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Whale shark
Whale Shark, A3 print My latest illustration is of a whale shark. Made by making thousands of dots with a finest micron 005 pen.
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Het kleedje voor Hitler
In Het kleedje voor Hitler(A table cloth for Hitler), Bas Von Benda-Beckmann explores the Nazi past of his German family. Central to the book is his great-aunt Luise, who married Alfred Jodl, one of Adolf Hitler's most faithful generals, and defended him long after his death sentence. A very interesting book that takes the reader through German history and his family history, based on diaries and correspondence. From the 19th century to World War II until today. The Nazi regime sneaks into both German society and his family. Von Benda-Beckmann does not shy away from the difficult questions about his family.
The letters from his great aunt Tini also play a major role in this. She turned away from the Nazi regime more emphatically than her family, and her diaries and letters give an insight into the dilemmas that this brought. A book to read right now.
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Tasmanian Tiger
Not only critically endangered species are pursued in book form. In "Een vlam Tasmaanse Tijgers" (A flame of Tasmanian Tigers) Charlotte van den Broeck follows the trail of the extinct Tasmanian tiger (Thylacine). Fascinated by the fact that one of the last Tasmanian tigers died in the zoo in her own city of Antwerp, she starts a quest that takes her from natural history museums to laboratories. In these laboratories, they hope to clone the Tasmanian tiger back to life.
The striking body and head of the Thylacine, a marsupial. Or is the Tasmanian tiger still alive? A fanatical group is convinced it is, and shares sightings online. Here, desire often seems to be the father of thought, as the images are always short, unclear, or explainable (usually a fox). Van den Broeck's quest and encounters provoke reflection. How is it that the Tasmanian tiger, after extinction, can be found everywhere as a national pride? Why do we want to resurrect this animal so badly while other species are rapidly heading towards extinction?
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On the wall
Finally started setting up my new home office for drawing. Time for new illustrations.
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Louisiana
A lot of great art to see in Lousiana Museum, Copenhagen. But I found the gigantic woodcuts by Franz Gertsch the most inspiring.
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Origin of Species
Nog even sparen voor deze geweldige uitgave van Darwin’s On the Origin of Species door Folio Society.
The book that revolutionised our view of life on earth more than any other, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, is presented in a fabulous Folio Society limited edition of 500 numbered copies; half-bound in leather with hand-marbled paper sides.
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The National
The National is one of those bands that still feels obscure, but is now one of the biggest bands of the moment. Or as Phoebe Bridgers puts it nicely: “My friends and I have this joke about The National – obviously they’re hugely popular, but we still feel this ownership over them”. ”‘No but you don’t like them in the right way! Do you even understand how profound this band is?’”
Entirely in that tradition I was asked to help put together the most Underrated songs of The National. The most popular songs, such as the most listened to on Spotify, are excluded from the list.
Mijn favoriet? Het prachtige So Far Around the Bend dat uitkwam op Dark Was the Night. A album for the good cause with original songs from Arcade Fire, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens, amongst others. The album was produced by the Dessner brothers and vital ground for later collaborations such as Big Red Machine (with Bon Iver) and Taylor Swift. In Dutch you can listen to a a great podcast episode about this album.
I also voted for beautiful 'small' songs from the band, such as Wasp Nest, All the Wine, Secret Meeting and Ada. And of course also the number 1 on the list: Mr. November.
The podcast by Dutch radio station KINK can be listened here.
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Jeff Tweedy
With his band Wilco, Jeff Tweedy wrote several of my all-time favorite songs on albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. However, Tweedy also wrote three books over the past 5 years, which I all liked.
Let’s Go (So we can get back) Is a wonderfully readable autobiography, which is full of his (particularly surprising) musical inspiration. And also very personal with family suffering, drug problems and depression. I read it when I just got out of hospital after my stroke and the book will always have a special place in my heart because of that. Just like the playlist with songs.
How to write One Song, doesn't sound so interesting to someone who can only strike a few chords a-rhythmically, but turned out to be a great, down-to-earth, book about finding and preserving creativity.
The recently released book World Within A Song goes even deeper into how decisive specific songs can be in your life. Just like Let's Go, it's wonderful how he interweaves his personal story through the chapters. Even songs that he finds terrible, or those that he has learned to appreciate. Dancing Queen by Abba for example.
‘It feels good to stop hating something.’
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William Beebe
Beebe’s Bathysphere A few years ago I stumbled upon The Remarkable Life of William Beebe, by Carol Grant Gould. A fantastic biography about one of the last real explorers (on planet earth).
As a biologist/ornithologist/naturalist Beebe undertook countless expeditions which are hard to summarize in a short blog post. But the most imaginative are his deep sea expeditions with the Bathysphere. From this small steel ball, he descended on a cable to almost 1km deep into the ocean and described the miraculous, luminous life at this depth.
The Bathysphere adventure gets the attention in the recently published The Bathysphere Book by Brad Fox. On the basis of personal notes, drawings and photos, the expedition is further explored in short chapters. With trips to his friendship with Theodore Roosevelt and obsession with Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands.
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