Gabriela Vaisencher: "...I am a new arrival to the Nabokov group...Barbara Wyllie told me about it after we exchanged emails about a theory I had on the relationship between The Eye and Sophie Barthes' 2009 film, Cold Souls. (Has anyone seen it? I think The Eye was a big influence on it, but it is mentioned nowhere in relation to the movie. Any thoughts?) Also, I am a visual artist and have been using Nabokov's image in my drawings here and there. That's actually how I got in touch with Wyllie, I had gotten her book about him and was using the photos in it for my drawings and then decided to contact her. I'd like to share with everyone my work and would welcome any comments: http://gabrielavainsencher.com/?cat=3 -
JM: Sophie Barthe's movie was shown at the Rio Movie Festival, in 2009, and most of the critical reviews I read were unfavourable.
One suggested a mix of
Spike Jonze with Charlie Kaufman's "I want to be John Malkovich",1999 and CK' and Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind," 2003. Another critic added even more names ( I quote, in translation: "As if Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Roy Andersson ("Du Levande," 2007) e Michel Gondry] had all participated in a great cinematographical orgy"). Another included Stephen Frears run amok sequel to "Pretty, Dirty Things," 2002 and mentioned Nicolai Gogol ("souls" used as merchandise). It's true, though, that Nabokov is not as widely read in Brazil as he is in America and Europe and therefore it would be a surprise to find a reference to  him and any specific novel of his. As you see it, where lies "the relationship between The Eye and Sophie Barthes' 2009 film, Cold Souls"?
 
I greatly admired your works found at  http://gabrielavainsencher.com/?cat=3 , the soft texture of tissue paper and intense blues and purples, the agile line, the Magritte irony and a surly Nabokov.
You chose particularly evanescent materials for your original creation. I wonder if your intention has been to present particularly frail sets of "souls" - or were they intended to suggest the easily decomposed human "bodies"? My sensation (that's the only thing I can write about, not being a painter or draughtsperson myself) is that your "originals" are all too mortal, and that they demand access to eternity through endless repetition (copies).  
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options

All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.