Studio/Visual Culture: Annotated Collection of 50 Things

1. Kafka on the Shore (2002, Haruki Murakami)
Kafka on the Shore is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It is powered by and alternates between two narrators – Kafka Tamura, a teenage boy who runs away from home to escape a gruesome Oedipal prophecy to search for his mother and sister, and an illiterate elderly man, Satoru Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction (where he lost his memories, his ability to read and write, and most of his intelligence) but has acquired the ability to talk to cats. As their paths converge, and the reasons for that parallel become clear, Murakami enfolds readers in a metaphysical reality in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder. It is an enigmatic tale that strings together philosophical, historical, mythological, musical, and literary references.

2. Crystal Castles (Experimental-electronic band, 2003-2014).
Crystal Castles was an experimental electronic band active in 2003-2014. They’ve put out three full-length albums (i, ii, and iii) before female vocalist Alice Glass made her departure in 2014. Their early sound can be described as ‘skull-piercing and glitchy’ where they specialized in fusing low-res electronic noise, pop hooks and fizzy synths where the vocals are less audible, but still pierce through the thick reverb, similar to the shoegaze style with more waves of distortion. Their later sound developed with more clarity and beauty, where sound producer Ethan Kath eventually decided to ditch the synthesizers and keyboards. Crystal Castles has a sound like no other and Alice Glass’ lyrical artistry takes on a newfound importance album by album. With their last album, (III), the lyrics often addressed children facing horrors they can’t quite process or future atrocities they can’t imagine. Their music would be synonymous to escapism and catharsis, and bends on apocalyptic.

3. Happy Together (1997, Wong Kar-wai film).
Happy Together is a 1997 Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai. Its title is inspired by The Turtles’ 1967 song, and the Chinese title means “the exposure of something intimate.” The plot focuses depicts in non-chronological order the dysfunctional relationship between two men – Yiu-fai and Po-wing, who ‘start over’ in Argentina after their separation in Hong Kong. Po-wing is the flightier one, who flits in and out of Yiu-Fai’s life whenever he needs Yiu-fai’s care. On the contrary, Yiu-fai is the quieter, more loyal partner. The film essentially is not a gay film, but more about two people relating to one another.  The film begins and ends with a voyage, where we watch two men fall in and out of love. While the story itself isn’t a new concept, it is Wong Kar-wai’s kaleidoscopic of beauty in cinematography and storytelling that’s so suffused with emotion that’s the true gift of the film. There is a manipulation of black-and-white to saturated color scenes, slow-motion effects that capture the briefest moments of emotional connection, fractured, prismatic montage and long takes that really isolate and capture the emotion that it is portraying (heartbreak, melancholy, catharsis, passion, joy, etc).

4. Princess Mononoke (1997, Hayao Miyazaki film).
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 epic historical and fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli and produced by Toshio Suzuki. It is set in the late Muromachi Period (approx. 1336-1573) of Japan, with fantasy elements. The story follows a young Emishi warrior named Ashitaka, who gets involved with the struggle between the Forest Gods and the humans who consume its resources. The story is located in medieval Japan at the dawn of the Iron Age. It is not a black and white tale of ‘good and evil’, but the story of how humans, forest animals and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order. The artistry of Princess Mononoke is masterful, with its raw storytelling, its beautiful, vibrant animation, and the gorgeous soundtrack produced by Joe Hisaishi, all immaculate in creating a moral universe that keeps the story alive and in powerful motion.

5. The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick).
The Shining is a 1980 British-American psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel of the same name, though the film and the novel differ in significant ways. It focuses on Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic, who takes the job as an off-season caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel. He has a son, Danny, who possesses psychic abilities and is able to see visions from the past and the future. Some time after settling in, the family is trapped by a snowstorm and begin to experience supernatural presences, resulting in a chilling, claustrophobic and highly disturbing film. What’s notable about the filmmaking is the miss-en-scene and use of space/spatial relationships, which Kubrick uses to set up the horror with meticulous care. It is his utilization of setting, human figure placement, lighting and composition, as well as the sound effects and other artistic subtleties that immerse its viewers in a one-of-a-kind experience.

6. Souvlaki (Slowdive album, 1993).
Souvlaki is the second studio album of the English rock band Slowdive. It was recorded in 1992 and released May 1993 in the UK and February 1994 in the U.S. The album consists of the shoegaze sound (a sub genre of alternative rock that emerged in the 1980s U.K. scene) – which consist of distortion, and guitar rifts that stretch and swirl in slow-motion layers. The gorgeous vocals of Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead blend in, resulting in a pillowy-soft but passionately deep sound.  What is unique in shoegaze is how the guitars and instrumentals  are lyrical in their own right. Souvlaki makes for a rare shoegaze album that contains emotional and lyrical depth to match its sonic depth. It’s an album driven by narcotic dreaminess, driven by breathtaking vocals through a hazy fog of reverb.

7. Uzumaki, Junji Ito (1998-1999).
Junji Ito is a notable Japanese horror manga artist, known for his intricate, grotesque, shocking and bizarre illustrations and story telling in the horror genre. Ito is more of a paranormal artist and storyteller who has a talent for immersing his readers in dark and absurd stories, all of which consist of beautifully detailed illustrations that often culminate in nightmarish scenarios. He eschews an exaggerated style for the most part, sticking to a straightforward anatomical style for his characters and an equally naturalistic style for their environment. In clean black-and-white, Ito’s art displays impressive precision and craftsmanship. The imagination, style and quality of his art sells the events of his stories and capably sucks you into his world of horror and disbelief.

8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984, Milan Kundera)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a 1984 novel by Czech writer, Milan Kundera, and a raw tale about two couples, exploring their artistic and intellectual lives in the Prague Spring period of Czechoslovak history in 1968 during the Soviet occupation. The novel deep-heartedly charts their struggles against communism, their pasts, their lovers, and themselves. It’s a profound novel as it represents and lets the readers feel disconnection and various glimpses of perception, though the writing can be perceived as ‘choppy’ – which only shows Kundera’s unconventional craftsmanship as a writer. He uses plot and characters as tools or examples to explain his own perception about life, which makes his stories fragmented in structure. He writes energetically and his writing is usually interlaced with broader philosophical themes, paying homage to the reality that everything we know is just a collection of perspectives.

9. Self-Portrait (1912, Egon Schiele)
Austrian painter Egon Schiele is known for his intense artwork that often reflects his narcissism, erotic desires and existentialist anxiety. He is a protégé of Gustav Klimt and was a major figurative painter in the early 20th-Century, where the distorted body shapes and expressive lines in his work marked him as an early exponent in the Expressionist movement. His work is very complex and thematic, and after his imprisonment in 1912 there were themes of death/rebirth as well as his most notable female outputs. Some view Schiele’s work as being grotesque, erotic, pornographic, or disturbing – largely focusing on sex, death, and discovery. In what is known as his best self-portrait, (‘Self-Portrait with Physalis, 1912), he captures the idea of fragility and confidence in a very balanced composition, with remarkable usage of color and lines. The piece is done with oil and body color on wood and is currently located at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria.

10. ‘Truisms’ (1977-9, Jenny Holzer)
‘Truisms‘ is a series of nearly 300 statements by American Neo-Conceptualist artist Jenny Holzer. They consist of aphorisms or slogans used in both poster/electronic display made the years 1977-9. Her conception of language as art provides raw criticism of Western culture and often play on commonly held truths and clichés. Like other artists in her generation, Holzer turned to strategies of the mass media in her work. Her ‘Truisms‘ series are deliberately challenging, presenting a spectrum of often-contradictory opinions. Often her work presents both explicit content and minimalist aesthetics that make profound statements about the world of advertising and our consumer society today. ‘Truisms’ around New York has been presented an assemblage of phrases that mimic advertising slogans through vehicles commonly used in advertising. Through them, Holzer questions what our eyes can see and what we can’t see in media, whether consumers today have any real control over the information that is provided to them.

11. Lunar Moths
The lunar moth is a lime-green, Nearctic Saturniid moth (also known as “Giant Silkworm Moths”), and known as one of the largest moths in North America. They have a wingspan of four and a half inches, and are identified by their white body, pinkish legs, and huge pale green wings. They are found east of the Great Plains in the U.S. to northern Mexico and through central Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada. There have also been sightings as far south as central Florida. They are fascinating, ephemeral creatures who fly most commonly at night, during spring and summer. While they used to be very common; the species is now endangered in certain areas.

12. Filth (1983, Swans)
Filth is the debut studio album of American post-punk band, Swans, released in 1983. It is the first release that features the experimental and noisy style that the band is later known for. Through its choppy guitars and percussion that seems to rain in from everywhere at once, it’s grotesque but not chaotic. It is a deeply disturbed but precise album. The album can be treated as an exorcism or a purification ritual relating to 80’s New York – where vocalist Michael Gira struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction. It is an ugly listen, but that is the entire point. Filth is a rare document of a band that had zero aspirations toward likability, zero desire to be known outside of the realm of angry people who it appealed to.

13. You’re Nothing (2013, Iceage)
You’re Nothing is the 2nd studio album by Danish punk band, Iceage, released in 2013. Its themes are very nihilistic, and derive from the DIY underground scene in Copenhagen. It contains the uncanny sense of classic punk-rock songwriting, and is a mix of dirty punk and pulsing hardcore and frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s existential musing and lyrical artistry. Overall, the album is raw, uncompromising punk rock focused on a band taking their introverted anxieties and turning them outwards into furious energy – it is essentially a record of youth angst with no repetition, only boundless energy.

14. Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Isao Takahata)
It is a 1988 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli, and is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. It is notably considered an anti-war film, and is extremely powerful, heart-wrenching, and beautifully paced and animated, remaining one of Ghibli’s most profound and haunting works. It opens on an evening in 1945, after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. The rest of the movie tells us in flashback how things have led up to this moment. It follows the story of Seita and Setsuko, two young Japanese children growing up in the waning days of WII. Their father is in the Japanese navy, and they live fairly content lives in Kobe despite rationing and the other privations of war. The film does excellently in depicting the slow decline of their lives, as the harsh reality of war eventually settles in and both food and compassion are scarce. The images are very simple but hold a lot of gravity, telling a grim story of love, sacrifice and survival in the face of adult indifference and cruelty.

15. Cupid Deluxe (2013, Blood Orange)
Cupid Deluxe is the second album of R&B/new wave artist Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange). It was released in 2013 in the UK. The album was largely influenced by Hynes’ living experience in New York City – focusing in on living in Brooklyn and ultimately making the big jump into Manhattan. The themes of the album focus on “life transitions and moving from a stable position to an unstable position” – something that is relatable to everybody. It shines light on vulnerable subjects in the city – most certainly the LGBTQ/trans* community, as well as other ‘misfit’ ‘outsider’ types – and through the blend of jazz, r&b and disco pulse, he channels the vagabond emotions into something that is universal and inviting. It is an album that exudes heartache, longing, and melancholic odes and is propelled by upbeat 80’s beats with Hynes switching between a low and high singing voice, subtly accentuating the androgynous characters within the album.

16. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-6, Hideaki Anno)
Evangelion is a Japanese animated television show directed by Hideaki Anno and was broadcasted from 1995-1996. It is a post-apocalyptic anime in the Mecha genre set in futuristic Tokyo. The story focuses on a teenage boy named Shinji Ikari who is recruited by an organization (NERV) to pilot a giant bio-machine called ‘Evangelion’ in a war against monstrous beings known as the Angels. It is known that the series is a personal expression of the director’s own personal struggles and his long battle with depression. The series itself evokes many psychological themes, with references to Sigmund Freud’s works, and in addition, Lacanian influences. The connections between the Evas and their pilots bear a strong resemblance to Freudian theories on interpersonal communication and internal conflict. Themes of individuality, consciousness, freedom, choice, and responsibility are heavily relied upon throughout the entire series, making it one of the most critically acclaimed and revolutionary cultural icons in anime history.  

17. Fujifilm Instax Mini
Instax is a brand of Polaroid cameras and film marketed by Fujifilm since the late 1990s. It became popular in the U.S. after Kodak temporarily ceased production of the original Polaroid. Unlike Kodak’s model, Fujifilm instead decided to integrate the pressure plate springs and electrical power sources into the camera bodies rather than the disposable film pack itself, which helps make the Instax system more economical per exposure than Polaroid’s equivalents.

18. Andrei Tarkovsky (Filming Style)
Tarkovsky is a Soviet/Russian filmmaker who was largely influenced by Ingmar Bergman and considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history. His work is characterized by spiritual and metaphysical themes, long takes, lack of conventional dramatic structure, portraiture, and distinctive use of cinematography. Recurring motifs are dreams, memory, childhood, running water accompanied by fire, rain indoors, reflections, levitation, and characters re-appearing in the foreground of long panning movements of the camera – thus creating very surreal, beautifully profound films. He created a theory in cinema called ‘Sculpting in Time,’ where he aimed to take the concept of time and our experience with it, and alter it. He aimed to give the viewers a sense of time passing, time lost, and the relationship of one moment in time to another. This theory was explored in many of his films. 

19.  ‘Lustmord’ (1994, Jenny Holzer)
A series made by Jenny Holzer in response to the violence against women committed in the Bosnian war crimes. ‘Lustmord’ is composed of 4 LED, text billboard, and signs. It also features tables and bones – certain ones associated with sensuality. This exhibit was meant to expose a dark human psyche and the psychological/physical aspects of violence and trauma and prompted viewers to come to terms with their own morality. 

20. Moonassi Drawing (2008, Daehyun Kim)
Daehyun Kim is a graphic artist from Seoul, South Korea. Since 2008 (when he began university), he has been working on a series called ‘Moonassi Drawing‘ which consisted of small-scale pictures done in black-and-white. According to him, the drawings carry no specific background story or theory – they were created based on his daily thoughts and feelings. They are melancholic and surreal works, often focusing on human interactions and connections, and effectively play on our subconscious and perception of reality. They represent ephemeral, scattered thoughts that are significant to the artist. 

21. The Metamorphosis (1915, Franz Kafka)
A novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. The story focuses on a traveling salesman,Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find himself transformed into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Samsa’s transformation is never revealed, and the rest of the story deals with his attempts to adjust to his new condition. It is said to be reflective of the negative aspects of Kafka’s personal life, both mentally and physically, while showing the difficulties of living in a modern society and struggle for the acceptance of others. The book is an exploration of identity, of belonging and exclusion, intolerance and tolerance, and raising many questions for those undergoing transformation and transition.

22. ‘Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made‘ (1996, Tracey Emin)
Tracey Emin is an English artist whose work is primarily expressionistic, a cypher for memories and emotions that can be frank and poetic, intimate and universal. Her influences included Egon Schiele and Edvard Munch. I’m focusing in on her 1996 ‘Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made’ series, which consisted of the artist locking herself in her room for 14 days with nothing but empty canvases and art materials in a raw attempt to reconcile herself with paintings. Viewed through a series of wide-angle lenses embedded in the walls, Emin could be watched, stark naked, shaking off her painting demons. In the end, this session resulted in a massive outpour of autobiographical paintings – all of which contain raw emotion in retrospect.

23. Invisible Monsters (1999, Chuck Palahniuk)
Invisible Monsters is a 1999 novel by American novelist and freelance journalist, Chuck Palahniuk. It’s a daring satire about beauty and the fashion industry – focusing on a disfigured women, Shannon McFarland, who loses her jaw in an accident and as a result, loses her modeling career as we’ll. Her life from there descends into chaos until she meets Brandy Alexander, a would-be trans woman – who immediately latches onto the pain and sorrow that Shannon feels. There is no linear storytelling, but the novel manages to explore notions of God, parenting, sexuality and gender, the ephemeral nature of beauty, and the thin line between love and hate, all while meandering through past and present.

24. Gummo (1997, Harmony Korine)
Gummo is a 1997 cult film directed by Harmony Korine and what I’d call an avant-garde trainwreck. It’s set in Xenia, Ohio in a small, poor Midwestern town that had been struck by a tornado. It has a loose narrative that follows the several main characters who find odd and destructive ways to pass time. It is an impressionistic series of shots, stills, sound clips and vignettes meant to evoke a feeling of hopelessness for the bottom-feeding strata of American society. The merit of the film is the sporadically interesting freakshow ambiance to it, mixing the rawness of documentary and the hyper-reality of a dream, which left an unforgettable impression. 

25. Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch)
Eraserhead is a 1977 surrealist body horror film, written and directed by David Lynch that explores existential horror. It explores male paranoia and uses detailed visuals to depict a man’s fear of parenthood. The film lacks a precise narrative, but makes up for that with a beautiful execution of lighting, effects, editing and directing – it’s wildly imaginative and extremely disturbing with a touch of black comedy.

26. Louise Bourgeois’ Artwork (1911-2010)
Louise Bourgeois was a French-American artist and sculptor whose artwork had a lot of thematic elements derived from betrayal, anxiety and loneliness. A prominent theme in her work is that of childhood trauma, hidden emotion and sexuality – all of which were components of her life. The link between female sexuality, fragility and insecurity depicted in her work is very powerful, and her focus on three-dimensional forms were also rare for women artists at the time. Bourgeois’s artwork is renowned for its highly personal thematic content involving the unconscious, sexual desire, and the body, inspiring her to make art as a therapeutic or cathartic process (which is similar to Tracey Emin). She transformed her real-life experiences into a very personal visual language through the use of mythological and archetypal imagery – adopting objects such as spirals/spiders/cages/medical tools, and sewn appendages to symbolize the feminine psyche, beauty and psychological pain.

27. Nobuyoshi Araki’s Photography.
Nobuyoshi Araki was a celebrated and controversial Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. He’s published over 350 books and is considered one of the most prolific artists in Japan. His photography mostly centers around female eroticism and his fascination with his birthplace in Tokyo, as well as themes of birth and death. His images are notoriously provocative and while they can be controversial, they demonstrate a passion for black and white photography and are largely influenced by both ancient and modern Japanese traditions. Overall I’d say his photographs are intimate depictions of sensuous subjects, as well as a documentation of everyday life in modern Japan.

 28. Belladonna of Sadness (Eiichi Yamamoto, 1973).
Belladonna of Sadness is a 1973 film directed and co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto and inspired by Jules Michelet’s book Satanism and Witchcraft. Its visuals consist mostly of still paintings panned across and are strongly influenced by Western art (ex. Gustav Klimt and classic tarot illustrations). It contains graphic content, all of which insinuates that society’s emancipation from oppression is contingent on female liberation and sexual empowerment. The content of Belladonna’s story is unlike any other animated feature, containing very radical storytelling and highly stylized expressionistic art – all of which were a product of its time. It succeeds in promoting a form of feminist ideology while simultaneously exploiting the entertainment value of crass misogyny.

29. Paprika (2006, Satoshi Kon)
Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screen writer and manga artist. Paprika was his fourth and final feature film before his death in 2010. It focuses on a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. The animation in the film is mesmerizing in the way that it captures the nature of dreams, as well as focus on the theme of technology verses man. It’s not a movie made to be understood as it is made to be experienced. Paprika reprised the themes of doubles, the misapprehension of the past, the risk of sexuality, and the confusion between reality and fantasy. 

30. Suehiro Marou Art.
Suehiro Marou is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter. His nightmarish style of work notably falls into the Japanese category of “erotic grotesque” and he also has a fascination with human oddities, deformities, birth defects, and “circus freaks.”

31. Fallen Angels (1995, Wong Kar-wai).
Fallen Angels is a Hong Kong drama film from 1995 written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It’s composed of two stories that have little to do with each other except a few casual run-ins. A disillusioned killer embarks on his last hit but he has to overcome his affections for his cool, detached partner. Thinking it’s dangerous and improper to become involved with a colleague he sets out to find a surrogate for his affections. Against the sordid and surreal urban nightscape (set in contemporary Hong Kong), he crosses path with a strange drifter looking for her mysterious ex-boyfriend and an amusing mute trying to get the world’s attention in his own unconventional ways.

32. The Stranger, Albert Camus (1942)

The Stranger is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as exemplars of Camus’s ‘philosophy of the absurd’ and ‘existentialism’, though Camus personally rejected the latter label. The story focuses on Meursault, an indifferent French-Algerian who, after attending his mother’s funeral, apathetically kills an Arab man whom he recognizes in French Algiers. The story is divided into two parts: his first person narrative view before and after the murder and explores morality, human existence, the irrationality of the universe, and more.

 33. Frida Kahlo’s Art (1907-1954)

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who is best known for her self-portraits. Her work has been celebrated as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition and also by women for its raw depiction of the female experience and form. Mexican culture is important in her work, which has been characterized as “folk art” and “surrealist” though she later rejected the latter, believing that her work reflected more of her reality than her dreams. She began painting after a severe bus accident in 1925, as it prompted her to abandon her study of medicine and paint to occupy time during her temporary immobilization. Her paintings deal heavily with her battle to survive and were used as an exorcism where she projected her emotions on another Frida, in order to separate herself from her pain but keep her hold on reality.

34. Doc Martens

Doc Martens is a British footwear and clothing brand founded by German doctor, Klaus Märtens. While on leave in 1945, he injured hi s foot skiing the Bavarian Alps. He originally designed the boots to help his injured foot. The first Doc Martens in the UK came out in 1960 and became popular among workers such as postmen, police officers and factory workers. In the 70s, they were adopted by skinheads and expanded to punks, new wave musicians and other members of youth subcultures in the 80s. In the 90s, as ‘grunge fashion’ became more popular, so did its association with the shoes. By 2010-2012, Doc Martens were assessed as the 8th fastest-growing British company. 

35. MAC Media Lipstick

MAC lipstick is a product of MAC Cosmetics, which is a manufacturer of cosmetics headquartered in New York City. They were founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 and the first U.S. MAC store opened in New York in 1991. The company’s products were initially designed specifically for professional makeup artists but now sell to consumers worldwide. They provide a wide variety of products for every day costume, and most are said to be oil-free, though some do contain natural oils such as jojoba and orange oil. They are involved in many social responsibilities such as Cruelty-Free, Recycling, Kids Helping Kids, and an AIDS fund.

36. Angela Davis

Angela Davis is an American political activist who emerged as a counterculture radical in the 1960s as a leader of the Communist Party USA. She is also known for her close relations with the Black Panther Party during the Civil Rights Movement, though she was never a member. Her work focuses largely on the prison industrial complex and prisoner rights, feminism, African-American studies, Marxism, critical theory, social consciousness, popular music, and the philosophy and history tied in with prisons.

37. Toshio Saeki

Toshio Saeki is a Japanese artist infamous for his rather demented, erotic illustrations. He has cultivated a unique and shocking style, blending traditional Japanese technique with his own imagination. His artwork is the harmonious synthesis of a perverse vision and an incredible artistic ability, challenging social norms by placing the unconscious in plain view.

38. Throw Your Books Away, Rally on the Streets (1971, Shuji Terayama)

Throw Your Books Away, Rally on the Streets is a 1971 Japanese is an experimental drama film directed by Shūji Terayama. It stands as a metaphor for Japan’s descent into materialism, it follows an angst-ridden teen’s disillusionment with the world around him and his determination to achieve something in life while his family members are content with their poor social and economic standing. Modulating between a psychological study on alienation and a rallying cry for activism and sociopolitical revolution in the late 1960s counter-cultural generation, it is a montage of fragmented, asequential images reflecting the inner chaos of the impoverished. The story is intercut with various psychedelic, energetic imagery and a noise soundtrack that calls for cinematic anarchy.

39. Nancy (American Sunday comic strip), Ernie Bushmiller 

Nancy is an American daily Sunday comic strip that was originally written and drawn by Ernie Busmiller and distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Its launch date was in 1938 and it instantly became popular for its broad appeal and bold and clear art style. Nancy was later drawn by a handful of artists after the passing of her original creator.

40. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2000)

An autobiographical graphic novel that depicts the author’s childhood up to her early adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution.

41. Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

Audre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, radical feminist, lesbian and civil rights activist. Her most notable efforts was her activist work with Afro-German women in the 1980s. Her identity as a black lesbian gave her work more perspective when talking about issues surrounding ciivl rights, feminism and oppression. She was born in New York City to Caribbean immigrants and grew up near-sighted to the point of being legally blind. From 1984 to 1992, she spent time in Berlin, Germany to do activist work surrounding women, where she provided support in building communities, offering her own theoretical analysis and posing important questions. She urged women to raise their voices against the racist society, and her legacy with the movement lives on. 

42. All About Love: New Visions (2001, Bell Hooks)

All About Love: New Visions is a book by American author, feminist and social activist bell hooks, published in 2001. The book discusses aspects of love in modern society and combines personal anecdotes, psychological and philosophical ideas. hooks focuses on romantic love for the most part, believing that in American culture, men have been socialized to mistrust the value and power of love, and each chapter provides suggestions on how to reverse this. She proposes a transformative love based on affection, respect, recognition, commitment, trust and care, rather than the customary and social constructs of gender stereotypes, domination, control, ego and aggression. Through a postmodern perspective, her writing primarily focuses on the interconnectivity of race, capitalism and gender and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination. 

43. My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Hayao Miyazaki)

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film tells the story of two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in post-war rural Japan. The stylistic approach to the film included using a natural world that was spiritually alive, and is set in a period that is both modern and nostalgic. In the end, the film creates a fantastic, yet strangely believable universe of supernatural creatures coexisting with modernity. 

44. Moomin, (1945-1993, Tove Jansson)

Moomins are characters in a comic strip by Finnish illustrator, Tove Jansson. The Moomin stories concern several eccentric and oddly-shaped characters, some of whom are related to each other and are supposedly inspired by real people. The Moomins are bohemian, live close to nature and are very tolerant towards diversity. Most of Jansson’s characters are on the verge of melancholy, and she uses the differences between the characters’ philosophies to provide a venue for her satirical impulses.

45. Death Grips (2010-2015)

Death Grips is an experimental hip-hop group from Sacramento, California. They are known for combining noise music, hip hop, punk and industrial music. They are known for having bleak and cryptic lyrics and an aggressive rapping style.

46. Raymond Pettibon 

Raymond Pettibon is an American artist from New York City. He came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art – most notably known for designing the distinctive ‘four bars’ logo for punk rock band, Black Flag. He is known for his comic-like drawings that contain disturbing, ironic and ambiguous text and imagery – often times anti-authoritarian. He works primarily with India ink, as many of his early drawings are black and white, and his drawings often encompass the spectrum of American culture from the deviances of marginal youth culture to art, literature, sexuality, religion and politics.

47. Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki).

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) is an animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. It tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, enters the spirit world. After her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba’s bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world. Along with being a coming-of-age tale, Spirited Away contains critical commentary on modern Japanese society concerning generational conflicts, the struggle with dissolving traditional culture and customs within a global society, and environmental pollution. 

48. Moon

49. Ocean

50. Mountains