Week 3
Mystic Mog
After a dog and cat conversation with my daughter, she described merlin (cat) as Mystic, I immediately thought Mystic Mog, brilliant!
Just googled Mystic Meg and she sadly passed away 9th March 2023 aged 80. I wonder if she knew it was going to happen on that day?
Interesting to learn that cats were valued as highly as sheep or pigs, for their mousing abilities, before the Witch craft became a thing in the 16C and they started to become demonised. The cats, companion to the women (witches) were believed to be the devil incarnate.
https://www.cheshireandwain.com/blogs/journal/cats-and-the-16th-century-witch-craze
https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/featurednews/title_619312_en.html
A spell on Donald Trump, I am getting distracted by the witches now!
Abstract: Cats and dogs are perhaps the most ubiquitous and consistently represented animals throughout documented human history. Forms of the respective species have roamed the earth for millions of years; however, cats and dogs have held different societal positions ranging from exalted deities to pests. The shifting attitudes and social practices between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Western Europe fostered the reexamination of the relationship between humans and animals.
More Dogs
I have found conflicting information on Bau, with some information saying she was associated with dogs and other information saying not. I thought I’d found a female dog goddess, so probably a no go there in terms of time to find out more.
Bau | Mesopotamian God, Sumerian Goddess, Patron of Lagash | Britannica
Fenrir
Back to the Vikings and Norse mythology.
This carving on the Tullstorp Runestone shows Fenrir, in not a dissimilar image to that of Set, the Egyptian dog God.
Cerberus
Greek Mythology, three headed dog the hound of Hades, depicted on Coronelli’s celestial globe and reimagined as fluffy in the modern day Harry Potter stories.
Musée du Louvre, Paris, ca 530 B.C
Looking through there is an overwhelming amount of research that could be done looking at the our historical relationship with cats and dogs. I could continue and continue and still only scratch the surface. I perhaps should have narrowed it down to one period in history, but I feel the whole of human history with these animals shapes how we see them today, so it would have been a very difficult area to narrow down.
Developing Ideas for the Prophecy
I have done a google survey to ask the best form of delivery for my project. As yet there hasn’t been a huge amount of response. I put it on my personal Facebook page and on Canvas and on the discord group, so I am slightly disappointed with the number of responses so far. However there does seem to be a clear leader, so I will keep an eye on the survey over the next few days, but go towards the currant leader, which I am pleased to say is the Rune Style Treat Bag Dip.
Rune 1; The dog
Loyalty, unconditional love
Rune 2; The Cat
Independence
Rune 3; The Bone
The burying of problems
Rune 4; The gift
Things not always as they seem
Rune 5: The joker (jumping dog)
Playful times, love for life
Rune 6: The Purr (curled up cat)
Deep sense of belonging, contentedness
Thoughts on Lectures and Stuff
The past few weeks lectures and materials I’ve found very interesting. Things that stick in my mind are last weeks film at the Walker Art Centre, where designers had a set amount of time to deliver their presentation, some had me very engaged in particular the one based on Scarys’ busy town presentation, competing with the logo farm, working more with less and the devaluing of what we do.
And the really random guy was great, totally off the wall stuff.
This weeks thing that struck me was how Sam Bompas had reached his goals by the age of 30, lucky guy. I really felt like changing one of the letters in his name hearing that.
Love the design talk, Erik Kessels, working with what you have got to create funny and engaging content, this speaks to me over the overly serious stuff. The dick stuff was hilarious, but I had to ensure my teenage daughter wasn’t looking over my shoulder!
Reflecting on my own work, I think I am possibly miss-understood, that people don’t always get my ideas. Whilst this is ok in the context of the MA, it does concern me slightly when looking for work. If my ideas are too non conformist will I be able to make a living? I don’t think fellow students necessarily understand my angle (ideas wall), so how would the general public? Looking at the examples shown, it seems they are either already successful or have had some kind of financial backing to start with to allow them to be as creative as they are. When faced with bills and general real life of starting out, the risk seems greater, and so therefor I wonder if I have to comply to make a living? I would hope not, but then perhaps that is why I haven’t yet had success in career; trying to squeeze my non-conformity into an uncomfortable space.
Interestingly this series of lecture and information got me thinking, over a glass of wine with a friend. There is company on the Island and every time they advertise for a graphic designer or t-shirt designer I apply; This has been going on for years, and every time I get politely rejected without even getting to interview.
I used to think I wasn’t good enough, and would take a confidence knock but since starting this course I think I am. What would have been a great thing to document would have been a record of every time I applied, and the following rejection. I am now applying for jobs there purely for the fun of it.
I would love to work for myself, but it terrifies me, particularly after my foray into textile designing for an agent several years back. I guess the thing here is to ditch the middle man, contact, contacts, contacts!
Back to the Brief
Dogs’ facial markings could play a role in how close they are with owners (msn.com)
The dog god
Loyalty, unconditional love, neediness, attention seeking, child-like, social, likes to be part of the group, attention seeking, will barge their way into a conversation, companionship, trainable, noisy, playful, food driven, the protector, walking companion
The Cat
Independence, mysterious, an enigma, solitary, will sit on you for warmth, does it’s own thing, quiet, reserved, sophisticated.
Will look embarrassed if you catch them playing
To gain the trust of a cat is a special thing, approach gently
Will be in command of their own situation, if not happy in their environment will seek somewhere more suitable. will hide in shaddows
Language
The language used in predictions from horoscope to fortune cookies is usually pretty ambiguous, The I-Ching and runes are down to interpretation of the reader; I am looking at vagueness, cryptic, obscure and equivocal meanings to my runes.
Materials and style
The Germanic people originally made rune letters by scraping into rock, iron or wood. The lines were straight due to the way they were made, this will influence the look of my runes. I would like to stick to natural materials, and have thought about collecting soft stones, chalk and sandstone from the beach and carving into them. I also thought about whittling, but it doesn’t really appeal to me, as there is not really the option to reproduce here. Although I am currently making a one off, the option to reproduce for commercial reasons is an important factor. I have decided against both of these and will instead use pewter, although it isn’t iron, which I would find unworkable, it has been in use since Ancient Egyptian times so will have some level of authenticity. I will be able to either cast and mould, or just melt and scrape, I shall experiment with both options.
For the bag I originally thought of Calico, but on closer investigation realise it is not in keeping with the runes, originating from India in 11C. I have decided instead to opt for linen
I will struggle to make a full set of 25 in time.
As these are rune style I will try to manage ten!
The most important thing to consider is that you will need 24 pieces (or 25 if you decide to include the blank rune) of whichever material you prefer and they all must have a similar size and shape. Also, they should be small enough so all of them fit in the palms of your hands.
That said, the meaning of each of these are not as complicated as my meanings, so perhaps I need to simplify?
For my colour palate and inspiration for decoration of the bag
Viking Embroidery (vassar.edu)
Viking Embroidery (trc-leiden.nl)
Origins of Runes – Divination Foundation
First pass of my first lot of stones. There are 25 in an actual set, one of which is plain.
Needlework in the Viking Age – Bjorn This Way (wordpress.com)
Glad to find blanket stich on here, it’s amazing how long some of these stiches have been around.
Is it difficult to find examples of Viking textiles that still survive today, and that the images can be depicted. I can find lots of annoying replica on Pinterest, but I’m not interested in that. So I m looking at surviving relics; carving in wood and stone for my inspiration.
Something along the lines of this;
Colours, it turns out the ‘purple’ described is more of a burgundy.