Joel Lardner

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on June 9, 2010

Posted in The Krystal World by joellardner on May 24, 2010

Desire

Posted in The Black Sea, The Krystal World by joellardner on March 26, 2010

EAUX D’ARTIFICE (1953) Kenneth Anger

Posted in The Krystal World, The Queen of Spades by joellardner on January 14, 2010

Alexander Alexeieff

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on December 3, 2009

Alexander Alexeieff, color wood engraving for Pushkin’s The Queen of Spades, 1923

http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2009/10/alexeieffs-queen-of-spades.html

Suggestion made by M & C, SF. 01/12.09.

Blue mask

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on November 19, 2009

The Queen of Spades – The Countess’s Funeral

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on November 5, 2009

The Uncanny: A definition

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on October 8, 2009

`Something that ought to have remained secret and hidden but which has come to light.’

Williams. G. (2007). The Gothic. Documents of Contemporary Art. Cambridge, Massachuetts, USA. The MIT Press. P.217.

Roxy Music – Remake/Remodel

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on October 8, 2009

The principal musicians (Roxy Music), cosmetically beautified, looked sinister, louche, imperial, remote, maniacal and leeringly self-preening.

`I thought, and still think, that pop music isn’t primarily about making music in any traditional sense of the word. It’s about creating new, imaginary worlds and inviting people to try them out.’ Brian Eno, 1997.

Bracewell. M. (2007). Remake/Remodel. London, UK. Faber and Faber Limted. P.05.

The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin 1834 – Plot Summary

Posted in The Queen of Spades by joellardner on October 7, 2009

d-6Pushkin’s story tells of the Russianized German card player, Hermann–an engineer in the army in Russia–who becomes obsessed with the secret of three consecutive winning cards after hearing a story about an old countess’ winnings years prior. His obsession drives him to manipulate the countess’ ward, Lizaveta Ivanovna, into letting him into their home. There, in his desperation to obtain the secret of the three cards, Hermann accosts the countess. She first tells him that that story was a joke. Unwilling to believe her, Hermann’s tactics escalate from begging to threatening the 87 year old countess. He draws a pistol and the old lady is frightened to death; only later do we learn that the pistol was empty. During a visit to the countess’ funeral, Hermann is terrified to see the countess open her eyes in the coffin and look at him. He runs back to his flat, only to be visited by the ghost of the countess later that night. The ghost names the secret three cards, the rules of the bet and then orders him to marry Liza. Hermann takes his entire savings to a card game, where the first two cards (named by countess) win him a fortune. Hermann thinks he will win the last game as well because he plays the ace. However, Hermann somehow ends up playing the Queen of Spades, rather than the ace, and therefore loses. He ends up committed to room number 17 at an asylum, where “he doesn’t answer any questions and he keeps muttering with extraordinary rapidity, ‘Three, seven, ace! Three, seven, queen!’”