BARNER BOOKS - New Paltz

Banned Books Week

2012-09-27T15:05:00.002-04:00

Banned Books Week

Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 30 - October 6, 2012

Check out the the Banned Books Website for information

We at Barner celebrate books every day - and banned books weeks gives us a chance to reflect on society's need to control and limit rather than expand knowledge.

Stop on by the store and check out some great reads--including many books that have historically been banned.

We are also pleased to offer bracelets and pins celebrating the right to read

The bracelets and pins are available in the shop or you can order right here and we'll get it out to you.

Artist: Carolyn Forsman

AVANT GARDE - Magazine A complete Run of 14 Issues

2012-07-23T15:44:00.003-04:00

Avant Garde Magazine was published between January 1968 and July 1971. During it's short run it had featured literary articles, commentary, art and photography by influential writers and artists of the era.

The magazine was edited by Ralph Ginzburg

Format: Paperback. About 11" x 11"

The "Avant Garde" type style was developed for the magazine and continues to be in popular usage.

The Magazines are becoming more difficult to find. The following shows the cover art for each of the 14 volumes along with the the content of each.

A Complete set of Avant Garde is currently Available from Barner Books. Click here for purchasing information

VOLUME 1

January 1968

Contents

What Makes Nixon Run by Warren Boroson
Galahad's Pad by Julio Mitchel
The Hate Mail of Captain Levy
Let's Retire our most Overworked Four-letter Word by Professor L. Eric Hotaling
Richard Lindner: The Rubens of the Love Generation
The Slaughter of Civilians for Sport by U.S. Pilots by First Lietenant Thomas F. Loflin II
An Obscenity Bust in-Would You Believe?-India by Malay Roy Choudhury
Drawings by Muhammad Ali
"Believe in God: You Have Teeth" by S.H. Margalith
The Fugs: Nextness is Godlier than Cleanliness by Martin Cohen
Metamorphic Jewelry: The Last Word in Found-Object Art Photographs by Ryszrd Horowitz
God Love Poem by Lenore Kandel
"Ice" By Richard L Lindner (Cover)

VOLUME 2 (Marilyn Monroe)

March 1968

Contents

The Marilyn Monroe Trip - A Portfolio of Serigraphs by Bert Stein
Walter Bowart: Mild-Mannered Editor by Tom Hyman
Prof. Einstein to Dr. Freud: "Can We Eliminate War?"
The Passion of Norman F. Dace by Norman F. Dacey
Orphan of the Flood by Mitchell Wojtycki
The Erotic Tomb Sculptures of Madagascar Photographs by Sarajane Archdeacon
"Avant Garde's" No More War!" Poster Contest
Peace Movement by Gary Youree
Picasso: The Artist as an Eternally Young Man by Brian Fitzherbert
The Visitor by Roald Dahl

VOLUME 3 (Revamping the Dollar)

May 1968

Contents

Revaluation of the Dollar - 19 Artists Design a New Dollar Bill
Paul Krassner: Apostle of the Put-on by Fred Powledge
Andy's Girls Photographs by Lee Kraf
"Was it Good for You, Too?" by Dan Greenburg
The Future of Criminal Law by Karl Menninger, M.D.
The First Church of Love
The Taming of Denise Gondelman by Norman Mailer
Astrological Automobiles Drawings by Francois Dallegret
Prolegomena to a Study of the Erotic Film by Frank A. Hoffmann
Mr. and Mrs. Brown go Walking Photographs by Julio Mitchel
The Prison Poems of Ho Chi Minh Introduction and Translation by Kenneth Rexroth
Avant-Garde's "No More War!" Poster Contest
Dollar Bill Designs on Cover by Tom Carnese, Gerry Gersten and Herb Lubalin

VOLUME IV

September 1968

Contents

Front Lines Letters to the Editor
Amnesty Now
Playhouse of the Ridiculous Photographs by Eliot Elisofon
WBAI: Switched-on Radio by Fred Powledge
Poetry by Computer
Leroi Jones: Poet Laureate of the Black Revolt by Peter Schjeldah
The Strange World of George Tooker
Voodoo Lives! Photographs by Lee Kraft
Please Don't Kill Anything by Arthur Miller
The Battle Hymn of Jeffrey Weinper by PFC Jeffrey Weinper
I Remember superman by Francesca Milano
'69: A Great Year Any Way You Look at It Photographs by Horn/Griner

VOLUME V

November 1968

Contents

Front Lines
Letters to the Editor
"No More War!" Posters
In the White House Doghouse by Ralph Schoenstein
On the Psychology of the World Order by Jerome Frank M.D.
Tom Wesselman: Pleasure Painter
The Sears Catalogue: A Book Review by Eric Hotaling
Son of "Hair" Photographs by Roger Denim
Ron Cobb: Daumier of the New Left
The Honorable Discharge of Pvt. Sam by Gary Youree
Living High on the Hog Farm Photographs by Julian Wasser
Brain Damage: Sorcery as Art Photogrpahs by Ira Cohen and Bill Deovre
Seascape #17 by Tom Wesselman (Cover)

VOLUME 6

January 1969

Contents

In Full Bloom (Cover) Photograph by Dewayne Dalrymple
Front Lines
Letters to the Editor
And Now: The Evolution Revolution by R. Michael Davidson
Melle's Melees
Breaking Out: A Black Manifesto by Dick Gregory
Tomorrow's Classics by Leslie M. Pockell
Phil Ochs: Kipling of the New Left by Peter Schjeldahl
The President's Golden Zipper by Fred Rayfield
The Sexual Revolution: A Running Commentary Photographs by Ralph M. Hattersely Jr.
Sylvan Hart is Alive and Well in the Wilderness by J. Randal
My Father-To-Be-Ness and You by Robert Joe Stout
The Last Act by Roald Dahl
Gas Over Madison Avenue by Gordon Carlson

VOLUME 7

March 1969

Contents

"The Spirit of 1976" (Cover) Photograph by Carl Fischer
Front Lines
Toward a New Spirit of '76 Compiled by Leslie M. Pockell
The Decline and Fall of the Female Breast by Warren Boroson
Appeal of Folk Singing: A Landmark Opinion by Justice William O. Douglas
The Black Power Failure by James R. Schofield
Paul Wunderlich's Painted Women
Thoughts of Chairman Jerry by Peter Schjeldahl
The Satyricon of a Petronius: A New Take by Edgar A. Bunning
Sculpture A La Rorschach Photographs by William Watkins
Pennebaker: truth at 24 Frames Per Second by Hal J. Seldes
O Precious Balls, Farewell! by Jean Gent
The Demise of Death by R. Michael Davidson
Pussy Galore! Cat Drawings of Guy Bourdin

VOLUME 8 (Picasso's Erotic Gravures)

September 1969

Contents

Introduction
The Artist and His Model
The Circus
The Brothel
The Voyeur
The Muses
The Orgy

VOLUME 9

November 1969

Contents

Front Lines
Letters to the Editor
America in Distress by Nobel Laureate George Wald
Fuch's Femmes Fatales
The Defense of Adolescents by Warren Boroson
Deserted Island Photographs by Wilton S. Tifft
Convention: A Play by Dan Greenburg
John & Yoko in Concert by Irma Kurtz
She Stoops to Conquer Photographs by Gunter Rambow
Is the Red Cross Pro-Nazi? by Warren Boroson
Beasts in Love: Three Poems by D. H. Lawrence
Jews, Catholics, and Protestants Compared by Warner Brown
Ultra Violet in Infra-Red photographs by Eliot Elisofon
Samson and the Harlot in Gaza (Cover) by Ernst Fuchs

VOLUME 10

January 1970

Contents

Heliotrope (Cover) by Thomas Weir
Letters to the Editor
The Dr. Who Called the A.M.A. The "American Murder Assn." by Warner Brown
The Most Hated Man in America by Leslie M. Pockell
The Virgin Forest Photographs by Thomas Weir
The Handwriting on the Wall by Warren Boroson
Democracy by Telephone by Vincent Campbell
Israel Captured Photographs Compiled by Cornell Capa
Hundertwasser: Postcards from Pandemonium
The Bigger they Are, The Harder I Fall by Max Hess

VOLUME 11 (Wedded Bliss: A Portfolio of Erotic Lithographs by John Lennon)

March 1970

Contents

Lotus (Cover) Lithograph by John Lennon
Front Lines
Letters to The Editor
Wedded Bliss: A Portfolio of Erotic Lithographs by John Lennon
The Sins of Their Fathers Compiled by Diane E. Bente
The Case for Extending the School Year by Warren Boroson
Gustav Klimt: Lost and Found
Coming: Molecular Mastery of the Brain by David M. Rorvick
A Day for a Lay by W. H. Auden
The World's Most Powerful Critic by Ted Townsend
Oragenitalism: A Book Review by Anatole Lerer
The Silent Majority Photographs by Julio Mitchel
Wasted Yen by Ralph Schoenstein
Thalidomide, Cyclamates, and Now. . .Caffeine? by Warner Brown
Behind the Lines by Jeanne Devires

VOLUME 12

May 1970

Contents

Front Lines
Dial-A-Hawk: A Ringing New Form of Antiwar Protest
Laid on Fire Island by Gary Youree
The Mystery of Jorgen Boberg
The Second Most Hated Johnson in America by Warren Boroson
Bell's Belles Photographs by Hugh Bell
The Gang-Bang on the Underground Press
Why "Hair" Has Become a Four Letter Word by Warner Brown
Jack the Raper Third in a Series Entitled "The Lust Battalion"
Letters to the Editor

VOLUME 13 (Portraits of the American People)

Spring 1971

Contents

Special Issue: Photographs by Alwyn Scott Turner

VOLUME 14

Summer 1971

Contents

Hommage A L'Ecole Fountainbleau (COVER) by Lambert Wintersberger
Letters to the Editor
The Sexual Symbolism of the American Flag by Warner Brown
High Times Photographs by Mary Ellen Mark
"The Machine I Hate the Most" Compiled by Dorothy Bates
Madness to His Method Paintings by Dieter Schwertberger
Strong Medicine by Warren Boroson
Concerning the Mais of Brobdingnag by Lemuel Gulliver (as told to M. S. Winecoff)
Way out Westbeth Photographs by Leonard Freed
On the Septuaquinquennia of Psychoanalysis by Frederick L. Boyle
Belles-Lettres by Anna and Anthon Beeke, Peter Brattinga, Ed Van Der Elsken, and Geert Kooiman
Unwinding in London by Seymour Krim

Hunter S. Thompson Headquarters

2011-10-26T14:19:00.002-04:00

American journalist and author, Hunter S. Thompson is infamous for his writing style and the creation of Gonzo Journalism. Thompson is also well known for his books including the Rum Diary(1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973). Aside from his work, however, Thompson's risky lifestyle of heavy drug and alcohol use also brought about much attention.

Here at Barner Books we honor the late Hunter Thompson by carrying his best works, and one of his most recent favorites. We are stocked with copies of The Rum Diary, which is soon coming to theaters October 28th staring Johnny Depp.

2011 Rife Frequency Handbook Now Available

2011-10-13T09:43:00.003-04:00

The Rife Handbook

of Frequency Therapy

and Holistic Health

768 pages, five appendices, over 60 photos and tables, index

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

ISBN# 9780981807515

“The best written and most informative book I’ve ever seen on

resonant frequency therapy.” —Jimmie Holman, Pulsed Technologies

“Comprehensive, thoroughly researched guide to holistic health as well as the science and application

of the work of Royal Rife. I highly recommend it for any clinical practice

utilizing complementary and energy medicine therapies.”

—Robert S. Ivker, DO, American Board of integrative Holistic Medicine (ABIHM) and author, Sinus Survival

“Sophisticated enough for the seasoned health professional,

yet thorough and comprehensible enough for the novice.

One of the best primers I have ever seen on holistic health.”—Rose Marie Williams, MA, Townsend Letter

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS – a brief sample

For a complete Chapter Outline plus Index, go to www.RifeHandbook.com

Chapter 1: The Politics of Medicine and the Nature of Health. Drug damage versus effectiveness. How to analyze clinical trials and hospital procedures. Iatrogenic (doctor-caused) disease and preventable deaths. How vaccines damage the body. Big Pharma’s marriage to the FDA, other government agencies, and universities. How drugs are approved, marketed and publicized. rBGH, aspartame and other toxins. Corporate-owned media, the fallacy of "peer reviewed" articles, industry ties to medical journals, the bribing of doctors. Doping our children with psychotropic drugs. Addiction. How electronic media affects the brain. Drugs in our food and drinking water. Big Pharma's campaign against nutritional supplements.
Chapter 2: The History of Pleomorphism and Inventions of Royal Raymond Rife. Life cycles of a microbe (Béchamp versus Pasteur). Precursors to disease, including deficiencies in sleep, oxygen and nutrients, and chemical/electromagnetic toxicities, injury, pH imbalance, pathogens, and emotional states. Pleomorphism proponents Virchow, Nightingale, Enderlein, Haefeli, Reich, Rosenow, Livingston-Wheeler, Naessens, Mattman and others. Little known facts about Royal Rife’s life, his Universal Microscope, Ray, and clinical trials. How Rife’s devices actually worked. John Crane, John Marsh, and the next generation of frequency devices. Detailed diagrams and measurements of a pleomorphic life cycle as viewed through a modern high-resolution German microscope. Photos of Rife, his colleagues, instruments, and news articles.
Chapter 3: Complementary Therapies. Water and distillation, minerals, heavy metals, unabsorbed minerals, electrolytes. Cleaning and restoring water. Selected beverages. Food: different diets, biochemistry and metabolism. Factory farming, genetic engineering, irradiation, cloning. Explaining organic, wildcrafted, heirloom, local, free range, Brix. Good and bad fats, chemicals, conditioners, preservatives, and synthesized “foods.” Sweeteners: history, biochemical effects, and processing of agave syrup, xylitol and stevia. Weston A. Price. Food preparation methods and cookware. Potency and preparation of herbs. Food-based versus synthetic nutritional supplements. Hydrogen peroxide. Ozone in drinking water; insufflation, funneling and bagging; inhalation; salve; generators; using ozone in the sauna. Colloidal Silver: history, properties, contraindications, preparation, particle size, storage, home generators, how to use, dispelling the myth of CS toxicity and how to reverse argyria. Colon cleansing. Aerobic/anaerobic exercise and the lymphatic system, and its anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. Physiological and emotional implications of touch, massage, craniosacral therapy, chiropractic. New research on the relationship of myofascial release to Oriental medicine. Light and color therapies in depth: the pineal gland and light, SAD, monochromatic light therapy with lasers and LEDs, and Dinshah's Spectro-Chrome Color Therapy. Sauna therapy. Sleep, sleep-inducing food and supplements, Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT), new developments in meditation. [other side]
Chapter 4: Frequently Asked Questions about Rife Equipment and Sessions. Precautions and contraindications, including if you have a heart condition, are wearing a pacemaker, are pregnant or nursing, have blood clots, are taking pharmaceuticals/herbs, are wearing implants, are sensitive to concentrated EM radiation. Giving sessions to infants, children, pets, and farm or zoo animals. Eliminating toxic waste released by rifing. Types of devices (with and without RF); desirable traits of devices and manufacturers. Lasers and LEDs, general sweep units, frequencies on CDs and DVDs. Terminology for non-engineers. FAQs about rife sessions, frequency selection and microbe response, Herxheimer response, how the frequencies work, specific health conditions, updates on Rife technology and treatments. Insert, “A Short Course on How to Give Yourself a Rife Session.” Photos of equipment includes LEDs, lasers, and the high-power Ergonom microscope with even better resolution than Rife’s original, accompanied by microscopic views of one-celled organisms.

Chapter 5: Frequency Directory. Alphabetical, annotated, cross-referenced list of symptoms, diseases and frequencies for rife units. Along with single, stand-alone entries are the following: Arthritis and Joints. Bacteria. Blood Sugar Levels. Bone and Skeleton. Cancer. Candida, Fungi, Molds and Yeasts. Chemical Poisoning / Detoxification. Dental (Mouth and Gums, and Teeth). Ears. Eyes. Gastrointestinal Tract (Systemic Conditions, Colon / Large Intestine, Small Intestine, and Stomach and Esophagus). Glands (Adrenals, Pancreas, Parathyroid, Pineal, Pituitary, Thymus, Thyroid). Headache. Heart, Blood and Circulation. Injuries. Insect Bites. Liver and Gall Bladder (Liver, and Gall Bladder). Lymphatic System. Men (Penis, Prostate, Sexual Functioning, Testicles, Urinary). Mind and Emotions. Muscles. Nervous System and Brain. Parasites, Protozoa and Worms. Regeneration and Healing. Respiratory Tract (Lungs, Nose and Sinuses, Throat and Lymph Nodes, Vocal Chords). Skin. Tuberculosis. Tumors, Benign. Ulcers. Urinary Tract (Bladder and Urethra, and Kidneys). Viruses. Women (Breasts; Menstruation and Menopause; Sexual Functioning; Uterus and Cervix, Ovaries, and Fallopian Tubes; Vagina and Labia). Each Level 1 section also contains summary of how the body works and explanations of selected medical terms.

Chapter 6: Creating a Better World, Inside and Out. The trauma of illness and death. The five stages of dying and the implications of letting go. Doctor support or lack of it. When a privileged few control the world’s wealth. When corporations govern (legal theft and criminal commerce). How to go beyond the dominator (dominant) paradigm. Cutting edge scientific research: the interconnection of quantum particles and the human as hologram. The power of prayer, long distance healing and group intention. The Unified Field, and healing with the heart. Studies on the physiological effects of meditation. Changing the structure of water and our own DNA. Love as a resonance.
Appendix A: Resources.  Appendix B: Legal Implications of Rife Sessions.  Appendix C: Healing with
Electromedicine and Sound Therapies.  Appendix D: Selected Published Studies in Electromedicine. 
Appendix E: Rife Research in the United States.  References.  Index.

Hardcover. Size with cover: 8¾ x 11¼ inches (22.2 cm x 28.6 cm). Weight: 5.6 pounds (2.5 kg). Thickness: 2 inches (5 cm). Sturdy sewn binding and smooth thick paper ensure a long shelf life.

$112.50 US plus shipping/handling (25% off retail).

Banned Books Week - Show You're an Independent Reader and Thinker

2011-09-27T15:20:00.001-04:00

Banned books week started on September 24 and goes until October 1.

Order a bracelet - show you're an independent reader and thinker!

So many great books have been seen as wrong, negative, or not having the "right" stuff for a specific community that it got banned.   While it almost always helps the author to have a banned book, it doesn't really help our sense of freedom and having a society of free interchange of ideas.

We are pleased to offer a wide selection of books that have been banned.   They are some of our best sellers.

We also are pleased to offer a bracelet that artist Carolyn Forsman designed.   It celebrates reading along with promoting some of the titles that have been banned (it's a rather surprising list).

New Paltz High School Asks for Book Donation

2011-09-16T14:24:00.000-04:00

The New Paltz High School recently implemented a new program that they hope will increase student literacy and improve writing skills. After a few local students stopped by Barner Books this week, they explained that the school hopes to conduct SSR, or Sustained Silent Reading, in which students will have at least 15 minutes of silent reading for pleasure. Research and testimonials have shown that there has been much success with such programs. Barner Books will be contributing by donating books to this worthy action.

Leonard Baskin Miniature Masterpiece - Natural History

2011-09-14T16:10:00.000-04:00

Baskin was one of the great illustrators of the late 20th Century. He experimented with different medium and had his own publishing/printing company.

We just ran into this sweet little set - Leonard Baskin's Miniature Natural History

It was published by Pantheon in 1983. It is comprised of four volumes in dust jackets, and with a protective slip case.

The volumes include

Seven Fish One Crab One Lobster & One Octopus
Insects
Domestic Animals
Extinct Creatures

The books measure about 4" square and are in near fine shape.

Barner Books Sign Returns to Church Street

2011-09-12T15:15:00.000-04:00

Paul O'Connor a set designer at Vassar College has re-built the sign he crafted for Barner Books some years ago.

The weather and time took it's tool on our iconic book, but Paul went to work and re-crafted the sign. Today it hangs proudly on our Church Street store.

When hanging the sign Paul mentioned that he really likes making signs. Who knows, maybe this will be the start of something in New Paltz.

Handmade Alice In Wonderland Chess Set - studio Anne Carlton

2011-07-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

Lewis Carroll, the mathematician creator of Alice In Wonderland loved the concept of chess - and it's no wonder that it had such great play in the stories.

We ran into this beautiful chess set and now have it available.

Alice In Wonderland Chess Set

Handmade by the Crftsmen of Studio Anne Carlton (Hull England)

Condition: NEW

Notation: Does not include board

Beautiful chess set is based on characters by Lewis Carroll in his two famous stories, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and "Through the Looking Glass."

The set has the pieces presented as following

Queens - Alice
Kings - The White King and the Red King
Bishops - Hatta, the Messenger
Knights - The White Knight
Castles - Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
Pawns - Rabbit Haigha, The Messenger

Set is new and perfect. Comes in display panels and is boxed. The box shows some corner bumping.

World's Intersect at Barner Books on Fridays

2011-07-13T17:39:00.010-04:00

Fridays always have seemed to take on special meaning. Most pronounced in my experience were the many years spent at Jewish Camps. Every Friday became a study in constant motion. As a camp director at liberal Jewish camps I felt the need to whip up a frenzy of cleaning spirit and preparation for Shabbat (which begins at Sunset on Friday). Most of the kids, and virtually all the staff were much mellower and were delighted to spend their time showering and picking out their clothes.

Fridays in a bookstore are a little different.

Sure, it's the end of the regular week and with it come whatever plans and preparations we're making for the weekend, but there isn't a frenzied pace. Actually, bookstores usually aren't known for ever having a frenzied pace. But here, at Barner Books, it takes on another quality.

For the past 3 years, from July until late August, Fridays at Barner's have been punctuated by a visit from Hasids who summer at a nearby camp. They started coming to the store to see if there was anyone who was Jewish. They've come back virtually every seasonal Friday since.

When here they want me to have the Mitzvot of putting on the T'fellin. The only times that I have done this ancient ritual as an adult is in the presence of Hasids. They make a point of stopping people on the streets of New York and other population centers and asking them to do this.

It reminds me of my youth. My family, like so many others of our generation, went to an Orthodox Synagogue. Ours was actually led by a Rabbi who was the head of his own Chasidic Dynasty. That was an interesting histo/sociological time in that so many of the members of Orthodox Synagogues were quite liberal in their practice. Today, there are few, if any Jews who are liberal in their practice who are a part of Orthodoxy. But the place my family and so many others of the time went to “practice” their Judaism was Orthodox. That continues to play itself out in Israel where the vast majority of the country's Jews see themselves as secular, but when it comes to religious issues they look to the Orthodox.

Hasids are a fascinating group. Their leader died some years back and many hold to the belief that he was the messiah, or perhaps a person who would walk side by side with the Messiah. Rabbi Schneerson, their leader, was saved from the Nazis by his followers and settled in Crown Heights NY. There the movement flourished under his leadership. He was known as a sweet soul who was worldly in his out look and wanted to bring people into a more traditional practice of Judaism, from where they were at. The people that stop by our shop are among his disciples. They have a fervor and dedication to the practice. To be a Hasid is to live in a very tightly knit community, and to make ones life there.

We frequently get into conversations about theological issues: “Is there a Messiah?” They of course say yes, I say nope. Will the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt – again, they say yes, and I'm consistent too. What portion will be read this week – they tell me and give me a quick overview. They take issue with so much of what I believe as a liberal Jew that it sometimes makes me feel awkward. But they are the ones reaching out.

They are hard nosed about their beliefs and soft on their sales technique. Their worldly view is a narrow one. Much of it is prescribed by their interpretation of the laws in Torah (such as putting on T'fillin), and more is significantly influenced by the nature of the community that they form and live amongst.

While I sense that I am some worlds apart from them, their visits serve as a reminder of something larger than the world in which I live. Ironically enough, every week they serve as a reminder that the world is much bigger than we know.

New York City Discovers Barner Books - take a little drive

2011-07-06T14:17:00.001-04:00

We were thrilled to see the article that lists us as one of the recommended stops in New Paltz.

We're here and ready! It's a nice drive from the city and we're glad to be one of the finds.

To see the others on the list (like our Friends at Jacks) simply click the title!

New Paltz Photographer Captures Art and Regional Flavor

2011-06-30T15:36:00.000-04:00

THE PLEASURE OF DECEPTION

The image of the Hudson Valley landscape has a long tradition in visual art. Thomas Cole, one of the early transplanted artists to the area, captured what historians have called “the essence of nature” in three of his most famous landscapes, completed circa 1825: A View of Fort Putnam, Lake with Dead Trees, & Kaaterskill Upper Fall Catskill Mountain. In the midst of the Romantic thrust that had been imported from Europe before the democratic project overtook art of the United States in a tidal wave of Realism, painters like Cole found refuge in the Hudson Valley. This mountainous region, situated between New York City and Albany, was a reminder of sorts that new beginnings were possible.

Contemporary photo artist Steve Jordan carries on this tradition. His Summer Field, Ridge (above) updates the scenery of the Valley landscape by releasing the representation of Nature (with a capital N) from the confines of the pristine, in order to depict a populated landscape, terrain that has been tilled & worked by humans. In relation to Jordan’s work as a whole, this particular image is exceptional, since most of the rest indeed excludes any human presence from his hyper-realistic landscapes, thus portraying Nature as that untouched secret-keeper who only speaks in the most remote environs that are devoid of any sign of civilization, thereby limiting the artistic expression thereof to some form of revelation. Such is the Romantic formula for the production of art: Nature speaks when no one else is listening. But here, fortunately, Jordan thematically surpasses that long exhausted trend & says something else & something more.

The image before us delivers the crispness of ante meridiem light that illuminates the fog which in turn baths the Walkill Valley & the distant bluffs with its nebulous corpulence, beckoning our gaze while we inhale the heady aroma of the recently tilled field under our nose, as if some hard labor had been carried out just before the first solar vectors of the morning broke over the horizon. The small red barn, stationed in the right third of the middle ground, links the distant summits in the left-third of the background to the field in the fore, imbuing the landscape with a human presence: The Work of Man.

Since the presence of human labor in Jordan’s photo art is largely outweighed by the hyper-realistic representation of Nature as a refuge from the disenchanted lifestyle offered by the modern city, his art is more popular than populist. However, it would be erroneous to classify Jordan’s work as an updated version of popular Romantic art & just leave it at that. This tech-savvy artist offers his potential buyers the opportunity to select the medium on which his images will be printed. His web site allows viewers to purchase a copy of an image on “non-tradition media such as watercolor paper or canvass”. Several months ago, I stopped by his gallery & took in those images printed on canvass, catching a whiff of the mossy trunks high up in the mountains, feeling the moisture of those streams, the jaggedness of the cliffs that jut from the Shawangunks in the most breathtaking examples of tectonic faulting.

As I stood there lost in Jordan’s canvass, deeply moved by a mysterious & intimate feeling of communion with Nature, I suddenly heard a foreign exclamation slice through the silence: “What an amazing painting!” Only after a matter of five minutes or so did I realize that I was the only one in the gallery & that those words had come out of my own mouth. What had provoked me to say that!? I felt deceived, & thus I felt that I understood Steve Jordan’s art on a deeper level. This hyper-realistic image had convinced me that what I saw hanging on the wall was not a photograph, but a more-than-real painting of the landscape, if not the landscape itself. I felt ‘the essence of nature’ with all its terrestrial aroma, its avian prattle & light inflating the fog envelope my being like the smoke of a pagan ritual.

But, what was hanging in a frame before me was not a painting of the landscape, much less the landscape itself; it was a photograph that surreptitiously acquired a painterly quality due to the medium on which it had been printed. Steve Jordan comes off as a sharp businessman, & this leads me to believe that he prints photographs on canvass because it is lucrative. Therefore, I can’t help but wonder why someone would prefer to view a photograph printed on canvass... What pleasure is to be had by deceiving oneself into believing that a photograph is a painting? In this age when hyper-realistic visual imager bombards us from all directions, have we come to believe that a photograph is more representative of reality than painting? Why would we prefer to look at a photograph the way we look at a painting? I sit here gnawing on these questions, as I recall that visit to his gallery several months back. From time to time, I look out the window at the Shawangunks in order to verify that those mountains are still where I last left them & that on Jordan’s canvass what looks back at me is not a painting, but a photograph.

Joseph Mulligan

New Paltz, New York

World's Best Pencil - The Blackwing Arrives at Barner

2011-06-21T15:31:00.001-04:00

For many years artists and people needing a high quality pencil sought out the Blackwing Pencil.

For purchasing information click here
Manufactured by Eberhard Faber the pencil was known for it's unique characteristics. A very soft touch on the paper which resulted in nearly no effort expended to use it, and related, a very quick approach to writing and drawing.

Eberhard Faber stopped manufacturing the pencils some years ago. Some enterprising people have been selling them in the after-market for as much as $35.00 (or more) a pencil. People who find them are happy to pay it.

Purchase the World Class Blackwing 602 here!We're glad to be one of the first shops to carry the newly reintroduced Blackwing. A California company purchased the name, always provided the wood, and found the unique leads that made the Blackwing what it became known for.

Take one for a spin---you wouldn't believe what a difference a pencil can make!

Was Killing Bin Laden Worth It?

2011-06-20T15:09:00.002-04:00

VESTIGES OF BIN LADEN

Does anyone else keep getting the eerie feeling that generations to come may look back on the times we're living in now and feel aghast? Crippled by insomnia, I stay up all night thinking that I hear someone laughing in the next room. Osama Bin Laden is dead. Shot in the eye by a U.S. Navy Seal. When president Obama declared this on live television, a seismic shock rippled across the borders of the world. In the United States the assassination was celebrated with exuberant joy. As the dust has settled over the past month and a half, there is now a need to ask if this act was really cause for celebration. I think it was not. Let me explain why, and we'll see if you agree.

A day after the news broke, Robert Fisk wrote an article in The Independent ("Was he Betrayed?...", 3 May 2011) where he pointed out that, at the time of his death, Bin Laden's political influence was, for all intensive purposes, null and void: “the mass revolutions in the Arab world over the past four months mean that al-Qa'ida was already politically dead." Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted man in the United States, was “a middle-aged nonentity, a political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East."

On the day this Osama Doe was finally put to death (a day we all were expecting to come eventually), "the world went mad," says Fisk: "The Americans were drunk with joy. David Cameron thought it ‘a massive step forward’. India described it as a ‘victorious milestone’. ‘A resounding triumph,’ Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu boasted. But after 3,000 Americans dead on 9/11, countless more in the Middle East, up to half a million Muslims dead in Iraq and Afghanistan and 10 years trying to find Bin Laden, pray let us have no more ‘resounding triumphs.’" Even though they are difficult to formulate and their responses, disconcerting, it is crucial I think to raise questions at times like these: Could the reaction to Bin Laden's death possess a richer meaning than the decision to do the deed? Why was America so drunk with joy to hear that Bin Laden had been killed? Are we sure that we haven't just guillotined a cadaver? What was the price of killing this enemy?

My suspicion is that the United States was in dire need of something to rally around as a nation, in order to at least momentarily remember what it feels like to reconcile differences and feel united again. Obama was likely keen to this, and his timing, convenient, as he gears up for the 2012 elections. But, there is something more to this atmosphere of celebration, something that Dan Carlin recently brought to our attention in an episode of Common Sense titled “Pyrrhic Schadenfreude” (2 May 2011). As CNN was transmitting images of a crowd chanting in front of the White House, Carlin was thinking to himself, "While it was understandable that people would be jubilant, I wasn't not sure that these people in the crowd who were so jubilant understood exactly what this guy had done to us. I'm not sure it's a triumph sort of period. It's sort of like a pyrrhic victory."

Perhaps Bin Laden had become a non-entity in the context of geopolitics, but in the context of U.S foreign and domestic policy, his legacy lives on, not in the sense that his cronies are embedded in the U.S. strategizing their next terrorist plot, but in the sense that his actions have affected and continue to affect the way we look at ourselves, at each other, at the world (not to mention all that we are willing to sacrifice in the name of combating the threat that his legacy poses). Carlin offers a precise metaphor for the U.S. reaction to the death of Bin Laden: "He came and stabbed us in the back and gave us a potentially mortal wound, where we could bleed to death very easily. We turned around and killed him and then we laughed in his face. I'm not so sure he would be upset with the results. I think this guy got exactly what he wanted, every step of the way... And we're living with the ramifications and I don't think they're positive, and people are chanting USA! USA!... It's almost like they don't know how bad the wound is that's bleeding from our back" (ibid.).

And Fisk, who had personally interviewed Bin Laden several times, corroborates Carlin's suspicion: "In the years after 2001," Fisk sent Bin Laden "a list of 12 questions, the first of which was obvious: what kind of victory could he claim when his actions resulted in the US occupation of two Muslim countries? There was no reply for weeks. Then one weekend, waiting to give a lecture in Saint Louis in the US, I was told that Al Jazeera had produced a new audiotape from Bin Laden. And one by one – without mentioning me – he answered my 12 questions. And yes, he wanted the Americans to come to the Muslim world – so he could destroy them” (Fisk, ibid.).

It is a strange queston to ask, but it needs to be asked: If the U.S. government has played right into Bin Laden's hand, then what is there to celebrate? Does anyone think Bin Laden did not wish to be a martyr? The U.S. is overextended economically, fighting long and discombobulated wars, and the Judicial branch has had to "reinterpret" the constitution (this interpretation, of course, being classified) in order to sustain the legality of Executive branch's so-called 'security measures'. Perhaps it is hyperbole to say that the US has been destroyed (as Bin Laden had wanted), but the integrity of our constitutional rights seems less and less important to government officials and citizens alike.

What's more, certain processes of destruction do not happen in the blink of an eye (like the 9/11 attacks), but are long, drawn out and sometimes hard to notice. The destruction of a building brought down by a wrecking ball is fast, loud, tremendous, dramatic. The destruction of a building that has fallen into decay (because it lacks maintenance or prohibits maintenance) is much less likely to appear as a threat at all, since from the outside the building continues to project the appearance of stability and security, even while it's rotting at its core, in its foundation.

The videos that Bin Laden produced over the years are likely to haunt us through the decades to come. In those videos, as Carlin recalls, "one thing he said was that the attacks would have an effect all out of proportion to the damage done, because they were directed at a country that hadn't seen war on its soil in 100 years. He had talked about how, if you blow up a building in a country that's used to having bombs explode, it's not that big of a deal; if you do it in a tranquil, peaceful place that hasn't known war, the place is likely to freak out. The place freaked out" (ibid.). Now, a month and a half after Bin Laden's death and the fiestas patrias that followed it, the nation is, if not still freaking out, then at least zombified to the matter.

To imagine where the U.S. would be as a country, had the 9/11 attacks not taken place, had the U.S. military not sent ground troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, is to envision a world without Bin Laden. It is an tantalizing dream, but it is only a dream, our reality is here, in this crisis that is painful to accept as our own. Bin Laden has impacted U.S. foreign and domestic policy more dramatically than any individual legislator in the United States, and this impact, as the prognosis suggests, is shocking. "We're dealing with amazing amounts of security, when judged by pre-9/11 standards: who's responsible for that? That's that knife-wound in the back, folks, continuing to bleed long after we've cut Osama's head off. You want to pick it up and laugh at it? It might laugh back" (Carlin, ibid.).

Does anyone else find it hard to understand why we would celebrate the death of the single most wanted terrorist? Is it not within us to celebrate an achievement in international politics that guarantees everyone the possibility of a better coexistence without the threat of terrorism? The jubilance in response Bin Laden's death is a clear indicator that what is being celebrated here is something ephemeral, dislocated from the origins of the problem. Did the capture of Abimael Guzman put an end to terrorism? Will the death of Bin Laden guarantee a terror-free world? It's not very likely, as long as we continue to skirt the central problem: How can we coexist in a peaceful and civilized way, recognizing that we are part of both the problem and the solution? I hope that one day we can celebrate great peace accords between many people, instead of the death of one individual. Between now and then, let peaceful reflection be our guide.

By Joseph Mulligan

Lake Minnewaska Brochures during Deco Age - Masterpieces

2011-06-15T16:57:00.000-04:00

Lake Minnewaska, which is now a beautiful state park near us in New Paltz was home to two large resort Hotels. Cliff House and Windmere.

These Hotels were owned by the Smiley Family which continues to own the nearby Mohonk Mountain House. The Smiley's had developed a strong reputation for quality service and the hotels were probably at their peak during this period.

Their promotional brochures reflect the era, and give one the sense of what the Hotels were like, and certainly created the impression that this vacation was a very stylish thing to enjoy!

Click the title or image for a slide show of the Deco Era Brochures

Hudson Valley in the Civil War - Flags, History, Letters Home

2011-06-14T12:12:00.000-04:00

We've been carrying the Hudson River Valley Review, a region study publication of Marist College. Each issue is devoted to a different theme regarding the Hudson Valley. This one, the Civil War.

Journal. New. Journal theme is the HRV in the Civil War. Illustrated with color images and maps.

Articles include

The Civil War and the Transformation of the Hudson River Valley (Mark James Morreale)
With Victory Perched upon their Eagles; Civil War Flags from the Sew York State Battle Flag Collection (Christopher Morton)
All is Excitement and Anxiety Here; A New York Family's Experience of the Civil War (Diane Shewchuk)
The West Point Education of the "Christian General"-Oliver Otis Howard 1850-1861 (Jonathan Howard Lawler)
Rally 'round the flag ; - Frederic Edwin Church and the Civil War (Kevin Avery)
Letters Home - Carrie Niles' Correspondence with New York's Volunteers (Gail Goldsmith)
A Labor of Love and Patriotism: - The Artistic and Historic Legacy of Albany; 's general Philip H. Sheridan Memorial (Valerie A. Balnit)

Click here, title or image for purchasing information (or stop at the shop!)

Summer Mystery Collection P.D. James 1st Edition

2011-06-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

A Great collection of P. D. James Adam Dagliesh Mysteries. Set includes 5 hardcover books in dust jackets. Each book is in excellent condition as are the dust jackets.

A set of books. Enjoy!

Click here, the image or title for purchasing information.

Peace Corp Volunteer who Started A Library for African Children Remembered

2011-06-08T17:09:00.002-04:00

Sharon Brown served as a peace corp volunteer and started the first library in an Ugandan village. Tragically she died about 2 years ago. Her family has memorialized her through the endowment of a literary prize at Miller Place High School on Long Island, where she was a student, and where the family lives. After the Peace Corp Sharon remained in Africa and served as the librarian at the International School of Kenya.

I had the pleasure of meeting her brother today at the shop when he was purchasing copies of The Great Gatsby.

It was Sharon's favorite book, and she would read it every summer. He recalled a typical summer scene finding him singing from the roof of the family house, Alice Cooper's -- "Schools Out Forever," while Sharon would be sitting quietly with one of many books that she planned on reading that summer.

In addition to the scholarship that the family endows, they also provide a copy of The Great Gatsby.

Sharon was a customer of Barner Books. She stopped at the shop frequently and would bring home bags of books at the end of the school year. She planned on reading them over the summer.

We are honored that Sharon's brother saw our shop as being a place of importance in her life. He made the trip today in her memory to purchase copies of The Great Gatsby. I am sure that there are plenty of copies of "The Great Gatsby" on Long Island (after all the story is set there), but he wanted those copies to come from here.

Sharon and her young child died in a tragic accident in her beloved Africa. Her legacy of love, care, and service, will be beautifully memorialized through the family's gift.

Her brother stopped here, and shared this story. We are deeply touched to have been a part of Sharon's wonderful literary and beautiful life. The Great Gatsby will be forever changed in my mind now that I know about Sharon and her family.

1765 8 Volume Set Shakespeare's Plays Sam Johnson Notes

2011-06-08T14:09:00.000-04:00

The Plays of William Shakespeare, in Eight Volumes
with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators
to which are added Notes by Sam. Johnson

Publication Date: 1765

Printed for: J. And R. Tonson, C. Corbet, H. Woodfall, J. Rivington, R. Baldwin et al

Condition: 8 Volume Set

Very Good condition in calfskin bindings. The bindings have been secured and attended to, resulting in this set being shelf/display ready and in outstanding collectible condition.

The books are clean, unmarked and with minimal tanning. Quite remarkable for their age. The binding on Volume I is somewhat darker than the binding on the others.

Rare Find and collectible. The first printing of this series, of which this we believe is one, was limited to 1000 copies.

For purchasing information on this book please click here, on the title or on the image.

Hudson River School Redux as I-90 Art Form 21st Century

2011-06-06T13:17:00.000-04:00

INTERSTITIAL PIXELS

The Art of Questioning Perception

I cannot begin to recall how many times I’ve crossed New York State on I-90. From Batavia, where I grew up, to Albany where I studied, or passing Erie & to the Iron City of Pittsburgh, my last home before moving to the Hudson Valley. But, it is wrong to say that I “crossed” the state on this road, since this is one of those highways that unfolds before a traveler, magnetically pulling bodies forth like an undertow & opening up into ever wider expanses. Where I-90 passes Albany, the earth rests quietly in a patch of flatlands that span the triangular gap between the rising Catskills to the south, the Berkshires to the east & the Adirondacks to the north. Space there, in this sense, opens in a westward direction.

For the past five years, Luke Williamson has painted the I-90 landscape in a series that delivers the unraveling feeling a traveler of those parts will know in his bones as he pushes west past Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, & into the Genesee Valley, my own stomping ground & gateway to the Great Lakes. This upstate / central / western region is an elongated glacial depression defined by a southeastern jet-stream that acts as a constant reminder of the ancient ice’s slow & atrocious trajectory. Straying from the traditional flock of Hudson Valley painters, Williamson has refrained from plucking that pristine chord to play the natural-ized Music of the Spheres; although, his technical dexterity in other landscapes, namely those on his website, does show his decision to work through rather than around the tradition.

What sets Williamson’s painting apart is the way it highlights the very modality in which it represents a landscape. It surpasses the notion of the landscape as secret-keeper, an object-in-itself, in order to explore the relationship between the landscape & the perception that opens up toward it. It is at once self-reflective & critical of visual art in the new millennium. I must add, the fact that this article on Williamson’s painting is being distributed via RSS & contains digital reproductions of his oil on canvass reinforces the relevance of his argument & makes these words the perfect target for his critique.

The closer we look at the clouds in Williamson’s painting, the more we notice that they are pixelated & from those nebulous bodies disintegrate into nearly abstract shapes. At their apogee, they are nothing more than chromatic quadrilaterals. Such is the sky in the eyes of this artist: bricks of color. This pixelated atmosphere denies the viewer the luxury of forgetting that what lies before us is a representation of the landscape & not the landscape itself. It is as much about the landscape as it is about the painter’s perception of it. Williamson’s painting says to me, “Do you remember this field?” I say “Yes, I remember.” Again, it asks, “Do you see what I’m talking about”. Again, I reply, “Yes, I see”. Then, in a dry voice, it poses one final question: “What did you do to see it?”

As we zoom in & focus on the center of the painting, the highway serves an an easy metaphor for life. The old trope of “the road of life” is refreshing at times like these when artists expend so much effort trying to create something new & shocking, instead of striking that human tone that reminds us that the problems of our day – as opposed to their solutions – are distributed equally across demographics. This is why existence here is depicted as lateral movement. Glowing brighter than the tumultuous & present clouds overhead, the horizon points to the future we reach for each time we remember where we have come from. The pixelation of the clouds that emerge between the viewer & the horizon (that future, that ever present & ever absent imminence) gestures at the complexity demanded by looking at the future & at a painted landscape in an age dominated by hyper-realistic imagery.

Williamson’s painting puts in question the tools we use to look at art &, in this sense, his work goes beyond, say, the photography of Steve Jordan, because while the latter seeks to present a more-than-real image of the landscape, the former presents a slightly abstract landscape all the while asking what place photography has in our perception of reality. As a response to that contemporary propensity to liken a realistic visual representation of reality to the realism of photography, Williamson’s 90 West fragments its subject matter into the most basic, chromatic, geometrical shapes. Between the present & the future cubes of light linger. Between the viewer & the work of art stands the medium in defiance. “This is not a landscape,” says Williamson’s painting in a subdued voice, “it is how a landscape is perceived.”

Joseph Mulligan

New Paltz, New York

Antique Carmen Accordion Squeeze Box Art Deco Era

2011-06-04T12:22:00.000-04:00

Beautiful Accordion by CARMEN

This accordion belonged to a gentleman who lives near our shop in New Paltz. He's in his seventies and got this accordion as a gift about 65 years ago. It was used when he received it. We therefore estimate the age to be somewhere around 75 years old.

The accordion has been well cared for and we had a musician test it.

It is in good working condition with the exception of one sticking key.

He indicated that this is a sweet and sultry sounding accordion, and probably built as a higher end learner's instrument.

It has a bar at the keyboard that is used to change reed tones.

The straps are after-market.

The instrument has:

24 White Keys
17 Black Keys
120 Buttons (20 Rows of 6)

It is 18 1/2" Wide, 18" Long and 7"Deep.

The bellows all seem fine.

The face/grill of the accordion has some tape that seems to be holding down a couple of decorative pieces.

Velvet lined box, leather edges in very good condition, handle still present.

This is a beaut! Great accordion for the collector, learner, or musician.

http://bibliotique.us/si/carmen-accordion.html

Bee Hive Pendant Vintage Love and Friendship Necklace

2011-06-02T15:08:00.000-04:00

We just ran across some very interesting Pendant Necklaces.

Click the image, title, or here for purchasing information

They were put out by the Odd Fellows, a now nearly defunct Fraternal Organization. The front of the Pendant is a bee hive with several of the organizations symbols on it, the rear has more information including the famous three Three Letters of the Odd Fellows:

L=Love
F=Friendship
T=Truth

It's a charming pendant. We've left the original braided cord on it which could easily be replaced by any other necklace, or even converted into a pin. We've also cleaned the pendant. I suspect it is made out of aluminum.

It's a beautiful and fun item, with a message.

Sherman Alexie - War Dances One New Paltz Selection

2011-05-28T12:35:00.000-04:00

Each year a committee of local bibliophiles selects a book and puts together a literary program for the community.

The selection for 2011 is War Dances by Sherman Alexie. It is an award winning book by Alexis. I'm looking forward to reading it, as I've enjoyed other books by Alexie.

We have it available at the shop or online. Get a head start on your fall reading!

Purchasing information available by clicking on the link.

Schwinn Black Phantom Bicycle 1:6 Die Cast Model MINT

2011-05-27T16:58:00.001-04:00

Mint condition 1:6 Model of the Schwinn Phantom

Includes Certificate of Authenticity and in the original box (which shows some minor wear,

Bicycle has rotating tires (rear driven y peddles); Front wheel turns

Beautiful collectible item.

Manufactured for Schwinn in 1990 by the Xonex company.

Click image or link for purchasing information.

Modern German Photographer - Cycloptic Veiwpoint

2011-05-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

THE EYE OF THE CYCLOPS

The Raumportraits of Menno Aden

Menno Aden has carried out aerial surveillance in Berlin. Cautiously & silently, he has positioned himself on the ceiling of 30 rooms in order to capture the imagery of everyday life. Now a shoe store, now a dentist’s office, now a storage closet, now a bedroom. He has obtained certain data that may contain clues for the detective work that his photo art requires of its viewers. His Raumportraits / Room Portraits harness the early 20th century technique of montage & direct it at the expression of “more than just rooms,” as Karen Helmsteidt has suggested, “but intimate scenes of life lived” – scenes that, let us add, depict human life without visually representing the body (1).

“At first the mostly deserted spaces and rooms look like scale models. Only after a closer look does one realize that the rooms are real,” remarks Uwe Goldenstein. This “impossible perspective”, moreover, is attained by attaching the camera to a monopod, hoisting the monopod to the hight of the ceiling & taking 100-150 images from multiple angles while stabilizing the camera at different points on an invisible grid. The images are then montaged until each pixel lines up flush with the next, giving the impression that only one photograph was ever taken & the feeling that the Eye of the Beholder is located precisely above each & ever inch of these human habitats.

The other night, after looking through Menno Aden’s Room Portraits for several hours, thinking about what they mean to say, wondering if they mean what they say, I fell into a restless sleep. Then, in the strangest dream, Menno Aden appeared to me as a Cyclops. A grotesque monster of gargantuan proportions. Yet, one that did not possess the fury that traditionally characterizes such beasts. No. This was a curious Cyclops who, on account of his great size, was only able to observe human life at his feet by removing his only eye from its socket & extending it downward in his hand. He directed that oversized eyeball, coated in saline secretions, at the house across the street from where I was standing – a house almost identical to all the others in the neighborhood. & suddenly a woman ran out of that house, shouting & shaking a cast-iron skillet: "Hey you! Up there! Hey, down here! At this house visitors enter through the front door!" I awoke in a sweat to the cackling of jackhammers.

In a video interview with The Deutsche Welle, the German artist explains the dual nature of his Raumportraits: “One the one hand, these are portraits of rooms; and on other other, they’re portraits of the individuals who live in them, even though you don’t actually see them. So the viewer can play detective, collect clues and figure out what kind of a person that is." & in that same interview we also learn about his technique: “what I want are lots of small individual shots which I can piece together like a puzzle... It never fails to surprise me. I always think ahead about what it will look like [when] seen from above, but somehow it always turns out to be completely different, or not necessarily completely different, but not what I was expecting.”

The view from above, Aden's downward gaze, gives rise to the notion of a divine perspective, a humanly impossible perspective. Hence, the apotheosis of the voyeur: "Aden's top view suggests God having an eye on private spaces. This omniscient [sic] point of view reduces the autonomy of 'my home is my castle' – the sketch of our personal way of life – to a provocative matter-of-fact level that immediately reveals private systems of order. The association of the ubiquitous observation camera is only too obvious.” & this, says Goldenstein, is what allows us to see these portraits as “secret retreats” that are “realistic and abstract at the same time” (3).

Tonight, as I sit here next to my bubbling aquarium & notice that the things in this room seem to make faces at me each time I look away from them, I cannot help but wonder if Aden's Room Portraits manage to let each portrayed object speak for itself without being asked or obliged to? I throw this question against a wall & catch it on the rebound. If everyone in the world all at once were to go on a secret retreat, would it still be secret? Would there be anywhere to retreat to? Anywhere to escape from? Coiling silences ensnare my thoughts & a sudden feeling of dread fills my lungs with more air than they can hold. I am being watched! Menno Aden! The Cyclops! No. It's just the neighbors. So I sit back down alongside my bubbling aquarium, drop some flakes into the water, & as the fish surface to feed, I get a profound urge to look those fish of mine square in their big round eyes.

Joseph Mulligan

New Paltz, NY

NOTES:

*Illustration by Beatriz Sosa, The Cyclops and His Eye, 2011, graphite on paper.

(1) His recent exhibitions include the Solo Show, "Spurensuche" at Galerie Lesmeister in Regensburg (2011); "AAF" at Galerie Lesmeister in Milan (2011); "Stand der Dinge", with Juliane Eirich, Gudrun Kemsa et al. at Galerie Schuster Photo in Berlin (2011); "ArtFair 21" at Galerie Schuster in Cologne (2010); "Volta6 Show" at Deák Erika Galéria in Basel (2010); "Contemporary Art Ruhr" at Galerie ArtAffair in Essen (2010); the Solo Show "Raumportraits" at Galerie Schuster Photo in Berlin (2010); "RaumFormen" at Galerie ArtAffair in Regensburg (2010); “The Universe is not your Friend, Babe”, with Steffi Stangl and Jessica Buhlmann at Deák Erika Galéria in Budapest; "New Homeland" at Kasseler Architekturzentrum im Kulturbahnhof in Kassel (2010); “Urban Life” at PopUp195 Photogalerie in Berlin (2010).

(2) The “Shoe Shop”, which we reproduce above with the artist’s permission, calls to mind Van Gough’s renown Shoes, in that both portray human beings in material terms of labor.

(3) See Uwe Goldenstein's commentary & all of Menno Adens Room Portraits at http://menno-aden.de/room_portraits.html