Culture

Timothy Leary’s Hitchcock Estate

 

The Hitchcock Estate in Millbrook, New York is a historic mansion and surrounding grounds. The 64-room Bavarian baroque mansion was built in the early 20th century by German-born gas magnate Charles F. Dieterich and eventually sold to the Hitchcock family in 1963. The siblings Billy Hitchcock and Peggy Hitchcock who have both tried LSD would open the doors of their estate to Timothy Leary and the Psychedelic Movement.

In September of 1963, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert and Ralph Metzner (their colleague at Harvard) moved into the Hitchcock Estate, along with thirty or so of their followers. There Leary established what he called the League for Spiritual Discovery.

Timothy Leary

1967. © Getty Images

 

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During Leary’s residence at the mansion (1963–1968) the culture and ambiance there evolved from scholarly research into psychedelics to a more party-oriented atmosphere, exacerbated by an increasing stream of visitors and guests included R. D. Laing, Allen Ginsberg and Charles Mingus. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters visited in their bus Further.

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The mansion was the target of drug raids. In April 1966, a squad of police investigators headed by G. Gordon Lilly, later to achieve notoriety and a criminal conviction in the Watergate affair, arrested Leary and three other people at mansion for possession of marijuana. Leary and his group were evicted in 1968; Leary moved to California.

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen – Byker
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen is a Finnish photographer who has worked in Britain since the 1960s. From 1969, Konttinen lived in Byker, a working class community in the east side of Newcastle upon Tyne. For over seven years, Konttinen photographed the residents of this area of terraced houses until her own house was demolished.
03 WH Douglas, Gents' Hairdresser, 1974, Byker, Si
Kendal Street, 1969, Byker, Sirkka-Liisa Kontti
05 Launch of World Unicorn, 1973, River Project, S
02 Heather playing piano,1971, Byker, Sirkka-Liisa
Tynemouth, 1978, Writing in the Sand, Sirkka-Li
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Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Jimmy Dodds (Byker)’ 1980, printed 2012
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Jean Barron with Parents (Byker)’ 1980, printed 2012
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Byker Park Dominoes Club (Byker)’ 1974, printed 2012
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Dogs Hairdressing, Shields Road (Byker)’ 1981, printed 2014
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Ragman’s Horse and Cart by Union Road (Byker)’ 1970, printed 2012
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Image result for sirkka-liisa konttinen byker
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Girl on a Spacehopper (Byker)’ 1971, printed 2012
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Jimmy Dodds, Albion Row Allotments (Byker)’ 1980, printed 2014
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Making-up in Mason Street (Byker)’ 1971, printed 2012
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Man Gesturing in Demolished Street (Byker)’ 1971, printed 2012
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Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Living Room Wall of Sidney Aubrey (Byker)’ 1975, printed 2014
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘Old Kitt, St Peter’s Allotments (Byker)’ 1973, printed 2014
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, ‘John Hindmarsh & Son, Funeral Directors’, Raby Street (Byker)’ 1974, printed 2014

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is an American photographer and one of the most influential photographers of the latter half of the 20th century,  widely credited with pioneering fine art color photography in his iconic depictions of the American South. Eggleston’s initial style was influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Walker Evans.

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Photographs: © Eggleston Artistic Trust

To see more Eggleston’s work, visit: http://www.egglestontrust.com/

 

 

 

Kazuo Ohno

Kazuo Ohno, was a Japanese dancer and one of the pioneers of Butoh (“dance of utter darkness), the influential Japanese dance-theater form. With its playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, characters with whitened faces, its slow movements and physical distortions, Butoh was a reaction in part to the horrors World War II.

Ohno’s solo performances were irresistibly powerful. A humanist, he communicated the themes of the form through recognisable characters, most often flamboyantly female.

Ohno had continued to perform beyond his 100th year, until his death in 2010 at the age of 103.

Photo by Eikoh Hosoe

Photo by Eikoh Hosoe

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Image result for kazuo ohno

Drinking Alone Under the Moon

A jug of wine among flowers
I drink alone, for there’s no companion.
I raise the cup and invite the moon,
With my shadow we become three.
Of course the moon does not understand drinking;
The shadow purposelessly traces my body.
But I accompany the moon and the shadow anyway
The pursuit of pleasures must continue until the spring.
The moon wanders as I sing;
The shadow rattles when I dance.
Still sober, we share our joys;
After drunk, each goes its way.
Permanently joined for feelingless journeys–
Perhaps to the remote Milky Way.

-by 李 白 (Li Bai) (701-762)

tr Burton Watson, 1986