During a (tiny) break from the internet, I took some time to finish Rebecca Solnit's fantastic meander on walking Wanderlust (subtitled, appropriately enough, A History of Walking). It'd be incredibly easy to pad this out with words synonymous with the general idea of strolling (this, obviously, being a book entirely about walking...) but it's actually pretty accurate: Solnit's prose is gorgeous, and gentle detours cease being digressions as such and instead become the point, much as an actual walk can evolve; original destinations are replaced in favour of something more interesting. This deceptively simple conceit, when paired with the perfect ambling companion- Solnit has a wickedly understated sense of humour- means the book is an absolute joy to read. From the simple biological strangeness of human motion when compared with most other animals, through the Romantics' walking tours and the beginnings of pedestrianism for pleasure, to the concept of the flâneur, psychogeography and the manifold perils of walking in modern cities (and so, so much more) nearly every conceivable aspect of walking is considered: other works are drawn in, digested, and ultimately feed Solnit's celebration of putting one foot in front of the other, and rejection of the easy travel inherent in consumerist culture.
The only complaint I can reasonably raise is the weird non-inclusion of Will Self- as a self-proclaimed modern-day flâneur and acerbic critic of architectural strangeness and hideousness (in his magnificient psychogeography columns, which I believe are sadly deceased- or, at any rate, I can't find them...) he seemed the perfect addition- but sadly nary a peep about ol' Will. Can't have it all, I suppose. Anyway, Wanderlust comes highly recommended, as do any of Rebecca Solnit's books. A most interesting woman, and well worth your time.
The only complaint I can reasonably raise is the weird non-inclusion of Will Self- as a self-proclaimed modern-day flâneur and acerbic critic of architectural strangeness and hideousness (in his magnificient psychogeography columns, which I believe are sadly deceased- or, at any rate, I can't find them...) he seemed the perfect addition- but sadly nary a peep about ol' Will. Can't have it all, I suppose. Anyway, Wanderlust comes highly recommended, as do any of Rebecca Solnit's books. A most interesting woman, and well worth your time.
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ART
The other enthusiasm has been, after a visit to the Tate Modern with a dear friend, the perennially interesting Yves Klein. Seen above is his Leap Into The Void, but Klein is probably best known for patenting a colour, the deep, striking International Klein Blue (IKB). He was something of a lovely trickster, really: selling identical canvases of IKB for prices ranging from one franc to several hundred thousand at the same exhibition; throwing bags of gold into rivers; writing a symphony of one continous note held for twenty minutes, followed by silence for a further twenty; and seeming to defy gravity itself in the picture above... Klein kinda prefigured and outclassed much of the art of the later 20th Century. An enigmatic, wonderful man. And yes, I now have a postcard which is, as someone bluntly described it, "just blue". But what a lovely blue it is.
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MUSIC.
Today's pickings: well, picking, is a rather good garage-y/dubstep-y mix assembled by Jamie XX for a fashion boutique in Paris... I stumbled back across this on my iTunes (alphabetically, it's after the marvelous Jamie Vex'd. Obviously). Expectations were low, but this rather blew me away. Again. Say what you will about The XX, but one must grant that the man has taste. Enjoy!
01 Jamie XX mix for Colette 10 by abeano
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