Opus – Page 89 – Encyclopædia of the sublime

Charles Ray’s Ink Line

Ink Line is a sculpture consisting of a stream of jet-black ink pouring from a dime-size hole in the ceiling into a dime-size hole in the floor. Initially, Ink Line looks like a strand of yarn strung the height of the gallery. Get close and you’ll realize the line is liquid, glimmering, the consistency of syrup, moving fairly fast, fluctuating slightly, and thinner at the bottom than at the top. The ink forms a weird climatological aura around itself, slightly changing the humidity of the room.

Minotaure

Minotaure, published between 1933 and 1939, was a Surrealist-oriented publication founded by Albert Skira in Paris. The editors were André Breton and Pierre Mabille. It was a luxurious publication, sporting original artworks on its cover by prestigious artists like Pablo Picasso. The magazine was sponsored and advised by Surrealist art patron Edward James, and is still one of the richest sources of information about the pre-war Surrealist world.

Black sun

During spring in Denmark, at approximately one half an hour before sunset, flocks of more than a million European starlings gather from all corners to join in the incredible formations shown above.

Surtsey

Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963.

Girlfriends

In Girlfriends, first-time writer-director Claudia Weill created a compelling depiction of a woman look at a woman growing, awkwardly and not without pain, into her adult life - that is, the life of an independent woman and artist in New York City. This film also offers what is inarguably one of cinema's most honest and insightful looks at the complex bonds between women, detailing with extraordinary sensitivity (and bits of quirky humor) the shifts, both small and seismic, that occur when one of the halves of a sustaining heterosexual female friendship effectively leaves to get married.

Gellért Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool

Gellért Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool are a bath complex in Budapest, Hungary, built between 1912 and 1918 in the Art Nouveau style. They were damaged during World War II, but then rebuilt. References to healing waters in this location are found from as early as the 13th century. A hospital was located on this site during the Middle Ages. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, baths were also built on this particular site.

London Post Office Railway

The Post Office Railway was a narrow-gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office to move mail between sorting offices.

El Gölü

El Gölü is a large park in Tabriz, Iran. It has a square, artificial lake surrounded by sidewalks. There is also a building in the middle of the lake.

Annemarie Schwarzenbach

Annemarie Schwarzenbach was a Swiss writer, journalist, photographer and traveler. From an early age she began to dress and act like a boy, a behaviour not discouraged by her parents, and which she retained all her life. In fact in later life she was often mistaken for a young man.

Curiosities of Literature

Curiosities of Literature is the epic cornucopia of essays on all things literary by Isaac D’Israeli. In a preface, D’Israeli described his ever-evolving work as a “voluminous miscellany, composed at various periods … a circuit of multifarious knowledge [which] could not be traced were we to measure and count each step by some clinical pedometer.” It would, however, be a misjudgment to regard the miscellany as a jungle of whimsical impressions or fanciful thoughts. Rather, it is a man-made woodland landscaped, cultivated, and manicured by an urban if not urbane gentleman.