Here’s another interesting Tarot project looking for some funding …
This time the theme is Tarot and music, and the project is called The Aleatory Arcana.
I can’t pretend to understand the musical theory behind what Anthony Bockheim is attempting, but it’s got something to do with the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin and his Mystic chord.
Bockheim has become entranced with the twelve tone matrix and serial music. It’s all about pitches and orders, rows and interval relationships. Too confusing for me, but he explains it all on his pledge page.
What I do understand though, is that he’s trying to use this system to musically represent the 22 cards of Tarot’s Major Arcana. And that really interests me.
In the video below, you can hear how he hears the Six of Swords. As he says himself, it’s not particularly easy music to listen to. But if you give it a chance, you might find a brand new Tarot landscape to explore.
As with all Kickstarter projects, gifts are offered to people who donate. A particularly fun one is for those who offer $100 or more to this project.
If you do, Bockheim will send you a personal three card reading in musical form, with score and music file. He won’t tell you the meanings of the cards, but lets them literally speak for themselves.
And she’s offering all sorts of perks to entice you to join. Everything from access to ‘members only’ video and email updates on the progress of the project, to autographed copies of the deck, or prints and postcards from the Morbidly Adorable collection.
If you’re a super supporter, known in the Secret Society as an Eloping Angel or a Morbidly Adorable Godparent, you can even get one or more of the original paintings.
The deck is going to be really sweet. If you want to help bring it to life, this is your chance.
Membership to the Secret Society is only open till July 15th. Join now!
There’s sad news in the Tarot world with the passing of master card maker and Tarot scholar Jean–Claude Flornoy. He died last week on May 24th in Sainte-Suzanne, France.
Flornoy successfully took on the monumental task of restoring the Marseille Tarot to its original glory. Not just once, but three times.
He was responsible for the faithful restoration of the Nicolas Conver, the Jean Noblet and the Jean Dodal versions of the Tarot of Marseille.
Flornoy had an incredible eye for detail, a deep understanding of the art, history and spirit of the imagery, and a devotion to his work. His contribution to Tarot was enormous.
Jean-Claude Flornoy was a gift to us all, and will be missed.
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Enrique Enriquez did a fabulous interview with Flornoy in February 2010. You can read it here.
The Andy Warhol Museum is presenting the show through August 7th. I wrote about it last November when it was at the National Arts Club in New York City.
It looked great then and looks great now. Curated by Stacy Engman, the deck is a collective work by the very hippest of contemporary artists.
Warhol himself made it in, immortalized as Patrick McMullan’s Hanged Man.
The fashion world is well represented. The 9 of Cups is by Christian Louboutin, the Chariot by Vivienne Westwood, and Marc Jacobs created the Knight of Pentacles. Karl Lagerfeld made himself the King of Wands.
The show in Pittsburgh has an added bonus. Running in conjunction with Contemporary Magic, is the film The Velvet Underground Tarot Cards.
Directed by Andy Warhol, it documents each member of The Velvet Underground having their cards read at some super cool apartment party in 1966.
Emma Sunerton-Burl will be teaching ‘Intuition with the Thoth’, as well as a seminar on counseling skills to help with your readings.
Cilla Conway will be talking about using oracle decks with Tarot, while John Matthew will be sharing a couple of spreads to use with his just released Wildwood Tarot.
Will Worthington, artist of the Druidcraft and Wildwood Tarots will be there too. And Mary Collin will be offering advice on how to build your Tarot business.
It all sounds excellent.
The conference will be held at the Aston Business Centre, Birmingham, July 23rd and 24th.
He’s a dancer, choreographer, photographer, and lover of the Tarot. He’s making a photo deck using dancers as his models.
At the moment he’s working on the the 22 major arcana, but hopes to eventually create all 78 cards and get them published.
If you’re interested in helping him out, Zemelman’s looking for donations. He’s trying to raise money to pay for dance studio rental, costumes, printing materials, dancers’ fees and framing for a future exhibition of the work.
In exchange for donations, he’s offering a variety of very nice thank you gifts. Check out his donation page to see it all.
Sounds like a fabulous project. I look forward to seeing it done.
I wrote about it last month, but they’ve released another film clip (scroll down) so I’m writing about it again.
The film focuses on Enrique Enriquez, a New York based poet and tarot reader.
He reads the cards as if they were a book of poetry. In fact, it seems that he reads all of life that way.
As he puts it, ‘Working with the tarot is always about adding poetry to reality or derailing life through poetry.’
It’s hard not to get excited about tarot when Enrique’s describing it. The cards come alive when he looks at them.
This is the first documentary of its kind, and the first full-length film about tarot attempting to get a theatrical release.
In addition to the work being documented with Enrique, the film will also explore other reading styles by introducing viewers to experts throughout the tarot community.
The filmmakers are still looking for investors. Why not be part of tarot history and donate today!
For as little as $10 you’ll get a special thanks in the credits, while for just $500, you can have a personal tarot class with Enrique himself.
There’s lots of goodies available for people who want to help support this project, so go on over to their site and see.
Enrique is going to be joining us on Beyond Worlds Saturday, May 7th. We’ll definitely be talking with him about the film.
