Cockney Visionary is new, lavishly illustrated monograph is set to accompany the Austin Osman Spare: Fallen Visionary exhibition at the Cuming Museum in London, on from September 14th to November 13th, 2010.

The book will contain an introduction by Robert Ansell, a cartographic study by Gavin Semple, a biographical essay by Geraldine Beskin, essays by curators Christopher Jordan and Stephen Pochin, and detailed commentaries on the works in the collection by Dr William Wallace.

From the website:

Sales of this publication will help to fund the exhibition. The deluxe edition will feature a Patron list. A list of those who purchased this volume and who therefore have directly supported the exhibition. Of course, if you so wish, you can purchase the deluxe without appearing on the Patron List.

There is an extra benefit attached to the purchase of this edition. You will be eligible to attend a special patrons-only private view of the exhibition. The date of this exclusive event will be disclosed to purchasers once orders have been processed.

However copies are not cheap. The deluxe edition is limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the authors can be purchased at £160. The standard edition is limited to 900 numbered copies and goes for £60 – or £74 including shipping to Canada. (Yikes!) Both copies will contain the DVD documentary The Bones Go Last.

For more information and to pre-order either edition, see the listing on Jerusalem Press.

Pricey, but so are all things Sparian these days. Want.

Spotted on LAShTAL.com.

In July I posted about the one-man, one-act play written and performed by John Burns, Aleister Crowley: A Passion for Evil, which is showing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August.

LAShTAL.com hosts an in-depth review written by Frater FS, which is largely favourable:

Condensing any life, never mind Crowley’s into less than an hour requires some remarkably tight editing and Burns wisely chooses some key vignettes to give the broad strokes of the Crowley biography. Burns does this with remarkable intensity and effect, slipping into various characters on a minimal stage with nothing but a writing desk, a phone, a dagger and a wine glass for company (Burns plays Crowley in his 50s, balding and in bow tie and frock coat).

Check out the full review on LAShTAL.com, it sounds like Burns has done an excellent job – wish I was in Edinburgh!

I haven’t been able to locate many other reviews of the show, and none go as deep into it as Frater FS. (For example, EdinburghSpotlite.com gave it three stars in a review by Keith D, but without much analysis.)

The show is still on, and will be until August 28th, 2010. If you see it, I’d love to know what you think.

New title edited by John Zorn,  Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism, published by Hips Road/Tzadik, July 31, 2010.

The first four volumes (Arcana, Arcana II, Arcana III and Arcana IV) are each subtitled “Musicians on Music”. This special edition is the first volume to break that trend.

From the Amazon.com description:

For centuries musicians have tapped into mysticism, magic and alchemy, embracing ritual, spell, incantation and prayer, and experimenting with esoteric approaches to harmony, pitch and vibration. In recent decades, avant-garde musicians have rediscovered these overlaps, as occultism has reinvented itself–through Buddhist and other Asian influences, Thelema and Chaos Magic–to accommodate cultural strains from psychedelica through Punk and Industrial music. This special edition of John Zorn’s much acclaimed Arcana series focuses on the magical aspects of the act of making music.

From the description on Tzadik.com: Continue reading »