Welcome to my new blog! For those of you familiar with my
old blog, the new one will be more of the same. I’ll be talking about art, art
books, other books and occasionally, topics that fall more broadly under the umbrella
of culture.
If you use the Amazon.com links to purchase a featured
product, the blog gets a tiny percentage of the proceeds. Once you’ve clicked
through on one of these links, anything you buy from Amazon also helps support
us. (Thank you in advance.)
I would love to hear from you and for this to become a
dialog. You can leave comments below or email me at janechafinsblog@gmail.com.
Let’s get to it!
First published in 1981, this 2013 edition has been redesigned
by Serafini and includes new illustrations. The gifted Serafini, who lives in Italy,
is also an architect, ceramist, glazier, painter, sculptor, designer,
opera director, set designer, and critic.
Leafing through the Codex at random you might find a series of ten diagrams showing the metamorphosis of a couple making love becoming a crocodile who then leaves the bed and slithers away. Another random sampling shows a chart of sixteen types of eyes, while opposite are rainbow colored teeth, odd dental contraptions, toothpaste coming from tubes in delightful coils and arabesques, and a game board where the objective seems to be to propel a recently extracted tooth from your mouth into a goal at one end of the board.
Leafing through the Codex at random you might find a series of ten diagrams showing the metamorphosis of a couple making love becoming a crocodile who then leaves the bed and slithers away. Another random sampling shows a chart of sixteen types of eyes, while opposite are rainbow colored teeth, odd dental contraptions, toothpaste coming from tubes in delightful coils and arabesques, and a game board where the objective seems to be to propel a recently extracted tooth from your mouth into a goal at one end of the board.
Then there’s a page with schematics showing a fried egg from above and in two elevation views, connecting grid lines running throughout. Beside it you see three fried eggs in perspective on a grid with a single vanishing point. Dashed lines, colored lines and annotations (in the unknown script) tell a story but you’re not sure what it is. On the opposite page a child sits suspended in front of an open refrigerator in a cantilevered seat that he operates with a lever.
Video: Deciphering the Secrets of Codex Seraphinianus by Great Big Story
The only known languages in this book, are in the form of a pamphletted essay by Serafini titled DECODEX and inserted into a pocket on the inside back cover. Written in Italian and translated into five other languages, Serafini tells the story of how the Codex and its invented language came into being. At the end, he confesses who the “true” author of the Codex is, explaining that he, Serafini, “was merely its manual executor.” This tongue-in-cheek confession only adds to the surreal deliciousness that is the Codex Seraphinianus.
Click here to buy from Amazon.com
I’ve just learned that Rizzoli will be releasing a new book by Serafini in October, PULCINELLOPAEDIA SERAPHINIANA. From the press release: “As he famously did in the Codex, Luigi Serafini, has created PULCINELLOPAEDIA SERAPHINIANA in a unique language all its own, and has filled it with fascinating and mysterious illustrations that will no doubt prompt devotees to obsessively try to decipher the artist’s intention.” I, for one, can’t wait!
Click here to pre-order from Amazon.com
A New Interim Director and a Pair of Stellar Shows at PMCA
Installation snaphot of Claire Falkenstein: Beyond Sculpture at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, taken by the author. |
Almost hidden in a back room behind Belloli’s masterfully presented Falkenstein show is Significant Details, an awe-inspiring exhibition of high contrast, black and white photo abstractions by Brett Weston, the lesser-known but no less talented son of Edward Weston. I’m so disappointed there is no catalog for Significant Details. Over half of the works on view have never been shown before, so this is our only chance to see them for now (on view through September 11).
Untitled (Wall, Europe), 1971. Silver gelatin print, 8 x 10 inches, The Brett Weston Archive. Courtesy Christian Keesee Collection, 2016 |
Make an afternoon of it. Take the Gold Line to the Memorial
Park Station. Have lunch at the Himalayan Café in Old Town. (My vegetarian recommendations
are saag paneer, chana masala and bhel-puri, a delicious Indian street food
made from puffed rice and vegetables.) Walk the few blocks to the PMCA. The PacAsia Museum is next door and the Armory Center for the Arts is only a block from the
station.
So cool you have got the book, we have just been enjoying the images on google for awhile now. Excited to hear he has a new book in the works.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah -- didn't know you were a fan of LS. It must be genetic :-) xoxox Aunt Jane
DeleteWelcome back! Your words continue to quietly open and share new worlds, discoveries and images for each of us.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chaz!
DeleteAre you still living at the old place or have you moved?
ReplyDeleteHi Rene -- We've moved, but are still in Pasadena. -- Jane
DeleteI'm so glad you sent me a link to your blog! Fascinating stuff on it...the book and the show...will get to both in time. Thank you for the hot tips!!
ReplyDeleteNena
Hi Nena -- Thanks. It's nice to hear from you! Hope to see you soon. xoxxo Jane
DeleteHey there...me again...B and I have been talking to take you two out for dinner...your email (offramp) is sending me failure messages, so i'm trying this way...lemme know, ok? nena
ReplyDelete