Hermsprong, or, Man as he is not, is a novel by Robert Bage (btw – Bage began writing at 53 – so he never won any awards for the best young thing – art awards for youth seem so popular in this age).
Hermsprong is a philosophical novel written in 1796 about an American hero who has been raised entirely by American Indians without any formal education or knowledge of religion who sees through the hypocrisy of society and English manners. The first part of the novel is a philosophical exploration of enlightenment notions and ideas. Part two, is where the Swashbuckling and farce ensue, including a proto-feminist character Miss Fluart who joyfully whips out a pistol to confront Lord Grondale. Good art needs to have a basis in ideas, theories and philosophies. But sometimes there also needs to be an element of energetic swashbuckling in the narrative of an artist’s work.
The Lost World of Agharti: The Mystery of Vril Power by Alec MacLellan.
In the tradition of the books of Colonel James Churchward (author of the Lost Continent of Mu), comes this lovely narrative investigating our planet’s subterranean mysteries, exploring our invisible residents (possibly aliens from Venus) and getting to the core of all the cultural “inner earth” theories. This is a book of perhaps broken theories and ideas – from the underground – but it is immensely compelling as it reveals the often absurdist direction that the human quest and searching for meaning takes.
The Trumpet Shall sound by Peter Worsley.
This is the classic study in Melenesian Cargo Cults from the English anthropologist Peter Worsley (one of the founders of the New Left and he is also the inventor of the term “The Third World”). Cargo Cults and the Jon Frum Movement are one of the most amazing cultural phenomenon’s of the 20th and 21st centuries. Understanding Cargo cults is a short-cut to understanding the basic belief system of Capitalism and its basis in the realm of the supernatural and the magical. The narrative of Cargo cults here is applied to the islands of Melenesia and Micronesia but these ideas could equally apply to the arrival of Cargo in a town in the heartland of America in the form of Wal-Mart or Home-depot, etc. Artists need to examine the nature of stuff, things, product, manufactured goods and Cargo and who controls this enterprise.
Biography
I am a Librarian, an Archivist, a photographer, art lover and Bibliophile.
Artist's Atheneum 