Myths

Decode Vol. 1

Gabriel Solomons

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781841509891
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Science & Technology Public Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Myths is a visual and written exploration on the subject of myths. It contains contributions from writers, illustrators, designers, photographers and artists from around the world who have each responded to the theme in their own unique way.
Myths is important as it approaches the theme in various ways but also includes interviews with artists who have been inspired by myths in some way – furthering our understanding and appreciation for myths within an artistic context. The book should appeal to an audience who value aesthetics both in design terms and creative content. The area of myths is one of interest to most people but the originality and wide investigation of the theme in this book should offer further insights to readers. The book also benefits from its eclectic international content and strong sense of creative community.

CREATURE FEATURE

CONTEMPORARY MYTHICAL CREATURES
We asked some very fine illustrators to submit a creature of their own making - one that would sit quite comfortably in a 21st-century setting. Here Decode presents some of their more unusual creations.

Mr & Mrs by Nick White

Mr was a man named Jeff Jeffrey, the son of Jeremiah Jeffrey, who as everyone knows was the god of Stella Artois and general lethargy. Mrs was the young temptress Marjorie Mcloughlin who persuaded Jeff to leave the house once in a while and take up jogging and start doing sudoku and to read books without pictures.

Jeremiah was appalled to see his son behave in such a manner and after consulting his wife, Julie ( god of the fried egg and windolene), they decided to banish their son from the family home.

This worked out quite well for Jeff who was actually thinking of leaving home anyway and moved in with Marjorie. Soon the pair were married and even appeared on a popular television game show.

But soon Jeremiah Jeffrey was again enraged by his son’s behaviour. Upon hearing that the pair had taken up teetotalism Jeremiah invited the two to the pub quiz at their local ‘The Chicken Dog’ to put them to the test.

When his son point-blank refused a cold pint of lager in favour of a tropical fruit juice Jeremiah meant to banish the couple to the furthest reaches of the world but instead (as he had had a few) they ended up stuck in a patter-like form on the back of a chair in the pub.

Mr and Mrs can still be seen and heard giving away answers to the pub quiz every Tuesday. Jeremiah and Julie’s new local is the ‘Flying panda’.

Basilas, the collective name given to an army of fearsome beasts who have been given the task of protecting roundabouts from metal vehicles and people. Basilas came from the underground kingdom of Solokon, who sent them and for what purpose remains unknown. The Basilas are a human and bear crossbreed and are identified by their colourful glossy fur, which covers their entire bodies. Roundabouts are their most common abodes although it is said that Basilas can also be found under manhole covers (round ones) and that they also covet all things circular. Basilas feast on metal vehicles, namely cars that attempt to drive over their homes. Humans who enter the homes of Basilas will also be eaten, and it is for this very reason that it is very unusual to see someone walking across a roundabout.

The Basilas ride round and round on old bicycles, never venturing out of their circular, road-surrounded prisons. Recently the general annoyance of Basilas has lead to the construction of smaller ‘mini’ roundabouts that, with no space for ‘green things in the middle’ to hide in, there has been a dramatic decrease in sightings and, of course, unsavoury deaths.

It can be added though, that the presence of Basilas is very helpful in the pursuit of freely moving traffic around roundabouts, whereas traffic lights in the same place would probably cause unnecessary waits.

Imagined & Created by David Sparshott

HORROR STORY

by Sam King

On horror as a presence within myth, focusing on horror moving image

Hungarian-born Bela Lugosi made his indelible mark as Dracula in a popular New York stage production and successfully reprised the role in Tod Browning’s 1931 film adaptation. His macabre appearance, strikingly theatrical performance style and rich Hungarian accent made him the very incarnation of evil in scores of horror films through the 1950s.

THE MONSTERS and mythical spectres that frequent horror’s frame so often puncture the imagination deeply, irrevocably impairing the skin of reason. The fierce blaze of these old fears does not wilt or dampen easily, rather they haunt our subconscious interminably. However, many argue that the standard tropes of mythic horror are so haggard and familiar to the reader that the zest of surprise, the electrifying shock of terror has now dissolved into an apathetic yawn. To this, I would argue that horror is an inexhaustible sensation. Even if we are certain of the goblinesque presences that patter in the back corridors of the film, there is still a thrilling shock when that terror leaps out from the wings. Horror’s power comes from the prickling sensation we feel at the point of anticipating a threat to ourselves. The heart flutters as Dracula beats his leathery wings against the window panes of the dark bedroom; and yet it is a pleasant, thrilling flutter.

Where would the narrative allure be if the virtuous damsel continued in uninterrupted slumber whilst goofy Dracula, hungry and miserably cowed, skulked into the night? Horror is born out of the cunning dualism in our imagination, the persistently contradictory impulse to experience revolt and desire at once. Often, the thrill in seeing horror films comes at the lingering juncture between both fearing and craving some tremendous display. It feeds an appetite for sensation, indulging the imagination with bristles of fear, the simultaneous shudder and ripple of pleasure, the exhilaration of allowing our subconscious to tiptoe into a nebulous quagmire. It is this obscurity, the indistinct haze in horror that disturbs the viewer so unspeakably. Kurtz cries, ‘Horror has a face’, and yet horror is the face that we can never fully know; the broken body, the absent reflection. Horror lives within our own thoughts, brought to life by the grotesque bodies that ooze between the labyrinthine twists and turns on the flickering screen in front of us.

Sam King is one of the main organisers for the annual Compass festivals. The Compass of Resistance International Film Festival comes to Bristol in autumn this year, with a fortnight of activity held at venues city-wide with a core programme of events at the Arnolfini on the weekend of 2-4 November. Focusing on the theme of ‘resistance’, The Compass of Resistance International Film Festival aims to present a diverse range of international cinema that in various ways challenge and ‘resist’ the status quo. Visit the website: www.compass-film.co.uk, or for further information e-mail Sam at [email protected].

URBAN
LEGENDS

IN MOVIES
an (un)comprehensive list

MYTH NO. 3: The right answer should always make you happy.

An urban legend or urban myth is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. (The term is often used with a meaning similar to that of the expression “apocryphal story.”) Urban legends are not necessarily untrue, but they are often distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized. Despite the name, a typical urban legend does not necessarily originate in an urban setting. The term is designed to differentiate them from traditional folklore in pre-industrial times.

ALLIGATOR

BIGFOOT

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974 & 2006)

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT BOOGEYMAN

BOOK OF SHADOWS:
BLAIR WITCH 2

CAMPFIRE TALES

CANDYMAN

THE CAR

CHRISTINE

CLINTON CHRONICLES

THE CURVE

DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS

THE FOG (1982 & 2005)

GHOST SHIP

THE GHOST TRAIN

GREMLINS

HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS

HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

I’LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

The LAST BROADCAST

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE

NIGHTMARES

POM POKO

RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL

SHUTTER (THAI FILM)

URBAN LEGEND

URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY

URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT

URBANIA

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS 2

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK

THE WRAITH

FAITHFUL
‘Brands cannot of course replace religion as ethical guides, but perhaps they can engage some consumers some of the time in ways that other people use for spiritual – including religious – reflection.’ – PER MOLLERUP, author of Marks of Excellence

MYTHIC
METAPHOR

by Gabriel Solomons

In his recent book, On Brand, Wally Olins, co-founder of corporate brand specialists WolffOlins, states that ‘In a sense brand affiliations seem, in our individualistic, materialistic, acquisitive, egocentric era, to have become some kind of replacement for - or supplement to - religious belief.’

Whether brands really can prov...