William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Selected paintings

Okay - so hands up here - I know this man's paintings are a bit naff and loads of them are stupidly romantic and fluffy and glossy and so on, but some of William Adolphe Bouguereau's paintings are just wonderful. So, having established i have a soft spot for them when they're probably not particularly high on "high-art" merit, let me talk you through some lovely ones. He lived approximately (and by approximately i mean without consulting wikipedia) from 1830- 1910 or something like that, and he was a huge perfectionist, specialising in painting people's faces, hands, and flesh in a hyper realistic way. And while he was often criticised for pretty much exclusively painting rustic country folk/ imagined greek nymphs, he was probably the closest that painting ever got to realistic humanity in expressions, and in physical attributes. Degas hated him, Matisse studied under him (and then later hated him) and he changed the rules of the academie francaise so his wife could get in. So all in all, a serious man...



The fifth circle of Hell ; Dante's Inferno

And I, my gaze transfixed, could see
people with angry faces in that bog,
naked, their bodies smeared with mud.

They struck each other with their hands,
their heads, their chests and feet,
and tore each other with their teeth.

Check out how resolute Virgil appears (identified by the laurel wreath), with Dante looking positively sick next to him. The flesh under the left wrestling man's fingertips is gruesomely realistic as well. If you look closely, there's also a woman accosting a man in the background. OOHH also check out the agony on the man's face on the right hand side. ( I may enjoy this painting too much)




I cant get over how realistic these two kids are. Amusingly however, this painting is called the Nut Gatherers, and unless i'm insane, aren't they holding grapes?




So this is probably what gets Bouguereau a bad press - classically influenced eroticism like this. But... well i love it. Look at the expression of the girl whose face is in focus, and the indentations on the arm of the satyr as the girl in the foreground tugs at him. And that cheeky one at the back calling over her friends to join in the fun. One could well ask what fun. tugging at a mutant? Is that fun?



She's looking after sheep; but it clearly can't be very strenous, because she looks super relaxed. Maybe I should look after sheep. Her face has got so many emotions in, but they're all vaguely calming and lovely.




This one here is Bouguereau going a bit mad. She's flying! She's wrapped in some sort of mist! It's called "Evening mood"! I haven't got a clue what its about.




In my estimation, the best has been saved til last. Adam and Eve mourn the death of their son, Abel. I have always loved the story of Cain and Abel, its really affecting, interesting and has lots of non Christian parallels. But this portrayal of the first exemplar of human grief, and the piteous way in which the bodies of the living hang in the same way as the bodies of the dead, is really wonderful.
The colours are fantastic as well - oh and look at Abel's hands. If this man was still alive, i'd try and get him to teach me to do hands.

Collision Zone - Nadine Hilbert & Gast Bouschet

These photos are actually part of a cinema exhibition at the 53rd Venice Biennale
Luxembourg Pavilion which took place in 2009. As far as i'm concerned, they're pictures about the peculiar kind of urbanism you get in hot, latin countries, whose traditional cultures are so unsuited to the model of capitalist urbanism that it provokes a kind of deep crisis - which is of course very artistically interesting. For more stuff in this vein, see the film Gomorra (2008) by Matteo Garrone, or of course, the classic Cidade de Deus (2002) by Fernando Meirelles.
The overbearing blue filters make it seem hugely oppressive, even in the bright daylight, and the compartmentalised presentation is pretty eye-catching as well. I love the graffiti at the bottom of the second picture, that bright white through the blue filter. Looks pretty sharp. Full credit to Nadine Hilbert & Gast Bouschet @ http://www.bouschet-hilbert.org/





All scenes were shot near the Strait of Gibraltar and on the shores of Sicily at nighttime, references to the animal world. Images of garbage cans and crumbling buildings are cut in with shots of satellites, boats, surveillance and geological imagery of mountains, caves dripping water and insects caught in a web.

Collision Zone, the title of our work is a term used in plate tectonics. It designates a zone where continental plates clash. Tectonics tell us that continents move and the African continent is actually moving towards the European continent. These are very slow processes and Africa moves towards Europe at the speed of 4 or 5 centimeters per year. That is the same speed as our fingernails are growing. So, one day the Mediterranean Sea will be closed and the natural border between Africa and Europe will have disappeared.

Genevieve Chua - Forest and Foxes

This photographer has taken the idea of adolescent girls as foxes and created a photoshoot which makes everything in it seem kind of naturally nocturnal and whispered, almost. Lovely stuff.






More about her here: http://www.genchua.com/

Irina Werning - Back to the Future project

These photos are incredibly inspirational; Irina Werning has tried to replicate old pictures of people as children or young adults with their older selves in the same surroundings and in the same style. The result of this is not only really beautiful, but also strangely nostalgic by association, even though you don't know these people. Fascinating!



Oscar 1978 & 2010, Buenos Aires


FLOR IN 1975 & 2010, Buenos Aires


LUCIA IN 1956 & 2010, Buenos Aires


FLOR, MALE, SIL IN 1983 & 2010


MECHI IN 1990 & 2010, Buenos Aires


PANCHO IN 1983 & 2010, Buenos Aires

Massive credit to http://irinawerning.com/bio/bio/irinawerning.com

Pleasing Parsley Soup - Salubriously seasoned with naughty nutmeg.

This was a rather nice, yet humble dinner which Kylie and I ate last night. It's the perfect soup for lunchtimes as well, very fresh and would most likely keep quite pleasantly, and could be "souped up" for any occasion with the addition of some fried chorizo or toasted croutons with creamy melted emmental or some similar cheese.




Ingredients, to serve two people:
2 medium leeks, washed and top-and tailed, finely sliced
200 g of peeled potatoes, which is about two medium ones
500 ml vegetable stock
40 g butter
120 g fresh parsley. This is quite a lot, but you'll use the stalks as well, so do not despair, two of the "supermarket" potted ones or a few supermarket sized bags should do you.
70 ml of crème fraîche
1/3 of a nutmeg, grated. Its probably easier to use ready grated nutmeg, about a level teaspoon, unless you like grating such small things and it makes you feel like a giant grating a coconut.

Method: Separate the stalks of your parsley from the leaves. There's no need to be too particular about this, its all going to end up in the same thing, just be rough and ready. Chop half the leaves together with all the stalks. Meanwhile, cook your leeks in the butter in your pan, until they're nicely soft and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes. Then put in your potatoes, having diced them roughly beforehand and your chopped parsley.
Reserve your unchopped leaves for later. Boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, then whack in your leaves, simmer for a couple more minutes, then take it off the heat. Wait for it to cool down a bit (or you will break your blender like i did by cracking it) and then blend it thoroughly.

Reheat the soup, stirring in 50 ml of the crème fraîche and the nutmeg. Serve in warm bowls and stir in a tiny bit more crème fraîche in a little swirl so it looks pretty.

This is quite creamy and quite nutmeg-gy, so if you're not so keen on those flavours, possibly halve the above quantities.

Lapides Igniferi, Unicorns!

Bestiaries are quickly becoming something of a fascination for me. Put briefly, they are compendia of medieval knowledge on what they considered to be the natural world. In practise however, they mix everyday animals and related facts with stuff that is clearly mythological or just plain weird. For example, they believed that certain types of geese grew on trees next to rivers, hanging upside down on trees like bats, and then fell into water when they were mature. Those that landed on land died and were thus safe to eat. Similarly, they believed whales would float silently on top of the water waiting for a boat to pass. When one did, they would pretend to be an island, and the sailors would land on its back. After they had lit a fire, the whale would throw them off and eat them all. But they didn't really need to do this, because another part of the story is that whales have very pleasant breath which attracts small fish.(Which must be based on those ones that trawl up plankton like there's no tomorrow) In order to confuse the issue completely, every description of an animal has its own religious gloss, explaining the implications of its behaviour on Christianity and the lessons we must learn from it.

How much people actually believed this stuff its difficult to know, but its still a heady mix of practical and religious normality, and batshit insane stuff about lynx's urine turning into precious stones. (probably amber)

Anywhere, here are a few of my favourites, the pictures, but not always the text being from the bestiary i went to see in the Bodleian last year.


Fire stones:

"On a certain mountain in the east, there are fire-bearing stones which are called in Greek terrobolem; they are male and female. When they are far from each other, the fire within them does not ignite. But when by chance the female draws near to the male, the fire is at once kindled, with the result that everything around the mountain burns. For this reason, men of God, you who follow this way of life, stay well clear of women, lest when you and they approach each other, the twin flame be kindled in you both and consume the good that Christ has bestowed upon you. For there are angels of Satan, always on the offensive against the righteous; not only holy men but chaste women too."

click for clearer version

Unicorn:

Isidore of Seville - 7th century in his "Etymologies" : The Greek word rhinoceros, meaning "with horn in nose," refers to the same beast as the names monoceros or unicorn. This is a four-footed beast that has a single horn on its forehead; it is very strong and pierces anything it attacks. It fights with elephants and kills them by wounding them in the belly. The unicorn is too strong to be caught by hunters, except by a trick: if a virgin girl is placed in front of a unicorn and she bares her breast to it, all of its fierceness will cease and it will lay its head on her bosom, and thus quieted is easily caught.


click for clearer version

Homemade Gravadlax, Dill and Mustard Mayonnaise, Spelt Soda Bread and Butter- in which i appear preach-ey about food provenance multiple times.

This was my cooking project last week, to stop me from going insane at the hands of history. This works as a lovely starter and very impressive too, since all the elements can easily be made at home with basic ingredients. Cured or Smoked salmon is often viewed nowadays as a luxury, but in reality Gravadlax is a kind of cured salmon which has its origins in poor Scandinavian fishing heritage. In order to preserve fish in general while the fishermen went out in their boats for a second attempt, they were covered in the sand on the beach, and then dug up a few days later, when the salt had cured them. Now the recipe is slightly more complex, but not significantly.


Mine turned out slightly more sweet than salty, but not overpoweringly so, and the flavour of the dill was perfectly noticeable. The mayonnaise here goes really well with the salmon, and soda bread has a kind of earthy, moral glow about it that just makes you feel super-good.



So here are the recipes. Quantities are enough for A) about 8 people for a starter,B) 3-4 for a main if you felt so inclined but that would be odd, C) 1 person over about a week who really likes salmon, or alternatively,D) a hungry bunch of historians for two hours.

Homemade Gravadlax:
Ingredients:

Salmon, filleted and pinboned - 350 g - the meat from about mid way down the fish is best,where it starts to narrow due to the tail, but you could easily use the very tail segment, being aware that the thinner parts would cure more quickly and thus become perhaps overly flavoured. On this note, a quick word about salmon generally. Wild salmon from this country is very hard to come by, and very expensive when you do find it, and most of the wild salmon you would find is imported from Alaska. The better farmed salmon from Scotland is produced to a very high standard, is generally delicious, and supports the British economy. So buy that instead of wasting your money on plane/boat tickets for wild Alaskan salmon.

1 heaped tablespoon of sea salt (preferably Maldon)
1 heaped tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh Dill, finely chopped ( boycott Israel obviously)

Method: Make extra sure there are no bones sticking out of your fillet of salmon. Then, mix up all of your other ingredients in a bowl, thoroughly, breaking up your sea salt between your fingers if it's in flakes. Place the fish on some clingfilm, skin side down, and scatter your mixture all over the flesh of the fish until its completely covered. Then clingfilm your fish up quite tightly, and then put it in your fridge, probably in some sort of box in case your curing mixture leaks out of the clingfilm. Leave in the fridge for 24-48 hours, it helps to put something relatively heavy on top of it for a couple of hours during this period just to squeeze some of the moisture out.

After a period you're happy with, (i left it for about 30 hours) unwrap the fish and wash off all the excess cure under the tap. Slice it as thinly as you can. If you are as awkward as me, this is the most difficult bit. I found it easiest to remove the skin and then slice it like i would a cucumber, but I'm sure there is a more elegant way. Garnish with fresh dill and the accompaniments below.

Homemade Mustard and Dill Mayonnaise

Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard (why anyone would buy English made Dijon Mustard, which even Waitrose sell, is beyond me. I was shocked. Buy some from Dijon for chrissakes!)
1 tablespoon caster sugar
150 ml vegetable oil, or any other oil. Hemp oil is brilliant, like a kind of English olive oil, but it may be a bit strong for this recipe. Use it for everything else though.
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of freshly and finely chopped dill
saltnpepa to taste.

Method: Whisk the egg yolk with the mustard and the sugar until well incorporated. Then add the oil, drop by bloody drop if you are cautious, and when your patience is exhausted, splash by splash, and then you will almost definitely get bored and your splashes will become more and more liberal. Don't add too much at once though, otherwise the whole thing will become oily and separated and you have to start again. It should incorporate nicely and get slowly thicker. After it's all in, you should have mayo consistency. Then just add white wine vinegar, seasoning and chopped dill. Taste it and adjust however you want!


Homemade Butter

Ingredients:
500 ml double cream - this will generally produce a decent amount of butter, approx 250 g, more than enough to go with this dish. It will keep for a while, as long as you get all the buttermilk out.
sea salt to taste

Equipment:
Muslim (sic)

Method: It really is pretty easy. Overwhip your cream in a bowl which is large enough for your cream to be held in comfortably since it will expand when whipped, past every stage where it would normally be delicious (yes it hurts), until it looks like scrambled eggs and there is a milky white liquid forming at the bottom of your bowl. At this stage stop, and strain the whole mixture through a double or triple folded sheet of muslin, resting in a sieve. SAVE THE MILKY LIQUID THAT COMES OUT OF THE WHIPPED CREAM - it is buttermilk and you will need it to make the sodabread. fold up the muslin around your butter and squeeze it, basically wringing out your precious buttermilk. When no more buttermilk appears to be coming out, and the "butter" appears to be being squeezed out through the muslin, stop and return to another bowl. Or even better, use the same bowl you did previously and just wash it up while it's straining, you lazy bastards. Then whip the butter again, to force out any more buttermilk, for about a minute. Repeat the whole process with new muslin. When the butter is completely void of the liquid, and feels like butter, return to the bowl and mix thoroughly with the amount of salt you prefer in your butter. Then, try and force the butter into some sort of shape, which is where butter pats would be handy, but you can just use your hands or force it into a butter dish like an angry father pushing his child into the bath. Scream "get in you little sod" for greater effect.
Et Voila, homemade butter.

Wholemeal Spelt Soda Bread:

I know this sounds healthy and boring, but its very flavoursome.

Ingredients:

120 g Spelt Flour
80 g Strong White Bread Flour
40 g Plain flour
1 teaspoon sea salt, crushed
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 whole egg, whisked.
1 tablespoon oil, use what you like, but sunflower is fine.
1 teaspoon of clear honey
210 ml of buttermilk (if you didn't get this from making the butter, you can either change the other quantities in this recipe, or top it up with a sneaky bit of milk and pretend you did - that's what i did)

Method: Preheat your oven to 200 C, same old story etc. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (egg, honey, buttermilk and oil) thoroughly in a separate bowl. Pour them together, and mix until they are incorporated, then stop and don't overwork it. It shouldn't look like a bread dough, more like a firmish cake mix. Pour it into a well oiled loaf tin and put it in the oven. Mine took about 25/30 minutes to cook, but keep an eye on it and it is ready when you tap on the bottom and it sounds like a bodhran. Keeping the Irish theme there. It will keep for 2-3 days nicely, but is best fresh obviously.