November Gloom

Highlighting art, music, literature, poetry, and film for the month of November in the year 2024.

Nov 30, 2024

Art

Katia Berestova
Photography, (b. 1992, Russia)

What am I trying to express with my work? Probably, this is faith and hope that human can be human. Hope for the light of enlightenment, for rationality, for the saving force of beauty and purity, a part of which is in everyone. And of course my work is a joint creation of my "I" and my life, our union - it gives the idea and strength, I return with gratitude. Such a process.

I tend to be drawn to black and white photography far more than color. I don’t remember when that began, nor do I fully understand why. In a way, color feels like cheating. Color isn’t a lie—we see the world in color, obviously. However, it forces conclusions on the viewer before the photograph can be fully digested. Black and white, by contrast, is both more vague and more bold. It requires the viewer to draw their own conclusions, free from the influence of color, unprompted by its persuasion.

Katia Berestova’s photographs are delightful worlds of blacks and whites and grays—images that transcend time and cultures, existing without borders or boundaries. They transport you seamlessly to a different century while remaining firmly rooted in the modern day. They could have been found in an attic in a 19th century farmhouse in Belgium, or made just months ago in Romania. That timelessness, that Tarkovsky intent she delightfully has, is what I’m drawn to most.

Artist Website
Artist Instagram

Literature

“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind
First published in 1985

The story follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an unloved orphan in 18th-century France who is born with an exceptional sense of smell, capable of distinguishing a vast range of scents in the world around him. Grenouille becomes a perfumer but later becomes involved in murder when he encounters a young girl with an unsurpassed wondrous scent. — From Wikipedia

Perfume is, without a doubt, one of the most unique books I’ve read—simply because of its premise. Authors (and creatives in general) often borrow, copy, or are inspired by others, so when you encounter an original story or idea, it stands out. This is one of those rare moments. Often cited as Kurt Cobain’s favorite book, Perfume takes an obscure concept and transforms it into something truly captivating.

Honestly, I didn’t anticipate much from this novel and approached it with neither excitement nor worry. But when I devoured it in just a couple of days, I was pleasantly surprised. Had I not started it so late one evening, I might have finished it in under 24 hours. It’s not a complicated or demanding read, but it’s far from mundane or dull. Süskind masterfully keeps the reader engaged, eager to uncover what each chapter holds.

I found myself genuinely excited to reach the end and discover the resolution. Lately, I’ve been diving into dense literary works, many of which are challenging to get through. Perfume was a refreshing palate cleanser, maintaining its integrity through excellent writing and allure.

Music

“Unbound EP” — Chelsea Wolfe
Released in November, 2024 — collected on vinyl and digital

Recommended if you like alternative, post-grunge, folk rock.

Quite some time ago, I came across the music of Chelsea Wolfe, but it didn’t resonate with me. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right headspace, or I was seeking a different experience from the music I listened to at the time. Like art, the way you perceive music is shaped by the surroundings and circumstances of your life. Where you live, your mood, your job—these all influence how you interpret the sounds you hear. Even the time of day can affect the way music feels. At that point in my life, her music just didn’t stick.

More recently, over the past few years, I “found” it again. This time, it stayed with me. Now, Wolfe has become one of my most played and collected musicians. This particular album of hers, an EP, features acoustic versions of five songs from her latest album, She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She. These renditions are more digestible and showcase her voice more prominently than the original recordings. Without the layers of guitars and synths, the songs are unbound and stripped down, offering listeners a raw, intimate glimpse into her world and mind.

I’ve included my favorite songs from the album— “Dusk”

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View album on Bandcamp

Other albums that have been on repeat this past month, both old and new:

Beach House— “Depression Cherry” & “Bloom”
Soft as Snow— “Metal.wet”
Tara Lily— “Speak in the Dark”
Bon Iver— “SABLE”
Slowdive— “Slowdive”

Vinyl Score/s of the Month

Portishead— Repressing of their first album, “Dummy.”
Chelsea Wolfe— “Unbound” original 2024 pressing

Poetry

“Bonfire Opera” by Danusha Lameris
Published in 2020 by University of Pittsburgh Press

Sometimes the most compelling landscapes are the ones where worlds collide: where a desert meets the sea, a civilization, no-man’s land. Here in Bonfire Opera, grief and Eros grapple in the same domain. A bullet-hole through the heart, a house full of ripe persimmons, a ghost in a garden. Coyotes cry out on the hill, and lovers find themselves kissing, “bee-stung, drunk” in the middle of road. Here, the dust is holy, as is the dark, unknown. These are poems that praise the impossible, wild world, finding beauty in its wake.

Here are a few favorite excerpts of mine:

It’s not that I was happy. I was too young
to be happy, knew only its first blush
not the darker tones that come after
and give it shape.

—

All I could do was watch—
a kind of seeing into that was a way of entering.

—

What we do not know lies in darkness.
The way the unsayable rests at the back of the tongue.

Find the book here.

Film

“Woman in the Dunes” directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Released in 1964

One of the 1960s’ great international art-house sensations, Woman in the Dunes (Suna no onna) was for many the grand unveiling of the surreal, idiosyncratic world of Hiroshi Teshigahara. Eiji Okada plays an amateur entomologist who has left Tokyo to study an unclassified species of beetle found in a vast desert. When he misses his bus back to civilization, he is persuaded to spend the night with a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) in her hut at the bottom of a sand dune. What results is one of cinema’s most unnerving and palpably erotic battles of the sexes, as well as a nightmarish depiction of everyday life as a Sisyphean struggle—an achievement that garnered Teshigahara an Academy Award nomination for best director.

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Once again I’m recommending a previously seen, and much older, film because the quality of entertainment released as of late is dismal at best. I’m truly anticipating a much better year of film releases in the coming year because this past year’s releases have been abysmal. Aside from a few notable entries, it’s all remakes, revamps, prequels, sequels, and general junk. If you disagree, I implore you to send me a film you think is a must see!

The film, and the novel that it’s based on, explores the philosophical idea of existentialism— that existence is made up of possibilities that individuals can choose from. Additionally, it explores the idea that life’s circumstances are out of one’s control and touches heavily on the the “Myth of Sisyphus,” the philosophical essay written by Camus in 1942.

The world is not rational. The world is absurd. Absurdity is life.

Learn more

Other films I’ve seen recently, for the first time or again, that bear mentioning:

“Howl’s Moving Castle” (rewatch)
The Young Karl Marx

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