Among the chief contributors of the Imaginary, Jahsonic (Jan Geerinck) is undoubtedly one of the most resourceful and finest online. Here you will find some extraordinary pearls from his astonishingly rich and stimulating collections.
Robert Swain Gifford, Roc´s Egg, 1868
To built up the collections, Jahsonic keeps in mind Walter Benjamin's method of literary montage, which is associated with another useful notion, inasmuch as "The rhizome allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points in data representation and interpretation" (Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Capitalisme et Schizofrénie, 1980, vol. 2: "Mille Plateaux").
Jan Willem Geerinck (Belgium, 1965-) is the author of De geschiedenis van de erotiek: van holbewoner tot Markis de Sade (The History of Erotica, from Cavemen to Marquis de Sade), Van Halewyck, 2011. Reproduced on the right, the biggest image is A Witch Riding on a Phallus, a 1732 etching after a now-lost 1530s design by Francesco Mazzola, better-known as Il Parmigianino (1503-1540).
The perceived contradiction between high and low culture is Jahsonic's recurring theme, who believes that both high culture and low culture are minority tastes and as such can be described as subcultures which influence mainstream culture. Importantly, "both high and low culture have produced masterpieces and works of mediocrity" (Jahsonic, 2006).
After Parmigianino, The Witches' Sabbat, c. 1530. "Which follows which?," you ask? Let's answer: While witch follows witch, the artistic Phallus detatus becomes a common Phallus domesticus.
Exploring boundaries, bridges and intersections
Greek sculpture: Soter Kosmoi, bronze bust. Phallic worship idol (Otto Augustus, Wall’s Sex and Sex Worship, fig. 157: "The god Priapus as a cock, from a Greek temple"). Vatican Museum
Gothic sculpture, Gastrocephalic creature, Chartres cathedral
Michael Pacher, St Wolfgang and the Devil, oil on panel, c. 1483. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Hieronymus Bosch, Hell detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych, 1500. Museo del Prado, Madrid
Cornelis Bos, Grotesque, 1546. Netherlandish engraving, 243 x 179 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Lucas Cranach, "Wider das Papsttum zu Rom, vom Teufel" (Against the Papacy at Rome, Founded by the Devil), antipapal pamphlet by Martin Luther, 1545
Joos de Momper, Anthropomorphic Landscape, oil, early 17th century
Wenceslaus Hollar, "The Belly and the Members," The Fables of Aesop (by John Ogilby), print 47, 1673-75
Katsukawa Shunsho (1726-92), "Sakuzozu" (Phallus-Monk), Japanese print from the Hayaku Bobo Gatari series
Kunisada or Toyokumi, The Hell of Great Heat, Japanese print, 1785. Center shows female genitalia devouring a former lover.
Eugène le Poitevin, Les Diableries Érotiques: Eros riding Phallus, France, 1830s
Ibid., Lizard-Phallus
John Ruskin, "Noble and Ignoble Grotesque," interpretative comparison 19th century
Odilon Redon, The Shapeless Polyp Floated along the Bank, a Sort of Hideous, Smiling Cyclops, charcoal, 1883
Cabaret de L'Enfer, Paris, 1910. Photo by Eugène Atget. Entrance recalls the Mouth of Hell in Western iconography, while facade ornaments are intended to look as those in European artificial grottoes. However, the hungry oriental face is no doubt inspired in Asian imagery.
Choi Xoo Ang (Korean, 1975- ), Flying Hands, sculpture
Paul Rumsey, Two Bodyheads, 2003
Resources
A Vocabulary of Culture, 1996-2007. "A website exploring the boundaries, bridges and intersections of culture. The term vocabulary in the title of the website refers to all words on all of the pages (they function as a controlled vocabulary or a taxonomy); but more particularly to a vocabulary which is dear to me: the vocabulary of the non-mainstream. The title itself is inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, in which he explores the sometimes hidden meanings of words and terms in the discourse on culture." The site is a testament to the value of serendipity: finding something unexpected and useful while searching for something else entirely.
Blog, 2006-9
Art and Popular Culture, 2007-14
Microblog, 2012
Robert Swain Gifford, Roc´s Egg, 1868
To built up the collections, Jahsonic keeps in mind Walter Benjamin's method of literary montage, which is associated with another useful notion, inasmuch as "The rhizome allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points in data representation and interpretation" (Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Capitalisme et Schizofrénie, 1980, vol. 2: "Mille Plateaux").
Jan Willem Geerinck (Belgium, 1965-) is the author of De geschiedenis van de erotiek: van holbewoner tot Markis de Sade (The History of Erotica, from Cavemen to Marquis de Sade), Van Halewyck, 2011. Reproduced on the right, the biggest image is A Witch Riding on a Phallus, a 1732 etching after a now-lost 1530s design by Francesco Mazzola, better-known as Il Parmigianino (1503-1540).
The perceived contradiction between high and low culture is Jahsonic's recurring theme, who believes that both high culture and low culture are minority tastes and as such can be described as subcultures which influence mainstream culture. Importantly, "both high and low culture have produced masterpieces and works of mediocrity" (Jahsonic, 2006).
After Parmigianino, The Witches' Sabbat, c. 1530. "Which follows which?," you ask? Let's answer: While witch follows witch, the artistic Phallus detatus becomes a common Phallus domesticus.
Exploring boundaries, bridges and intersections
Greek sculpture: Soter Kosmoi, bronze bust. Phallic worship idol (Otto Augustus, Wall’s Sex and Sex Worship, fig. 157: "The god Priapus as a cock, from a Greek temple"). Vatican Museum
Gothic sculpture, Gastrocephalic creature, Chartres cathedral
Michael Pacher, St Wolfgang and the Devil, oil on panel, c. 1483. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Hieronymus Bosch, Hell detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych, 1500. Museo del Prado, Madrid
Cornelis Bos, Grotesque, 1546. Netherlandish engraving, 243 x 179 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Lucas Cranach, "Wider das Papsttum zu Rom, vom Teufel" (Against the Papacy at Rome, Founded by the Devil), antipapal pamphlet by Martin Luther, 1545
Joos de Momper, Anthropomorphic Landscape, oil, early 17th century
Wenceslaus Hollar, "The Belly and the Members," The Fables of Aesop (by John Ogilby), print 47, 1673-75
Katsukawa Shunsho (1726-92), "Sakuzozu" (Phallus-Monk), Japanese print from the Hayaku Bobo Gatari series
Kunisada or Toyokumi, The Hell of Great Heat, Japanese print, 1785. Center shows female genitalia devouring a former lover.
Eugène le Poitevin, Les Diableries Érotiques: Eros riding Phallus, France, 1830s
Ibid., Lizard-Phallus
John Ruskin, "Noble and Ignoble Grotesque," interpretative comparison 19th century
Odilon Redon, The Shapeless Polyp Floated along the Bank, a Sort of Hideous, Smiling Cyclops, charcoal, 1883
Cabaret de L'Enfer, Paris, 1910. Photo by Eugène Atget. Entrance recalls the Mouth of Hell in Western iconography, while facade ornaments are intended to look as those in European artificial grottoes. However, the hungry oriental face is no doubt inspired in Asian imagery.
Choi Xoo Ang (Korean, 1975- ), Flying Hands, sculpture
Paul Rumsey, Two Bodyheads, 2003
Resources
A Vocabulary of Culture, 1996-2007. "A website exploring the boundaries, bridges and intersections of culture. The term vocabulary in the title of the website refers to all words on all of the pages (they function as a controlled vocabulary or a taxonomy); but more particularly to a vocabulary which is dear to me: the vocabulary of the non-mainstream. The title itself is inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, in which he explores the sometimes hidden meanings of words and terms in the discourse on culture." The site is a testament to the value of serendipity: finding something unexpected and useful while searching for something else entirely.
Blog, 2006-9
Art and Popular Culture, 2007-14
Microblog, 2012
Karel Thole (1914-2000), Illustration of the German pulp fiction novel "Das Monster"
Recommended
Living in the Margins
Images of Witches
Circumcision of Jesus including the Commons Image Collection
1 comment:
Thank you Mariano!
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