THE 10TH VICTIM: JAPANESE & KINDLE

We conclude our week of rare books with two editions of Robert Sheckley's The 10th Victim. The 1965 Elio Petri movie adaptation starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni looms large here on Spy Vibe. Ever since I was a kid, I've been completely fascinated by the film's cocktail of groovy music, op art, pop art, space-age fashion, and modern design. I was fortunate to be able to contribute the entire poster/still gallery to the Blu-ray edition from Blue Underground (on sale now for $12.49!). As we discussed in our tour of Japanese editions of James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the leading publisher for mystery and Sci-Fi in the 1960s was Hayakawa. Hayakawa released The 10th Victim in 1967 with the company's trademark abstract painting motif on the cover. It appears that Kanamori Tooru supplied a design as well, but I have not been able to verify this. Kanamai's style tended toward classic Sci-Fi illustration, making images for properties like Star Trek, so I believe the abstract work below is by another artist. Sheckley's novel was translated by Tokiwa Shimpei (born in Iwate prefecture, for my fellow northerners). Another edition came out by Hayakawa in 1969, wrapped in an obi with photo stills from the movie. Story continues below.

Robert Sheckley's The 10th Victim is finally accessible as an e-book! Amazon just released it on April 1st, along with the author's Victim series. The original source material for the film was a 1953 short story, The Seventh Victim, included in the author's book Galaxy. Sheckley's film novelization came out in 1966. The 10th Victim movie was a perfect project for Robert Sheckley and Elio Petri. Both artists were interested in satire and social commentary, often shedding light on moral decay and society's chilling fascination with violence. The 10th Victim establishes a future where violent tendencies are channeled into games of death, and violence itself is marketed as entertainment. Modern audiences will recognize the trend in our own current popularity of reality shows, Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and the flood of serial-killer anti-heroes. Sheckley's use of satire and fast-paced writing made his own commentary and narrative quite accessible and entertaining. The 10th Victim novel differs slightly from the movie. In this famous passage below, we do see the heroine dispatch her killer with a gun-bra bikini (one of the images that inspired Austin Powers). But Sheckley's action takes place in a trendy art gallery of wax dummies, rather than Petri's choice to place the killing in a sadomasochist club. 

Excerpt: "One of the wax dummies on the far end of the line came suddenly and disconcertingly to life. The dummy whirled; it was Caroline, half clad, the upper half of her comely body concealed only by a strangely shaped metal brassiere reminiscent of the one worn by Wilma, the legendary wife of Buck Rogers. Caroline's was a more practical garment than that archetypical brassiere of yore; for as she faced the startled Hunter, each breast piece fired a single shot." The Victim novels are currently $3.99 on Kindle Amazon. German edition on Spy Vibe here. Related 10th Victim posts: Future Listening, Set Countdown #5, Soundtrack, fashion, Fear and Fashion, Mods to Moongirls.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Bond Japanese Editions, Fleming Chinese Edition, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

U.N.C.L.E. JAPANESE EDITIONS

Open channel D! Continuing our look at unusual book designs this week, we turn the spotlight on Japanese editions of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. My first introduction to book collecting in Japan was when I first moved there as a college student. Continuing the Saturday routine of treasure-hunting, I stumbled across a pile of spy paperbacks at a used bookshop. Inside the stack of classic Bonds were a few U.N.C.L.E. titles- and a new fascination with Japanese editions was born!

As you may have read yesterday, the main publisher for 1960s mystery and Sci-Fi in Japan was Hayakawa (see James Bond: Japanese Editions). The company was founded by Kiyoshi Hayakawa in 1945. As I posted, Hayakawa printed paperback editions of genre books, using a variety of designs over the years that included illustrations and production stills. Their main design concept for all of their books and series, however, was to place mystery and Sci-Fi in the world of modern expressionism through the use of abstract paintings. One of the coolest features of the early releases was the addition of slipcases! Hayakawa's attention to spy-boom era titles included many Man From U.N.C.L.E. books, as well as a handful of Girl From U.N.C.L.E. titles. Most of the editions in Spy Vibe's collection used photo-cover designs with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, but an internet search has revealed many abstract-painting covers as well. And just like the U.N.C.L.E. books made for the UK and US markets, each volume in the set was numbered. The Hayakawa U.N.C.L.E. series (called Napoleon Solo) included at least sixteen novels. There was also a manga by Takao Saito (Golgo 13), which makes me curious to learn more about U.N.C.L.E.'s broadcast history in Japan! Stay tuned tomorrow for an exciting return to The 10th Victim.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Bond Japanese Editions, Fleming Chinese Edition, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The 10th Victim German Edition, UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

JAMES BOND: JAPANESE EDITIONS

Continuing our look at unusual book designs this week, we turn the spotlight on Japanese editions of James Bond novels. As I mentioned in an interview for Artistic License Renewed, I started reading and collecting Ian Fleming when I was twelve. By twenty I was living in Japan as a college student and doing my first teaching internship. I'll never forget the thrill of discovering 007 books there. I was on a vacation with my host family and my brother and I stopped in an old bookshop. There were literally mountains of used books on every surface piled up to the ceiling. It was like a canyon of paper and ideas. My old Saturday routine suddenly kicked in. "Do you have any James Bond?" The owner searched around for a long time and finally came back with a stack of spy books from the 1960s. I'd found my collector's Nirvana!

The main publishing house for mystery (and Sci-Fi) in Japan is Hayakawa, a Tokyo company started by Kiyoshi Hayakawa in 1945. They printed paperback editions of the Ian Fleming books, using a variety of designs over the years that included illustrations and movie stills. Their main design concept for all of their books and series, however, was to place mystery and Sci-Fi in the world of modern expressionism through the use of abstract paintings. One of the coolest features of the early releases was the addition of slipcases- for paperbacks! I love that sense of detail and style (see first image). There were also early Fleming books printed with a blood-splatter motif, as seen in the Moonraker jacket below. These were published by Somoto-sha (est. 1954), who also specialized in mystery and Sci-Fi. Here are some samples of James Bond books from Japan.

Hayakawa also printed a number of Raymond Benson's 007 titles, including Man With the Red Tattoo, High Time to Kill, The Facts of Death, and Zero Minus Ten. As you can see, the company continued with their traditional abstract motif for the covers. The story in Raymond Benson's Red Tattoo takes place in Japan and  a museum was built on Naoshima dedicated to the book. I wonder how my Miki Zero novel will be received there? The character is quite stylish, so I'm hoping for a line of Mod clothing! Stay tuned tomorrow for more Hayakawa book treasures from Spy Vibe!

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Fleming Chinese Edition, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The 10th Victim German Edition, UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

THE 10TH VICTIM: GERMAN EDITION

Our spotlight on rare book designs continues today with The 10th Victim by Robert Sheckley. As many readers may know, the 1965 Elio Petri movie adaptation starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni looms large here on Spy Vibe. Ever since I was a kid, I've been completely fascinated by the film's cocktail of groovy music, op art, pop art, space-age fashion, and modern design. I was fortunate to be able to contribute the entire poster/still gallery to the Blu-ray edition from Blue Underground (on sale now for $12.49!). My collection includes many original materials from the US, France, Belgium, and Japan. It was only recently that I cast a wider net and found this cool paperback from Germany, where the film was called Das 10. Opfer. In addition to the book, collectors can find lobby cards and programs (see below) on the international market. Like tie-in products from other countries, the German materials focus on the erotic and sci-fi elements from the movie. If you haven't watched it, that's Ursula Andress in her silver gun-bikini!

There are new DVD and Blu-ray editions of The 10th Victim out now in Germany and the UK! The UK edition (DVD/Blu-ray) from Shameless Screen Entertainment was just released on March 10th and includes exclusive interviews with Paola Petri and journalist Kim Newman. Box are below. Related 10th Victim posts: Future Listening, Set Countdown #5, Soundtrack, fashion, Fear and Fashion, Mods to Moongirls. 

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Fleming Chinese Edition, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

RARE FLEMING: CHINESE EDITION

Spy Vibe is spotlighting rare book covers this week, and there's no better place to start than Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only. As I mentioned in my recent interview with Artistic License Renewed, this volume of James Bond short stories holds a special place in my heart- and on my collection shelf. The book starts with From a View to a Kill, one of my favorite 007 stories. In this thrilling opening passage, Fleming introduces an assassin on a motorcycle: "The eyes behind the wide black rubber goggles were cold as flint. In the howling speed-turmoil of a BSA M20 doing seventy, they were the only quiet things in the hurtling flesh and metal. Protected by the glass of the goggles, they stared fixedly ahead from just above the centre of the handlebars, and their dark unwavering focus was that of gun muzzles." Are you hooked? Here is a Chinese edition from 1993 with strong graphics and a retro vibe. I particularly like the bold colors, dynamic composition, and the stylized figures. The added shadow behind the illustrated gun reminds me of mystery paperbacks from the 1950s. Enjoy!

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

U.N.C.L.E. GUN

Spend the day with your uncle. From the Spy Vibe collection: rare Japanese Man From U.N.C.L.E. magazine clippings depict agent Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) assembling the famous U.N.C.L.E. gun. The original prop was a modified Walther P38 with shoulder stock, scope, long clip, and silencer. As they mention in the special feature below, the U.N.C.L.E. gun was so popular with fans that it was seen as a character in the show- it even received its own fan mail! If you're interested in finding a replica, check out Samaritan Arts here.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

APPROACHING A MILLION

Our Spy Vibe community has passed 900,000 visitors and we are racing toward a million! Spy Vibers, thank you for joining this adventure to celebrate 1960s Style in Action. I look forward to sharing some exciting interviews with you in the coming weeks! Best, Agent J. 

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.

BOND EXHIBIT ENDING

James Bond exhibit by photographer Taryn Simon ends this weekend. Simon's new book, Birds of the West Indies, is a series of portraits focussing on cinematic Bond girls, vehicles, and weapons. From Spy Vibe's original announcement: The development of the arts, like language itself, is an ongoing dynamic process of the rearrangement of elements and the redefining of signs and symbols. Whether we are looking at the use of found objects and ready-mades among the Dadaist and Surrealists, the borrowed imagery of artists like Warhol, Rauschenberg, Johns, and Lichtenstein, or the reuse of David Bowie's Heroes design for The Next Day, appropriation has been an integral element in the history of the arts. Photographer Taryn Simon has recently taken this step of appropriation by focusing her lens on icons from the James Bond movies. 

Ian Fleming wrote his first spy novel in the early 1950s, mixing a potent cocktail of fantasies and war-time observations. When he needed a name for his hero, Fleming famously appropriated one from the book Birds of the West Indies by James Bond. Recounting the process in an interview Fleming said, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, and 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers.'" Taryn Simon's new series borrows the structure of Bond's original book, creating her own taxonomy of the three major elements in the James Bond films: women, weapons, and vehicles. Her images include contemporary portraits of actresses in their original costumes and formal studies of cars and props. Simon's work is on exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery through April 12th and her book is available here: Birds of the West Indies.

From the Gagosian Gallery press release: "In 1936, American ornithologist James Bond published the definitive taxonomy Birds of the West Indies. Writer Ian Fleming, an active bird watcher, appropriated the author’s name for his own now famous novels. He found the name “flat and colorless,” perfectly suited for a character intended to be “anonymous…a blunt instrument in the hands of the government.” This co-opting of a name was the first in a series of substitutions and replacements that would become central to the development of the Bond narrative."



"Conflating Bond the ornithologist with Bond the secret agent, Taryn Simon uses the title and format of the ornithologist’s taxonomy for her own two-part body of work, Birds of the West Indies (2013–14). The first element of the work is a photographic inventory of the women, innovative weaponry and luxury cars of Bond films made over the past fifty years. The resulting images comprise an index of interchangeable variables used in the production of fantasy. Testing the seductive surfaces of popular cinema, Simon continues her artistic process of revealing infrastructures of previously impervious cultural constructs.  Simon also created a film that takes as its subject Nikki van der Zyl, the most prolific agent of substitution in the Bond franchise. From 1962 to 1979, van der Zyl, an unseen and uncredited performer, provided voice dubs for over a dozen major and minor characters throughout nine Bond films. Invisible until now, van der Zyl further underscores the interplay of substitution and repetition in the preservation of myth and the construction of fantasy."

"In the second element of the work, Simon casts herself as the ornithologist James Bond, identifying, photographing, and classifying all the birds that appear within the 24 films comprising the James Bond film franchise. Often the birds are incidental; they function as background for the sets they happened to fly into. Simon analyzed every scene to discover these chance occurrences. The result is a taxonomy of birds not unlike the original Birds of the West Indies. In this case, the birds are categorized by locations both actual and fictional: Switzerland, Afghanistan, North Korea, as well as the mythical settings of Bond’s missions, such as the Republic of Isthmus and SPECTRE Island. Simon’s discoveries often occupy a liminal space—confined within the fictional space of the James Bond universe and yet wholly separate from it. In their new static form, the birds often resemble dust on a negative, a once common imperfection that has disappeared in the age of Photoshop. Other times, the birds are frozen in compositions reminiscent of different genres from photographic history. Some appearing as carefully conceived still lifes, while others have a snapshot quality.  Many look low-res or obscured, as though photographed by surveillance drones or hidden cameras that might have been used by MI6 within the context of the films.

"

"Simon also collected papers, correspondence, awards, study skins, and personal effects of James Bond the ornithologist, displaying them in vitrines alongside the photographic works. The character James Bond is so embedded in public consciousness that it is difficult to disengage from the fiction and view the ornithologist’s letters and effects independent of the cinema persona. In Birds of the West Indies, Simon creates a space in which fiction and reality collide and disappear, opening up a black hole that belongs to neither realm." Learn more: Series essay by Daniel Baumann, Tayn Simon website, New York Times page.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50th, Ian Fleming: Mt. Demon Hell Japan, Collecting Fleming, Live and Let Die 60th, new poster announced, 007 Audio Books Update, Appropriating Bond Exhibit, Fleming Letters Mystery, The Goldfinger Variations, Double 007 Book Designs,  Double 007 designs II, rare Ian Fleming edition, Book Design Dopplegangers, Turkish Bond design, Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton, DC Fontana Prisoner Video, Edward Gorey's 1960s, Ipcress File cinematography, 007 SOLO cover designs, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Fu Manchu history panel, Mod Tales Interview, Atomic Art, Shane Glines Batman.