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‘Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including a material like kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F). The strength, and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. Though definitions vary, porcelain can be divided into three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste and bone china. The category that an object belongs to depends on the composition of the paste used to make the body of the porcelain object and the firing conditions.
‘Porcelain slowly evolved in China and was finally achieved (depending on the definition used) at some point about 2,000 to 1,200 years ago, then slowly spread to other East Asian countries, and finally Europe and the rest of the world. Its manufacturing process is more demanding than that for earthenware and stoneware, the two other main types of pottery, and it has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery for its delicacy, strength, and its white colour. It combines well with both glazes and paint, and can be modelled very well, allowing a huge range of decorative treatments in tablewares, vessels and figurines. It also has many uses in technology and industry.’ — collaged
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Barnaby Barford
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Ren Clark
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Ronit Baranga
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Unknown
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Maria Rubinke
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Qixuan Lim
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Johan Talon
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Eva Thimgren
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Johnson Tsang
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Penny Byrne
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Laurent Craste
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Evelyn Bracklow
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Nicola Constantino
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Jessica Harrison
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Geng Xue
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Marc Alberghina
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Unknown
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OOAK
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p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!!! Okay, no sooner said than done. I will, and I’ll report any findings to you tomorrow. I love a challenge. It rained and rained, but I remain alive. Talented love there. I’ll take him. Love like a combination tiny wishing well/earring attached to your love’s earlobe and ready for the kerplunk of that coin falling into his magical waters whereupon your love’s wish will be granted, so what is it? G. ** Bill, How was the Lim event? I saw ‘Fat Chance’ at the virtual version of the Rotterdam Film Festival, but I doubt it’s still available for viewing there, sadly. Me too, re: addressing that deficiency without further ado or I guess after our next one. Want to do the SFX/score? I want to read the new Jones novel eventually. I wasn’t as high on the first one as a lot of people were, but, yeah, pleasurable. ** _Black_Acrylic, My pleasure. He’s really good. Work that’s a boon to know. Any chance the medication showed up yesterday? Great re: Thursday aka tomorrow! More Robinson prose = more linguistic luxury. ** Steve Erickson, Very happy his work caught your eye! I saw ‘Fat Chance’ at this year’s virtual version of the Rotterdam Film Festival. I’ve read all kinds of conflicting reportage about the New Museum situation, and I don’t know what to think. How great that you got to see Artazvad Pelechian’s ‘Nature’. That was one of my very favorite films of last year. Very interesting filmmaker/figure, little known even here in France, but beloved by Godard and others. ** Jamie, Hi, Jamie!!! So happy you liked your dip into Broomer’s films. He’s terrif. I’m good. Yeah, lots going on, particularly with the virtual video game-like Haunt project, which needs to be finished in a couple of weeks. But all is well. ‘A psychologist who specialises in gut-related problems’: how does that work? Interesting. You noticing a difference? Lovelier still Wednesday to you! ** Right. Today I made or rather curated a Halloween-tangetted art show for you. Have a wander and gander please. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Hey again, Dennis!
I’m not 100% sure about the gut related shrink, but I think it’s coming from the theory that gut problems like mine can be triggered by excess stress and trying to deal with that anxiety etc will hopefully have a beneficial effect on my body. I’m a fairly anxious person and have noticed I get sicker around stressful times, so I’m hopeful. I’ve only had one session so far, so too early for any results yet, but she told me to ‘focus on doing things that I enjoy’ and that’s good with me.
Your ‘virtual video game-like Haunt project’ sounds completely intriguing. Is that the one that will be visitable in Paris? If so, I’m wondering if there’s any cheap train tickets around then…
How was your day? So far I’ve been writing and enjoying hearing the rain outside, and I watched another Stephen Broomer film – The Shapes Book – which absolutely charmed me. I’m going to enjoy going through his work. Where do you find out about new experimental filmmakers? I follow some Twitter and FB groups, but you always seem to find these amazing folk that never otherwise cross my radar.
As for today’s post, I’d happily have any one or all of these porcelain creations in my house, but I fear Hannah would think quite the opposite. Hannah’s parents have recently unearthed an old doll that one of her sisters used to play with and it’s utterly terrifying to me, kind of fire blackened and totally haunted looking. A couple of the pieces in the post reminded me of her. Ari loves her, of course.
Hope Thursday knocks for you six, but in a positive manner.
Love, Jamie
Dennis, Yay! Halloween!
You’re welcome. My friend and I are going to talk on the phone soon because he wants to go over I Wished more in depth. Should be an interesting convo. I gave him my feelings about it before he read it, and I want to see what he says now that he has read it.
Man, that FB being down fucked me up. I get here through there. Otherwise, I can never just come here and get the current day, and there’s no listing for the current day down below or anything like that. Strange, no?
Fucking swamped at work. Still.
David got hired for a new job. Sub shop chain called Jersey Mike’s. 😀 He starts Friday. He has another appointment Thursday at this new drug treatment place. It’s outpatient. We’ll see how it all goes. Cautiously optimistic. But then again, I always am.
Hey Dennis. These porcelain figures are super creepy. I wonder how they would look on a grandmothers mantlepiece. Qixuan Lim is my fav, the one Of the feet, or the girl slicing up her own leg. Ewwww.
Thanks for the tip about the online library. Yesterday I read cormac Maccarthys the road. It was … bleak? But I enjoyed it. I had never read any of his work before.
Okay, happy hump day!
Ian
Here in the UK we have a programme on the BBC called Antiques Roadshow where the public takes along their heirlooms to a stately home, in order to get them evaluated by a panel of trusted experts. This being the UK, WW2 and the royal family tend to be heavily fetishised. I do like the idea of this expert panel being confronted by some of the items in today’s show.
Hi!!
In that case, thank you – even in advance! I’m actually really curious to see what Budapest has to offer.
Now, it’s raining all day here, too, so I’m busy using your confetti love!
Wow, haha, this love is wonderful! Thank you! My wish today is a spin-off episode for the first season of True Detective, of all things, haha. It does not need to have any real action whatsoever, I’d *prefer* it not to, I’d just like to spend some more time with the main characters. Love (admittedly not at his most creative) ready to gift you with any of the above little horror shows – which one would you like? Od.
Tootie is The Most Horrible!
Hey Dennis – Really enjoyed this gleefully gruesome day. A terrific array of unexpected effects. Moving backwards, I didn’t know Stephen Broomer’s work and plan to spend time with it in the coming days. The few I sampled looked terrific. Also dug the Muriel Spark post, and added the book to my read pile.
It was great talking with you last week. I got a little waylaid when I had a bad reaction to a cortisone shot for some shoulder problems — finally better from that.
Watched “Annette” — glad you warned me about the middle — and was enthralled by it overall, the last hour and ending in particular. Impressive work which I wish I’d been able to see it in a theater.
Speaking of, do you know if they’re only showing “Memoria” the new Weerasethakul in theaters in France? In the U.S., there’s apparently only one print of it traveling to theaters for limited runs and no plans for streaming or DVD. A bold idea…
An ANTIQUES ROADSHOW episode where they survey only the creepiest relics would be a great idea!
I started reading Garth “The New, Edgy David Leavitt” Greenwell’s CLEANNESS today.
Only one song away from finishing the UFO ep!
Super fine collection today, Dennis. I love off-kilter ceramics. My favorites here are Baranga, Rubinke, Lim, Constantino, Xue, also Jessica Harrison whose work I’ve seen closeup. Harrison’s pieces are actually quite small, so the incredible detail is really impressive.
The ceramics artist Ben Hirshkoff used to live here, don’t think he uses glaze much though:
http://benhirschkoff.com/ceramics/
I have the blue critter, which I’m very fond of. Ben has moved on to other work that I’m less excited about.
I’m enjoying the new Jones novel more than the first one. The cast is larger and more colorful, there’s more art gossip/chatter, and the sex is less umm focused.
I’d love to work on a score for a porn/horror project, though my film sound chops are nowhere near adequate for a feature. A short might be doable…
Bill
I wonder what kind of person would create such works. This is not even good surrealism.
I think even the Marquis de Sade would be bored with the forced nature of these works.
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for the kind response last week! 11:11 isn’t going anywhere, at least not for the next couple of years, but I’m glad for this reminder: “your own work is always the most important”. The career development book I wrote, Age of Agility, did surprisingly well and, as I said in the previous comment, I (immediately) wrote an outline for a follow up book but haven’t touched in in years so I’m not confident to start shopping it around. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been making a lot of comprises with myself. I enjoyed writing Age of Agility and it opened doors and has helped people (it’s being used as a textbook at universities), but the *other* driver for writing it was to get enough money/flexibility to pay for time off to edit/revise my fiction… but instead I started 11:11. Not a bad misdirection—I care a lot about the 11:11 (the authors and others who have jumped on board as editors) and it has become a big part of my life. But the fiction itch has gotten out of control. I have an 18-gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck container full of it, not to mention thousands of pages on my external hard drive, which is quickly resembling my life: a lot of information without much organization. Ha! And I have recently taken up writing in a notes app on my phone and started something I really care about. For the last five or so years I told myself that I’d go back and read what I’ve written once life slows down, but it hasn’t, and I don’t think it will. I’m confident that I’ll figure something out—and soon. I get to these breaking points and it all comes back together. This is a good first step. Thanks for letting me ramble on at you for a while.
Sorry to hear you’ll be missing American Halloween this year! I sent you a copy of Logan Berry’s ‘R̵U̵N̵-̵O̵F̵F̵ ̵S̵U̵G̵A̵R̵ Crystal Lake’, it’s a taste at least! Maggie Siebert put together a video for us and she did a terrific job. I shared it on social media but let me upload it to YouTube quick. Here it is:
https://youtu.be/lKVYcQRvuww
Thanks, Dennis! And wishing you the best, as always,
Andrew