131. Above all
I.
Joost Zwagerman has been gone for ten years now. To mark this anniversary, the documentary Fear of Everything by Coen Verbraak was shown on TV again, in which friends and family shared their memories of Zwagerman. It made me feel a bit down.
Iâm not a great Zwagerman expert. I read Gimmick! for my Dutch class at secondary school and I often enjoyed watching De Wereld Draait Door, where he inspired my enthusiasm for art. In Verbraakâs documentary, there is a clip in which we see Zwagerman talking about a work by Mark Rothko. The painting has two areas: black and grey. âThe miracle happens,â says Zwagerman. âThis black gives off light when you look at it. This is truly luminous black.â
Zwagermanâs personal life grew darker and more manic after his father made a failed attempt at suicide. It planted something in his mind, say those close to him, after which he became inextricably linked to the theme of suicide. It became a depression, a struggle and his end.
In the documentary, Zwagerman is praised as a poet. In the poem Voor alles (For Everything), he describes his fears. And there were many. âI am afraid of that; the Milky Way and all eternities, but also of a frayed edge on your chair,â we hear Zwagerman say in the film. âAlways been afraid of everything. High in the throat and undaunted, stupidity all round, always been afraid of everything, but not of you and not of you. Who is that âyouâ then? Perhaps death itself.â
Zwagerman asked Wende Snijders to set the poemâs text to music. She only did so after he had died, and she then performed an incredible version on DWDD. Since then, the text has reached a new audience. Snijders performed the song at CarrĂ© with S10. Sef used a sample of Wende as the basis for his own track Voor alles bang. That appeared on lieve monsters, an album that is also about fear.
So Zwagerman hasnât disappeared entirely. Although the documentary leaves the viewer in a sombre mood, it offers comfort in the fact that Zwagermanâs work lives on. You could call that luminous black.
- - -II.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees looks like a picture book. Pastel colours, talking animals in the lead roles. But make no mistake: this comic contains a few bloody murders. Online, the story is described as Dexter meets Richard Scarry, and that pretty much sums it up.
We follow Samantha, a friendly bear who lives in a small, cosy town and works in a DIY shop. Every now and then she gets a sudden urge, so she drives to a big city and murders a random passer-by. She keeps her bloody hobby a fair distance from where she lives, until someone else starts killing there.
Then the mystery begins, told in six parts. Naturally, Samantha gets involved in the case, if only to avoid being exposed as a serial killer.
It is the extremes that make this concept so unique and make it work so well. On the one hand, those cosy animals in watercolour; on the other, the horror of the murders. Itâs bizarre that this is Patrick Horvathâs first proper comic. The way he draws atmospheric scenes â and how he uses them to breathe life into the fast-paced story â is outstanding.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees took me completely by surprise. Horvath is working on a (stand-alone) sequel subtitled Rite of Spring. I canât wait for that series to be collected.
PS.
Iâm in the market for a new Gorillaz album and my wish has been granted. The Mountain is due for release on 20 March 2026, on which Damon Albarn has once again invited a host of artists from all corners of the globe. The first single is called The Dictator and was recorded with Sparks. The album also features IDLES, Johnny Marr, Yasiin Bey and Mark E. Smith.
- - -Marcus Merritt creates ink drawings of (mainly electronic) objects from films. A telephone from North by Northwest, the TV from Videodrome and a radio from Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, for example.
A lovely piece by Ernst-Jan Pfauth [on looking at art](https://motivatiemails.intentioneelleven.nl/p/how-art-teaches-you-to-see-through-othersâ eyes) and how it can move you, comfort you and give your life more depth.
Michael Caine has retired a few times before, but after The Great Escape I thought he meant it. The film felt like a fitting end to the actorâs career, yet now, at the age of 92, heâs being dragged back in front of the camera. And by none other than Vin Diesel, for his film The Last Witch Hunter 2. Curious, given that the first instalment certainly didnât turn out to be a runaway success.
In the online game Geoguessr, players are dropped at a random location in Google Street View. They then have to determine where in the world they are based on the surroundings. They then mark that spot on a world map, and the closer they are to the actual location, the more points they earn. There are also Geoguessr world championships, and itâs mind-blowing to see just how good those guys are. These are this yearâs highlights.
- - -Youâve just read blog post â131, written during the week of 8â14 September 2025. Subscribe to my free newsletter to receive this blog in your inbox every Sunday.