Although their personalities seem to contain elements of abnormal psychology, they still managed to function in the world, holding the same job for decades until age and ill health prevented them from continuing. www.fashionmayann.wordpress.com is about some fashion inspirations. The second documentary,  Finding Vivian Maier, chronicles the equally intriguing life of a spinster who worked as a nanny for affluent families in Chicago’s North Shore communities. Vivian Maier was loquacious and interested in current events. The Abbiennians are led by seven moppets, the Vivian girls, and in fact, the entire land is populated by young girls between the ages of 6 to 10. Mother died when he was 4, father a cripple, Darger goes to live at a Catholic orphanage, and then gets sent to an asylum. Emily Dickinson disdained publicity, a very private writer, as I style myself. I would like to know if, on the web or published, there is a copy of Henry Darger's novel, to give it its' full title, "The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion". The story and illustrations are by a man named Henry Darger. That was his life, now here's his work. Writing in obscurity can do this. The Story of the Vivian Girls 02 Dec The Elena Rial Spring/Summer 2015 Show, presented as part of the Samsung EGO Innovation Project, was based on Henry Darger’s « The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion ». what has a thousand eyes, a thousand fangs, a thousand wings and a thousand claws. Strongly Catholic and attended Mass compulsively, sometimes going five times a day. Henry Darger  is the subject of one film, and Vivian Maier is the subject of the other. ( Log Out /  Eventually she abandoned the effort–but not entirely so, for she bound her poems in booklets stored away in a chest, surely hoping someone, some day, would discover them. Darger probably started his book about 1909, writing it all by hand and then typing the entire manuscript over the course of decades. His landlords knew nothing of the extraordinary artistic production that was taking place under their roof nor did anyone else. All of Darger's art is there to support his narrative. She lived in rented rooms where she stockpiled hundreds of photos and boxes of undeveloped rolls of film. Thank you ! Freedom from the demands of marriage, family, and social commitments permitted production of a huge, original body of work. Tagged: Emily Dickinson, fantasy novel, Henry Darger, In the Realms of the Unreal, The Story of the Vivian Girls, Vivian Maier. Powerful opportunities, big messages. Obscurity liberated these two artists to range widely in a weirdly wild and wonderful imaginative universe. Welcome to this blog pond. Are you - Nobody -Too? Rib-it, rib-it! Their work was not made public until after their deaths. When fashion is challengingly beautiful, this is fantastic indeed ! The story deals with a war between two nations, the evil, child-enslaving Glandelinia, and the bright happy Catholic state of Abbiennia. On cassette tapes she recorded interviews with her subjects. And vice versa. Even Emily Dickinson sought publication. Everything2 ™ is brought to you by Everything2 Media, LLC. My commentaries will run the gamut of writing fiction and poetry, the creative process, discussion of my novels and of other authors' books. The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion… total name of story, In the Realms of the Unreal (henceforth in this listing referred to as the Realms) His work, which his landlords recovered after his death, are housed in the American Folk Museum in New York City. By virtue of their isolation from a community of artists, they created a unique body of work. I’ll confess that before my lunch break on Tuesday I only knew that name from a song from the 2001 Natalie Merchant album, “Motherland.” Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. They did not feel the necessity to circulate among other artists or to formally educate themselves in their art. Whatever your opinion of Darger's story, you see his art and you realize that he's got it. It consists of long scrolls of paper (typing paper, taped together) drawn in ink and colored with pencils or markers. There's a strong classical fantasy element, with maurading dragons and heroic warriors. By narrowing the scope of their lives, Henry Darger and Vivian Maier focused every ounce of energy into creativity. Other scenes are the horrific, greyed-out shots of Glandelinian soldiers reaping and strangling the small girls. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Tagged: Emily Dickinson, fantasy novel, Henry Darger, In the Realms of the Unreal, The Story of the Vivian Girls, Vivian Maier. He followed the fantasy novel with another novel of 10,000 handwritten pages called Crazy Horse: Further Adventures in Chicago and a 8-volume The History of My Life. 1 comment After viewing two film documentaries, I am moved to reflect upon how an artist working in obscurity can produce a body of work both prodigious and original. ( Log Out /  While they were employed, they also managed to pursue their artistic passions, unconcerned whether their art would ever make them famous. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Darger's now a leading light of this genre. Later in life Vivian Maier manifested a hoarding instinct, collecting newspaper clippings into binders and accumulating stacks of newspapers. Images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without written Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Posted by Fashion Mayann on December 2, 2014 in Uncategorized, Tags: art, Books, Fashion, Henry Darger, Inspiration, Literature, Outsider Art, Samsung EGO Innovation Project, The Story of the Vivian Girls. How public - like a Frog! The brain of the net generation is saturated with information, so the Generation Z needs to grow another head ! I can make you howl. they'd advertise - you know! They were self-taught. As amazing as the sheer mass quantity of his writing is, Darger became famous for his illustrations. No friends, never talked much, except to himself, but he excelled at talking to himself - he'd carry on extended, hours-long conversations in upwards of five different voices with himself. Let's get down to business. A Pond where the Author Ponders upon writing, fiction and poetry, Reactions to Mary L. Trump’s Book: Too Much and Never Enough. Most of us artists naturally want our work to be seen and read. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Some background on the current art scene : after the massive excesses of Art (with capital letter, natch) in the 80s, so-called 'outsider art' became popular. She had a lively interest in the world, and in 1959 she took a trip alone around the world, taking many pictures along the way. (It's thought that Darger simply was unaware of the female structure, and he drew what he knew.) When she was old and destitute, two men she had cared for as boys rescued her and set her up in a Rogers Park apartment on Chicago’s north side. Although born in New York City in 1926 of a French mother and Austrian father, she spent much of her childhood in a small village in the French Alps. Self-taught artists, usually somewhat mentally unstable. The Glandelinians attempt to overtake the Abbiennians and the longest, bloodiest war in recorded history ensues. the strangest artistic masterworks known to man, Why matter cannot reach the speed of light, The three worst torture tests known to man, attach yourself to small things, for the world is large and you must start somewhere. I'm Nobody! Oh, by the way, this is officially one of the strangest artistic masterworks known to man. All images, original writings, all original source materials, and any art works by Henry Darger are copyrighted @ Kiyoko Lerner. I saw Henry Darger every day for about twenty years. To tell one's name - the livelong June Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. She died in a nursing home in 2009. Hop in and comment on my posts, add to, agree, disagree! In this sense, can their art be said to be free of influences? Neither pursued fame and fortune during their lifetimes. The story deals with a war between two nations, the evil, child-enslaving Glandelinia, and the bright happy Catholic state of Abbiennia. The maker of the film, John Maloof, bought boxes of her photos and undeveloped film when the storage facility sold at auction the contents of her locker space because she had not paid her rent. Here's an excerpt from the manuscript; I'm told that this is very representative of the whole. I think so–as possible as it is to be uninfluenced by what other artists are doing. We want to share the products of our imagination. The power of outsider art is that it’s truly original. ( Log Out /  The 2004 documentary “In the Realms of the Unreal” tells the story of Henry Darger (1892-1973), a bachelor who lived in a rented room, worked as janitor in a hospital, wrote a 15-volume fantasy novel entitled The Story of the Vivian Girls in What is Known a the Realms of the Glandeco-Angelian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, and illustrated this book with several hundred drawings and watercolor paintings, some of mixed media with collage elements. People who knew Darger claim that he was strange and reclusive, but that he was not insane. When I think of the place of fantasy writing as a genre in the twentieth century and how popular Tolkien has become, I am astounded that simple, humble Henry Darger  had already started to write his monumental unreal realm probably before anyone else conceived of a fantasy series. Posts about The Story of the Vivian Girls written by Jay Do you know anything of the story of Henry Darger? There are many scenes of massive butterflies and young girls lounging about, sometimes in the nude; strangely, all nude girls were supplied with male genitals. From my solitary outpost surrounded by the Flathead Forest in northwest Montana, I leap into the expansive space of the blogosphere. The Abbiennians are led by seven moppet s, the Vivian girls, and in fact, the entire land is populated by young girls between the ages of 6 to 10. Darger lived for 43 years in a second-floor room on Chicago's North Side. He lived most of his life in a single room on Chicago's north side; here, he created his life's work. But in today's world it behooves the reclusive writer to try to jump in, make a splash, even a small one. Both artists lived in Chicago. Utterly harmless man. Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors. Then there's a pair of us? Both of these artists were eccentrics. Imagine working in a job where your job is to MAKE A STATEMENT….wow. 1 comment. To an admiring Bog! All the girls appear to be traced from department-store advertisements, and modified from there. Escapes, drafted into the Army and discharged, and works the rest of his life at two Chicago hospitals as a dishwasher and menial worker. Lots of martyrs, too, in grand Catholic fashion. Likewise, Henry Darger’s writings and drawings and Vivian Maier’s photography were rescued from obscurity and brought to light. Change ). Their stories embody every artist’s implicit dream of posthumous glory. All content copyright © original author unless stated otherwise. A shuffling old man, a recluse who never had visitors except for a rare visit from a priest His sense of composition is beautiful. He was injured and forced to more to a nursing home a month before his death, at which time his landlord found the manuscripts and illustrations. The official website of Chicago artist, Henry Darger. She walked the city streets with a camera around her neck, snapping extraordinary photos of the rich and the poor. Technically, his style is unsophisticated, but when it works this well, no one wants to complain. The Story of the Vivian Girls --- Henry Darger. Darger's life can take up volumes (and, in fact, it does; Darger wrote an 8-volume autobiography) so I'll just hit the highlights here.