#nazi = merc on site

[malinastharlock]

Space Pirates are Pro individualism and Anti fascist Nazi scum.

[aggressive-positivity-network]

Tf2 headcanons? Aw yeah! So let's say a new merc joins the team. They're a total asshole: Cocky, sarcastic, overconfident, refuse help. But both Spy and Scout see right through that, it's a defense mechanism. How do they go about making this person comfortable enough to not be an asshole?

*chanting* HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMF

Okay, jokes aside, this is one of my favorite tropes. Maybe I’m too naïve to believe that some people are just mean to be mean, or maybe it’s a sort of comfort to know that even the worst people can be understood, but either way, WOOOOOOOOO!

*****************

An Ass For An Ass

Headcanons

Scout:

To be honest, Scout’s threshold for asshole-ery is pretty high. Growing up with eight brothers will do that to you.

But when the new recruit came around, something immediately rubbed him the wrong way.

Recruit always stole his thunder with the crass jokes and over-the-top displays. Every battle turned into a competition, which messed with Scout’s system of fighting. He never had to focus much on his own team before, and now he had to worry about keeping his own reputation upheld while trying not to get stabbed, shot, or blown up.

Recruit also kept hitting on Miss Pauling - even after reminding them again and again that she was lesbian, and was not and never will be into dudes.

“Come on…you just haven’t been with a real man yet…”

“No, no, I’ve been with a lot of men. Real men. I just wasn’t into any of them. After a while, it was kind of obvious.”

But what really pissed a lot of people off was Recruit’s fighting style.

They were an absolute monster on the field - that’s why they were chosen - but every interaction was treated as some sort of survival scenario.

One would think that would be a good thing, but Recruit was ridiculous.

No matter what the situation was, he was fine, he was okay, he could take it, he could fix it.

He could be killed only inches away from a Medic because he would never yell for one. Sometimes Recruit would even show visible anger at being healed. It got to the point where Medic didn’t heal him at all, and just allowed him to die as to not waste time he could give too more grateful patients.

Missions were even worse.

He followed orders to a T, but Pauling had to beg him to leave a failed mission, or to leave without completely destroying the site.

Everyone just took it as Recruit showing off, or having something to prove as a rookie.

It was annoying, but ultimately harmless in most circumstances.

However, it all came to a head when Recruit tried disengage a sentry by himself and was severely injured.

Both Engineer and Medic, who had had to fix most of Recruit’s past and current recklessness, ripped him a new one, one chewing out after the other.

“What we’re you thinkin’, son?! One crossed wire and you woulda blown the whole base!”

“Zhe only reason you are allowed in my lab at all is because it’s in my contract. Personally, I vould have rather left nature to it…”

Since then, Recruit did exactly as he was told, and nothing else. And most of the team liked it that way.

But Scout recognized some warning signs immediately. Fatigue, near silence except for missions, self-isolation, snapping when people got too close…it all paved the way for a pretty nasty (and, for Scout, very familiar) result.

One night, Recruit was sitting on the balcony, and Scout came out with two bottles - a beer for Recruit and a root beer for himself.

(Scout can only drink on the weekends because one, unlike most, he can’t go to work hung over because his job requires a lot of movement, and two, he has no restraint and can’t stop once he starts.)

“What do you want?”

Scout shrugged. “Depends.”

“On what?!”

“What are ya willin’ to tell me?”

Recruit just looked at the beer and sneered.

“Can’t we just skip this?” Scout said. “Maybe get to the part where you tell me what kinda Sally Sob Story we’re dealin’ with here?”

Recruit looked away.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t tell me you don’t got one. ‘Cause you do. I can see it a mile away. So what happened? Pop leave? Somebody died? Lotta brothers and sisters? Ma had a few too many and smacked ya around?”

Recruit didn’t turn around, but Scout could tell he was crying. He had hit a sore spot. Hard.

“Hey, pal, listen…”

Scout trailed off, then slowly began again.

“…the only reason I know is ‘cause I’ve been through it, ‘kay? Outta everybody I knew, I only trusted me. And that was great when I did a good job, ‘cause I knew I put me there.”

Scout opened his bottle of root beer and took a long swig.

“But when I screwed somethin’ up, it’s like everybody I ever knew just let me down. The one thing I could count on was gone.”

Recruit looked at Scout with tears in his eyes.

“But ya can’t do everything by yourself,” Scout continued. “Believe me. I learned that the hard way.”

Scout laughed, but it was mostly to clear the air. He didn’t get serious very often.

Recruit hadn’t touched his beer, but was leaned over the balcony with his head in his hands.

Scout sighed and looked up at the stars.

“But here’s somethin’ that nobody told me - it gets easier, y’know that? You just gotta relax and cut yourself some slack.”

Recruit shifted uncomfortably. “But the Administrator said…”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know what she said. Gave ya that whole speech about how bein’ part of the team means discipline and focus and whatever. It’s all bull crap. She don’t know the first thing about bein’ on the field. If she did, why’d she hire us?”

“Sh-she said my perseverance was an asset to the team.”

“Perseverance, my ass. You know what would be an asset to the team? Stayin’ alive for more than fifteen minutes!”

Recruit looked at his feet. He had blinked away his tears, but he still looked on the verge of falling apart.

Scout put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a little.

“You’re a great fighter, Recruit. You’re one of the best…that’s why you’re here. You got nothin’ to prove to nobody. Not to me, not to the team, not to the Administrator…not even to yourself. You’ve made it, kid. You’ve made it.”

Scout slid his hand off Recruit and started to walk away.

“Hey.”

Scout turned to see Recruit in the process of opening his beer.

“Thanks.”

Scout smiled. “No problem, pal. Plenty more under Demo’s mattress.”

“No, I mean…for that. I needed that tonight.”

“Oh…yeah! Sure. Don’t worry about it.”

Scout went back inside and to his room - but not before checking the cameras on the balcony a few times. Just in case.

Over the next few months, Scout kept helping Recruit break some old bad habits.

Recruit learned to take criticism without getting angry, to leave tanked missions, and to take care of himself.

He still occasionally flirted with Miss Pauling, but it was now more of an inside joke than anything.

Recruit still isn’t perfect - he still cringes a little when he’s healed, and falls back into survival mode when times are stressful - but he is now a much happier, much healthier person.

Spy:

Spy’s asshole wasn’t a merc, per se.

They were more of an informant, usually giving out important facts about locations, missions, and a target’s history.

Sometimes they would even use the Administrator’s PA system to announce new rules and reminders.

This would be perfectly fine - after all, you get kind of tired of hearing the Administrator all the time - except for the fact that Informant was the most sarcastic, most nasally, most apathetic, most matter-of-fact person on earth.

Even outside of a work setting, which was rare because they stayed in their office most of the time, Informant would go out of their way to be as condescending as possible.

Especially to whoever they considered to be in the “less intelligent” category: Heavy, Pyro, Scout, Demo, and Soldier.

To all the “others,” he turned every briefing into a contest to see who knew more at any given time…which, of course, usually meant he won.

“Now, does anyone know where his address is? Come on, any takers? Yeah, I thought so.”

Unlike Recruit, which would only warrant a few grumbles here and there from the team, Informant was the subject of a lot of hissed complaints and terrible rants from even the calmest of members.

Informant was the only one who could get under Heavy’s skin - a personal pet peeve of his was being considered less intelligent or less of a human being because English wasn’t his first language, which Informant chose to remind him of constantly.

It began with a few simple jabs at his grammar or word structure, but once Informant figured out that Heavy wouldn’t hurt a fly outside of battle, the taunts grew more and more daring.

Heavy would usually ignore Informant, which would only exacerbate their need to be noticed. This led to some pretty nasty interactions - from spouting the statistics of Russia’s average intelligence to even saying Heavy was a disgrace to his country by being a literature major.

“How’s that Russian literature major treating you? You know - in America.”

Sniper and Medic had tried to set Informant straight, but Heavy refused to accept any help. This was something that was his to bear, and his alone. He knew that they both took their own helping of harassment.

But one day, Informant went a little to far.

He did the one thing you should never do: insult Heavy’s family.

“You mother and sisters can’t do anything more than wait for you. No wonder you’re the only source of income.”

Before he knew it, Informant was against a wall, struggling to breathe, blood running into his eyes.

Heavy walked away after the incident, and told Medic about it, but he refused to heal him. Informant had called Medic a Nazi on more than one occasion.

This, finally, is where Spy comes in.

Spy was walking by Informant’s office, when he heard a strange sound - barely suppressed hiccups and sobs.

Despite his aversion to displays of emotion, the promise of seeing one of his greatest enemies as their lowest was too amusing to resist.

He knocked lightly on the door, then slowly opened it - always the master of drama.

Informant was under their desk, bloodied and bruised, sobbing into their knees.

Spy entered noiselessly, sitting in Informant’s office chair and lighting a cigarette.

It was only when Spy made a dramatic exhale of the smoke that Informant looked up, tears streaking their face.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Spy finally spoke.

“Oh, how the mighty fall. Flown too close to the sun, have we?”

Informant couldn’t do much more than snivel and retreat farther below the desk.

“Who did it?” Spy asked. “I want to give them my regards…and maybe a bottle of wine.”

“H-Heavy…”

“Oh? Well, if anyone can bring him to blows, it’s you.”

Spy put his feet on the desk and continued to blow smoke out of his nose, thinking.

“It’s strange,” he said. “Most offices have at least a few pictures of family. A trip to the beach, perhaps the zoo…?”

He took a quick glance around.

“No children. No army mates. No graduation photos or a large catch at a local lake. The only personal item you have is this…”

Spy picked up a Rubik’s Cube. The plastic still around it crinkled.

“Unused.”

Informant looked at the floor.

“I like to keep my personal and professional life separate.”

Spy pursed his lips and squinted.

“How noble of you. But I don’t think that’s the case. You know what I think, Informant?”

Spy took his feet of the desk and bent down, looking Informant in the eyes.

“I don’t think you have a life.”

Informant’s eyes went wide for a moment, then his face immediately crumpled. Bullseye.

Spy smirked and got up from the chair, starting to leave.

Informant’s sniffling turned into sobbing, and before Spy could put his hand on the doorknob, muffled wailing filled the office.

Spy closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He was trying not to remember something. But the imagery was too strong.

He remembered hiding under a table, like Informant was. People screaming and cursing at each other in French. His knees all scarred and his nose runny from a cold that should have resolved weeks ago. Waltz music coming from next door, trying to drown out the fighting. Glass breaking. Biting his knuckles so he wouldn’t whimper or cry.

Spy’s hand closed into fist. He took a deep breath, and turned to face Informant again.

“But to be fair…”

He walked towards the desk, putting his hand in his suit pocket. He got on his knees and pulled out a pink handkerchief.

“…I don’t have one either.”

He offered the handkerchief to Informant, who put it to his face, still staring at Spy through red eyes.

The pair were silent for a moment, with Spy putting out his cigarette and lighting a new one while Informant cleaned themselves up.

“But the difference between you and I,” Spy said, his voice wavering a bit, “is that I am a Spy. If my information got into the wrong hands, it could be the end of me and my team.”

He tapped his cigarette on a nearby trash can, letting the ashes fall into it.

“But what are you hiding from?”

Informant took a shaky inhale, the handkerchief still covering his nose and mouth.

“W-what?”

“Why do you feel the need to be, as Scout puts it, a tier five jerkazoid?”

Informant sniffled. “I…I didn’t think I took it that far.”

“Took what that far?”

“I just…snrk…I thought that’s what I had to do to get them to take me seriously.”

Informant laughed, but their heart wasn’t in it.

“I’m five foot four with red hair and freckles. I look more like someone’s Andy doll than a contract killer. I thought maybe if I knew everything…I’d be worth it.”

They shrugged.

“At best, they’d be impressed. At worst, they would never get close enough to me to know the truth: the only reason why I’m here is because I can rattle off a few names and that I had good grades in school because I had nothing better to do.”

Spy’s chest ached. He didn’t know why, but it was a strange feeling to him.

“Mon ami…”

He cleared his throat.

“If half of the team is any indication, you don’t need to be Nikola Tesla to be hired. Hell, the fact you can read is an anomaly in itself. But there is something you must understand…”

Spy cleared his throat again. His voice had gotten quite unstable all of a sudden.

“Intelligence is measured in different ways. Scout could never read even the simplest of children’s books, but his physical intelligence - reflexes, spatial awareness, aim - is phenomenal. Medic would have to put my spine back together if I even attempted to do what he does on the field.”

Informant snickered at the joke, or perhaps the image it conjured.

“And me,” Spy continued. “I can speak almost any language, adjust to any social setting, charm anyone, fool anyone…kill anyone. Just like you, I can remember, and I use the information I absorb mostly to show how superior I am to all my lowly colleagues.”

Spy furrowed his brow and looked away.

“But I know less about myself than even my enemies. I have hidden it so deep within my mind that I can hardly remember…or perhaps would rather not remember…who I was before this mask of mine.”

Informant hesitated. “I…I’m sorry, Spy.”

Spy sneered and puffed a few smoke rings.

“I don’t want your sympathy. I want you to have some self-respect - and respect for my teammates. Because next time you are beaten within an inch of your life, you might catch me in a less generous mood.”

With that, Spy got up, reached into his suit pocket and presented a small MediKit, which he tossed to Informant.

“I’d suggest freshening up before going to any more briefings.”

Informant nodded, and set to work healing himself.

Spy started to leave, then stuck his head back in.

“And hang a few posters, would you? Your office looks like a prison cell.”

Finally, the Frenchman took his leave, adjusting his suit and nodding solemnly to the team members he happened to pass - or scowling at them, depending.

He glanced over the security feed, and once he was satisfied, made his way to his smoking room.

Spy closed the heavy oak door, poured himself a small glass of scotch, and sat down in his chair next to the fireplace.

He put a magazine on his knee and began to flip through the pages, but his gaze soon started to wander.

He closed the magazine, tossed it into the fire, leaned into his hand, and wept.

…So what became of Informant?

Well, after a reluctant heal from Medic and a few well-deserved apologies, Informant began to try and break the cycle of self-sabotage.

The process took a lot longer than Recruit’s did - especially since Informant’s transgressions were a lot more egregious - but, little by little, they began to heal.

A lot of the time, the other mercs would have to tell them to tone it down a bit, or to cut him off completely if necessary.

Informant still almost has a panic attack if he doesn’t have the right papers, and his office is still pretty bare, but he took Spy’s advice - a few AC/DC posters hang on the leftmost wall.

As for Spy, well…he needs to have a talk with Medic.

******************

I am so sorry…this is all so messy and weird. One is so much longer than the other, and I’m not even sure half the dialogue sounds right.

The two headcanons were just typed out at different times, the first where I had less motivation and the second when I had more motivation. This wasn’t on purpose, it just happened.

I hope you still like it, though!

[crowgale]

!!!MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DOOM ETERNAL TAG2!!!

So I played DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part 2 and it absolutely rocked!

But the one thing is would criticise story wise is the Slayer being interned atop Ingmore's Sanctum.

Call me crazy but I don't think they deserved that. They have part of the Dark Lord's soul so shouldn't have the rest of it been reformed within them? The rite of combat was what annihilated all demons outside of hell- not the death of their primeval. It feels like a slow-burn betrayal by The Father as a build up towards whatever may come next. Be it DOOM 6 or QUAKE 5.

But after everything the Slayer did, they deserved a rest. They deserved to at least live among the people that they saved after Eternal and TAG.

Not as their servent, nor their guide towards becoming something more.

To them, Humanity was worth saving- end of story. Doesn't matter if some of them fall prey to the temptation of Hell, or if they swear loyalty to Divine Aliens. The good in humanity far outweighs the bad.

But I don't think they'd 'bask in devotion' as it were. Not as some divine messianic figure or a God-Empruh of Man.

Where has devotion gotten Humanity? The Argenta? The Immoran's?

Devotion to Idols and Gods and to People gave them the Khan Maykr, it gave them The Father.

It gave them Davoth.

The Slayer walked the path of perpetual torment and eternal glory.

They saved humanity and they will do so again.

As an Eternal Hero, as the Destroyer, as the God-Killer.

As the DOOM Slayer. The Ultimate Paragade of their Civilisation.

But they're not a soldier doing their duty or a merc on a job.

The Slayer is a Warrior-King. They no longer fight to live. They live to fight.

In times of conflict, of war- they lead from the front. As the Ultimate Vanguard. As the First and Last line of defense against annihilation.

In absense of conflict they stand ever vigilant over their people, watching over them. Defending the Weak, so that they may become strong.

And teaching the strong to defend and empower the weak, so that when the armies of Steel and Thunder come; they may never stand alone.

Because Peace, true peace, is found within. Not in the absence of conflict.

And they are so much more than a vessel of eternal fury.

So in the coming years as countless refugees from Immora arrive on Earth seeking a new home, as millions of Argenta leave the liberated Argent D'nur seeking bonds of fellowship across the stars, as humanity reclaims their homewolrd from the clutches of hell; the single most asked question among so many people is this-

"What happened to the Slayer? Where did they go?"

The official answer will be; "You see that green light flying across the sky? That same light the Argenta salute when they see it flying over head? That light that the Immoran's look to with sorrow? That no-fly zone ARC Command has created around a that great fortress in orbit? They're up there. Watching over us"

And that's right, the Slayer is up there. They have no reason to be on Earth. They have far more important things to do.

They totally didn't walk into a New York pizzaria last week and order a Ranch BBQ pizza with pineapple; only to return a day later in the late evening after helping to rebuild the apartment block across the street to order food for everyone working on the construction site.

They didn't walk into a beach bar in Egypt and spend the night sitting in the corner, quietly drinking Bone Vodka with some old Argenta bloke, bearing facial scars and a cataracted eye- didn't embrace him as he quietly wept as the other Argenta in the bar saluted them both and asked to sit with them.

He was apparently a Commander of some sort? No Human knows the story. All the Argenta will say is "He redeemed himself in his valour, we merely asked when he would forgive himself"

They didn't climb Mount Olympus on Mars, accompanying climbers with a host of crimson-armoured warriors to the peak of the mountain, didn't help them build a shrine, didn't set down a horned helmet and entomb a Crucible Sword and Shield upon it- only to vanish before they could start the trek back to base camp; leaving these 'elite warriors of Immora' to walk with these Humans of Earth back home. To their new home.

The UAC, too rich and powerful to ever be destroyed or dissolved, has since failed to evict or indenture the People of Immora. They were commanded to live and find peace on a world much like ancient Jakkad- not submit to the UAC.

They didn't attend a University graduation in the rebuilt ARC Complex, now a memorial site of the battle that turned the tide of the War against hell; celebrating the success of an honoured former Intern.

Rumour has it, Doctor #Redacted# has begun reverse engineering the #Redacted# per the personnel request of #Redacted#. But no one knows the truth.

They didn't pull a child out of the way of an oncoming train in Tokyo, didn't stop a woman from getting raped in Tijuana, didn't help some nomads fix their cars engines in the Afghanistan, didn't walk through the streets of every city in the world tossing what must have been billions in so many different currencies to the poor and homeless.

And they sure as heck didn't appear, unarmoured and furious, to destroy Neo-Nazi Zerstroyers that emerged from beneath the catacombs of Berlin.

You can't prove he stood at the grave of William Joseph Blazkowitz and paid their respects.

You can't prove that was them.

Why would they help rebuild the bonds of fellowship between The Betrayer and The Night Sentinels?

Why would they give the Elite of Immora, the closest and most loyal to the Dark Lord- a world as red as Jakkad, reflected in the colour of their armour- than force the greenry of Earth or the Silver of Argent D'Nur upon them.

Why would they roam the world, seeing justice delivered as it recovers and rebuilds itself.

Surely the DOOM Slayer has many more important things to do than help heal the world- then making sure the world that they saved doesn't become one where kindness is a weakness.

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Abandoned places: Dunalastair Castle/The Hermitage, ruins in the Scottish Highlands, Homestead of Clan Robertson...

The Scottish Highlands have a storied history and one steeped in romantic imagery, locations & characters.  The history of the Scottish Highlands for the last few centuries is linked in the minds of many with the Scottish Clans system, an outgrowth of ancient Celtic social traditions.  The clan system, despite a common belief of one single related family, is in fact a more broad system of kinship.  One in which a singular family would maintain leadership of surrounding families in the area and in exchange for their recognized leadership and the collection later of taxes, the leading family’s most senior patriarch was to provide guidance and protection to the loyal families, creating a unique social bond where all were “related” or members of the same clan.  These leaders were the clan chiefs and traditionally lead the able bodied men of the clan in times of war and conducting raids on rival clans, usually for cattle, the common currency of Scottish clans.  Meanwhile, in times of peace they made alliances and conducted diplomacy with other clans, sometimes through marital alliances.  Over time, clan members whether descended from the chief or in member families adopted a common surname or variations thereof, these become known as the septs of the clan and over time different branches could expand as lands changed hands.  Its from this system that well known Scottish surnames have spread the world over such as Stewart, Campbell, Bruce, Montgomery, MacDonald, MacKinnon, Munro/Monroe, Macleod, Mackenzie, Robertson and others have come to be known.

Clan Robertson, known in Gaelic as Clann Donnachaidh (Clan Duncanson) has two hypothesized origins of their name.  One is they descend from the second son (Duncan) of the Scottish Lord of the Isles Angus MacDonald, descendant of the well known Somerled of mixed Gaelic/Viking ancestry.  The second, more widely accepted theory is lineal descent from the Gaelic (Celtic) Earls of Atholl, a district in the Highlands on tradition Clan Robertson land.  These earls were descended from the King of Scots, Duncan I (1001-1040), probably through his son Mael Muire, made Earl (ruler) of Atholl.

The name Robertson came about in the 15th century when the 4th Clan Chief, Robert Duncanson, an ardent supporter of the Stewart King of Scotland, James I was angered by the monarch’s murder.  He then tracked down and captured two of the conspirators, Sir Robert Graham & Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl (James I’s uncle).   Robert handed over the conspirators to be placed under torture and death by order’s of James I’s wife, Joan Beaufort.  Robert Duncanson was awarded the crest badge that remains with the clan to this day by James II on 1451.  The crest shows the a imperial crown clutched in a hand with the clan motto in Latin displayed: Virtutis gloria merces (glory is the reward of valor).  As a further reward of gratitude from the Scottish king, the Clan Chief and clan got the additional lands in the realm of Atholl, including the Barony of Struan, over which Clan Chiefs rule to this day.  In honor of Robert Duncanson, his descendants became known as Robertson which spread to the all members of the clan subsequently.  Presently, it has many variations including Robb, Robbie, Roberts, Robins/Robbins, Robison etc.  Other variations from the original Duncanson include Duncan & Reid.

Struan & Atholl are found in the Scottish Highlands in the traditional county of Perthshire, modern day Perth & Kinross.  The clan lands included the villages of Struan and Blair Atholl among others as well as Lochs Tay & Rannoch and are to be found in the Grampian Mountains, a range that makes up the Central Highlands.  It is a land with snow covered mountains, forests, many rivers and valleys intertwined with the aforementioned lakes and some moorlands to the west.

From the late 17th century into the 18th century, one of the longer reigning clan chiefs of Clan Robertson was Alexander Robertson, 13th Chief of Clan Robertson (circa 1670-1749) who in time would be known as the Poet Chief for his love of the written word and poetry.  He was known as a fierce Jacobite, displaying the long standing loyalty to the Stuarts/Stewarts, he is the only known clan leader to have fought in all three Jacobite rebellions (1689, 1715 &1745) against the armies of William III and later the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain.  In 1746 his lands were confiscated following the defeat of Jacobite forces including Highlanders at the last pitched battle fought on British soil, the Battle of Culloden.

Alexander Robertson had no children and so his chiefdom passed on to other family.  In his lifetime, he built a castle estate he called the Hermitage, it was located near the River Tummel between the Dunalastair Reservoir and Loch Rannoch, the famed mountain Schiehallion with its snowcapped peaks overlooks the grounds.  It is surrounded by forest and it served as the traditional Clan seat or castle.  The Hermitage was a place where Alexander entertained his guests with drunken parties and poetry recitals recalling the great historical deeds of his ancestors, often portrayed in a romanticized heroic manner.  His poetry was sometimes scandalous both for its sexual explicitness of romantic conquests, innuendo and sedition against the Hanoverian monarchs of Britain.  He also forbade women from entering the grounds of the Hermitage due to his perceived misogyny as sometimes reflected in his poems reflecting his own sexual conquests.  In 1746, following the defeat at Culloden, the Hermitage was burned to the ground by Hanoverian government troops as a lesson to the leaders of the rebellious Jacobite movement.

Alexander, moved into a small single room hut some miles to the west in Rannoch Moor, the western most part of the traditional Robertson lands.  He was still the Clan Chief but dispossessed of his traditional lands and his cause he turned to his only two comforts at that time, poetry and alcohol.  He still wrote of the heroic deeds of the clan’s ancestors, performing a clan essential duty, ancestor worship.  However, his alcoholism continued to worsen and caused health issues in his advanced age.  He had few visitors willing to visit him in the isolated and desolate location he found himself in, which coupled with alcohol fueled persona increased his isolation, he died in 1749, around the age of 80.  Despite his alienation in the last few years of his life, Alexander’s coffin was accompanied by 2,000 clansmen who followed it 15 miles across moorland, river valleys and mountain lined lake shores to be buried in the old graveyard of Struan, part of the clan’s barony.  

Eventually, a new home was built on the site of the Hermitage which included double towers around the year 1800.  This home was called Mount Alexander, after the famed Poet Chief.  In 1853, Clan Robertson’s 18th chief, George Duncan Robertson sold it to the MacDonald family.  The new owner, Sir John MacDonald, demolished Mount Alexander and by 1859 completed the structure which stands today, built in the baronial style it was known as Dunalastair House (Alexander’s Fort) also in honor of the famed Poet Chief and his Hermitage estate.  It went through a number of owners and the greater estate has current owners but Dunalastair House was in use as a residence up through World War I, by the conclusion of that time, it no longer could maintained due to expense for the many servants and groundskeepers needed.  During World War II, it was used as a boarding school for Polish boys who fled to Britain to escape the Nazi and Soviet takeover of their homeland, it was also converted to a girls school later.  However, the home was not well maintained and by the 1950′s its remaining contents were at last sold off. Abandoned thereafter, it was subject to vandalism and the elements of weather.  The lead roof was stolen by the 1960′s and since then the Scottish rains had emptied onto the roofless stone ruins with its towers and spires, still with a dirt road leading to its grounds in the midst of forested lands, the ruins are visited by curious travelers to this day.  The surrounding grounds are still owned by a private family but they now have  another home they reside in, there are cottages on the estate that are rented out to travelers and there is a nearby hotel that also uses the name Dunalastair.  

In the present, no grant or additional money has been put into restoring the house to its former glory, so it remains a ruin of days long since passed, but the site, nestled amidst the Highlands and in the shadow of Schiehallion’s peak and surrounded by flowing rivers, shimmering lakes and groves of forest over rolling hills is a romantic spot, like it was in the Poet Chief’s day.  Also on the grounds are the burials of a number of former Robertson Clan chieftains, reminders of times of times long gone...

[paulsebert]

Ok Marvel we need to talk... (diversity isn’t the problem)

Marvel has already stepped back from David Gabriel’s recent comments blaming diversity and a push for female characters for slumping sales, but that doesn’t change the fact that Marvel Comics has some SERIOUS problems that have to be addressed. There was a time not that long ago when Marvel was kicking ass: Secret War was possibly the best crossover ever, The X-Men were in the most interesting place since Morrison’s run.  But it didn’t last and clearly something has gone awry in the past couple of years.

Marvel’s books cost a dollar more than DC’s.  That’s like if Coke decided it needed to cost a dollar more than coke. The justification for this for the longest time is that Marvel included digital copy codes in their physical books thus adding extra value but that only screws over customers who don’t live near a brick and mortar store.

Speaking of brick and mortar stores there simply HAS to be a better way to offer customers intensives to buy physical copies than resorting to the variant-cover gimmickry which helped crash the market in the 90s.  The selling point for U.S. Avengers #1 shouldn’t have been “check out our 50 variant covers, buy them all!” it should be “Al Ewing is the best team-book writer in comics and this is awesome!”

End the fricken’ pissing contest with 20th Century Fox already. Have you seen the box-office for Deadpool and Logan?  They ain’t giving you those rights back.  Oh and guess what despite all of your attempts at making Inhumans the New X-Men, people still wanted the X-Men.  Oh and having the Inhumans responsible for a bunch of X-Men dying or losing their powers did NOT endear us to them.  The whole Death of X/IvX storyline basically made the Inhumans look like oblivious idiots at best and genocidal zealots at worst. Oh and while the Fantastic Four haven’t been an A-list book since hell Marc Waid’s early 2000s run, a lot of people miss them.

Marvel had such confidence in “Deadpool & the Mercs for Money” that they gave it not one, not two, but THREE spin-offs.  Then they changed the team line-up of the group in issue 4.  So the anchor book that was supposed to sell the spin-offs no longer featured the characters in the spin-offs.  It was like you were intentionally setting three books up to fail!

Speaking of Deadpool spin-offs you know the super obscure Marvel character from the film that everyone loved: Negasonic Teenage Warhead?  All she gets is a spot in the Mercs for Money ongoing. Almost zero is done to cash in on her newfound popularity.

Lets talk Big Hero 6.  An super obscure Marvel property gets turned into a $300 million dollar movie and the only new comics are a manga adaptation from Yen Press and a adaptation from Joe Books a publisher that’s not even on Comixology.  How the hell can you not cut a deal to do a Big Hero Six series when YOU ARE PART OF DISNEY?! 

Speaking of Disney, why are the only Disney comics being published right now outsourced to IDW and Joe Books a canadian publisher that isn’t on Comixology and whose website doesn’t even work?! I repeat YOU ARE PART OF DISNEY!  Why are they outsourcing this?!

Anyone who reads my tumblr regularly knows how much I hate Avengers Arena.  I hate to be a broken record but how can I become attached to your next young group of Avengers when the last time I got attached to some young superheroes you butched a lot of them for a cheap hunger games cash-in?!  Why should I care about your next group of X-Men when the last time I fell in love with a group of new X-Men you slaughtered so many of them in Decimation?! These kind of kill-fests only discourage people from becoming attached to new characters.

You announced Civil War II before Secret Wars was over.  You announced Monsters Unleashed before Civil War II was over.  You announced Secret Empire before Monsters Unleashed was over!  Your jumping on points between crossovers actually became buffers between events. You basically told readers to take time off because these MAJOR WORLD CHANGING EVENTS are all that maters.

Ok let’s talk about the elephant room... HYDRA CAP.  Now as a comics fan I could explain that Hydra was originally created as a Spectre-esc organization for Nick Fury to fight.  Or that it’s canonical that Hydra is actually a secret society that predates the Nazis by hundreds of years.  But guess what?! I shouldn’t have to explain that and it still looks to the causal reader that Cap is a fascist.  Even defenders of this story have to admit this is a bad look particular at a time when people are worrying about genuine fascists! I mean I get it, Hydra Cap kind of works if you want a totally blunt metaphor for America being a lot more messed up than anyone ever thought but... that’s not what a lot of readers want.

Also get Nick Spencer off of twitter for awhile.  I genuinely enjoy most of the dude’s work but he seems to come across as thin-skinned, prone to lecturing, and immune to even the slightest bit of criticism.

Between Image, Darkhorse, IDW, BOOM, Dynamite and that weird Canadian company that isn’t on Comixology the market for talent is the most competitive it’s been since the early 1990s. You have to work harder to retain talent because being not working for the Big Two isn’t the threat it used to be.  I’m sure Robert Kirkman isn’t regretting an opportunity to write “Marvel Zombies On Ice” while he’s sleeping on a giant pile of Walking Dead Money.

Speaking of competition... lets talk about DC.  Not that long ago DC was screwing up every week.  It became enough of a running gag for news site “The Outhousers” to create “Has DC Something Stupid Today?” Well guess what. In 2016 DC got their act together, launched a ton of books that people genuinely like, brought back characters that people genuinely like, held off on the crossovers almost entirely and launched a bunch of books that were cheaper than yours.

Marvel Unlimited needs reexamination.  People used to wait for the trades if they were uncertain on a series.  Now they wait for Marvel Unlimited where for less than the price of one trade you can read until the cows come home.  It’s an awesome service but it’s probably cannibalizing your sales.  Oh and it still has no unofficial support for the Kindle Fire one of the most popular tablets on the market.  WHY?!

The name “All New, All Different Marvel Now” kind of says it all.  Marvel got complacent and decided to offer more of what was super-successful in 2013 and gave us more 4 years later without adjusting to a changing market.

[garp20-oliviaspencer]

Architecture and design - 100 years of the Bauhaus - The bauhaus Effect

Bauhaus influence is everywhere, Bauhaus set out to formulate a language of design that was universal.

Everything has an ideal height and size that optimizes its utility.

New approaches to education and training…

Can we still feel the Bauhaus effect today?

Cereal production of everyday goods was a cornerstone, a partnership between design and industry

IKEA - Is ikea the Bauhaus of today>

Tool - democratic design. That tool has 5 dimensions starting with form. A connection to Bauhaus [...] is of course that form follows function.

Walter Gropius, the first Bauhaus director in weimar. He proposed that art craft and industry collaborate to make customer products more available to the common man. In Dessau the school joined forces with a number of industrial partners. Inspired by series production the bauhaus began exploring synergies between the school and industry.

Bauhaus school came under increasing pressure in 1928.

Tired of facing constant hostility, Gropius appointed a successor with swiss architect Hannes Meyer. At the helm the bauhaus focused even more heavily on industry and also became more political.

Hannes Meyer moved the Bauhaus in a very socialist direction, communist even.

Gropius era and meye erwa very different.

Catering to everyday needs took priority over artistic considerations.

They wanted to reach households, homes, society in general and with products that looked completely anything that had existed before. There was a turning point after the first world war. By 1922 or 1923 at the latest everyone was excited about mechanisation. And industrial production.  There was a consensus that in the post war era people should be modern and welcome technology and progress and this should be reflected in everyday products from carpets to houses. They were to do this so as to modernise the city and indeed to the world.

Hannes Meyer was the Bauhaus director for just 2 years. In 1930 the town council dismissed him for communist sympathies, Along with some former students he went to the soviet union to help build the fledgin state.

Weimar and dessau ended up in communist east germany

[8.43] There was no scope for Bauhaus to be revived in the early years of communist east germany (it was rejected at a bourgeois institution) that was the attitude until well after the death of stalin. Basically until the early 1960s and the rise of  architectural functionalism when urban planners began erecting prefab houses in estates on the outskirts of cities. At that point Bauhaus was reevaluated and once again seen as a good thing. Hannes Meyers legacy was politicised design and the famous slogan Volksbedarf statt Luxusbedarf - the needs for people instead of the needs for luxury.

Today bauhaus products are expensive, only the well off can afford them.

9.56

Wilhelm Wagenfelds table lamp is now a classic. The wagenfeld table lamp costs around 400 euros. That's because it was designed and manufactured at bauhaus school before cereal production had really taken off.

Is the value of art related to class or economic position e.g. middle/working class need money therefore focus on things that will give the economic gain. Higher class have the financial stability and ability to appreciate finer arts therefore their things have more value the more ‘art-statement-y’ they are. New artists that need the money and want to sell sell sell. Established artists have the platform and ability to make more conceptual work how they would actually like to make it (with the confidence that people will buy it regardless) rather than make it to fit the standards of what mass consumption tends to want.

Withough series production the wagenfeld lamp could only remain a luxury item

European avant garde

Alfred Barr was keen on bauhaus and the european avant garde. In general what he especially like about bauhaus was its push to incorporate art into everyday life, also its merging of art and technology and its interdisciplinary approach and its aim of making the art non-hierarchical

12.37 - what if nothing interesting ever happened at the bauhaus  but they had amazing publicity machinery books, magazings, personalities but was all this just kind of creating a kind of cult? So maybe bauhaus is not about rationality, it's not about industrialisation, it's not about clarity in the machine age and so on. Gropius, hes a hardcore expressionist. At the beginning of bauhaus movements he becomes a kind of manager, is it management they've spread? We are surrounded by the effects of this virus and we are in the centre of management culture.

-architecture critic mark wiggly

-marcel brewer

Vitra design museum

17.48

Matteo cleese  architecture and design are central to the human experience. Design is basically a way of solving a problem, an opportunity to tackle everyday problems with creative ideas that can involve furniture but it can also involve social situations much more to design than making products. Designers also address questions to do with society's new material and things that are not always tangible. That's an understanding of design that has its roots in bauhaus. The school was one of the first institutions propagating a wide ranging understanding of design. It went beyond individual objects. To the Bauhaus, design was a way of shaping society and the future.

Seagram Building - 20.29

You could never imagine that such an obsessive building came from a straightforward person.

Facades with no structural function - was built in late 1950’s helped usher a new wea of sleek, elegant skyscrapers.

Straightforward buildings are made by crazy people right, and crazy people are often the people that really affect us.

22.14 - Designed by hannes meyer in 1929 the world famous laubengang houses were extraordinarily innovative and progressive for the time. The affordable housing project was a perfect example of his guiding principle that architecture has a social responsibility.

Were the continuation of the urban planning agenda formulated by walter gropius (23.58)

Inexpensive housing to address the shortage in the wake of the first world war.

Gropius strove or efficient solutions. He tested out new building materials and prefabricated parts that could be made in series production. The construction site was like an industrial production line (26.45) [...] limited budgets called for ingenious architectural solutions . bauhaus kitch.

28.06 - it's almost impossible to overstate the influence of bauhaus in us art schools after 1940. It was the foundation for generations. Walter gropius was appointed chair of the department of architecture at Harvard university graduate school of design, one of the most prestigious architecture departments in the country.

Mies van der ohe went to the armour institute which became the illinois institute of technology. He not only designed the new university campus, he changed the way that architecture was taught.

Bauhaus is impossibly important like its just for us to discuss design without talking about the bauhaus its like talking about cooking without talking about fire.

29.35 - when the nazis came to power any former bauhaus students and teachers emigrated to the us. In the 1950s and 60s the movement's principles became the backbone of american modernism. In the 1930w annie and joseph albert were invited to teach at black mountain collgr in north carolina thus in the 2950w it became a chrysalis for many extraordinarily important artists. Many of the people who played influential roles in post war american art were affiliated with the schools that had packed up the mantle of bauhaus.

Jasper Jones

Robert Rauschenberg

Merce Johnson (or norris?)

Successful artists because  their work / subject was taken seriously??)

Oscar schlemmar - Create works that were devoid of plot so there were no more characters no more stories, he was interested in looking at dance and movement for movement's sake

23.12 - the bauhaus tradition was also fostered in postwar west germany at the ULM school of design the hfG. The initial idea was to revive the bauhaus. Many former bauhausers taught here like Max Bill the cofounder and its first director. Today the ulm premises serve as an exhibition space until its closure in 1968. The hfG was one of the most seminal art and design schools in germany. What came to be known as the ULM model reconfigured the role of designer. Even in the early days the ULM school of design collaborated closely with partners in industry. One of its most successful partnerships was with the braun electric company.

“Constructivist graphic design’  

Interdisciplinary teamwork was crucial to the creative process. Dita ams was appointed head of brauns newly minted design department in the early 1960s. Together with the ULM design school he developed a number of products that are now classics.

Wilhelm wagenfeld was a former bauhaus student. A new design language traced its lineage from the Bauahaus to ULM and then to braun ending up in households all over the world

38.22 - while bauhaus propagated a union of art craft and technology, braun and apple represent a union of art commercialism and consumption. A sign of the times.

Steve Jobs went to a lecture of somebody from the new bauhaus.

The unity of art and technology developed in dassau joined to hannes meyer  focus on the needs of the people. Together they yield good design for everyday objects. That is the bauhaus effect.

The unity of art and technology has been superseded by the unity of art and commerce

The reason why Bauhaus is still interesting today is that it raised interesting, very fundamental questions. How do we want to live in the future?

Does bauhaus still have something to teach us\? Who are we now? And what are our needs? Can good design still improve people's everyday lives?

[tribalarts]

Déesse de l’eau tenant des épis de maïs, Aztèque, période postclassique tardive, Mexique, 1325-1521 ap. J.-C. Basalte. H. : 45 cm. © Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, ANT.257072. Inv. ILE2012.1.26. • Josef Albers, « Cadence », 1940, huile sur masonite. Dim. : 72,3 x 71,6 cm. Gift of Anni Albers and the Josef Albers Foundation, Inc. © Yale University Art Gallery. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 2012. Inv. 1977.160.2.

Josef (1888-1976) et Anni (1899-1994) Albers figurent parmi les pionniers du modernisme au XXe siècle. Josef Albers étudie l’art du vitrail, du dessin et de la peinture à Essen et à Munich avant de rejoindre, en 1920, le Bauhaus — la fameuse école d’architecture et d’arts appliqués fondée par Walter Gropius, en 1919, à Weimar —, où il rencontrera sa future femme, Annelise Elsa Frieda Fleischmann, innovatrice dans l’art du textile.Nommé professeur, Albers est chargé du Vorkurs (cours préparatoire) et dirige l’atelier de peinture sur verre, de 1923 à 1933. En 1933, après la fermeture du Bauhaus par le régime nazi, les Albers déménagent en Caroline du Nord, invités par le tout nouveau Black Mountain College, où beaucoup de futurs artistes, écrivains et musiciens reçurent une formation décisive (Willem et Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunninghdeam, John Cage, Cy Twombly, Kenneth Noland, Franz Kline, Arthur Pennet bien d’autres…). Après les années au Black Mountain College, que le couple quitte en 1949, Josef Albers est nommé, en 1950, chef du département du “design” à l’Université de Yale, dans le Connecticut. Son œuvre et son enseignement, tout particulièrement consacré à la complexité formelle née de variations sérielles colorées à partir de surfaces géométriques simples, eurent une grande influence sur de nombreux artistes de l’abstraction géométrique et, plus tard, sur ceux du mouvement Op Art (ou art optique) tels que Sol LeWitt, Frank Stella ou encore Donald Judd. Albers est principalement connu pour son édifiant travail de recherche conceptuel qu’il développa dans une série d’œuvres à laquelle il consacra les vingt-cinq dernières années de sa vie : Homage to the Square.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Study for Homage to the Square: Consent », 1971. Huile sur masonite. Dim. : 40,3 x 40,2 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, The Josef Albers Foundation, Inc. 1991/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. 91.3895.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Study for Homage to the Square: Closing », 1964. Acrylique sur masonite. Dim. : 40,2 x 40,2 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. 69.1917.

Ces peintures (plus de deux mille) partagent un ensemble de paramètres : trois ou quatre carrés concentriques de différentes couleurs positionnés à des distances variables du bord inférieur d’un panneau en masonite (aggloméré). Pour Albers, le carré, austère et neutre, représentait le format idéal pour explorer les phénomènes d’interaction optique entre deux couleurs voisines (marron/bleu, bleu/vert et, dans une moindre mesure, marron/vert). Il s’agit d’une démarche constructiviste qui expérimente une approche intellectualisée de l’émotion sensible et spatiale. Les couleurs sont appliquées à plat et de manière égale en surfaces diminuant de façon calculée, illustration de sa théorie selon laquelle les modifications de position, de forme et de lumière produisent des changements de valeur. En 1963, Josef Albers publia son fameux ouvrage The Interaction of Colors (Yale University Press) dans lequel il expose et démontre sa théorie, allant à l’encontre de celle de son ancien collègue du Bauhaus, Vassily Kandinsky, qui accordait une valeur intrinsèque aux couleurs. Albers oppose à cette approche une étude des relations des couleurs entre elles, établissant que leur perception est en grande partie déterminée par les couleurs voisines. Aujourd’hui encore, ce livre reste une ressource essentielle dans ce domaine.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Variant/Adobe, Orange Front », 1948-1958. Huile sur Masonite. Dim. : 59,6 x 68,5 cm. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Gift, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in honor of Philip Rylands for his continued commitment to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, 1997. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. 97.4555.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Luminous Day », 1947-1952. Huile sur masonite. Dim. : 27,9 x 54,6 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. X.2016.10962.

Bien avant de fuir l’Allemagne nazie, les Albers s’étaient découverts une profonde affinité avec la rigueur géométrique des civilisations précolombiennes en fréquentant, dès 1908, le Museum Folkwang d’Essen, puis le musée de Berlin, riche de cent vingt mille objets préhispaniques dont les premiers furent collectés par Alexander von Humboldt, de 1799 à 1804. Josef et Anni Albers visitèrent le Mexique pour la première fois durant l’hiver 1935-1936. L’ancienne Mésoamérique les captiva et marqua profondément leur esprit au point qu’elle allait nourrir leur imagination et eut une forte influence sur leurs créations (le couple y séjournera treize fois, jusqu’à la fin des années 1960). Se déplaçant en voiture, les Albers étaient souvent accompagnés d’amis et de membres de leur famille, y compris les parents d’Anni, Toni et Siegfried Fleischmann ; Theodore Dreier, professeur au Black Mountain College, et son épouse, Barbara ; l’artiste suisse Max Bill et le psychanalyste Fritz Moellenhoff et sa femme, Anno. Lors de ces parcours, ils visitèrent différents sites archéologiques, étudiant les structures des monuments et collectant sculptures et céramiques. Pour Josef et Anni, le vocabulaire abstrait et complexe des motifs géométriques ornant les façades de ces constructions incarnait les principes auxquels ils adhéraient dans leur travail et leur enseignement.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Governor’s Palace, Uxmal », 1952. Photographie argentique sur gélatine. Photo : 11,6 x 17 cm); feuille : 12,7 x 18,1 cm. © Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, 1996/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. 96.4502.39.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), sans titre (grande pyramide de Tenayuca), 1937. Photographie argentique sur gélatine. Dim. : 8,4 x 11,6 cm. © Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, 1996/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Mitla », 1956. Photographies argentiques sur gélatine et cartes postales montées sur carton. Dim. : 20,3 x 30,5 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. X.2016.10887.

Josef prit des milliers de photos qu’il réunissait en photomontages. Explorant la relation de la lumière et de l’ombre, elles dévoilent l’univers méconnu qui nourrit la vision du peintre et témoignent de son approche novatrice dans le domaine de la photographie. Parmi les sites archéologiques les plus marquants explorés par les Albers, figure Mitla, situé dans la vallée de Tlacolula, dans l’État de Oxaca. Il s’agit d’un complexe religieux construit par les Zapotèques et, plus tard, occupé par les Mixtèques. Son nom vient du Nahuatl « Mictlán » — le monde souterrain de la mythologie aztèque —, ou « lieu des morts ». Composé d’une succession de patios, son originalité provient de l’ornementation qui recouvre l’ensemble des façades, en particulier l’étonnant thème géométrique xicalcoliuhqui (représentation schématique en forme de grecque de la coupe transversale d’un coquillage marin) évoqué par les rectangles emboîtés présents dans la peinture intitulée To Mitla (1940). Les Albers s’intéressèrent tout particulièrement au site de Monte Albán. Surplombant la vallée de Oaxaca, il est considéré comme le principal centre administratif et gouvernemental de la civilisation zapotèque. Ils s’y rendirent six fois, entre 1930 et 1950, montrant ainsi leur profond intérêt et leur admiration pour ses pyramides à gradins, ses escaliers monumentaux et son vaste terrain de jeu de balle. Les photographies prises par Albers, juxtaposées dans certains photomontages, témoignent de l’activité des archéologues et montrent l’avancement des fouilles menées par le mexicain Alfonso Caso. Sa lithographie To Monte Albán (1942) (série Graphic Tectonic), évoque des vues aériennes schématiques des pyramides.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Platform of the Eagles, Chichén Itzá », 1952. Photographie argentique sur gélatine. Dim. : 17,7 x 12,7 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. X2016.10876.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Study for Tenayuca », vers 1938. Huile et graphite sur papier buvard. Dim. : 30,5 x 40,9 cm. – « Platform of the Eagles, Chichén Itzá », 1952. Épreuve à la gélatine argentique. Dim. : 17,7 x 12,7 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. X.2016.10967 et X.2016.10876.

Tenayuca se trouve dans la banlieue nord de Mexico. Cette ancienne capitale chichimèque remonte au début du XIIIe siècle puis, cité aztèque, elle fut abandonnée au XVIe siècle, au début de la conquête espagnole. Consacrée au dieu Quetzalcóatl, comme l’indique les têtes de serpent ornant sa pyramide à deux niveaux, son emplacement, près de Mexico, sur les rives de l’ancien lac Texcoco, en faisait une destination fréquente pour les Albers. Les séries de peintures et d’études intitulées Tenayuca (1936-1946) s’apparentent à des représentations schématiques du complexe pyramidal. Les formes en enroulements — motif appelé coatepantli (« mur de serpents » en Nahuatl) — rappellent les sculptures entourant la pyramide principale. Parmi les plus grandes villes de l’ancienne Mésoamérique figure Teotihuacán, dans la vallée de Mexico. Elle fut l’une des premières que les Albers visitèrent, lors de leur voyage initial. Les Pyramides du Soleil et de la Lune, l’Avenue des Morts et l’escalier monumental séduisirent l’artiste qui les photographia à diverses reprises. Les études réalisées par Albers durant cette période suggèrent un nouveau traitement des formes géométriques et des lignes qui s’apparentent à l’élément architectural typique de cette métropole, le talud-tablero. La silhouette si particulière des bâtiments de Teotihuacán est due à cet élément qui sert de base à la construction.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Study for Sanctuary », vers 1941-1942. Dim. : 43,2 x 55,9 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Évocateur des plans architecturaux, Study for Sanctuary (1941-1942), constitue une rupture avec les compositions qu’il a peintes au milieu des années 1930. Les Albers explorèrent le complexe de Chichén Itzá, dans la péninsule du Yucatán, dans les années 1940 et 1950. Fondé au Ve siècle, cet ensemble prospéra jusqu’au XVe siècle, devenant l’une des plus grandes cités maya-toltèque. Albers photographia abondamment Chichén Itzá, accordant une attention particulière aux quatre-vingt-onze larges marches escarpées s’étageant sur chacun des côtés de l’immense pyramide qui domine le site, connue sous le nom de Temple de Kukulcán, ou El Castillo. Comme de nombreux bâtiments mayas importants, le temple a été conçu en accord avec les cycles astronomiques. Aux équinoxes de printemps et d’automne, le soleil projette sur la rampe de l’escalier une ombre sinueuse qui descend au fil des heures jusqu’à se confondre avec la tête de serpent en pierre située au pied des marches. Albers réalisa ses photographies les plus saisissantes à Uxmal, dans la péninsule du Yucatán (en 1940 et en 1952), l’un des sites cérémoniels mayas les plus importants et les mieux conservés. L’agencement de la ville, qui abritait autrefois quelque vingt-cinq mille personnes était organisé en fonction des phénomènes astronomiques, comme le lever et le coucher de Vénus. La grandeur des monuments et la magnificence des styles architecturaux d’Uxmal révèlent l’importance de cette ville en tant que capitale du développement économique et sociopolitique de la civilisation maya préhispanique. La pyramide du Devin, ainsi nommée par les Espagnols, domine l’espace. Richement décorée de motifs symboliques et ornée de sculptures représentant Chaac, le dieu de la Pluie, elle incarne l’apogée de la fin de l’art et de l’architecture mayas.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Tenayuca », 1943. Huile sur masonite. Dim. : 57,15 x 110,49 cm. Coll. SFMOMA. Purchase (1984) with the aid of funds from Mr. and Mrs. Richard N. Goldman and Madeleine Haas Russell. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Josef Albers (1888-1976), « Detail of Stonework, Mitla », vers 1937. Photographie argentique sur gélatine. Dim. : 24,7 x 17,7 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Albers compose les peintures de cette période de polygones asymétriques et d’ouvertures centrales en lien avec les vides de l’architecture d’Uxmal. On retrouve l’influence des séries de carrés “enroulés” de la façade du palais du Gouverneur dans les huiles ultérieures. Albers s’intéressa également à l’architecture des maisons traditionnelles en adobe (terre crue additionnée de paille) et de leurs façades peintes de couleurs vives trouées par une fenêtre, remarquées à Oaxaca, au Mexique, et dans le sud-ouest des États-Unis. La série Variant/Adobe (1946-1966) — composée de plus de deux cent cinquante œuvres —, y fait référence. Dans ses croquis préparatoires — certains s’apparentent plus à des diagrammes mathématiques ou à des formules scientifiques qu’à des études traditionnelles de peintures —, apparaissent les calculs permettant de délimiter précisément les surfaces, ses analyses des couleurs et ses notes documentant le type et la quantité de peinture et de vernis employés. Dans ses premiers travaux, il notait ses formules directement sur les œuvres puis, souvent, au dos.

Urne ornée d’un félin nourrissant ses petits, Chancay, Pérou, 800-1300 ap. J.-C. Céramique et pigments. Dim. : 28,3 x 21,3 cm. © Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Inv. YPM ANT.257151.

Figure féminine assise, probablement Campeche, île de Jaina, Maya, Mexique, période tardive classique, 600–900 ap. J.-C. Céramique et pigments. Dim. : 16,1 x 9,7 x 6,9 cm. Gift of Thomas T. Solley, B.A. 1950. © Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Inv. YPM ANT.257063.

Au cours de leurs déplacements en Amérique latine, le couple amassa de nombreux artefacts, témoins de la passion des artistes pour l’art et la culture de ces régions. Près de mille quatre cents objets sont conservés au Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (New Haven). Pour Anni et Josef, les objets mésoaméricains et andins étaient tout sauf « primitifs ». Ils les admiraient pour leur modernité et la capacité des artistes préhispaniques à incarner la forme humaine dans des matériaux élémentaires tels que l’argile et la pierre.

Tissu orné de figures humaines et d’oiseaux, Chimú, Pérou, 1000-1476 ap. J.-C. Coton. Dim. : 63,5 x 58,4 cm. © Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Inv. YPMANT.232177.

Anni Albers (1899 1994), « Red and Blue Layers », 1954. Coton. Dim. : 61,6 x 37,8 cm. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Les techniques qu’Anni utilisait dans ses tissages, trouvent leur origine dans les textiles andins qu’elle collectionnait — près de cent textiles composent la Harriet Engelhardt Memorial Collection (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven). Le couple s’émerveilla du talent des anciens tisserands qui utilisaient de simples métiers à tisser dorsaux pour transformer le fil de coton ou de laine en riches motifs complexes. Anni Fleischmann a vingt-deux ans lorsqu’elle s’embarque dans l’aventure du Bauhaus. Elle s’intéresse à l’atelier du verre coloré, mais le poste est occupé par Josef Albers, son futur époux. Elle qui voulait être peintre, se met au tissage — section réservée aux femmes —, non sans réticence. Au Bauhaus, pionnière dans le renouvellement de cet art, elle incorpore le langage graphique moderne aux pratiques traditionnelles, et réalise ses premiers tissages aux compositions raffinées et complexes, exécutant des tentures murales dont le dynamisme et les sensations visuelles étonnent par leur attractivité. À Mexico, elle n’hésita pas à approfondir sa compréhension du tissage en assimilant de nouvelles techniques auprès d’artisans locaux.

Helen M. Post (1907-1979), « Anni Albers dans son atelier, au Black Mountain College », 1937. © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

En 1944, elle créera un rideau pour la maison des Rockefeller, à New York et sera la première artiste textile à avoir une exposition personnelle, au MoMA, en 1949. Dans les années 1950, elle travaillera avec la firme Knoll pour la réalisation de tissus au mètre et, à partir des années 1960, elle explorera des techniques d’impression telles que la sérigraphie, l’eau-forte, la lithographie et l’impression en offset.

• The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, 88, Beacon Road, Bethany, Connecticut 06524. http://www.albersfoundation.org

• Josef Albers in Mexico, Guggenheim Museum, New York (2 novembre 2017-4 avril 2018) – Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venise (9 mai-3 septembre 2018).

• Small-Great Objects: Anni and Josef Albers in The Americas, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven (3 février-18 juin 2017).

• A Beautiful Confluence. Anni and Josef Albers and the American World,Museo delle Culture (MUDEC), Milan (28 octobre 2015-21 février 2016).

Lee Boltin (1917-1991), « Anni Albers tenant une tête précolombienne », 1958 • « Josef Albers tenant une statuette devant Homage to the Square: Auriferous », 1958. Épreuves à la gélatine argentique. © Lee Boltin. Photos Courtesy the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Inv. 1976.28.926 et 1976.28.923.

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Josef Albers et le Mexique précolombien Josef (1888-1976) et Anni (1899-1994) Albers figurent parmi les pionniers du modernisme au XXe siècle. Josef Albers étudie l’art du vitrail, du dessin et de la peinture à Essen et à Munich avant de rejoindre, en 1920, le Bauhaus — la fameuse école d’architecture et d’arts appliqués fondée par Walter Gropius, en 1919, à Weimar —, où il rencontrera sa future femme, Annelise Elsa Frieda Fleischmann, innovatrice dans l’art du textile.Nommé professeur, Albers est chargé du Vorkurs (cours préparatoire) et dirige l’atelier de peinture sur verre, de 1923 à 1933.

[ryanmeft]

Movie Review: The First Purge

I didn’t see the first two Purge movies. I popped in on the third one, The Purge: Election Year on a whim, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it, though like many movies of its ilk, I barely remember it now. So the idea of the origin of the titular night-when-all-crime-is-legal meant little to me. Incoming Gerard McMurray, taking the directorial but not the writing reins from James DeMonaco, opts to make it about the oppression of black American communities by white nationalist power structures, but making politics a major focus of the movie inadvertently highlights how over-the-top the franchise is. What makes it worth watching are the characters.

Now, I’m not saying they are among the great cinematic heroes. I’m just saying I liked them. They are all black, all working class, and their Staten Island neighborhood has been chosen as the site of a “social experiment” by the authoritarian New Founding Fathers of America party. Nya (Lex Scott Davis) is the apparent leader, or at least the most effective voice, of the opposition. She shows up with a bullhorn at recruitment stations, where the NFFA is paying people five thousand bucks merely to stay on the island during the chaos, and more to “participate”. Echoes of things such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment are apparent. Nya’s ex, local drug honcho Dmitri (Y’Lan Noel), is opposed because it cuts into his business. Her teenage brother Isaiah (Joivan Wade) signs up for the Purge to get revenge on a psychopath named Skeletor (Rotimi Paul) who earlier scarred him, but quickly finds it too much for him. A foul-mouthed older neighbor (Mugga) provides light comic relief.

Nya is a pretty clear stand-in for the Black Lives Matter movement, and it’s probably not a coincidence that the movie takes place in 2014. Dmitri is a drug dealer who cares about his community deep down, which might be a cliche, but is also a big leap from portraying everyone who has ever touched a bag of dope as vicious animals who can be massacred by the hero en masse. The contrast is not made subtle: Nya directly informs Dmitri that the Purge is just one night, but he causes damage all year ‘round, a line that seemed more for the benefit of the audience than for Dmitri. There’s not much to Skeletor; I suspect he is there so that the movie’s villains and good guys aren’t all divided by skin color. He’s needed, though, to give said bad guys some vim. The architect of the program is played by Marisa Tomei as a sociologist who has somehow become convinced the Purge will fix America’s problems. Her rationale never is explained further than that, and Tomei, who can bring warmth and heart to anything, doesn’t seem to know, herself. I doubt there was a real reason; her character’s purpose is to have a relative human on the other side. The full-on antagonist (Patch Darragh) is as frightening as a parade float. His plan, when it turns out most people won’t actually start slaughtering each other at the slightest provocation, is to send mercenaries in to make it look like they did.

There was a time when I’d have said the point of the all-white NFFA massacring a black community to boost their polling seemed obvious. Although it’s now abundantly clear that many white Americans don’t think racism exists (or embrace it), TFP’s treatment of that dynamic is still a blunt instrument. In case “white politicians hiring thugs to make it look like black people are animals” went over anyone’s head, we get an actual shot of motorcycle mercs in Ku Klux Klan gear massacring a church of black people, and a nameless ringleader dressed like a mix between Hitler and Jack the Ripper. McMurray has an eye for a striking image; what he doesn’t have (or hasn’t developed yet) is the ability to trust in that image. A gigantic thug in a Nazi costume amid a hall full of massacred black Americans would be enough, but McMurray and cinematographer Anastas N. Michos highlight the man, force his face into the camera while the lights flicker, and generally make sure we know damn well “There’s a bad guy here!” A similar thing happened earlier in the film, when a presumably homeless extra holding a cardboard sign bearing portents of doom was circled many, many times with the camera, when a brief glimpse of her would have utilized the visual better. The film’s strengths are often forced to push back against an editing job that favors flashing lights, jump cuts and intense close-ups over any kind of sustained focus; a shot of two cackling elderly lesbians above a street baited with exploding teddy bears is especially ridiculous.

What has struck me about The Purge series since I first heard of it is that there is potential for greatness in this premise. The idea of society tearing itself apart is one some filmmakers have done mesmerizing things with. The First Purge doesn’t want to be that, yet still wants to touch on it. There’s nothing here about America that black audiences don’t already know, however, and everyone else is likely just waiting for the gore, which isn’t as pronounced as the last entry. A likable cast can only do so much when the movie around them feels so by-the-books.

Verdict: Average

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts. I suppose you could consider each one as adding a star.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague