M.J. Rose

As we feel the very first touch of autumn, we are reminded that the edge of winter’s darkness is moving towards us too – the spirits of Halloween are the greeters – as well as the fog, the rain, and the falling leaves…

Here is a beautifully made Icelandic art house film to set the mood – starring a young Bjork.

“The Juniper Tree tells the story of two sisters who have escaped after their mother has been stoned and burned as a witch. Baby-faced Björk plays teenaged Margit, who comes along when her sister bewitches and marries a widower with a young son.” (Dangerous Minds)

The Juniper Tree 1990 (Full Movie)

So beautiful. So crumbling. Everything is ephemeral in our world…even stone.

Journalist Spends Four Years Traversing India to Document Crumbling Subterranean Stepwells Before they Disappear

by Christopher Jobson (COLOSSAL)

Doesn’t that look like an M.C. Escher piece?

“Across India an entire category of architecture is slowly crumbling into obscurity, and you’ve probably never even heard it. Such was the case 30 years ago when Chicago journalist Victoria Lautman made her first trip to the country and discovered the impressive structures called stepwells. Like gates to the underworld, the massive subterranean temples were designed as a primary way to access the water table in regions where the climate vacillates between swelteringly dry during most months, with a few weeks of torrential monsoons in the spring.

Thousands of stepwells were built in India starting around the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D. where they first appeared as rudimentary trenches but slowly evolved into much more elaborate feats of engineering and art. By the 11th century some stepwells were commissioned by wealthy or powerful philanthropists (almost a fourth of whom were female) as monumental tributes that would last for eternity. Lautman shares with Arch Daily about the ingenious construction of the giant wells that plunge into the ground up to 10 stories deep…”

For the rest, and spectacular photos. click here.

So delicate, so creepy, so beautiful. Is is Halloween season yet? We can’t wait…

Japanese Artist Carves Pearls Into Skull Jewelry

(Bored Panda)

“Shinji Nakaba is a Tokyo-based jewelry designer who’s been creating since 1974. Everything he makes is wearable, and Nakaba often uses unconventional materials to create his pieces. These intricately carved pearl skulls are an example of his exceptional work.

“I just want to bring brand new life to something that has no value,” Nakaba tells Magnifico. “I use not only precious metals and stones, but also everyday things, such as aluminum beer cans, plastic bottle, or even garbage,” he explains on Etsy.

“Vanitas” is carved into many of Nakaba’s skulls. This is Latin for “vanity,” and is likely a reference to 16th-17th century funerary art. Work of this type emphasized the meaninglessness of earthly life “and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits.”…

For more photos, click here.