Archive | ART RSS feed for this section

Geoff’s Shelf, October

By on October 29, 2009 in ART, EDITORIAL

Art Director Geoff Gossett introduces recent, rare, and random titles that inspire his work at the drawing table.

Continue Reading •

Water Poems & Land Art

By on October 26, 2009 in ART, POETRY

Hillman’s third meditation on the natural elements is aptly described by the Jack Spicer quote that Hillman uses to introduce her book’s third section: “If you watch closely, you will see that water/    appears and disappears in the poem.”

Continue Reading •

Anthologies, Part 2: More Comics, Chinese Flash Fiction

By on October 14, 2009 in ART, FICTION

The seventh installment of Sammy Harkham’s serial anthology  is among the most beautiful commercial books I’ve ever opened. At 16 by 21 inches it now stands in the Molossus office as a spectacular piece of furniture.

Continue Reading •

An Exchange with R. Crumb

By on October 11, 2009 in ART, BEST OF

Robert Crumb’s much anticipated Book of Genesis Illustrated (W.W. Norton, $24.95) will be officially released 18 October. Art Director Geoff Gossett requested an interview for Molossus, but instead engaged in the brief conversation below, over the course of which he found Mr. Crumb to be a as lively and personable in his electronic correspondence as his drawings are on the page.

Continue Reading •

Anthologies, Part 1: On Soccer, Comics

By on October 7, 2009 in ART, NONFICTION

A multi-genre anthology of writers writing about soccer—interestingly published in the only nation to call it by that name. Categorized by theme, from Space to Improvisation to Loss, the collection includes essays on Soccer Moms (David Starkey), a poem from 1100s China about soccer predecessor cuju (Ch’ao Yueh-chih, tr. Red Pine), prose on boycotting the World Cup (Hebe de Bonafini & Matilde Sánchez), social learning in Sierra Leone (Paul Richards), and why one writer’s wife in in love with Peter Crouch (Thom Satterlee).

Continue Reading •

Book Syntax: In Conversation with Sally Alatalo

By on September 28, 2009 in ART, BEST OF, INTERVIEW

Sally Alatalo is Founder and Director of Sara Ranchouse Publishing, perhaps the most intriguing small press in America today, exploring the relationship between the semantics and syntax of books—the relationship and interaction between their imaginary content and their physicality.

Continue Reading •

Bei Dao by Laura Peters

By on September 25, 2009 in ART, BEST OF, POETRY

Bei Dao, among China’s most important living poets, is an emblematic member of the Misty Poets, censored during the cultural revolution for their subversive poetry. His poem “The Answer” was used as an anthem of the pro-democracy movement, appearing on posters at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. 

Continue Reading •

Spotlight China

By on September 25, 2009 in ART, POETRY

Perhaps China’s most important contemporary performance artist, Zhang Huan’s first monograph contains images from his early performance like 65 Kilograms and 12 Square Meters, as well as his most recent work, which more heavily engages with Buddhism. Huan’s work has always emphasized struggle with the limitations of the human body, and this book includes self-portraiture, photography, sculpture, performance, and even an impressive selection of ash-on-linen drawings.

Continue Reading •

Borders, Cantaloupes, & Comics

By on September 21, 2009 in ART, NONFICTION

William Vollmann is known for his writing on poverty and violence, that coupled with his obsession with place makes him the perfect investigative writer to explore the Mexican-American border. Vollman’s 1300-page work explores almost everything there is to explore in Imperial County, California, and the Mexican borderlands beyond the Federales’ checkpoints.

Continue Reading •

Kids & Bagpipes

By on September 16, 2009 in ART, BEST OF

Google the title of Northeast’s new book and you’ll find it, together with a few hundred thousand websites offering a few million opportunities to request prayer. Northeast’s book, not unlike Kevin Huizenga’s Sermons #1 and Sermons #2, plumbs real church life to find inspiration.

Continue Reading •

Three Cities

By on September 8, 2009 in ART

Bell’s new collection of illustrated short stories take place in New York City, mostly in hipster Brooklyn. The book includes stories—in both black-and-white and color—that explore the subculture of the young NYC creative class, truant high schoolers, and being captured by giants. 

Continue Reading •

Silent Satisfaction: Jerry Moriarty’s Comics Reprint

By on September 3, 2009 in ART

It is difficult to say anything about the reissue of The Complete Jack Survives comic series that Chris Ware hasn’t already said  in the introduction.  After being exposed to the book I’m astonished that it is the first time I’ve ever heard of Jerry Moriarty or his work.

Continue Reading •