picture books

Last night involved a certain person's birthday and some related overconsumption of alcohol and a resultant deliciously lazy and sleepy Saturday. Therefore, tonight we found ourselves camped out in the living room, listening to records and -- get this -- actually looking at our art books. I tend to get really excited about big art and comics books when I first get them and then sort of forget about them as entertainment options. (Maybe it's because they are so large and heavy, and demand your full attention (and lap)?) (But then this is also exactly what makes them deserving of a devoted evening.)

Here are tonight's top five, with suggested musical accompaniment, like, you know, wine and cheese pairings or something. (Click on the images for links!)

1. Kramers Ergot 6. Pairs well with: Hawaiian luau music from the sixties. A comics and illustration compilation of satisfying heft. The artwork in this book feels so alive one is almost concerned it might leap off the page and splatter in one's eyeballs, and therefore, I suggest protective goggles while browsing.


2. Ninja, by Brian Chippendale. Pairs well with: Smog (for balance) A huge, oversized collection of comics about a ninja that looks exactly like Brian Chippendale(of Lightning Bolt)'s drumming sounds like: wild and kinetic and overjoyed in a frantic way.


3.Henry Darger: In the Realms of the Unreal. Pairs well with: UiLab. I just like looking at the pictures. Henry Darger's world is a strange and terrifying and wonderful place to visit.



4. The Nutshell Series of Unexplained Death. Pairs well with: The Sads. I know I've already written about this book -- photos of miniatures meticulously recreating crime scenes -- but this time I really just looked at the photographs and didn't get as involved with trying to follow the mystery stories.


5. Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay Eterniday. Pairs well with: No Age. Cornell's acumulation of beautiful objects and sometimes eerie stuffed birds and such seem suddenly to be in conversation with the Nutshell Series and Henry Darger's imagery in a way that never occurred to me before.