The Demon Reveals Himself

Last Friday, June 12th, was an historic presidential election in Iran. Many of our loved ones were campaigning for reform in Iran. When the overwhelming landslide for Ahmadinejad was announced, it sparked an initial despair so overwhelming that people felt there was no hope at all for reform. I went to sleep with the dashed hopes of millions and dreamed of a demon right out of the Shanameh. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this demon:

This painting represents an episode described in Firdawsi’s “Shahnamah” (The Book of Kings), the epic story of ancient kings and heroes of Persia composed by the renowned author during the first decades of the 11th century. The text on the fragments recto and verso describes the painting. King Khusraw summons Rustam to help him stop a demon (div) disguised as a wild ass that is ravaging of the royal herds. After three days of unsuccessful battle, the hero falls asleep in the grass. Thereupon, the Div Akvan casts aside his disguise, resumes his demonic form, rushes towards Rustam, and digs up the ground around the hero. He gives Rustam the choice of being thrown against the mountains, to be eaten by lions and onagers, or cast into the sea, where he would drown to his death. Knowing that the enemy would do the exact opposite and realizing that, if cast to the sea, he would have a chance to swim to survival, he asked to be thrown against the mountains. Rustam is cast to the sea, swims back to the shore, and returns to defeat the demon in combat.

In this image, the demon is running wild through a camp of Iran’s revolutionary guard. The photo was taken by Kamran Ashtary.

Brick Tintin

Since I created the brick Superman, brick figures have been haunting me. I’ve dreamed of brick rodeo girls, brick pinups, a brick Wonder Woman, just to name a few. My dreams are of bricks or css code. Go figure.

This installment features Tintin. Tintin helped me learn to read Persian, Dutch, and French. Thank you Tintin or Kuifje or whatever you call him. In this image, a brick Tintin is running across a desert plain in the Iranian province of Lorestan. Kamran took the photo during Sepa-Basigi (Iran’s revolutionary guards and paramilitary volunteers) maneuvers.

The Brick Superman

Superman often features in my dreams. In one dream he was transformed into a monumental stone sculpture in a post-human landscape. This is a take on that dream, if not an exact transcription.

This is the revised version of the dream of Buddha and the bomb

The next dream I am working on features Poison Ivy playing guitar on the wing of an airplane. The bad news about this dream is that I discovered that her band mate Lux Interior died in February. First the Ramones, now the Cramps… The good new is that I discovered Michael Lavine’s gorgeous portrait of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy. I wish I’d taken it.

I’ll Take You There, Staple Singers, City In The Sky
Harry Connick Jr. – With Imagination (I’ll Get There), Harry Connick, Jr., Blue Light Red Light
Who’s There?, Guru, Streetsoul
Reach Out I´ll Be There, The Four Tops, Soul ! – The Very Best Of Motown CD3
There She Goes Again, The Velvet Underground & Nico
Monday, Wilco, Being There
There Is A God, Staple Singers, City In The Sky
Harry Connick Jr. – Blue Light Red Light (Someone’s There), Harry Connick, Jr., Blue Light Red Light
There’s More to Life Than This, Björk, Debut
Smithereens, Annie Lennox, Songs of Mass Destruction
Without Love (There’s Nothing), Tom Jones, TOM JONES
If There Is A Hell Bellow, We’re All Going To Go, Lou Donaldson, Say It Loud !
There Will Never Ever Be Another You, Chet Baker, The Best Of Chet Baker Sings
I Saw Her Standing There, Beatles, Please Please Me
Kodachrome, Paul Simon, There goes Rhymin´ Simon
There Will Never Be Another You, Count Basie And Joe Williams, The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), Eurythmics, Greatest Hits [Europe]

So much of the Dutch art and culture internet presence is a long and controlled lecture that is at times lovely and fascinating but keeps its distance from us and what we might want to say about it. Isn’t it time for a change? I ask you…

Purchase Iran: View From Here, a book of photographs

From A Love Letter from Iran, a review by author Kamin Mohammadi:

In describing Iran one is in danger of wearing out that age-old cliché — this is a land of contrasts — and Tori and Kamran’s book does not attempt to explain away the complexity or many contradictions or try to make sense of them. But within the atmospheric range of images and bittersweet essays printed here, they beautifully capture and communicate the immense charm of Iran, its ability to enslave the heart, and the tenacity of its hold over the affections in spite of the frustrations of living there. Most of all, this book is a visual love letter to a country that can befuddle the mind and nourish the soul all at the same time.

Read the rest online at Payvand.

Available in select bookstores. Click here for availability in Amsterdam.

Click here for a flash preview of the book.

Pay with a credit card or a Paypal account:

Outside the US, use this button:

The price of $23.00 does not include shipping. Shipping takes 1-3 weeks.

Click here for information on how to pay by check or with a money transfer.

Iran: A View from Here features photographs taken over three years of living in Iran. It is a personal account that features images of Iran that not only include the snow-covered mountains and desert expanses that surround the county but also images that define the culture of Iran: images of mourning and celebration, of day-to-day life, and of special events. We’ve captured an Iran that eludes the casual visitor and often escapes the notice of professional photographers. To order a copy of the book, click on one of the “buy now” buttons above.

The cost of the book is $23.00 plus shipping and taxes. Shipping is $2.50 per book in the US and about €6.80 per book outside the US.

“The most elaborate method to try to understand Iran is captured in the pages of this book. To live in Iran like Tori and Kamran have done, means riding a constant rollercoaster of impressions. Every time you think you have it all figured out, Iranians surprise you.”

–Thomas Erdbrink

Thomas Erdbrink is the Iran-based Middle East correspondent for the Dutch daily newspaper NRC. He has worked and lived in Iran since 2001.

Kamran and I saw the documentary film Landscapes Unknown II, which was astounding in its portrayal of the artist’s vision. The filmmakers Melle van Essen and Riekje Ziengs were able to bridge the distance between the the viewer and the artist and, in a sense, give us new eyes to see with.

At one point, the artist Frans Walon who is completely obsessed with capturing the things that he sees says that we all secretly hope that after death we will continue to see. When I heard that, I realized that, of course, he is correct.

If you are in Amsterdam, you can see the film at the International Film Festival (IDFA) at these times:

Tuschinski 2, Thu 29 Nov. 12:30
Tuschinski 4, Fri 30 Nov. 19:00
Compagnie – Grote Zaal, Sun 02 Dec. 16:30

Okay, I am a complete idiot. I hope some of the designers of Stumble Upon read this so that I can tell them how angry I am. I read something like: “add your contacts and see who else is on stumble upon.” SU showed me a page of people I knew. I clicked on “add” or something like that and it added every single contact in my address book.

Years and years of effort to avoid sending spam, automated emails, and other annoying crap down the drain. I’ve avoided opening viruses, avoided sending on chain letters, avoided joining endless annoying viral networks only to have all my credibility ruined by a misleading interface. Am I alone?

Where can I complain about the horrific information design?