec see out of the window? He’s sat as usual in Café de la Mairie, 8 Place Saint-Sulpice in the 6th arrondissment, hunched at his favourite single table by the window. More importantly, he’s looking outside. Life in the Latin Quarter is passing by outside as always; it never really stops, merely lulls. On his small, plastic coated table, he has a … Continue reading A Wander With Georges Perec
One of my favourite scenes in cinema is, in fact, not really a scene at all but a moment; a collection of three shots that has very little to do with the overall narrative but everything to do with the humanity questioned in the film. The film is Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours: Blue (1994) and the moment is when Juliette Binoche, playing a woman in … Continue reading Skin On Stone – Grief in Three Colours: Blue (1994)
Throughout 2017, I have continued with the responses form of article to works of art and other miscellanea. Like last year, I found that a more interesting way to assess a piece of work was to not simply write an essay but to pair it with a poem; condensing the essence of the reading down into a basic selection of key notes, reactions and atmospheres. … Continue reading Responses: Poems On Landscape And Melancholy (Volume 2)
Like last year, I have tried to keep up with enough new releases to eventually have something say at the end of the year. And exactly like last year, I have virtually failed to see ten new releases that I’ve actually enjoyed. I quietly accepted once again that, with some notable exceptions, new digital films are not especially for me and require a huge crossover … Continue reading 2017 Review
It came to light in a recent report released by Transport for London that the company had undertaken several investigations into certain disturbances occurring on a number of their main underground lines. These disturbances have been felt by many commuters and several of my colleagues in the department confirm that the descriptions of events in the report are factual and not hearsay. The concern surrounding … Continue reading Fictions: Piccadilly Line “Corpse Rain” Phenomena
I’ve been going to Soho for a number of years now. For various reasons it has always appealed; it’s filled with character, its cinema and bookshops are still staggeringly good, and it has without question the best pubs in London. Now living in London, it seems that my previous visits from the north had spaced out my perception of an increasing disintegration of the area … Continue reading Short Film: The Economy of the Dead
On a rather muddled day in early autumn, I decided to visit M.R. James. In recent years, I’ve become interested in the places that James frequented, usually because they have had clear and profound effects upon his ghost stories. Visiting them with a sense of curiosity seems to invert the man’s clichés back upon him; walking in search of the known as opposed to the … Continue reading Wanders: M.R. James’ Grave
“Serene, eternity waits at the crossroad of stars.” – Jorge Luis Borges The actress was due in the studio that morning. She was a star and so every one of the assistants, hairdressers and make-up artists for the shoot were more nervous than usual. This was not a regular star, so I thought, but someone genuinely important; a human vision of culture. This was the reason why … Continue reading Fictions: A Forever-Moment Of Glass
“Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi.” Looking at Eileen Agar’s Butterfly Bride (1938) is to look into the dreams of insects. Or perhaps these are our dreams of insects, where our waking moments are … Continue reading Responses: Eileen Agar’s Butterfly Bride (1938)
Celluloid Wicker Man 