Franz Reichelt and His Flying Overcoat

(Above) Photo of Franz Reichelt, c. 1911-12. He was sure this bizarre set of clothes would allow him to fly safely to earth after jumping from the Eiffel Tower. It didn’t work. (I have no idea why, sure looks aerodynamic to me!)
(Above) A more modern day attempt at defying gravity. Using wings supplied by ACME, the attempts by Wile E Coyote always resulted in failure.





THIS FILM, MADE IN 1912 IN PARIS, depicts the first (and last) attempt to fly by a Frenchman named Franz Reichelt. Reichelt (c. 1870s - February 4, 1912), was known by the locals as the flying tailor. He used his skills as a tailor to create an overcoat that he was sure would allow him to fly, glide or float to the ground without harm. He demonstrated his invention with his infamous first and only jump of 60 meters from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower—at that time (1912) the tallest man-made structure in the world. The “flying coat” was a complete disaster, and Reichelt fell like a sack of rocks to his death. Fortunately, the jump was captured on film of the day— showing his death and the hole his body made in the ground upon impact. In the film, you can see him standing on the edge of the tower... contemplating and building up his nerve to jump. Then, he goes for it.

Only Wile E Coyote did similar things and lived to try again another day.

Homeland Security, c. 1942

THE SECOND WORLD WAR, and the years leading up to it, was a time not unlike ours today. Just as our government today does it’s best to assure our safety from terrorists, the U.S. government 75 years ago was ever vigilant against Communist and German spies, or terrorist infiltrators trying to weasel their way into defense related businesses. So, they created these “100% foolproof” ID badges, for surely anyone with a camera, pair of scissors and glue could not have faked one of these babies. And, I am not going to even mention the overwhelming pride and individuality an employee would feel wearing one. ;-)

Actually, you can still find these on eBay and at flea markets and estate sales, but once they make it to those little locked cases you see at the antique stores, you can bet they are going to be pretty pricey. My friend Mark Michaelson, author of the book Least Wanted, has a fabulous photostream on Flickr with tons of vernacular photos—mugshots, ID badges, and other cool pics, so just click here to see it. These badges make a great, very visual and affordable collection if you want to start looking for them.

Mark’s book, Least Wanted, is available on Amazon. Check it out!

Melvin Way: Cryptic Messenger

An Accidental Mysteries Blast from the Past, from November 30, 2008.


MELVIN WAY, an African American man born in 1954 now living in NYC, began making drawings like these in the 1980s. Where these cryptic images come from is something of a mystery. Way did take music classes in high school, but soon after was diagnosed as schizophrenic. I have always loved his work. Each piece is small, obsessively drawn in ball point pen and covered in clear tape as if to hermetically seal the information inside. His work appears to be part musical score, part chemical equations, geometric shapes and a compilation of nonsensical doodles which create a wonderfully mysterious equational art form. His work is rare. To me, owning a piece is like holding a contemporary artifact—something I know is a manifestation of that thin boundary between madness and genius. I like to believe I am just not privy to the code.

His work, if available, can be found with an exceptional art dealer named Norman Brosterman (www.brosterman.com), or at Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) in NYC.

The Private Obsession of Miroslav Tichy

(Above) Tichy was known to sit for hours in wait of his unknowing subjects. The photo is in a handmade paper frame.
(Above) Two girls caught in conversation.
(Above) Two “secret” photos by Tichy, who often ran afoul of the law for taking photographs of women on the street.
(Above) A rare photograph, where the subject has actually posed for her photograph (or, at least it seems).
(Above) Processing the photos was also done by extremely primitive means—the result often having bad spots in the development.
(Above) An unknowing female subject gives subject matter for a beautiful picture.
(Above) Tichy, with his hand sewn clothes and his camera... which was made with sewing spools, a lens from found eyeglasses, rubber bands, toilet paper tubes and found cardboard/glue. The result: the oddest working camera you will ever see— something you might see in the movie Mad Max, or WaterWorld—where technology is lost and has to be re-invented.
(Above) A spooky photo of another female. This image is so odd it looks almost like a pre-natal sonogram.



An Accidental Mysteries “Blast from the Past” from January 17, 2009.

MIROSLAV TICHY HAS BECOME FAMOUS in spite of his need for privacy. Born in 1926 in what is now the Czech Republic, Tichy studied painting at the Academy of Art in Prague until the Communist takeover in April 1945. Arrested for being “odd,” therefor subversive, Tichy spent many years in jails and prisons, until he was released in the 1970s. Upon his release, he wandered his small town in rags, pursuing his occupation as an artist photographing the female form in the streets. He made his cameras from tin cans, childrens spectacle lens and other junk he found on the street. He would return home each day to make prints on equally primitive equipment, making only one print from the negative he selected. He stole intimate glimpses of his subjects through windows and the fences of swimming pools as well as in the streets, sometimes finding himself in trouble with the police.

The work, which might appear to the casual viewer to be intrusive voyeurism, takes on a melancholy and poetic quality. They are exquisitely produced small objects of obsession, which have no equal. He produced work, not for others, but for himself, with no regard for selling or exhibiting his pictures. Tichey’s photographs were known only to a few until July 2004, when he won the “New Discovery Award” at Arles. An exhibition of his work was also shown at Kunsthaus in Zurich in September 2005, and was one of the most curious and controversial photographic events of 2005.

Tichy’s work is now red hot. I first saw his work at the Outsider Art Fair in 2007, when it was exhibited by Galerie Susanne Zander, from Antwerp. His work is also exhibited by the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London.

One of the best Web sites on Tichy is the Foundation set up on his behalf: Tichy Ocean.

Some of the above text about Tichy is from the Michael Hoppen Gallery. Top two photos, from Galerie Susanne Zander.

Signs and Symbols

(Above) This “King Jesus” sign is super cool.

(Above) The white glow behind these heads make this sign pretty special, not to mention the hairstyles, which look almost like metal rods.

(Above) These mugshot style paintings above are quite nice. The colors, patterns and unique faces make this as funky as something one might find in a magazine like Juxtapoz.

(An Accidental Mysteries Blast from the Past January 11, 2009)

AFRICAN BARBER SIGNS, often painted by the shop owners themselves, have long been considered a form of folk art. What I like is the idiosyncratic nature of the signs, and the way they often use symbols as a way to communicate. For customers, one just walks up, points to a hairstyle and sits down. These signs, all in various sizes, are from Indigo Arts Gallery in Philadelphia, PA and originate from places like the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and others. Sometimes these signs are found hanging in a marketplace stall, or simply hanging from a tree—with the barber standing next to a chair underneath. These signs not only advertise hair styles but other services as well (like shoe repair, as in the “King Jesus” sign above, one of my favorites).

The Museum of African Art in NY had an exhibition of these style of signs in the year 2000, as did the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at UCLA in 1995.

Dried Citrus Sculptures by Daniel Watson

Click any image for larger view.
An Accidental Mysteries “Blast from the Past,” December 2008.

HERE ARE THREE PIECES OF TRUE OUTSIDER ART by a man named Daniel Watson, who is serving a life sentence in a California federal prison. In solitary confinement, Watson creates these strange items out of citrus skins. These 3 examples were done 10 years ago, in 1998. Described as “hovering somewhere between Pre-Columbian and alien,” these are good examples of his work. They were described by the past auction as being about 6 inches tall. Strange, skin-like and beautifully creepy, this just goes to show what one can do with a little time on his hands. I think they look a lot like Maiori designs for tattoos.

Take Another Look at Cigar Box Lids

An Accidental Mysteries “Blast from the Past,” December 16, 2008.


THANK GOD FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S COLLECTIONS, because I don’t have the money, space or time to collect it all. I do have the desire to collect it all, but left brain (and wife) says stop. I found a collector, Robert Madison, who apparently loves the beauty, variety and history of cigar box lids. His collection is enormous.

I am reminded of the cigar box that Tatum O’Neal (as “Addie”) carried in the movie Paper Moon. It was Cremo brand. It was the perfect metaphor for those few things she held dear to her life. She carried it—held it tight everywhere she went. As a kid, I loved cigar boxes. I guess I still do. Cigar boxes are the perfect size for kid stuff—baseball cards, crayons, coins, secrets—whatever. Cigar boxes are kid-sized—the way they open is lovely and inviting. And as far as design, they always look so regal and important. On the lid was usually an illustration or name of some mysterious, important person, almost always with a strange non-Anglo name. And, because the boxes were so substantial, people saved them more so than not. How many garages or workshops in the United States still have a cigar box to hold nails, screws and other flotsam from their projects? Cigar boxes last.

The examples I was drawn to from Robert’s substantial collection are the ones that have the tax labels applied along the side and over the lid. Is there anything sexier than breaking an official seal? I mean really! The samples I share with you today remind me of early 20th century collage. The labels, haphazardly applied compared to the perfection and order of the lid, interfere with and force themselves into the carefully planned cigar box “landscape.” That is what I love the most. The tax labels were never designed to work with the cigar box. They were there to serve an official function—like a price sticker or a bar code on a product today. Besides that, I am reminded of something else—the whole role that cigar bands and box labels did throughout the 20th century to inspire artists. One has only to look at the early collage art of Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Joseph Cornell and others to see the influences. And most recently, the discovery of the work of Felipe Jesus Consalvos, a self-taught artist who worked in the first half of the 20th century.

Consalvos worked in a cigar factory and apparently had plenty of raw material from his work to use (cigar band papers). Influenced by the boxes themselves, he utilized a similar visual “framing and border” devices he saw everyday at his job. Of course, all of these artists, trained or self-taught, pushed their “cigar box and cigar band” influences much farther. Consalvos used real cut-up dollar bills, magazine photographs, old wedding photos and all kinds of ephemera to create his surreal, fantastic work.

Also, be sure and check out the faux wood grain on some of examples above— a device the surrealists used often.