I’ll say much more about this in my books of the year, but while I was on holiday I read Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport and it was the best novel I have read for the first time in the last decade. It’s a very long stream of consciousness novel, so here is a Fem Fri of exactly those.
Let’s start with an interview with Lucy Ellmann:
both the mountain lion and the human narrator are embattled mothers, at the mercy of a society which awards them little status. If you were free, brave, and alone, what kind of a mother would you make? A great one. That’s what the lioness is.
I feel a bit overfaced at the thought of reading Dorothy Richardson’s cycle of 13 (thirteen!!!) stream of consciousness novels, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned this year it’s that one should just go ahead and read the long stream of consciousness novels:
It was the first novel to be labelled “stream of consciousness”, in a review by May Sinclair – a phrase that had been popular with psychologists for some time but hadn’t yet been applied to literature. Richardson hated the phrase, saying that “amongst the company of useful labels devised to meet the exigencies of literary criticism it stands alone, isolated by its perfect imbecility”. Unfortunately for Richardson, however, the phrase stuck. The stream of consciousness novel acquired genre status.
Here's Pouran Jinchi, American-Iranian artist making calligraphy inspired art:
Being an introverted child, making art came very early in life and continued as I studied civil engineering. The creative process allowed me to withdraw into an internal world that was all mine. My art is very much driven from my heritage. One could say the cultural influence of my heritage is the foundation of my art; my adult life experience and education became the building block. I believe we possess many dimensions in our humanity, evolving from a combination of our culture and the environment we live in.
Ike Gyokuran made a mark for herself with her art, her poetry and her writing:
Ike no Taiga and […] Tokuyama Gyokuran, devoted their lives to literary and artistic activities and had an unconventional partnership in the patriarchal Confucian society of eighteenth-century Kyoto. Gyokuran kept her maiden name and was financially independent; she earned a living by managing a teahouse. The foreword and the first waka poem at the right of this scroll, written by Gyokuran, indicate that she was a better waka poet than Taiga. The poems document their intimate relationship, and the calligraphic styles harmonize visually, even as Taiga’s larger writing with strong ink variation contrasts with Gyokuran’s signature style of thin, swirling lines.
I love the art of Maria Strick, who produced four copybooks in the early modern age and whose beautiful work was quite mass market (again, for the early modern age):
Strick’s work shows her command of different languages, including especially French, and a courtly sprezzatura (or nonchalance) that was generally associated with individuals of higher social status. The tension between sober religion and copiousness is perfectly illustrated in her engraved portrait, with its ink wells, quills, religious inscriptions and copious fruit.
Thank you Margo for the lovely Fem Fris of the last two weeks. I enjoyed them so much.
Something I loved doing as a child was sitting at the bottom of my parent's bookshelves and looking at the books sort of at random. I wasn't (as I remember) looking for anything in particular, just wanted to see what cool things a volume might turn up. Of course the lower shelves of the bookcase are the ones most likely to hold the Handsome Editions so here is a Fem Fri on women bookbinders.
Let's start with Anastasia Power, accomplished bookbinder, calligrapher and mentor to Virginia Woolf:
Power was born in Whitby, the ninth, and youngest daughter of a local occultist. Initially a student of book binding grandee Douglas Cockerell, she soon set up a binding studio on Museum Street in London with fellow binder (and family friend of Virginia and Vanessa Stephen) Sylvia Stebbing, where they were regularly visited by the two sisters. There, in 1901, the young Virginia Stephen (later Woolf) “asked for lessons in binding old books of sheet music, and engaged in her book binding with purpose and application”.
One of the big names of early twentieth century woman bookbinders is Sybil Pye. This also represents a nice movement from the Art Nouveau of Anastasia Power to Art Deco:
Exposed to the craft of bookbinding from a young age, Pye began her career with simple white or natural pigskin leather before graduating to coloured goatskin leather inlay panels, like the one reproduced here. By 1934 she was creating complex covers of many different coloured inlays, and her work was regularly exhibited throughout England and around the world.
Unfortunately the Guild of Women Binders was founded by a man who was sort of a grifter, but before it went bust produced some absolutely lovely work which you can see at this link:
one of the pinnacles of early 20th century decorative bookbinding is the corpus of work produced by the Guild of Women Binders. These women provided some of the most technically adept and unique designs of the era by combining stylistic contemporary designs with sensitive color work.
Kia ora my fine #FemFri fellows. Today I was talking about how relaxing I find crochet, a hobby I took up approximately nine months ago and have been insufferable about for at least eight and a half of them. My friend told me that we have a lot of relaxation acupuncture points in our hands, which might explain why the repetitive motion can feel like having your psyche washed, ironed, and hung out to gently dry in the sun.
For today’s newsletter, let’s get loopy with three contemporary crochet artists.
Lissy Robinson-Cole: “Transforming intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy one crochet loop at a time”
Along with her husband Rudi, Lissy Cole has dedicated her art practice to crochet at a grand scale. Using bright fluorescent yarn, mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), and commitment to their creativity and community, they are working on a project called Wharenui Harikoa (house of joy), entirely hand-crocheted. Lissy only began crocheting in 2017, and says “I can’t remember what drove me to buy a crochet hook and wool, but I do feel that crochet found me. I learned how to crochet from YouTube and I was immediately obsessed with what you could create with a simple strand of wool and a hook.” https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/24-08-2023/lissy-and-rudi-robinson-cole-are-shaping-their-own-empire
Emani Outterbridge, AKA Emani Milan: “I took my skill and turned it into a business when I was 15 years old, when I was in school.”
A vending machine that dispenses yarn seems like such a simple idea - yarn is a shelf-stable product, and knitters and crocheters are notorious for compulsive material buying. But it took a broken foot and a brainwave for Philadelphian Emani Outterbridge to invent the world’s first, which is a stunning pink and sells her own range of brightly-coloured stretchy acrylics.
Outterbridge, who designs under the name Emani Milan, couldn’t sell her yarn in person after injuring her foot, so came up with the idea of the machine and quickly hustled to fundraise it. She has been crocheting since she was 12, when she was temporarily housed in a residential facility due to truancy: “All we could do there was watch the world news or crochet.”
She did both, and was inspired to use her skill to start a business. How’s she doing? Well, after Cardi B wore her designs on social media, Emani’s Instagram account crashed with the influx of new followers.
Birgitta Bjerke: “I have no patterns, I do it all straight out of my head!”
Birgitta Bjerke may be one of the most influential crochet designers that no-one has heard of. Back in the 60s, she set up in King’s Road in London and made custom pieces for various rock stars, but unlike most of them she never let her art grow stale and get stuck in an era - instead she travelled the world, living off of her crochet, and then becoming a costume designer for flicks like Paris, Texas and Dances with Wolves. Now she lives in New Mexico (with forays to Sweden to restore an old house) and is finally getting her flowers for her work. Exhibitions of her “revolutionary crochet” have been shown in galleries and museums from the V&A to the Museum of Arts & Design in New York.
Hello #FemFri friends, and welcome to an interlude, as our beloved editrix Alex has (perhaps recklessly) handed over the reins to moi for a couple of weeks. I’m Margo, just a humble woman with a MS Excel licence and co-founder of a queer romance publishing house, if that’s your bag.
Like Alex, I love a project, and any chance to Life Laugh Love with data. This year, one of my projects has been to watch 52 movies directed by women. I probably never would have considered doing this if I’d not checked my D-by-W stats this time last year and realised that out of about 120 movies, I’d seen less than ten by female directors. Those are shocking numbers, and not even out of the ordinary - last year, out of the fifty most-watched films logged on Letterboxd, only a poxy eight were helmed by women-identifying directors.
According to the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, out of the top-grossing movies in the last 15 years, only 5.6% were directed by women. There’s a whole report on this that you can download here:
Claire Denis expressing Gallic disdain for those numbers
But I can be the change I want to see in the world, and between me and Greta Gerwig our 2023 efforts are pretty much even in improving the lot of the lady filmmaker. As I am sure the refined and almost obscenely tasteful readers of this fine newsletter already know about grande dames of kino like Campion, Varda, and Bigelow, I wanted to recommend some potentially lesser-seen movies. I may not have watched some of these if it wasn’t for this project, and I’d be worse off.
I, the Worst of All (1990), directed by María Luisa Bemberg
According to Bemberg’s entry in the book Notable Twentieth-Century Latin American Women, she had much in common with the subject of this biopic, Sor Juana, a 17th-century Mexican nun and polymath: “Both women [Bemberg and the character, Sor Juana] were self-taught, transgressive, and devoted to their work. Sor Juana was one of the most illustrious voices of the Spanish Baroque; Bemberg was the first Argentine woman who developed a movie career from her personal point of view.”
I didn’t know that when I clicked play, I just wanted a good nun vs The Catholic Church movie, and I, the Worst of All is a great watch - it’s currently available with subtitles on YouTube:
Looking for Alibrandi (2000), directed by Kate Woods
This is based on a YA novel that was a mega-hit in Australia, and the movie adaptation might have been a cynical cash-in, but Woods is a confident director who is absolutely on the side of her headstrong lead character, Josephine Alibrandi (played by Pia Miranda, who would go on to win Australian Survivor. Can’t say that can you, Hugh Jackman?)
You can watch a fairly decent print on YouTube. I suspect it’s held back from streaming due to music rights, as it’s packed with turn-of-the-century Ocker indie bops:
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017), directed by Mouly Surya
It’s an Indonesian revenge Western, and I’d sure it’s better than any other Indonesian revenge Western you’ve ever seen. Our heroine Marlina is preyed on by a group of wandering thieves, and she fights back. It’s bloody and violent, but also darkly funny and touching, and Marsha Timothy as Marlina gives a riveting lead performance. Kill Bill whomst?
Today marks nine years of Fem Fri. It started as a link I sent to some favourite colleagues two companies ago, and because it happened to be on a Friday I called the email #feministfriday. I or a guest editor (thank you, guest editors!) have issued it every week of the last nine years, and I've been thinking about this for a while, I'm going to stop at the decade. Episode 520 will be the last episode. We have another year together. Thank you for being a part of it.
In further admin notes, I'm away for the next couple of weeks, so the excellent Margo Howie, co-founder of Space Fruit Press, will be your guest editor. THANK YOU MARGO, I am excited to see what you do with the place.
Now let's enjoy some maps together. Here's Marie Tharp, whose work proved the theory of continental drift:
For years, Heezen collected the data while Tharp crunched the numbers and charted them out. It was thankless work in a time before computers; Tharp had to comb through an enormous pile of sonar soundings and plot out her measurements by hand. Still, she found inspiration in the very mystery of the task. “The whole world was spread out before me,” she recalled in a 1999 essay about the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “I had a blank canvas to fill with extraordinary possibilities … It was a once-in-a-lifetime—a once-in-the-history-of-the-world—opportunity"
Irene Fischer fled from the Nazis, lived to 102 and knew a heck of a lot about the shape of the earth:
Fischer became internationally recognized […] during the Mercury and Apollo moon missions. Her Mercury Datum, or Fischer Ellipsoid 1960 and 1968, and her work on the lunar parallax, were paramount to conducting these missions. Fischer was a pioneer [… and] the first AMS employee […] to receive the Distinguished Civilian Service Award for her work.
Maybe a Fem Fri First, a link to a dot mil domain. Probably not going to make a big habit of that. Irene Fischer was cool though.
As regular readers know, I have long been a fan of samplers from history, but did NOT know that maps used to be included in that too!
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries young girls would work, or embroider, the alphabet and a phrase or maxim on a piece of woven cloth (typically) with silk thread (usually) in order to learn the rudiments of the alphabet and grammar, and to practice and improve their needlework skills. Within the universe of these samplers there is a unique subset of “working maps” or map samplers. Color Plate 1 provides an example of a map sampler made in the 1770s. The counties of England were worked in silk thread on fabric by 13-year-old Ann Rhodes for her school geography project. The sampler includes place names, marks for latitude and longitude, a compass rose, and a variety of ships. Thus, a project that typically would result in a paper product is instead rendered in a new medium.
London is full of quite fearless foxes, and I'm used to them not freaking out at me walking past them. Last night, though, felt like it marked a new stage in this evolution. When I walked down the path to my flat a fox started trotting towards me (also on the path!) like a little dog, and after I closed the door, sat and stared balefully at me through the window. I had a very strong sense of another being wanting something from me, although I was not clear on what exactly that was.
Women are consistently at the forefront of fox domestification research, starting with Lyudmila Trut who found out just how quickly foxes become tame:
Belyaev immediately recruited 25-year-old Lyudmila Trut to his team. Trut quickly became the lead researcher on the experiment, working with Belyaev on every aspect from the practical to the conceptual. Trut turned 85 years old in November of 2018 and remains the lead investigator on the work to this day. Starting from what amounted to a population of wild foxes, within six generations (6 years in these foxes, as they reproduce annually), selection for tameness, and tameness alone, produced a subset of foxes that licked the hand of experimenters, could be picked up and petted, whined when humans departed, and wagged their tails when humans approached. An astonishingly fast transformation. Early on, the tamest of the foxes made up a small proportion of the foxes in the experiment: today they make up the vast majority.
Erin Hecht has done interesting work with Trut on the changes to fox brains when they are bred for either tameness or aggression. As I write this, I realise that whilst so far foxes have found an evolutionary advantage in being unafraid of people, there's nothing to stop them discovering the power of ganging up on people:
By analyzing MRI scans of the foxes, Hecht and her colleagues showed that both the foxes bred to be tame and those bred to be aggressive have larger brains and more gray matter than those of the control group. These findings run contrary to other studies on chickens, sheep, cats, dogs, horses, and other animals that have shown domesticated species have smaller brains, with less gray matter, than their wild forebears.
I'm sure that by now you are thinking, what actually is standing in the way of me having a little fox pet I can cuddle every day? Amy Bassett has the answer and it boils down to; your continued desire to not drink urine:
“[You can be] sitting there drinking your cup of coffee and turning your head for a second, and then taking a swig and realizing, ‘Yeah, Boris came up here and peed in my coffee cup,’” said Amy Bassett, the Canid Conservation Center’s founder.
Two links about work today, one super fun and inspiring and the other very funny but also intensely mean spirited. They're both about work though, work is the theme.
As you know probably, I'm a mega fan of Aubrey Gordon's podcast Maintenance Phase, and really enjoyed this story of her anonymous rise to fame:
She gained the kind of attention and success most writers would gnaw their arms off for, all while working a regular office job at a nonprofit where no one knew about her increasingly successful side-gig — the Clark Kent to Your Fat Friend’s Superman. “All day during work, I would go into a half-hour- or an hourlong meeting, and then I would come out and I would have hundreds of notifications of like, Roxane Gay sharing a piece, or James Corden sharing a piece, or Gavin Newsom sharing a piece,” she says. “It just blew up.”
Here's a Reductress article that definitely isn't about any of us, so you can just go right ahead and enjoy it:
“When I lost my job last November, I couldn’t see a way out of my despair,” Georgina continued, even though no one asked her to. “Then we hung out, and you told me you’d just beaten level 763 of Candy Crush. All of a sudden, I remembered: I have a lot to live for! Thanks, man!”
Today is a day for art. Absolutely no theme otherwise, just some art I have been jamming on recently. I hope you enjoy it too.
I really enjoyed this article about Dora Maar and the interplay between high and commercial art in her work. This, for example, is a facecream ad:
Les années vous guettent (The Years Lie in Wait for You), ca. 1935, probably used in an advertisement for an anti-aging cream, shows a spider in its web superimposed in white over the beautiful, pensive face of Maar’s close friend Nusch Éluard, wife of the Surrealist poet Paul Éluard. Nusch’s face is placed above the centerline of the frame, and to the left, with the spider set directly between her eyes. The lighting (a specialty of Maar’s) is both soft and highly contrasted.
What a tremendous material wood is for art. I love this Elizabeth Catlett sculpture:
“It might not win prizes and it might not get into museums, but we ought to stop thinking that way, just like we stopped thinking that we had to have straight hair. We ought to stop thinking we have to do the art of other people.”
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian lived to 97, made art with mirrors, and looked extremely cool while doing both of those things:
Here's one work but I strongly encourage you to go down an image search/Pinterest rabbit hole of her oeuvre:
Suzanne Cotter, curator of Infinite Possibility: Mirror Works and Drawings, 1974-2014, which opened at the Serralves Foundation in Porto and then toured to the Guggenheim Museum in New York, said her art ‘conveyed light and joy’, adding that she ‘brought to our pent-up Western eyes a completely new perspective as to the possibilities of abstraction as an aesthetic and narrative form’.
I love bats. What incredible creatures, if one mammal species can fly there really is hope for us all. Enjoy this newsletter of bats.
Firstly, Emma Teeling is one, if not the, world's leading bat researcher. Here's a great interview with her where she tells you many many amazing things about these little guys and their surprisingly long lifespans:
And if you were ever in tropical rainforest at night out catching bats in the likes of Panama and what you'll see these great, big, huge spiderwebs and giant spiders in the middle of the web, and you see these small bats flying in total darkness, we can hear them with your bat detectors and they're able to use sound to pinpoint the spider and to avoid the web using sound alone in complete darkness.
Dee Lawlor has built a bat bothy to rehabilitate ill bats. <3 It sounds like it's overall going very well, but that tiny bat Rowdy just wasn't that into the wild and is now her pet:
“All the other bats we released last summer were great at flying and hunting, but Rowdy was having none of it. He’s with me because he’s not suitable for release. At the moment I’m the only person in Aberdeenshire who does bat care training, so for example if you want to do bat rehab yourself, you come to me and myself and Rowdy will help you with that.”
Here's Pouran Jinchi, American-Iranian artist making calligraphy inspired art:
