Coincidence of Memory

by Viggo Mortensen

Book Overview

In this beautifully illustrated book, the artist combines photographs, paintings, and poems that span his artistic output from 1978 to 2002. Over 50 full-color reproductions are featured. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972143602
• ISBN13: 9780972143608
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Perceval Press
• Length: 66 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and intriguing

This book contains beautiful black and white and colour of Viggo's photographs with some poems and his paintings. Some images are crisp and others haunting and blurred which is very intriguing. Lovely blades of glass and old moss covered tree and flowers and lakes shows beauty of the country of New Zealand. You can see some of the images of the cast of the Lord of the Ring as well. Viggo shows us what he sees everyday through his lenses or with his paintings and his thoughts by his poems. They are very personal and delicate. I love the photograph of shadowy trees in black and white very much yet every time I open this book, I found more images whispering, talking and singing to me. It is a lovely book to pick up time after time.

A True Artist

This book spans 25 years of Viggo's art. It includes paintings, photographs, and poems. I wanted to get inside Viggo and see things from his perspective, which he does allow. I was a little surprised by his poetry. It is not composed of rhyme or alliteration. It is often off-the-wall topics. My favorite is Keepsake about a letter opener. The poems are philosophical and definitely not ordinary. Other favorites are Communion-about a relationship and Edit-how one's work is reduced to a movie with the theater its grave. He likes to catch subjects in motion in photographs. Often they are blurred or have light coming in them as if someone opened up the door to the darkroom. They are skillful and interesting. His paintings (which are abstract) are surprisingly good. The blending of colors is beautiful. Viggo is definitely not just an actor; he is an artist in every sense.

real poetry, not ramblings from an old diary

Several poems in this book shook my soul. Viggo is not using his fame to publish a bunch of crap that he's had in his old journal's since college. This is the real deal. The images brought forth by his words are spellbinding and unforgetable. There is honesty and bravery in his words. The visuals are an added bonus and enhance the experience of this book. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates poetry and art. I recommend savoring every stanza.

No mere "Coincidence"

Actor. Musician. Photographer. And, last and perhaps most intriguingly, poet. Viggo Mortensen wears plenty of different hats as an artist. "Coincidence of Memory" collects assorted poetry, paintings and photographs ranging from the late 1970s to 2002. Whenever they are from and whatever they are, his creations are vivid and very striking.In both his visual and literary art, Mortensen shows a sort of evocative simplicity. His poetry can bring to mind very powerful emotions that are left up to us to imagine ("Tried to say something/that filled my mouth/and longed to rest/in your ear/Don't dare write/it down for fear it'll/become words, just/words..."). He can also bring to mind simpler, more everyday things like arguments, frozen roads and observing the changes in nature.His photography has the delicacy of a painting, with skilful use of light and color -- and the paintings are even better. For example, one is a simple shot of a mossy tree trunk surrounded by dry grass; another is of a leafless tree reflected in a car hood, and yet another is a darkly-lit picture of some little plants on the ground. Most striking is a photograph of electrical cables "intruding" on a grassy spot.There's an intimate, capture-the-moment feel to Mortensen's photographs, as if you can see these things through his eyes for a moment. The paintings are just as good, such as "Self-Portrait, April". It's a picture of Mortensen's lips and chin, with all other featured obscured by a collage-like swirl of hazy artwork. The paintings are definitely absorbing, even if you don't understand the story behind them.Viggo Mortensen's evocative, thoughtful artwork is shown in three different forms -- poetry, photographs and paintings -- in the beautiful "Coincidence of Memory." A haunting, remarkable collection of Mortensen's work.

More than just a Coincidence...

Coincidence of Memory is a very eclectic journey of thoughts and visuals which keep you mesmerized from one page to the next. It is a book that can be displayed and shared with friends or picked up in the need of some tranquil and thought provoking times. By reading the poems, verses and viewing the images created both through photography and paintings with much diversified mediums and imagery you are taken on a journey of creativity. The cover of the book drew me to it, as it brought me back to my own childhood when my parents used to take me to "El Retiro" a beautiful park in Madrid, Spain. The picture captured those feelings of peace and happiness of long ago and brought them to the present. That interpretation is what art photography is about, capturing an image in the physical and transferring it to feelings of the heart. Viggo exemplifies so many creative people's dreams and goals that you can be successful in doing a multitude of endeavors. He serves as a mentor to the creative mind and this book typifies that conviction. It is clear from immersing one self in this book that the author has acquired much wisdom, knowledge and deep seated feelings through travel and being exposed to different cultures at a young age. If this book is representative of his other literary works I for one will definitely be awaiting their many arrivals into my observer's view.