Paper in the Retort: Why are you afraid to die my dear?

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Why are you afraid to die my dear?

Why are you afraid to die my dear?, originally uploaded by Aria Nadii.

An example of Victorian morbidity in this page from a sunday school book for children about death.

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What is a paper in the retort?

In alchemy the retort is both symbolically and literally the vessel in which a purifying fire distills matter into essence. Although it does not consume the source material, a scanner (or possibly a camera) does distill a sort of essence from the object it pictures. Digitizing a piece of paper gives it an incorruptible, ethereal and nearly universal diffusion, indeed a transmutation that even the ancient alchemists couldn't have imagined. Thus do these old pages and pictures pass from obscurity and decay (putrefactio) into a disembodied spectre (spiritus) which can be encountered anywhere in time and space (the internet). Enjoy!

This photoblog pools the found art, ephemera, and collages of Aria Nadii and C.P. McDill, a pair of visual and sound artists who toil creatively in their mountain homestead. Everything posted here is a construction or remnant of old paper either made by us or found by us.

Pictures are scanned from original source material in our collection, mostly rare and out of print old books, vintage journals, scrapbooks, doodles on book pages or inside covers etc. We share them here for the reason that they would otherwise never be seen.

Paper in the Retort

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Why are you afraid to die my dear?

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What is a paper in the retort?

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Paper in the Retort

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Why are you afraid to die my dear?

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is a paper in the retort?

Search This Blog

Labels

Aria Nadii & C.P. McDill Links

Time Travelers

Related Blogs

Blog Archive

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