Rappaccini's Daughter (unrolled thread from #FolkloreThursday)

For those that missed our exploration of Nathaniel Hawthorne's fairy tale short story Rappaccini's Daughter on #FolkloreThursday (via a thread of tweets over the afternoon), please enjoy it "unrolled" below. The theme for the week was plants and flowers. (Note: Twitter has a limited character count so language is necessarily brief and abbreviated at times to keep concepts within a single tweet. We have kept the original format - tweet by tweet - intact.)

Rappaccini's Daughter is a fairy tale/short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a girl who lives in a poisonous garden, having become poisonous herself due to her botanist/mad scientist father's experiments. A young scholar sees her over the wall & falls in love. #FolkloreThursday 

“..as if she were another flower, human sister of those vegetable ones—more beautiful than the richest— still to be touched only with a glove, nor to be approached without a mask. ...she handled & inhaled odor of several plants, which her father had sedulously avoided.”

Boy enters via a secret door, meets her, idly touches her 'sister' flower, she grabs his hand away - POISONOUS! - he finds a painful burn on it the next day. 

Love and poison spread on through the story. (Read the notes on the room cutaway attached for cool story details.)

"Beatrice is beautiful, but also poisonous. Readers expect a hidden evil (religious allegory). Beatrice maps easily to Eve, Giovanni to Adam, and the rendezvous-enabling landlady to the serpent. But wait - if the garden is Eden why is it all poisonous?" (Ruthanna commentary)

There's a nice tie-in with Visha Kanya - girls bred as assassins. "Their bodily fluids (some say touch or gaze) were rendered poisonous by a careful regimen of poisons countered by antidotes, until the immune assassin was in her own person a deadly weapon." Hello Poison Ivy!

Check this graphic summary of the Poison Ivy & Rappaccini's Daughter connection/similarities (including that Hawthorne's story has a strong underlying eco-message & Poison Ivy is actually an eco-warrior with zero subtlety). May need to right-click-open in separate tab to read.

There are some issues with the innocence/naivete of Beatrice - does she have to be so clueless?- but the science versus nature aspect of the tale is interesting, esp. as it underscores feminist issues (whether intentionally or not). Sadly it ends tragically -of course.

It's a rich tale that could use some attention as a movie or short series, especially with a sensitive writer keeping the layers intact while updating. Perhaps Beatrice secretly had a (plant-born) daughter before she died & named her Pamela... (aka Poison Ivy's birth name).

The beautiful animation development you've seen in this thread is by the talented Chi Ngo. You can see more of her work on this project (sadly never developed into a film) here: chi-ngo.com/rappaccini/

Rappaccini's Daughter seems to be most often 'retold' in operatic circles and it's easy to see why. Check out some of these beautiful productions.

It's difficult to find novels that have mined this treasure, but here's a couple: "The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter" (@theodoragoss) has Beatrice as a character; "A Fierce & Subtle Poison" (Samantha Mabry) set in Puerto Rico using local folklore, bases the novel on it.

Favorite related books: "The Poison Diaries" hardcover by Jane Duchess of Northumberland (Author), Colin Stimpson (Illustrator) is part botanical workbook and part diary of a boy's (named Weed) own relationship with poisonous plants. The novel, "The Poison Dairies", tells the story.

Here are some of the amazing illustrations created for the 'journal' by Colin Stimpson.

Favorite #2 is "Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities" by Amy Stewart (Briony Morrow-Cribbs-Illustrator), which, interestingly, opens with a Hawthorne quote from "The Scarlet Letter" & discusses Rappaccini's Daughter in the intro.

There's even a coloring book...

And an exhibit based on the book! Check out the video promotion in which the author speaks about her book, poisonous plants and creating the storytelling exhibit. (It's super cool!)

I'll finish by adding a screenshot of the quote which links "The Scarlet Letter" and "Rappaccini's Daughter", from the beginning of "Wicked Plants" (by Amy Stewart). 

(Art above by Marta Dahlig-Orlowska, "The Poison Garden")

Thank you for exploring this fairy tale femme fatale with me today! 

Note: The Poison Ivy portrait is by Joshua Middleton - Variant cover of Batman vol. 3, #26 (Sept. 2017)

To-tal Eclipse of the Sun! (♪ ♫ Da-Doo ♪ ♫)

We had to pop back to the newsroom to comment on the inciting/climactic event of many fanciful stories, which is happening TODAY (August 21st, 2017), that is, the once in 100-ish year event (in North America) in which there is a ♪ ♫ To-tal Eclipse of the Sun! ♪ ♫

Solar eclipses... remind us, in a striking, purely visual way we can't ignore, that even something as basic as the sun shining in the middle of the day can get ... tweaked. 

It's unsettling. 

Films are a visual medium, and several Hollywood movies have employed solar eclipses as a kind of shorthand to signal to audiences that the normal rules have temporarily lifted, and things are about to get weird. (NPR) 

A notable fairy tale appearance would be the total solar eclipse in the underrated fairy tale 'Ladyhawke'. (Just put up with the 80's soundtrack. The story is totally worth it and we're not the only ones who think so. Want a fairy tale rundown on why this movie should rank high in your fairy tale movies list and could even be considered revisionist? Take a look at this awesome article, Is Ladyhawke the Best Fairy Tale of Them All? by Leah Schnelbach over on Tor.com.)

The other two main fantasy stories are:

'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' (in which the 'Yankee', having a knowledge of the future, thanks to his fortuitously-handy, modern almanac, threatens to blot out the sun in Camelot, unless they release him, which they hurriedly do when the eclipse makes itself apparent...)

... and, of course, the odd appearance of the legendary Audrey II during a ♪ ♫ To-tal Eclipse of the Sun! ♪ ♫ ('Little Shop of Horrors'), which changed Seymour's (and Audrey's) life, and, in the director's alternate version, the lives of a whole city's worth of people, and more.

Also of note, since eclipses are all the rage today, is the possibility of a Lunar one being referred to in the Grimm's 'The Hare and the Hedgehog'. (See the paper proposing the idea HERE.) It is, perhaps, a little bit of a stretch (at least from our perspective) but an entertaining theory, nonetheless (and a good reason to take another look at a lesser known fairy tale).

Interestingly, while we find tales including an eclipse preclude the breakings of curses, and turns of fortunes to the better, as well as rare (and often supernatural) opportunities, folklore generally sees them as foreboding, with common mentions of dragons and giant beings (wolves, jaguars etc) swallowing the sun or being released to do their worst on the earth. (See the Smithsonian folklore roundup on eclipses HERE.)

And there's more interesting eclipse folklore HERE via Alamanac.com.

Those of fae circles and magik disciplines however, encourage the approach that an eclipse is more about a portal - an opportunity to bring about change and new beginnings (see NPR's roundup on those HERE).

And then there's the animal reaction, which is wonderful fodder for tales old and new. Check out this really cool simulation courtesy of CNN:

Whichever approach you take, it's a dramatic opportunity for 'something', especially when it comes to tales.

However you mark this event, take care of your precious eyesight and practice safe viewing! Happy Total Solar Eclipse 2017 folks!

NOTE: It is suggested that you keep your cats and dogs (all pets actually, chickens included) indoors so they won't damage their eyes or go blind during the eclipse as well. Stay safe and bright eyed everyone!

Huldufólk: Iceland Residency Exhibition celebrates hidden folk & folklore of the land

"Rain" by Justin Oaksford

There's been a renewed world-wide interest in Iceland's rich mystical heritage and land in the past few years, which is wonderful to see. We get excited about this because the fairy tales and folklore are, at first glance, very different from the wood based fairy tales and folklore most people are familiar with and associate with fairy tales, which brings a greater awareness to different types of tales world wide. Though at first look they might appear very different from the canonical fairy tales, it really doesn't take long to notice that these tales have grown out of the land, traditions and peoples, just like tales from other places have. And just like folk visiting the Black Forest in Germany feel close to and inspired by wonder tales, so too, it seems, that people visiting Iceland cannot help but feel that folkloric vibe, directly off the land itself.

"Near" by Bridget Underwood

"Troll Hill" by Andrew Olson

Light Grey Art Lab's Huldufólk Exhibition is all about unique Icelandic, land-based wonder, which, no surprise, includes folklore and fairy tales. Although not all pieces have clear depictions of folkloric creatures, and many pieces of the exhibition are straight landscapes, it doesn't take too much squinting to see giants, trolls and large land people crouching and brooding over the world in those paintings and sketches either. Do you see a sleeping giant head, with pointy beard, in the landscape below like we do?

"5" by Erin McGuire

The exhibition, which even with just a handful of specifically folklore and fairy tale focused subjects, inspired storytelling, grew out of a special, on location residency. A group of (lucky!) artists traveled to Iceland and toured, bringing their art supplies with them of course, to study the landscape and be inspired by the natural and mystical wonders in person. The exhibition is a collection of work created (or at least started) during the tour.

Huldufólk Exhibition celebrates the hidden folk, trolls, fairies and folklore found in Icelandic culture. The faces in the rocks, hidden pools, smoking earth, and ever-surprising landscape influences some of the characters and mythology inherent in Iceland storytelling. The Huldufólk Exhibition includes artwork by the artists that attended the Light Grey Iceland Residency in 2015. Each artist exhibits a unique collection of prints and originals inspired by their experiences in Iceland.

"To find your way in bad weather" by Kate O'Hara

"Thunder" by Justin Oaksford

"Iceland Proverb: The Hills" by Michelle Schwartzbauer

"Hrafntinna" by Corey Godbey
(who illustrates here how John Bauer's work grew out of the mythical landscapes of his beloved Scandinavian countries)

"To avoid ghosts and evil spirits" by Kate O'Hara

"Hear" by Bridget Underwood

Light Grey Art Lab brings together artists and designers from all sorts of disciplines to learn, educate and exhibit together, with the goal of fostering a 'global creative community'. Artists are welcomed to participate, submit from all over the world for various exhibitions, events and for special residencies, and it's no surprise to see folklore and fairy tale subjects pop up quite often - both as themes for an exhibit or as part of one. We've subscribed to make sure we don't miss out on anything wondrous in the future.

#MermaidsHatePlastic

It's due to such enduring fairy tales as The Little Mermaid that campaigns such as these have a truly personal and emotional impact.

Unlike just seeing 'pretty pictures' of fantasy creatures and objects created out of trash to promote awareness of waste and environmental danger, beloved fairy tales access the emotions of those who have loved the tales. The many versions of the fairy tale in books and film (and, yes, Disney) have already stirred the imaginations of people, especially young people, around the globe. They relate to the plight of The Little Mermaid - her wish to be part of the world, to not be segregated, to have a voice and so much more, and once connected, they remain so.

After tale familiarity, it only takes an image alluding to a beloved fairy tale character for an important message such as this one to get through, and that's what photographer and visual artist, Benjamin Von Wong, harnesses very effectively.

Frankly we encourage using fairy tales and fairy tale imagery to galvanize people to action here, as the urgency of this issue is such that marine biologists and other scientists around the world are now predicting that bird and marine life will be decimated within three decades because of plastic in our oceans!

Discussing the problem in Australia alone, The Boomerang Alliance (Australia's prime campaign group on waste and recycling) lists multiple, serious issues to the eco-system and wildlife, but if that's not reason enough to take the issue seriously, they add that "every time you eat seafood you’re potentially ingesting these same indestructible plastic particles into your own body".

Yikes.

From news.com.au:

By the year 2050 there will be more plastic rubbish floating in our oceans than fish unless we make some drastic changes to the way use and dispose of plastic materials.  

To raise awareness of the ocean’s urgent plight, Benjamin Von Wong, a renowned Canadian conceptual photographer and conservationist, has developed an epic visual movement called #mermaidshateplastic, which he hopes will draw the world’s attention to the grave threat plastic waste poses to the world’s oceans.

Using his signature hyper-realistic art style, Von Wong photographed models transformed into ‘mermaids’ ‘swimming’ amid 10,000 discarded plastic bottles he used to represent the sea. The ambitious shoot took place in a Montreal warehouse where Von Wong staged each of his scenes and photographed from above. 

Currently in Australia, Von Wong spoke to news.com.au about the #mermaidshateplastic campaign, which launched globally last week. 

“To me, the ocean is … like space but on our own planet and it’s something I find really fascinating,” Von Wong says. “But, virtually every single piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists on the planet today and if we do nothing, by 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the sea and that’s terrifying.” 

As an artist, Von Wong says that while he isn’t able to find the tangible solution to this problem, he’s chosen to apply his creative skills to draw the world’s attention to the ocean’s urgent plight. “I’m not a plastics engineer, I can’t create a new material, I can’t impact policy but what I can do, hopefully, is drive awareness,” Von Wong explains. 

Take a look at the creation process, which, by the way, uses collected beach and recycling waste for materials:

You can read the whole article HERE, along with ideas on how to halt the cycle of waste in easy ways every day, help the process of cleanup with just seconds of action, and, ultimately, stop plastic from not just being part of our world, but destroying it.