2024-05
Stephen Sprott
World Cinema
For a very long time I’ve been pickpocketing very short bits of film. I look for shots that are a bit free-floating, slightly disconnected from the rest of the story, what one calls ‘cutaway’ shots. That’s what they are asking for, to be cut out, set loose. And now that I have lots and lots of them, it’s interesting to see how they behave with one another. One can splice them together in any number of ways and find that they are quite expressive. Cutaway shots are peripheral by nature. They suggest the environment in which the story takes place and therefore consist largely of streets, houses, storefronts, cars, cityscapes, landscapes, sunsets. Cutaways show us what the weather’s like. Dark clouds converge, rain falls, and then they part. Or course these things help convey the mood of the story being told and they give a kind of proof that this particular fiction happened in a certain place in the world and at a certain time. On their own though, shorn of their romance films, sunsets are suddenly free to just be sunsets. They join a near endless series of vignettes of the planet conducting it’s affairs. Sometimes these shots are rapturous, reveling in the vast and ephemeral glories of light and shadow, color and texture. Other shots are dim and drab, catching the workaday rhythms of life. And sometimes they are foreboding. Plumes of smoke, parched land, floods, industrial waste. When they come from films now decades old, watching them feels like scrolling backwards through countless alarming news headlines. One despairs to consider this and to imagine the dystopian scenes that loom ahead. Nonetheless, all of these fragments represent discrete moments in the world that can never again be repeated. Each one like a single breath.
Stephen Sprott
February, 2024
Collage by Stephen Sprott
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New Arrivals
COSMIC WONDER
THAT OLD MAGIC
We are pleased to announce the new arrivals of “THAT OLD MAGIC” collection on Saturday, June 1st at Center for COSMIC WONDER.
Collection of cotton linen Garabou. Tweeds with a hand-woven look and feel, slowly woven on old-style shuttle looms, interwoven with organically grown cotton spun yarn and linen. Collection includes: Belted coat with raglan sleeves, and Work jacket inspired by European 18th -19th century work wear. Colors are Ash violet jade, Peach jade.
Collection of suvin cotton broadcloth. Precious extra-long staple cotton grown in South India with a small yield. It has a silky suppleness, a beautiful luster, and an excellent texture. Collection includes: Wrapped dress and farmer dress with voluminous sleeves, Pleated shirt with the end of 19th century old- style collars, Big pleated shirt, and Basic wrapped pants. Colors are Black, Ash violet jade, Peach jade and Sandalwood charcoal.
We look forward to your visit.
COSMIC WONDER
THAT OLD MAGIC at Elbereth
We are pleased to announce our new collection presentation at Elbereth, Kyoto.
Collection superimpositioned of beautiful shining foil and old owl printed patterns. The patterns are printed on cotton linen typewriter in the motif of owl floral patterns. The print is an evolution of technology, incorporating the hand technique of Kyoto Yuzen into a machine. Items include a uniquely structured coat that can be folded in two and worn over, wrapped pants, bow-tie shirt and shirt wrapped dress with bow-tie, and a tote-bag.
Collection reconstructed antique underwear from the 19th century. The artistic pieces, which vary in materials and details, are handcrafted one by one. Items include tasuki, veil hat, and pillow cover dress.
Collection of silk paper grogram, a traditional silk cloth woven in Tango, Kyoto. In ancient times, silk was introduced to Kyo-Tango and developed as Tango chirimen, and the tradition is still carried on today. Items include a large circular dress, a dolman sleeveless collarless jacket, and a 50’s shirt dress.
Collection of cotton linen weather, a strong cloth that is densely woven and windproof. Items include a CW basic haori coat and tattsuke pants that copy the shape of Japanese work clothes.
Collection of cotton silk broadcloth. Items include shirts for tea master, basic wrapped pants, and wrapped dresses with flared sleeves.
Please enjoy this opportunity to come our new collection all at Elbereth.
We are sincerely looking forward to seeing you at the exhibition.
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Exhibition period:
May 18ー 26, 2024
*AAWAA will be present on May 18
Venue:
Elbereth
1-2 Ushiwaka-cho, Shichiku, Kita-ku, Kyoto
Open noon – 6:30pm
Drawing by Stephen Sprott