STH - Putting The Graphic in Pornographic

Porn Mags aren't usually very aesthetically pleasing. They can be invaluable for retro style tips (handlebar moustaches and terry toweling shorts, anyone?), and if you're a big Jeff Koons fan, you might find something artistic in their super saturated tawdriness, but when people talk about 'graphic' pornography they're usually not discussing the designer's layout skills.

These copies of cult gay porn zine STH (or "Straight To Hell", as it formally known) buck that trend. Subtitled variously as "The Manhattan Review Of Unnatural Acts, The American Journal Of Cocksucking And Current Affairs, The US Chronicle Of Crimes Against Nature, The New York Review Of Cocksucking, The American Journal Of Revenge Therapy and The American Journal Of Dicklicking" - STH was founded in 1973 by "Reverend" Boyd Macdonald - its simple mission: to share dirty and depraved true life stories of gay sexual experiences. 

Like the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and Kenneth Anger, STH plays with the line between filth and art - articles by William S Burroughs sit happily alongside highly descriptive passages about truckers engaging in watersports. Gore Vidal was a fan, and Mapplethorpe himself contributed images to the magazine - but there's nothing highbrow about its contents - it's pure, unadulterated smut.

The covers of these issues, from the mid-Eighties, perfectly illustrate the magazine's high/low mix. They seem to be equally influenced by Russian Constructivism and the 'vice cards' that advertise prostitutes services in phone booths. Whether it's art or pornography (or something in between) - it's extremely stylish.

I'm glad to report that STH is still going, after 35 years - it is now available at all good bookstores, or via its website www.straight-to-hell.net.

Illustrated Book Of The Week -How to Get Strong and How to Stay So

In the immortal words of Olivia Newton-John - "let's get physical (physical)". 

This weeks illustrated book is another selection from the Ellis-Jayne Library of Esoterica. It's a fitness classic from 1883 - William Blaikie's How to Get Strong, and How to Stay So. This was the Jane Fonda's Workout of the era - a best-selling guide to health and fitness. Sadly there are rather less headbands in action - but the magnificent beards definitely make up for that.

Blaikie was one of the first people to popularise the idea of exercise as a path to well being. Common opinion in the nineteenth century held that inactivity was the safest way to avoid illness. People would take 'rest cures' and swore that fresh air would solve most physical problems.

The idea that strength training and physical movement would lead to a healthy body was radical - and Blaikie's beliefs were way ahead of their time. The exercise machines that he recommends do look slightly terrifying - but the principles that he talks about are still widely in practice.

This is just a very scary looking 'abdominiser'. Apparently all those Victorian gents had six-packs under their tailcoats...

Illustrated Book Of The Week - How ~ Indian Sign Talk In Pictures

This weeks IBOTW is a find from my friends Rick and Thomas' apartment (or as I prefer to think of it, The Ellis-Jayne Library of Esoterica).  The two of them share an aesthetic for everything exquisite, obscure, peculiar and ever so slightly twisted. We will be exploring some of their more interesting literature and decorative objects in due course.

This booklet particularly tickled my fancy. Published in 1952, it's an informative guide to the dying art of Indian sign language. Most useful if one was ever to find oneself trapped on a reservation with seven scouts and the urgent need to feed them bacon.

The author, Iron Eyes Cody tells us of his upbringing as a Cherokee Indian, his adventures with his father Thomas Long Plume, and the many triumphs of his life thus far (dancing for the King of England, opening his 'Moosehead Museum', helping Boy Scout groups at their Scout-a-ramas). What he fails to mention is the fact that his parents were Sicilian immigrants, and that his real name was Espera de Corti - which, I suppose, would have spoilt all the fun.

I must admit - I think that the fact that "Iron Eyes" was a fraud adds to the charm of this book. A sweet reminder of the innocent days when thousands of American children would dream of wigwams and smoke signals and dancing warriors in magnificent head dresses.