She, of course, is completely uninterested in him. Forgate discovered in a garage downtown” and his friend, the doomed poet Hubert Daché.Ĭaslon’s impetus for writing the novel is to follow the object of his lust, Sylvia Prowse, whose eyelid flutters bewitchingly. Forgate, “an enormously rich lady who is supposed to have murdered several of her husbands” her young secretary/lover, Antonio, “a charming Italian lad that Mrs. Much of the plot concerns the captivating yet treacherous Mrs. The line between observer and creator blurs to indistinction. The Flutter of an Eyelid is both his story and his creation.Īs Caslon composes the novel, he discovers that his prose has begun to control the people he is writing into the narrative he is literally inventing the experiences they go on to live. But more essentially, it relates the thoroughly bizarre saga of an uptight New England writer named Caslon Roanoke, who has come to California to “write a novel different from any he had written before, peopled by characters who were motes in the sun, driven this way and that by vagrant breezes from the Pacific, without the austerity and discipline that had marked his books up to this time.” In part, the novel is a shady roman à clef, as Brinig skewers characters based on figures-including the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson-from Hollywood history. While those books are defined by an unsentimental Depression-era grit, Brinig’s novel carries over the pleasure-seeking of the 1920s and predicts the joys of reinvention that would come to characterize 20th-century Los Angeles. The Flutter of an Eyelid preceded Southern California classics such as Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust, both of which appeared in 1939. The Minnesota-born Brinig was part of an early wave of writers who came to California, although he landed in San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. The novel’s open portrayal of gay desire and gender fluidity is notable for a frankness unusual in its time. Early last year, Tough Poets Press attracted sufficient crowdfunding support to reprint the book, which critic David Fine once called a non-Hollywood Hollywood novel, taking place as it does in a hedonistic beach commune complete with yacht outings, “perverse ceremonies,” and golden pagan youths. Our group ranged in ages: We had elementary schoolers, college students, and adults all together.It’s consistent with the farcical whimsy of Myron Brinig’s The Flutter of an Eyelid that the novel, published in 1933 and almost immediately forgotten, would be rescued from obscurity by a Kickstarter campaign. It’s also great for all ages- there’s something for everyone. The tactile, sensory-overladed experience gets you closer to the art itself and highlights the various ways of seeing and experiencing. We commend their creativity and ambition to take advantage of wallpapering every surface they could! Every room had its own unique aesthetic, tied together by Flavor Paper’s psychedelic backdrops.Įvery room in the Flutter experience featured something you could touch, listen to, wear, or watch. We were blown away by Flavor Paper’s installation in the bathroom at Flutter- everywhere you looked, you were inside a mountain scene, the mural was without repeat. With wallpaper, you can take advantage of the flat surfaces around you and above you that would otherwise be neglected. Wallpaper is an incredible way to create an immersive experience when designing a room. We were fortunate to be invited to the Flutter Experience by our friends at Flavor Paper, a boutique wallpaper line based out of Brooklyn, New York, whose fun, evocative prints were the perfect compliment to Flutter’s whimsical art. They say art consumption makes you mentally healthier and happier – the Flutter Experience certainly did! A share of the proceeds generated from ticket sales go directly to benefit the organization. The gallery is partnered with Born This Way – Lady Gaga’s outreach program which aims to end the stigma against mental illness. Akin to the highly popular 29 Rooms exhibition, the Flutter experience is full of colorful, instagrammable moments, but with a more niche, nuanced, and elevated appeal. With the goal of making art fun and accessible, the Flutter Experience highlights contemporary artists in a way that is playful and interactive. That was the first question the Flutter Experience gallery owner asked us when we entered his space on South La Brea here in Los Angeles. What does the word flutter make you think of?
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