Tim Burton

Tim Burton Publishing, Inc. (Dark Horse Deluxe)

Playing Cards

2009

     Fifty-two paper scales of pure quirkiness. From a pin-haired, bad-postured bobble head creature to one whose bulbous green balding scalp boasts of no more than three strands of poorly-coiffed fluff, each illustration offers its card a unique insight into the many-wheeled, illustrious mind of Tim Burton. His drawings are simple; they refrain from overwhelming the otherwise blank space with too much contemporary pretension. Rather like singular leaves floating aim-fully (contrary to what many may assume) on the face of a wide, still lake, the illustrations seemingly bask in bays of calm silence inherent in their cards’ flat shape. They swirl gently within their four-sided realms, lost in thought as they possibly ponder the strange weirdness they see in our, the audience’s, own world. They have purpose; they remain fixedly separate from the over-faceted woes and ways borne from our world. They are modestly confident. They are happy and free, senselessly so, and always willing to play (and win) at their own game.

An Ever-Budding Culture

Leningrad State Hermitage (main collection)

Enamelled Silver Jewellery Box with Lid

circa 1679

     Vibrant, dainty and immaculate. Rather like musical notes eloquently drawn along their registered sheets, each flower head garnishing this box stretches and un-furls in a similar, albeit mirrored, fashion. They sing of a time that is now past; of a lady (or man) whose wearable treasures once happily nestled within the safety of their miniature confines. They silently relate to us their unified story of all that they have yet seen, even though we may only ‘hear’ it through studying and questioning their aged, weathered faces. Sinuous and sweet, the flowers’ enamelled complexions grace the box like twelve separate caryatids, each in its own niche of individual prominence and each, undoubtedly, an invaluable chapter fortifying the memory of s/he whose hands lovingly created the box from the very beginning.

21st Century Short Film

Friend Request Pending (directed by Chris Foggin)

starring Tom Hiddleston, Philip Jackson and Judi Dench (etc.)

2012

     In no more than twelve minutes’ screen time, Judi Dench brilliantly enacts the trivial woes and fever-some turmoils classically evoked by social networking. Through her aged 60-something character, Mary, she illustrates the unyielding ups and downs of mood inflicted by the ways of Facebook, as merciless and tiresome as they can sometimes be. In the hopes of securing a date with a gentleman whom she terms ‘a real fox’, Mary ‘Friend Requests’ him and, within a matter of moments, finds herself attempting to assume a role far unlike her own - that of an online coquette. Almost predictably, an all-too familiar sense of near-sightedness sets in on the scene. Robert, the man in question, seemingly fills the shoes of one who takes a few precious millennia to respond to a message, thus initiating a debilitating frustration in Mary. As the viewers, we witness an almost comical deterioration of her common judgement; she loses her dignified sense of self while pondering aloud illogical worries of what might lay behind Robert’s elusive actions. For a brief pause in time, Mary falls prey to the virtual deceit of the internet, translating the ambiance of the peaceful, light-coloured dining area in which she sits into an extension of endless muddle and mild, un-anchored chaos. The climax of the film’s story nearly pinnacles with the viewers’ collective pity for Mary (what with the consideration of her age and the wisdom expected to accompany it) when it is she, however, who reigns tall in the end. Reason regains prominence in her perspective, enabling her to recall that true communication lies in motive and effort, and not simply on a freely accessible digital platform. Foggin’s film is a work of art in that it encompasses a great lesson in so little a frame and, most importantly, that it serves as its own clever ‘Poke’.

Ways of India

by a Rajasthani jeweller

Wedding bracelet

circa 1990s

     Meant to colourfully enhance the countenance of one who is about to step beyond a certain youth into the realms of married life, this bracelet traditionally rests along a woman’s (or, in many unfortunate cases, a child’s) bare upper forearm. Its red-flamed tassel, chorded to finely-strung cotton and gilt threads, hangs at a length from which one’s fingers may easily tug and tighten the bracelet at will. Entirely hand-sewn and pieced together, its face of beads may either be gilt silver or (for those who may afford more) entirely gold, with this particular bracelet being that of the former style. The beads’ supportive orange-and-green weave connects to two thread-wrapped stems, ending by one end forming a thick loop through which the other end, headed with a ridged gilt bead, may be slipped and securely tussled. Still a contemporary design favoured among Indian women of nearly all castes, a wedding bracelet such as this is nonetheless worn by those with privilege and fortune. It is a piece whose vibrant heritage reverberates with all that was and is Mother India, though whose beauty cannot always be held or beheld by all of her children.

21st Century Film

The Revenant (directed by A.G. Iñárritu)

starring Domnhall Gleeson, Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio (etc.)

2015

     This film contains a rich trove of contemporary talent. Of its many scenes, each as diverse and poignant a vignette as those which precede or follow, not one lacks character. They saunter and stretch among one another with supple ease, like the bellows of an accordion, each accorded a role to specially galvanise the audience with its invaluable visuals and each fixedly and faithfully remaining in its allotted space, therefore forming a series of shots which could not be appreciated in any other order. From scenes in which there are but moments of silent, skyward-bound views of forest canopies and brittle, frost-cloaked fields to those which teem with primitive tensions and the raw, beautiful dramatics of nature, there brews a singular, unified voice of a man who is just as much fighting to survive as he is surviving to fight. Played by the wonderful DiCaprio, Hugh Glass is forced to not only trudge through harsh seasonal conditions and unimaginable, unfortunate events, but equally through the torturous and often unseen turmoils of human nature. The film illustrates his journey in various shades dependant upon Glass’ state of mind, something which is nearly always fringed with a shadow of hopelessness, however slimly. The shades are brilliantly translated through subtle cinematic effects such as focused lighting or detail, snippets of muffled, distant dialogue and even stills of complete stillness. The Revenant is a work of art in that it behaves as an open threshold to pure, un-trimmed emotion. Its creation is composed of a pool of efforts which pay homage to one whose personal conviction to avenge the loss of his wife and son deserves nothing less. As the last scene suggests, Hugh Glass chooses to live beyond death so long as he faces it directly and fearlessly, and so long as he strives to breathe.