That’s the message that I sent
Connotations.
Index.
Symbol.
Saying No But Meaning Yes.
Tread carefully.
Here's an analysis (but not an evaluation) of the Booklet enclosed with the vinyl album of Blackstar. I'm not sure if the booklet which came with the limited edition 5000 copies is the same one (or if it has the same properties or different). I haven't opened my copy, which will remain sealed. NB There will be some reference here to the lithographs which were made available at the same time as the limited edition vinyl, since the images in the booklet may be from the same session. But there will not be cross-referencing to videos, etc. They are separate entities. There is also a prevalence of the non-colour, black, which has no wavelength. This is only an analysis. Evaluation is for others as are conclusions or 'definitive interpretations.' Oxymoron?
Front Cover
Black with a large photograph positioned centrally (portrait-shape) of.....
Bowie (the persona)
Bowie (the performer), from the videos of 'Blackstar' & 'Lazarus,' the character performed
Location: (inside) There are walls & panels (large), two-toned. There's little information. Possibly there is a door on the right (are they keyholes?) to the left of Bowie.
Dress: He wears a dark, rough, soft suit, maybe of flannel. There's a shirt (open) and his hair is up-combed or stiffened upwards
Colour: Browns & ochres dominate.
Blindfold: Covers the eyes and criss-crosses the forehead.
Buttons: Two dark buttons where eyes would/should be.
Pose: Front-on to camera. And to the viewer. His hands are on the hip, rather camp.
Image itself: Has been cropped at the knees. It is surrounded by the black background.
Fonts: Typeface is in the form of symbols. There are 5, 4 glossy. The 2nd symbol is not but is an outline of a "star shape." The star has 5 points.
That's a description of the cover. Each page will be analysed in the same way.
So, what does this all 'mean?' Is it 'meaningful? Is there a message? How should we interpret this?
Possible Evaluations
Bowie, the persona: recognised by fans, critics and most others. But not the person, D. R. Jones.
Bowie, the performer: not taken from the videos, though it's the character, but it's a photograph by Jimmy King, who usually does the promotional images. Performance is key. Some critics are already referring to a new character, 'Button Eyes.'
Location: There is in the next image in the booklet confirmation of a door.
Blindfold: There are two discreet avenues for exploration here, the application of blindfolds in society or culture and then related symbolism. Neither of these are my readings. Just shows the multiplicity of potential interpretation Bowie enjoys in his work.
Application of Blindfolds
sleep mask
children's pinata & games (Pin the Tail)
martial arts, where reliance on other senses are encouraged
meditation
kidnap or hostage situations
cosmetic - if you're blind
prop used in magic tricks
aid to stimulate mobility for blindness
humane offering in executions
for 'dares'
in sexual activities, like bondage - 'submissive trust'
Do any of these applications fit here? Would Bowie be interested in these? How many?
Symbolism
Law - Lady Justice represents objectivity & impartiality
Tarot - the victim, resistance to clarity, denial, limited views, integrity & truth at a cost
dichotomy of conscious and unconscious, representing a stasis or lesser state of consciousness
removal of a blindfold: a form of awakening or rebirth
feeling over senses, emphasising the importance of emotion over perception
All of these above are interesting. All from wiki (hardly an academic resource!) Not difficult start to the research-process. Some are very tempting already.
Buttons: children's toys (like teddy bears) - generally the first gift after birth, often 'stuffed.'[Is there a link to the scarecrows in the video? Careful. Not analysing video, here.]
Blindness: Maybe worth exploring 'Bowie's eyes' here. He had unusual eyes. They were a 'trademark.' Possible even at 'the center of it all.' (note the American spelling from the lyrics.) In Sophoclean tragedy there are characters like Teiresias, the blind, who has compensatory powers. The eyes are 'put out.' Not nice. The Oedipus plays have this. The Oedipus complex is at the heart of Freudian psychology.
Lacan studied Freud and enjoys theories based the 'mask.' Many contemporary philosophers discuss the inauthentic and authentic binary of Bowie's performance over the years. Here it's possible to explore Aufderhide's postmodern ideas of performer & character and 'being' & 'acting.'
What is truth? Appearance & Performance as 'ironic.' The 'faker' as a cynic. An attack on the 'ideal of the genius.' The authentic or 'constructed' inauthentic? Getting hard already, eh?
Nobody said Bowie is easy. What about schizophrenia and masks? The self? Authentic? The non-appearance? The 'relation between all the masks?'
What about the concept of Time? [Remember him singing, "Never no turning back."]
Check out Minkowski's 'elan vital.' He sings in the song 'No Plan' - "This is not quite yet." That's a strange expression, referencing the almost-now, a shifting present, perhaps unattainable or not existing at all.
Capitalism: they produce, we buy, they stop. We chase something different. Bowie's pantomimes.
Deleuze & Guattari: resisting schizophrenia we have the anti-Oedipus position (as opposed to Freud). Bowie 'dances' from 'moment to moment.' This is straight from Buddhist philosophy (often mistaken for religion). Bowie liked elements of Buddhism. He is 'dancing through us, past us, with him, overcome him.' He's 'dancing out in space.' In the 'serious moonlight.' - the 'schizophrenia's moon that is both romantic and which hides monsters in its eerie light.'
It's worth contemplating Heidegger's 'the They' as equivalent to 'other beings.'
How about Death? the 'systematic destruction and recreation of you from moment to moment.’
" When I met you.....I was the walking dead...." etc.
"Let me dance......and I'm gone.......like a dead man walking"
The 'lived distance has become a dance.........dancing out in space.......a delightful end.'
"I danced myself out of the womb."
What about 'superficiality,' the 'trauma of the psyche?
"Getting my facts from a Benetton ad...." the LEGO-kit Bowie.
Simon Critchley: going beyond the 'pleasure principle.'
David Bowie = change and change again.
Worth exploring 'dreaming' too. (Foucault & Descartes). The 'Sylvian fissure' of the brain, (Drive-in Saturday),
or Aristotle on 'madness.'
Delusion and therapy. Bowie kills characters off. Greco considers Bowie's been killing off his persona since 1989/90.[Bowie himself had TWO versions of his persona simultaneously in 1990, the commercial one which was compelled by record-company politics and business to undertake the excruciating Sound & Vision Tour and the challenging artistic revolting Tin Machine member. Some would say artistically-revolting. But what do they know?]
How do you do deal with one persona, let alone two? You 'perform' them.
Now, do you fancy evaluating Bowie & his work?
Page 2
Dark Background: charcoal grey?
Black Star: above the lyrics (has 5 points)
Lyrics: printed (embossed?) in black gloss, capital letters, on a black background - difficult to see/read
small font size in relation to the page
printed 'vertically' - 'reading'-style, like a book (left to right)
No titleSong
Page 3
dark background again
GRAPHICS: design (2D/3D?) meaningless?
printed dark-on-dark again
design 'collapses' in centre
large, star-shaped black glossed shape (like a fiery sun) with 16 arms & legs?
Page 4
'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore
IMAGE: same location, dress, etc. as the cover image, but cropped differently
Viewer is higher/ above the subject
DB (performing) is crouched in a pose of 'fear/pain' ?
Left arm points forward with the hand 'pushing away'
a door is now visible and open
LYRICS: arranged in 7 groups of "constellation" maps
Song-cycle - top left and down
No Title apparent - could be the 'top' constellation
pages 5 & 6
Lazarus
Title: huge font size, three layers, underlined
LA
ZA
RUS
Embossed black star: top left, different shape, 8 points, long tail
Symbol: bottom centre, under the letters, eye-shaped, like a smiley emoji shape
Page 6 Lyrics: black gloss on black, invisible again?
Content: Beware! This is from the musical & it's T.J.Newton singing. It's also sung by Michael Hall. No need to associate the lyrics with Bowie (D.R. Jones).
Words underlined again.
Framed left and bottom.
6 ident marks on X/Y axis.
Pages 7 & 8
Page 7 - Large titles: top underlined
SUE
centre: another design superimposed over an image (from a lithograph) of DB, fitting a belt
bottom: (or in a season of crime) - in brackets, capitals, underlined again
Page 8 - black(embossed) glossy star, different shape again, centred, dodecahedron?
Lyrics: printed in central narrow block, left to right, underlined, small font, phrases separated by slashes (a great deal of space left)
Page 9
Girl Loves Me
whole of this enclosed in a glossy black thing which looks like a 'paper cup-cake holder'
Top: NASA 'etched' image - a copy of the famous Pioneer plaque (1972/3), as if engraved onto black gloss
Lyrics: bunched underneath the 'Nasa' sign, still underlined, capitals, slightly larger font than others
Title: clearly shown, above the lyrics
Song: language is clearly not"English" in places
(i) Nadsat - from the book/film "A Clockwork Orange" - language invented by Anthony Burgess for hooligans (Droogies)
(ii) Polari - cant slang (UK) - gay slang, fairgrounds, etc.
Page 10
Dollar days
Turned on its side - rotated left in computer talk (digital). All of it.
Difficult to hold - it's a limp booklet.
Booklet is large (12 inch vinyl). To read this, you have to grip booklet carefully so as not to fold it or damage it. All the weight is in the left hand while gripping. very hard to read comfortably.
Title: large font titled upwards to right
Lyrics: in different font sizes, arranged in 6 or 7 blocks (maybe not), underlined
Content: puns already interpreted
e.g. "I'm dying to......I'm falling down..."
But.....all the above is superimposed on an image which is contained in a star (5 point)
image is a 'close-up' crop of Bowie's face (from his right) - we see him looking right (his right side)
he is blind-folded in character, from the video
the star is placed centrally on the page
the image is 'normal' in terms of viewing position (as if self-portrait)
this is a still from the video by Johan Renck
Pages 11 & 12 Double
I Can't Give Everything Away
left page (11)
Image: colour - browns, a large portrait of DB, copy of a lithograph (sold with the original limited edition clear vinyl),
DB looks left - side-on, mid-shot, waist-up,
background: no location, timeless (just clouds)
fills most of the page
not blind-folded here - it is just the 'real' Bowie??
Lyrics: black gloss on dark background, large font, underlined, capitals
one verse positioned under the image
Title: and chorus underneath in larger font size.
Right page (12)
mirror-image of left page portrait
completely reversed
heavily-faded version
bright yellow square framing the image superimposed over the face/neck
close-up framing for viewer
ONLY USE OF COLOUR
Image: portrait takes up most of page
Below: 2nd verse of song (as previous page)
Content: "seeing more and feeling less"
"saying no and meaning yes"
"this is all I ever meant"
"that's the message that I sent"
Cue: stampeding brains!
inside cover (rear)
Credits
large font, still underlined, still very hard to read, engage with
songs listed, musicians, production teams, publishers, etc.
NB Photography is by Jimmy King (does PR stuff)
One image from Johan Renck (Dollar Days)
Interpretation
That's a lot of work there, just to analyse what's in the booklet.
Over to you for interpretation.
But....Barnbrook had a free hand in the design of this and as a collaborator will only add to the multiplicity of potential.
The videos (even the lithographs) are more tempting to evaluate. Fans have already had a field day with the lyrics. The booklet is changing anyway. Light is having an impact on it.
And....Barnbrook says there's something in it which he never revealed, even to Bowie!
Rear Cover
Completely black, with a glossy 'guiding star' positioned centrally.
Good luck in trying to arrive at a definitive evaluation of that lot!