I came across this painting called "Goldilocks Rages Against the Fall" and thought it was an interesting and different way to use the Goldilocks themes and images.
The artist, Van Arno, has an new exhibition called "A Change of Skin" that opened on Saturday at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, CA (Los Angeles). This exhibition draws from legends and mythology to explore ideas of transformation and evolution.
From BoingBoing:
...The process of transformation and evolution is no easy task, and Arno skillfully narrates a dynamic collection of Darwinian daydreams in his latest series of oil paintings. Werewolves, centaurs and women shed their original skin, emerging as new breeds of enchanted beings and barbaric beasts.
You can read more about the exhibition and see more of the pieces HERE, and at the gallery HERE. (Goldilocks is the only piece I found drawn from fairy tales but those interested in mythology may find other pieces interesting.)
Please note: many of the pictures are NOT SAFE FOR WORK due to 'suggestive' nudity (ie. not classical nudity) and some representations of violence.
You can can see Van Arno's website HERE. His work will be on display until October 24th, 2009.
You may be aware that Fables comic creator Bill Willingham has a novel (the prose kind - which is new for him) on the way titled "Peter and Max" (the story of the villainous Peter the Pied Piper and his twisted brother Max) but did you know there's also a min-series of Cinderella in the works due for release after the novel?
The six-issue spin-off series will be called "Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love" and is due for release in Fall 2010 (I'm guessing the title is an homage to the old James Bond film "From Russia With Love".)
If you don't know about the Cinderella character a la Bill Willingham style here's a description from Newsarama.com:
While the Fables version of Cinderella seems innocent enough, running her tiny shoe store on the streets of Fabletown in New York, she has a secret that doesn't seem to jibe with her immaculate wardrobe and perfectly applied lipstick. Despite her "day job" as a divorced princess who sells shoes, she is secretly a super spy whose well-honed sleuthing skills make James Bond look like a pansy.
(You can read about the Cinderella character from the Fables world HERE in Wikipedia.) While the "Peter & Max" novel details more of the Fabelstown universe and expands on it in a way Bill says he's been unable to do in the graphic novels, the Cinderella series is more of a stand-alone set of stories. Here's a quote from an interview with IGN Comics to help explain in Bill's words:
IGN Comics: I also wanted to get into the Cinderella mini-series that starts in November. Cinderella has always been the secret assassin of Fabletown. How is she going to function now that Fabletown doesn't even exist? Is there a significant change to her mission now?
Willingham: Well, you're right. Cinderella is an assassin. I suppose that's fair. I sort of think of her as the James Bond of Fabletown. If you have a dirty little thing that needs doing and you need it kept off the books and off the record, she's the one you send out to do it. Her story starts when the Fables are still in Fabletown. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but what we've done is sort of written her out of the Fables storyline for the time that this special mission takes place. She's pretty much on her own. She gets involved with Fables outside of Fabletown and starts uncovering all sorts of dastardly things that may be important to Fabletown, but not necessarily tying into current storyline.
...The one thing about Cinderella stories that seems to have shaped up here is that she's okay on her own. You don't just make her one amongst a large cast of Fables. The stories we tell about her are basically that she's this resourceful weapon you can fire at a problem and know that she'll take care of it.
And here's a quote from the Newsrama interview with Chris Roberson who is the main writer Bill Willingham chose to work on the mini-series:
CR: I probably can’t say too much, but what I can say is that Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love is about spies, sex, and shoes; that we find out what happened to Cindy’s Fairy Godmother, and that Happiness isn’t always forever after; and we once-and-for-all learn the burning question of who runs Cindy’s shoe store when she’s away gallivanting.
You can find the whole interview with IGN which talks about "Peter & Max", the Cinderella mini-series and more HERE, and the interview with Newsrama HERE.
A new fairy tale musical is about to tour schools during October in Northland, Minnesota, specifically to raise awareness about the delicate subject of mental illness. (The poster from the September preview run at the Hilton is shown above.)
From Duluth News Tribune:
In this fairy tale, Little Hood has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and gets distracted easily on the way to Grandmother’s house. Sleeping Handsome is a young prince who suffers from depression and decides to prick his finger on a spindle so he can fall asleep for a long time.
Rapunzel isn’t locked in her tower; she is staying there because she has an anxiety disorder that makes her terrified to leave.
Reportedly, the number of children being diagnosed with some form of mental illness is increasing, even among preschoolers, and the musical aims to send the message that suffering from such an illness is indeed a very real issue for kids but can be treated and is nothing to be ashamed of. It even attempts to highlight some positive aspects of some of the conditions, eg:
The hyperactivity that goes along with Little Hood’s ADHD, for example, can make her a great multi-tasker if channeled correctly.
You can find out more about the musical HERE and HERE (from the Star Tribune) including about the students acting both in the production and as ambassadors for mental health (one actor learned how to deal with his anxiety and is seeking to share his 'success story' with other kids) and theories for the rising numbers of children being diagnosed. They have a blog with additional pictures and information HERE. The page from the Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health website (MACMH), profiling the musical, is HERE.
Public performances will be staged from October 22-24 in Cloquet, Minnesota.
There's a new opera about to debut on October 17th in Toronto called "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables". The creator is Robert Lepage (a well known and honored 'theater artist' in Canada) and while an opera based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" is no great surprise (the story was,after all, inspired by opera singer Jenny Lind), this production is a little different.
...Lepage plans to fill a partially raised orchestra pit at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with roughly 30 tonnes of water. His singers will wade in, waist-deep, to manipulate puppets while they perform. The orchestra will play onstage behind them. (Ed. FTNH: Michael Curry, the Puppet Master for the production explains in the video shown near the end of the post, that while the majority of the puppets will be operated by the completely visible singers themselves there will also be black costumed puppeteers manipulating other pieces throughout too.)
...Its unconventional features include acrobats, shadow play and Asian puppetry, all woven into a program of pieces by composer Igor Stravinsky.
Lepage says he has been interested in the idea of combining opera and puppetry since he saw a production of "Oedipus Rex" by JulieTaymor (Creator of Disney's award winning Broadway production of "The Lion King") who's well known for her use of puppets, and the puppeteer Michael Curry who helped him execute his vision for a puppetry-opera meld, and believes he's found the right subject in Hans Christian Andersen's "Nightingale". He's using a libretto written by Stepan Mitussov in 1914 and, because the tale is a short one, is including other small 'animal subject' pieces by composer Stravinsky to round out the program.
Lepage said he especially enjoys working with puppets, which he says is drawing a totally different sort of performance out of his singers.
"It's a pity we can't do all operas like this," he said.
You can see a video of Lepage talking about his inspiration and the making of "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables" below. It's very interesting as he discusses HCA's story construction and storytelling, specifically with regard to puppetry, around the world:
You can see a demonstration of Michael Curry's puppetry for the opera below (this video is a little longer - almost 10 minutes):
The opera sounds very ambitious for both the performers and from a technical standpoint, not to mention quite intriguing. I'm curious to see if it's a success and is staged elsewhere. You can read the rest of the article on the opera and Lepage's philosophy and thoughts on creating the multimedia production HERE.
"The Nightingale & Other Short Fables" will play at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from October 17 to November 5, 2009.
The lovely paintings in this post are by multi-faceted Canadian artist and illustrator Deborah Morriss (who also, incidentally, is involved in opera, though not at all related to this production. You can find more of her work, which includes other fairy tale illustrations HERE.)
This truly is where the world of fairy tales crosses into ours (or is it ours crosses into theirs?). Remember Snow White and the little men she stayed with? When you read about a community of people separating themselves to live and work on their own terms it doesn't seem so fanciful that Snow White would stumble across a dwelling with seven hard working and separated people/men and beg lodging.
Before you get on my case about reporting such a thing and using the word 'dwarf' to refer to real people, let me assure you I'm using their terms and that this village in China is a pro-active movement on their part to take control of their lives and stand against discrimination. The Chinese dwarves set out to make their own village and are now attracting tourists - on purpose. That hasn't stopped it from being a great source of controversy for many.
Jobs are hard to find in China right now and jobs for the disabled are even harder. This community of people have turned their disabilities into an asset and are (reportedly) very happy in their village (please note it's coming out of China).
There are a many different opinions on the community, a few being voiced HERE (mostly by Westerners it seems).
The mountain commune in Kunming, China has only one prerequisite; you must be under 4 feet 3 inches tall. Now the village of 120 dwarves has turned itself into a tourist attraction by living in mushroom-like houses that are like castles and dressing up and living like fairy tale characters (Ed. FTNH: Including Snow White's seven dwarves, according to tourist reports).
An illustration from page 17 of Mjallhvít (Snow White) from an 1852 icelandic translation of the Grimm-version fairytale. (Source Project Gutenberg)
The residents have set up their own police force and a fire department.
...They have formed an "Art Troupe" that creates performances for tourists such as acrobatics, magic tricks, songs and dances. The residents charge an entrance fee to get into the village.
Spokesman from the village, Fu Tien, says this (reported by the UK Telegraph):
"As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people," he said. "But here there aren't any big people and everything we do is for us."
The village is in Southern China near Kunming; a lovely city from all accounts and set in a region of great beauty with such attractions as The Stone Forest and being home to 25% of the world's endangered species. The only thing is, I can't find many pictures to show you at all. There are many of the surrounding area but of the village itself, only the UK Telegraph seems to have pictures to put on the web. I also just noticed Neatorama reported on this today. Perhaps this will send the curious (a.k.a. tourists) - and income - their way.
One more note for you before you relegate all this type to an Eastern way of thinking: You know Coney Island? One of the biggest attractions in the early 1900's used to be Lilliputia (named for the tiny residents of a strange land the Gulliver came across on his Travels of course). It was supposedly a Utopian society of little people that prospered until the whole amusement park burned down in 1911.
Lilliputias midget fire department
Among the most incredible and original attractions was Lilliputian the midget city, 300 midget from the traveling circuses and freak shows of the whole continent was offered a permanent experimental society within the park. As the city only needed to be half size of an ordinary city it was possible to build this utopian cardboard city on a small budget. It was complete with it's own parliament, a beach with midget lifeguards, a midget theatre, stables with small ponies, and a complete midget fire department responding every hour to put out imaginary fires.To exaggerate the scale and enlarge the illusion from time to time giants were instructed to take a stroll within the city..
You can read more about Coney Island and Lilliputia HERE.
This sequence was released just over a day ago by Disney from their upcoming, much anticipated film "The Princess and the Frog".
It's a continuous three minutes and twenty seconds and, it should be noted, most of the footage we've seen before in trailers, specials and featurettes BUT it is a treat to see the pieces put together in order, without cuts, edits and other narration interrupting.
It's the big 'girl kisses (talking) frog' sequence, which, by the way, references the fairy tale the film is adapted from - complete with book. I wonder if the marketing-and-toyable gurus at Disney have thought to make and release this book - I'd buy that. (hint, hint!)
Oh. And don't worry. The actual 'girl-lips-on-amphibian-lips' part is relatively short. :D
Since I posted about writing fairy tale based fantasy this week, I thought I'd draw your attention to a fun little book of writing advice that uses fairy tales to impart writing anecdotes and insights: "Fairy Tales For Writers" by Lawrence Schimel.
It's actually a small book of thirteen, often funny, poems (don't worry - you don't need to love poetry to enjoy this one - it's very accessible for all types of readers). If you like metaphors, imagery and fairy tale archetypes you'll really enjoy it. The tales are used very cleverly to illustrate issues in writing.
One note: when I ordered this book a couple of years ago I was surprised to see how small it was when it arrived. The small size was deceptive. This is a very enjoyable (and useful) book and well worth its price.
Here's a review from amazon.com that says it all:
This small, slender, imaginative, hilarious, and all-to-true 30-page collection of poetry by Lawrence Schimel wonderfully and artfully reflects the almost archetypal hopes, ambitions, frustrations, passions, and processes of writing for publication. Here in a kind of poetic folklore format are 'the new writer who encounters a wolf along the path to publication'; the writing workshop member who must always be 'the fairest of them all'; the writer who for the sake of love gives up her own special voice; the shy, anonymous author who slips away before the end of the reading only to be remorselessly tracked down by the editor wanting to publisher her work. Everyone who has ever put pen to paper, and the tried to submit that paper to a publisher, will recognize the poetically expressed truths in Lawrence Schimel's superb little book, "Fairy Tales For Writers". As the last line on the last page of this marvelous little gem has it: "Sometimes there is a happy ending, even in publishing."
You can read a SF Site review HERE. Click HERE to see more details and order.
Illustrator Pedro Bascon is busy painting his own versions of some fairy and folktales for a 2010 calendar.
I haven't seen a collection quite like this on a fairy tale theme and find that the strong design approach brings a new perspective and emphasis to aspects of the tale/s one may not normally think of.
I love the simple but strong designs. It's not as easy to achieve as one might think. Pedro's work in using a forced 'canvas size' for the design is very pleasing to the eye and communicates the tales instantly - yet there's more to see if you look closely too. It's always interesting to see what results when you put restrictions on a creative work.
You can view some close ups of the pieces by going to his sample page HERE.
You can also find out more about Pedro HERE and contact him directly to ask how to purchase a calendar if you're interested (he's very nice and approachable!).
He is currently investigating how to make his calendar available in the US (his contact details are all on his home page HERE).
Did you know there was a Group for International Fairy Tale Studies? (GIFTS)
They're having a fairy tales conference at the University of Southern Mississippi on October 1st and 2nd. The theme for this year (this is the 4th one) is "Fairy Tale Economies" but before you groan at the title, take a look at some of the topics being discussed:
Conference topics include the cultural and material history of fairy tales and the oral adaptation of stories and folklore across cultures. Internationally renowned faculty will present from a variety of fields on a wide range of subjects, such as literature, print culture and anthropology. Events will include a workshop on how to teach a fairy tale, a reception at the Saenger Theatre and presentations by fairy tale scholars from around the world.
I don't see Dr. Tehrani, who recently announced the results of his studies into the origins of fairy tales, on the speakers list but hopefully he makes an appearance.
And here are a couple of other highlights:
Ellen Ruffin, curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss, has developed an exhibit of fairy tale artwork titled "The Alphabet of Fairy Tales" for viewing during the reception, which Hillard said will be a "feast for the senses."
Keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Schacker, author of National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth Century England, will deliver a highly visual presentation about Victorian fairy tale pantomime theatre. Schacker is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Yay! I'm so please when a visual element is presented with fairy tales as I don't think anyone who grew up with a fairy tale book can completely divorce them from images of one kind or another. Illustrations are part of what makes fairy tales so impacting and resonant with people (I think) for so many reason (I'm sure someone's done a thesis on this topic somewhere!).
The first Panto production of Cinderella was at Drury Lane in 1804.
And you can find out more about fairy tales and pantomime HERE (complete with old posters, movie clips and historical tidbits).
You can read the rest of the details for the conference, including a program, HERE.
The best part about this conference? Anyone can attend- for free! Now if only I were in Mississippi at the beginning of October...
I came across this painting called "Goldilocks Rages Against the Fall" and thought it was an interesting and different way to use the Goldilocks themes and images.
