the past weeks' experiences left me feeling so fulfilled. i revel in being able to show my new home to old friends. there were picnics in laurelhust park, many nights of hot chocolate & flickering old movies on the tv screen. also traipsing to forest park & far away to the maryhill museum in the columbia river gorge, flatlands & wind turbines a-spinnin.
i keep thinking back to a number of the exhibits at maryhill, including a collection of ephemera showcasing the beauty of turn-of-the-century modern dancer & theatrical artist loie fuller. she is most recognized for her "serpentine dance" in which she would create undulating patterns with large silk fabrics & bamboo poles. she is also recognized for her dramatic theatrical lighting which from examples i find are very much early conceptions of the type of aesthetic that german expressionist theatre & cinema is associated with.
i really love this photo for the photograph more than the example it makes of her dance & costuming. it reminds me of a lot of the old spirit photography of apparitions & mediums that i was obsessed with for a long time.
this video, made by the lumiere brothers, is said to be a depiction of her dancing her serpentine dance, but the exhibit acknowledged that it's more likely someone else dancing her dance during the same time period.
the other exhibit that really thrilled me was a collection of wire dolls who were crafted & taken on tour in post-war europe (early 1950s), exhibiting french couture fashion designs. the faces of the dolls are sculptural & ghostly. the erie quality of their faces combined with the exquisite showcase of real 1940s fashions was so near to my personal aesthetic perfection-- i was in heaven perusing these tableaus. what really topped the cake was a complete tableau designed by jean cocteau. needless to say, it was very difficult to capture how magical these mannequin doll ladies were in photographs. the shoes were exceptionally crafted with as much care as the outfits were (i was very much enamored of the shoes). also part of the beauty of the experience was being in the exhibit alone.
i'm having some difficulty adjusting to the wintery rain that has made itself a new regular portland presence. this is my first autumn of gold & red leaves. parked on the corner of our street is a rusty 60s VW bus that is shrouded in large yellow leaves, a stunning image that makes me homesick for my family's 72' camper. the changing leaves create a slushy tarp on the ground that can be hazardous to walk upon-- especially on our steep driveway. my only condolance is that this driveway will be a hotspot when it snows, if it snows, as it did last year. sledding & snowmen boyfriends galore.
i have other exciting things to talk about, but i will keep them a secret for a bit longer, as i don't want to say too much if they don't come to pass.
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