Hosts, ghosts, visitors For some years I have been making archaeological visits to Bornholm, the Danish island south of Sweden. Rock art, unique prehistoric sites and monuments, medieval settlement, churches and castles, rune stones, fishing industry, cold war relics, an arts community since the nineteenth century, contemporary heritage and tourism. The mingling remains of many…
ruins and remains
Figuration
Three ancient figurines from Freud’s desk. Charcoal drawing by Robert Longo [Link] after a photograph taken as Freud left Vienna in 1938.
Speculative author
Hans Christian Andersen at Tivoli Amusement Park, Copenhagen [Link]. August 10 – here’s his desk at the H.C. Andersen Hus in Odense [Link]. The museum/center/garden/experience is remarkable tribute to the extraordinary range of his work. I had not appreciated his sophistication – fabulation, science fiction, psychology, collage, papercuts, letter writing …
IN MEMORIAM
Warkworth, Northumberland UK. Seats set up along the River Coquet in memory of those who enjoyed the view.
Tower in the North
Edlingham, Northumberland UK. Series – TVRRIS. (The tower appeared on the cover of my 1992 book Experiencing the Past – [Link] ) Archaeographic notes: There emerged in eighteenth-century Europe a distinctively modern aesthetic of ruin, part of an antiquarian and romantic sensibility. This series aims to question, reconfigure, reanimate the picturesque castle ruin in the…
Mik Critchlow
Extraordinary documentary photography from Mik Critchlow (1955-2023) — Ashington, Northumberland, once the biggest pit village in the world. Pitmen’s Requiem — see my work on the Durham Miners Gala – [Link] I came across his work on a visit to Woodhorn Museum [Link] — the last remains of the north-eastern coal industry — several hundred…