.. Muted days and lingering sounds .. October .

The magical mohair scarlet sofa .. 

that was once the focal point 

and center of attention at the Musée16 .. 

is now going to be living in the center 

of my living room .

It was found in an old antique shop 

up in Portland down by the river .

Sat marvelously in the center of 

the Musée in an old Pharmacy ..

Moved down to the historic 

Santora Building and then over the

Fish Factory in downtown 

Los Angeles .

I love this tattered gem of a place

to linger and lounge ,

it's unknown history and all of the

artists that have sat on it .

~~~

And ..

I have spent the last few months organizing

and re~organizing my closet here and there

in my spare time .. pulling out of the bottom of bins with care ..

pieces of clothing that inspire fall and far way places

from another time . This photo has been my muse .

Tangos in dark cobblestone alleys ,

shadows in the distance ,

layers upon layers ..

October and November .

Sounds of the days becoming shorter ..

The words languish and linger .

And 

the exquisite soundtrack 

in the background of my mind most of the time ..

.. Banish the word 'escape' ..

{photo by Miroslav Tichý}

"Q. Unknown: I am interested in so many things, and I have a terrible fear because my mother keeps telling me that I’m just going to be exploring the rest of my life and never get anything done. But I find it really hard to set my ways and say, “Well, do I want to do this, or should I try to exploit that, or should I escape and completely do one thing?”

A. Nin: One word I would banish from the dictionary is “escape.” Just banish that and you’ll be fine. Because that word has been misused regarding anybody who wanted to move away from a certain spot and wanted to grow. He was an escapist. You know if you forget that word you will have a much easier time. Also you’re in the prime, the beginning of your life; you should experiment with everything, try everything…. We are taught all these dichotomies, and I only learned later that they could work in harmony. We have created false dichotomies; we create false ambivalences, and very painful one’s sometimes -the feeling that we have to choose. But I think at one point we finally realize, sometimes subconsciously, whether or not we are really fitted 

for what we try and if it’s what we want to do.

You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too. No, I think there was too rigid a pattern. You came out of an education and are supposed to know your vocation. Your vocation is fixed, and maybe ten years later you find you are not a teacher anymore or you’re not a painter anymore. It may happen. It has happened. I mean Gauguin decided at a certain point he wasn’t a banker anymore; he was a painter. And so he walked away from banking. I think we have a right to change course. But society is the one that keeps demanding that we fit in and not disturb things. They would like you to fit in right away so that things work now."

...
side notes ..

{ The three summer reading books that I am rotating are ... The Burroughs File by William S. Burroughs that I picked up at City Lights Books on my last visit to San Francisco .. Marcel Duchamp ~ The Afternoon Interviews that a friend sent to me after reading it .. And The Diary of Anais Nin ~ Volume Three 1939-1944 .. 
A 1969 first addition that I found in a local bookshop .}  

{Woman holding opium pipe , Mexico City 1930s ,
by Miguel Victor Casasola ..
Notice the tail.}

.. in the installation category ..

 Just Found out that SoundMaps 

received an award for the 2nd 2015 Showcase Winner in

the Installation Category !

This detail is a collaboration I did with 

James D. Olsen and his lovely sound

and wiring expertise .

Very much looking forward to 

 SoundMaps going on a tour

this year !

Here are the other five artists that

have been selected in this category ..

http://www.artslant.com/ny/showcases/showcase?sublist=44%5Einstallation

.. fragments .

Thought for the day .. 

{after watching an old interview with David Bowie}

Think in

.. Fragments .

{above}

'Angst vor der Angst', Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAAJ4tTs91Q

..Sites and sounds .. and I finished my new website .

.. I have been working on this one since January . 

And it's finished !

It has some of my art , installation 

and production design on it .

I think it looks pretty good . 

{click on images for my site and secret sounds

of what I'm listening to}

   http://www.noellemaline.com/

It's not night time but it's dark

.. A dark and still 3:33am check in ..

Heard a noise outside ..

Fugu got up to patrol the backyard . Just a raccoon . It's quiet outside but I can hear the sprinklers go on next door . The house is pitch black . I kicked a bag .

I can't get the melody of this song out of my head..

It kept playing even after I fell asleep and then was still playing

when I awoke.

...

{ illustrations by Harry Clarke from a 1923 

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by E.A. Poe }

I'm now sitting on the couch with Fugu next to me..

Reading about Places never to go Trick or Treating .. Ever !

I'll try to go back to sleep before it gets light.

https://roadtrippers.com/blog/americas-absolute-worst-places-to-trick-or-treat-this-or-any-halloween

shhh.. an exhibition by the sea ..

... shhhhh .. as she said secretly in a whisper ..

I'm in an exhibit up north by the sea ..

http://oblastprvodce.blogspot.com/

http://noellemaline.tumblr.com/

.. thought for a day . Kurt Kranz .

A seascape of intrigued-ment..

1930's collage 

simply gorgeous

works by

Kurt Kranz

{my thoughts on compartmentalizing}

 { I am in love with these }

{read more about Kurt Kranz.. click on images}

Dear Mr. Lynch ..

 A very Happy Birthday to you ..

{David Lynch}

And also..

Thank you for for creating such splendid all

around wonderful things ! The sounds you have 

created, have been a soundtrack and in the background 

to so many variations of my life. Your artwork and 

array of films are inspiring over and over ..

{Jack Nance and David Lynch on the set of

Eraserhead}

I will never get tired of finding new

things, angles and the sparking of

different ideas from all of your work.

an interview with Anna Karina

.. And how she came to France .

She once went three weeks without eating.

1972 french television interview with Nico in the background ..

The sky is overcast today.

I'm going to work on straightening up the 

living room a little.. so that when my friends

come over tomorrow

they will have warm places to sit.

I'll start on the sage, walnut and mushroom stuffing

later this evening... And then tomorrow the caramelized

brussel sprouts.  The house will smell so good.

Listening to Nico in the background.

an interview on french television with Nico ...

November... wondering daydream

.. sometimes I get lost 

and daydream off on another

track.. Lately ~

Iv'e been watching some wonderful

movies : The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution is

one that I highly recommend.

And watching Black Books over again.

And ~ Spent some time for my birthday with the

happy sea otters in Shell Beach.

There were zebra's and ostrich running

around in San Simeon. Llama and goats on the

hill sides in Big Sur.

Also~  I've been working on getting some

art exhibitions in places I might like

to travel to..

I would really love to go to

Argentina again..  and might stay there

perhaps. Somewhere in the back

of my mind.

For now

and to be cont...

october xylophones

It's October..

Iv'e been getting my costume together for a night of 

trick or treating on closed desolate streets late at night.

.. spending a lot of time, during the day, listening to

the sounds of xylophones.

And in the evenings..

 watching forgotten movies.

Modern Jazz Quartet plays Lonely Woman in 1962..

nico ~ the ice queen

 

In 1969 ~ Nico had progressed in looks from

a princess to a peasant. It had been a sluggish journey,

starting with hair tinged a pale strawberry to

please Jim Morrison, to the boots of Spanish

leather she continually wore, then working in from either 

end to effect a seamless mood of rustic grace. 

(She'd smell like a pig farmer sometimes,

she washed so little, grumbled Viva).

Nice was still obsessive about the effect of

her appearance, and when she spoke to

an American magazine in March 1969

she advised others to follow a simple rule:

'Simple means elegant, black means

dramatic, simple and black means elegant

and dramatic - this is a good foundation.

I have even tried perverse combinations,

such as black with brown leather which

I created in my own look.

because it was simple it worked,

and you see it everywhere now.'

'My solution is to underline my Russian-ness. I think

it makes me look as though I am from another world

or another time, which is quite true.'

{about creating The Marble Index)

John Cale was amazed by her preparation: 'She'd written

all the words down. They were clear on paper,

in that spidery gothic script of hers. But

I never saw a manuscript with a lot of 

corrections on it. I only saw - like, if she 

would be sitting down and writing 

something, I'd sneak a look (I think she

would have hated that, had she caught me),

and there was no crossing out. A lot of

thought, and awful lot of thought, had been

given to it before it went down on paper.

That's remarkable, when you think of her

working in an alien language.

And once it was down there, 

it wasn't changed.

She was very confident in her style.

{excerpts from The Life and Lies of an Icon}

Whispering through the other end.. Edith Piaf

Edith Piaf is playing through the speakers in the living room..

and bringing some far away inspiration into this Monday morning.

 And even though it is a holiday for some {labor day}..

For me feels as though there is a bit of work to be done.

From my angle.. Surrounding me are stacks of boxes and books. 

Barware and brushes. Lamps and wires. Mounds of textiles and

old magazines waiting to be searched through and cut out.

Let me bring you up to date.

The month of July was spent packing up the two year gallery installation 

at the fish factory. Day after day was spent wearing old dirty work 

coveralls. Moving, packing, sorting, lifting, driving, unloading...  

Then coming home and finding new bruises on different 

parts of my body.  On the last day of that month.. 

The musee was completely disassembled, the walls were bare and 

the keys were left on the counter as 

we said adieu.

For the month of August.. There were three well needed 

road trips.. A bit of catching up and relaxing with good friends ..

out where there was no service. 

Only mountains, trees and fresh air.

 Up to date...

The house and recently completed studio under the pepper tree..

which are now filled to the roof with art, books, 

frames and old furniture from the gallery... 

Need to be sorted through.

 Edith is assisting me { in the background }

with going through everything and deciding

what is really important and what can be used in the next 

installment of installations. 

The interior goal should be reached in no time.. Having it look like

 a refined yet cluttered Argentine/Parisian cafe/studio 

photograph taken out of an old moldy

decor book.