The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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The most brilliant video I have seen on youtube in a long time.
Go WATCH!
Also, the hobble skirt scene is brilliant. -
“This famous android was a collaborative effort by two Germans. Clockmaker Peter Kintzing created the mechanism and joiner David Roentgen crafted the cabinet; the dress dates from the 19th century. Automatons were in circulation and aroused much curiosity. Roentgen probably sent the tympanum to the French court and Marie-Antoinette bought it in 1784. The queen, aware of its perfection and scientific interest, had it deposited in the Academy of Sciences cabinet in 1785. The tympanum is a musical instrument that plays eight tunes when the female android strikes the 46 strings with two little hammers. Tradition has it that she is a depiction of Marie-Antoinette.”
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Author: Peter Kintzing (1745-1816) and David Roentgen (1743-1807)
Date: 1784
Characteristics/Origins: Steel, wood, ivory, brass, textile. Paris, musée des Arts et Métiers – Conservatoire national des arts et métiers © Musée des arts et métiers-Cnam, Paris/photo Philippe Hurlin
Description:
“This famous android was a collaborative effort by two Germans. Clockmaker Peter Kintzing created the mechanism and joiner David Roentgen crafted the cabinet; the dress dates from the 19th century.* Automatons were in circulation and aroused much curiosity. Roentgen probably sent the tympanum to the French court and Marie-Antoinette bought it in 1784. The queen, aware of its perfection and scientific interest, had it deposited in the Academy of Sciences cabinet in 1785. The tympanum is a musical instrument that plays eight tunes when the female android strikes the 46 strings with two little hammers. Tradition has it that she is a depiction of Marie-Antoinette.”* I’m curious about that. I wonder if perhaps it was a typo and they meant 18th century instead?
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“When the clockwork is wound the music box plays and the glass rods rotate giving the illusion of flowing water. The swan turns its head from side to side and also preens itself. After a few moments the swan notices the swimming fish and bends down to catch and eat one (ornithologically inaccurate, as swans do not eat fish). The swan’s head then returns to the upright position and the performance, which has lasted about 40 seconds, is over. To help preserve the mechanism the swan is only operated once each day at 2pm.” The mechanism was designed by John Joseph Merlin (1735-1803).
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Horrible costuming aside whoever made this video is brilliant. The “I am” is spot on.
So much love for this video.
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It would be best to just quote what the museum has to say in the gift shop since I’m having an issue find a good picture of the harp.
“Inspired by the bees adorning the harp of Empress Josephine
This harp, signed by Cousineau, father and son, used to belong to Empress Josephine and is now in the music room of the Château of Malmaison. It is made of mahogany and richly decorated with gilded bronze, in particular bees, which inspired these different pieces of jewellery.
When looking for new emblems to replace the royal fleur-de-lis, Napoleon chose the bee, recalling that in the 17th century, more than three hundred bees had been found in the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis. Their social organisation and obedience to their queen appealed to him. The bee can be found on clothes, draperies, carpets, and decorative furniture bronzes.”
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“Back in the 1980s apparently Madonna fell in love with the costumes used in the movie “Dangerous Liaisons” like many of us who love costumes who watched it. However she has contacts most of us don’t and she was actually able to borrow one of Glenn Close’s costumes as the Marquise de Merteuil for the 1990 MTV awards. Here a few pictures costume lovers may enjoy”.
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I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin’s back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song;
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid’s music.
- William ShakespeareA Midsummer Night’s Dream
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“Would someone care to classify, a broken heart is a twisted mind so I can find someone to rely on and run to them, to them, full speed ahead, no you are not useless we are just, Misguided Ghosts.”
— Paramore -
Detroit Ruin Porn Documents the Decline and Fall of an Empire
Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, image from “The Ruins of Detroit” (2005- )
(image from thestapleton.com)
I can’t find the website now but they said this: “Think back on photographs of the Angkor temples in Cambodia, remains of what was once the largest city on Earth, or depictions of the Egyptian pyramids. These buildings and spaces are now dead, existing only as monuments to what once was and as prophecies foretelling every civilization’s eventual collapse.”
When I look at these photos I’m reminded of the Victorian memento mori or ”Remember you must die.”
Nothing is forever.
