Saturday 21 October 2017

Librarian ritualism



Several of Lord Bassington-Bassington's ideas have started out as jokes. And on one occasion when The World's Coolest Librarian had fed His Lordship with yet another interesting tidbit of information, the droopy-eared one quipped something along the lines of "O librarian, font of all coolness, we should erect an altar in thine honour".



And thus the genie was out of the bottle. This had to happen. A piece of furniture here at Bassington Manor was turned into an impromptu altar or site-specific installation. Depending on your point of view. What you are witnessing is a plethora of references to The Librarian's life and loves. From a Hawaiian shirt to science fiction paperbacks, all thrown together in a frame referencing traditions as diverse as voodoo, wicca and – of course – the Lovecraftian.









It would be misleading to say that Lord Bassington-Bassington enlisted the help of artist Peter Horneland, as Mr. Horneland qucikly took charge of the project and His Lordship's contribution mostly consisted of fetching various objects from around Bassington Manor. A very appropriate task for a Basset hound, one might say!





And as the intrepid Mr. Horneland isn't only an accomplished artist but also describes himself as an "on again/off again ritual magician", this might even qualify as His Lordship's first actual ritual work.



So what's the next project for this growing cult of The World's Coolest Librarian? To elevate this eminent dispenser of book-lore to some sort of sainthood, of course. If He isn't there already.

(More of Mr. Horneland's works can be found at his website).