DE
LA TOUR SAINT RAPUNZA
One sleepless night, spontaneously needing the name of the island in Shakespeare’s
The Tempest, I pulled Prospero’s Books, by Peter Greenaway,
from a nearby bookshelf. I knew Greenaway had used only Shakespeare’s text
in his film, and I assumed Prospero or Miranda or Caliban identified their
home at some point. But the setting for this play is only: an uninhabited
island. However, my exploration through Greenaway’s beautiful book did
reveal a painting attributed to "de la Tour St. Jerome." The name struck
me. As I have been referred to at least once as “Rapunzel in her
tower,” and as I want this website, housing my various projects and connections,
to be named after the place where said projects take form, I opted for
the moniker, adding a touch of Medusa for spice. This site has since
grown to include projects of others I admire. I hope it continues to grow.
JEU
DE COTTA
The
home page playing cards are from a deck entitled Cartes de Fantaisie
created by Baptiste-Paul Grimaud. It is a transformation deck. In this
creative art, playing-card suit signs are transformed into decorative illustrations,
with each card’s suit and rank incorporated, sometimes hidden, into an
imaginative depiction. Transformation decks hold an important place in
the history of the playing card, which originated in the traditional tarot
card and eventually developed into the standard playing cards we know today.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With
great thanks to Dieter, my co-producer in more projects than one; to David
Yeh, for encouragement and consultation; and to cz, for graphics assistance
and, more important, inspiration and longtime common aesthetic.
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