D e c e m b e r  1 9 9 8

Recommended concert in New York City : Icelandic Bass player Skuli Sverrisson will play at the Knitting Factory on January 1st and 2nd. Also he will play in the Cooler (14th Street) on January 4th

Because of some positive feedback, we have added a readers comments page. Please write what you think of das boot content.

Update: Einar Örn Gunnarsson´s
book was published as planned. We´ll
keep you posted on reviews.

ERTUGRUL ATES

Turkish painter Ertugrul Ates has exhibited his paintings throughout the world, mainly in the United States and Turkey. His work has been widely published including several books written on his art.

His exploding of the flat canvas and fragmentation of the subject matter results in other worlds which are left to interpretation. Ates works with a clear sense of scale and spatility that through representation pushes the bounds of  compositional structure. Blurred perceptual views reflect his Turkish background while his personal aesthetic sensibility is soft and clear.

<   Click here for images   >

N o v e m b e r  1 9 9 8

ERIC  COBB

Architect Eric J. Cobb recently completed an extraordinary house in Seattle Washington. It is a tour de force of material use, detailing and extremely fluid spatial qualities. The program called for a modest and informal residence for the architect's parents.

He works out of his own architectural practice in Seattle. Prior to this, he was for 5 years a project architect at Smith Miller + Hawkinson architects in New York City and graduated with his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in 1990.

All photos by Mr. Paul Warchol, except #8 by Eric Cobb.

This house has also been published in: THE NEW AMERICAN HOUSE 2, Oscar Riera Ojeda, Whitney Library of Design 1997 and NEW AMERICAN HOUSES, Matteo Vercelloni, Edizioni L'archivolto 1997

COBB RESIDENCE,  Seattle, Washington. Completed in 1996

"....As a building, the structure is an abstract assembly of few carefully selected materials. Wood, glass, steel and wallboard are joined and positioned according to specific use, necessity and composition. Material and detail string the spaces...."

>   images and text    <

O c t o b e r   1 9 9 8

EINAR ÖRN GUNNARSSON

October has an excerpt from Mr. Gunnarsson's  latest novel, Tear Of The Bird Of Paradise, slated for publication this very same month, in Reykjavik Iceland. The book has already been translated into German and will be translated into English in the coming months.  Mr. Gunnarsson's books always manage to receive controversial reactions as his uncanny writings manage to stir up a certain portion of his readers. In his new book, Mr. Gunnarsson has molded a psychotic personality, and writes the novel from inside this delusional mind. The character Mr. Gunnarsson  creates is hilarious while at the same time it is a tragic one. It reflects Gunnarsson's deep sense for psychological confusion and how the frailty of the human mind is so easily corrupted with an individuals unfortunate circumstance.

The publisher is Ormstunga in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland, and a full English translation is in the works by Mr. Bernard Scudder. (Excerpt here  is translated by O. Thordarson)

     TEAR OF THE BIRD OF PARADISE

      Published in Iceland 1998

     Excerpt from chapter 12 :

     ..... I boiled the water, made the coffee extra strong and was reminded of when you invited Anna and Thomas over for supper. That’s when I pretended to be sick, walked around in my pajamas and spoke in an unusually soft voice so that everyone would notice my apparent lack of energy. I was able to invoke a perfect sympathy from all present, when I said I felt to dizzy and could not stay up any longer. As soon as I got into my bedroom I hurried into my clothes and sneaked out of the house. I walked in the soft snow to the illuminated house of Anna and Thomas. Certain of nobody being at home, I broke my way in through the back window.
    I always thought this house was disgusting. The pink bathroom rugs, the wallpaper, the crystal vases, the gold leaf rococo furniture, not to mention the oil paintings always happily painted in some nice weather. In here was the Mecca of bad taste, the most expensive loss of taste in all of Iceland. Nobody has a right to make his home in this manner.
    I walked confidently through the house, as I knew you were just beginning your appetizers, babbling in your empty ways about some shopping trip in Scotland.
    Smashing every single vase, one after the other, I cut the decorative pillows into thousands of pieces, kicked the arms of the rococo sofas and sliced the oil paintings with sharp cutlery.
    After I had gone berserk in the apartment and destroyed their furnishings, I threw my self onto the bed of their sweet daughter, who was now studying literature in Spain. She was about as beautiful as a woman can be, the way she hides truth with her cunning nature. All women are hookers except for you, mother. With my pants at my heels I remained clutched in her arms until I ejaculated into a  pink floral silk pillow.
    This secret adventure with the student I had in the back of my mind enriched life so that on the walk home, I got an erection.
    When I sneaked in the door I heard your cheery voices from the upper floor. I got undressed, went under the covers and tried to stay warm. Later on, I put my Pajamas back on, walked up into the living room and told you I had been sleeping. I needed an aspirin for my pounding headache.
    Deep inside I was proud of what I had done. There they all sat, unaware of the things I had done and I knew it would never enter their minds that I was the one. When I said goodbye to those two, I felt I had committed a bit of a perfect crime....

Shown on the right are the major books by Mr. Gunnarsson, published in Iceland. Also, he has written a large number of articles for Icelandic newspapers who have  also published a good number of his short stories, and interviewed him.

'90        '92       '96

S e p t e m b e r   1 9 9 8

ALI ADIB SOLTANI

Ali Adib Soltani is born in Tehran Iran. He is a New York based Architect, who with partner Francine Leclerq has worked on numerous architectural  projects. Most have been within New York City, but others  in Europe and Asia. Prior to his partnership with Leclercq, he was a collaborator with Livio Dimitru and Gaetano Pesce, and studied Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York.

The following piece is one of numerous written compositions and poems by Mr. Soltani.

M U S E

IN                         THE

A R  I  T  H  M  E  T I C

INTERLACE             OF

L   E    T    T   E   R   S

GOVERNED             BY

THE          DEAFENING

MUTENESS             OF

VOWELS,      W    O   R
D    S       HAVE       AS
THEIR      TASK      TO
MAKE    A    THOUGHT
VISIBLE,                  AN
OBJECT                   OF
THEORIA                 OR
SPECTACLE                 ,
THEY        CAN         BE
REGARDED         THEN
AS                 BUILDING
UNITS                      OF
LANGUAGE;              AS
ARE                        THE
MATERIALS         USED
FOR     THE     MAKING
O                                F
A R C H I T E C T U R E
AND     AS     IS      THE
TASK                        OF
A R C H I T E C T U R E
TO                DESCRIBE
THE           CONDITION
OF      A      SITE       IN
ITS              UNFOLDED
MOMENT                  OF
HORIZON.                 AS
THE              THOUGHT
S    P    A    R     S    E  ,
REQUIRES              THE
LANGUAGE,           THE
ORDERING               OF
WORDS    SO    CHAOS
R   E   Q   U   I   R   E   S
ARCHITECTURE,        T
HE                MATERIAL
COLLECTION           OF
E   L  E   M   E   N  T   S
ORDERED      SO      BY
THE       DANCE        OF
KOSMOS.      AS         IN
L  A   N  G  U  A  G  E  ,
A R C H I T E C T U R E
IS     A     TREMULOUS
ALTAR         DESTINED
TO     ERODE       INTO
RUINS,                  .   .  .
WHENCE                THE
ECHO          OF           A
MELODY   PLAYS   .  .  .

              a.s. 1998